After the fight

Harry tries to keep the peace. Hermione makes a misstep. Scabior Sr. is back for more trouble. Hermione's parents are in the picture now. The love birds are reunited.

Scabior made it almost past the bar before Tom realized he was back. "Scabior, you ok, boy?" Scabior went behind the bar and wordlessly laid his head on Tom's shoulder. Having seen the shiny look in his eyes, Tom simply laid an arm across the boys back. He wondered what Scabior and little miss had argued about. Whatever it was, it had sent Scabior retreating back to the Cauldron. He patted the boy on the beck roughly. "Go on up, get some sleep, rest. We'll talk tomorrow, ok?" Scabior nodded and went up the stairs.

Hermione laid on her bed, finally dry eyed. She knew it had been wrong of her to blow up at Scabior. He was just asking a simple question. He couldn't help it that she and her parents hadn't spoken in so long. That wasn't even her parents' fault, it was hers. She got up, went to her bathroom and splashed water on her face.

She'd left the little toothpaste drawing on her mirror. She smiled at it. 'God, she was in deep! She'd already known last year, after that first unintentional encounter with him, that she'd be in trouble if he ever caught them! She'd been halfway in love with him by the time he did catch them! It was why Harry was able to rile her up so easily over him! She closed her eyes in shame, remembering what all she'd screamed at him.

She cracked her door open, took a deep breath and started down the stairs. She needed to apologize to him. She walked into the drawing room. He wasn't there. She frowned as she headed to the kitchen. "Harry, where is Scabior?"

"He's gone, Hermione. You told him to get out and he did." Harry looked at her. 'Surely she hadn't thought Scabior would hang around, not after being screamed at like that!' he put a cup of tea in front of her. "He went back to the Cauldron."

"He-what, he went, he-why?! Why would-he-? Harry! He left?!" she cried.

"He thinks you hate him, that this, whatever this is between you, isn't going to work out. His exact words were 'she hates me, it didn't work out a year ago, why did I ever think it would work out better this time'? You really hurt his feelings, Hermione! Why were you yelling at him anyway?" Harry was determined to help them work this out.

"He asked me about my parents. You know how upset I get about them anyway. All he made was one simple comment 'does this mean I don't have to worry about meeting any in laws besides Harry' and, oh god, harry! I totally went off the deep end at him! He'll never forgive me! He asked me if I was ashamed of him being a Snatcher, a Death Eater, and a werewolf. I told him 'what if I was', Harry! He thinks I'm ashamed of him, of being with him! I taunted him about being unable to tell his father a simple no instead of threatening him with a 'mudblood wife!" Hermione laid her head on the table in misery.

Harry sighed and rubbed between his eyes. 'Damn, when the girl went all out to insult someone, she really went ALL OUT!' "I don't know, Hermione, he might have forgiven the other stuff easily enough but that crack about his dad, you know how much Scabior hates his dad! Why would you bring HIM into the conversation at all?!"

"I know, Harry, I know! You don't have to tell me how stupid that was, I already know!" Hermione was wondering if there was any way of digging a hole and just throwing herself in it for the next ten years. 'Why, why, why had she implied, even slightly, being ashamed of him? And, damn it ALL, why had she made that crack about his dad?!'

"Listen, this might not be what you want to hear right now but maybe you should stay apart from him for a while. Let him cool down, give yourself a chance to cool down, too! But, Hermione, sooner or later, you're going to HAVE to face your parents again! That's what caused this, the rift between you and your parents! You have got to go see them, talk to them! It's been seven months, Hermione, seven months you've stayed away from them. If you're ever going to fix things with Scabior, without blowing up at him again, you have got to work things out with your parents!" Hermione knew Harry was right. She'd been dreading it for a while but even she knew it was past time to try and mend fences with her parents. She'd never be happy, by herself or with anyone, until she did.

"You're right. I need to see them. I haven't talked to them since that last day. I haven't even written them or anything. They have no way of getting in touch with me. It'll have to be me going to them." Hermione sighed. She really wasn't looking forward to this. She just knew she was going to end up getting mad and storming out again but, if she was going to have even the slightest hope of a future with Scabior, she needed to do this. As long as she left things unresolved with them, she'd never be able to fully trust herself not to blow up at Scabior over the slightest innocent comments. And that was being selfish of her and unfair to Scabior. For his sake and her own, she needed to, at least, make an attempt to patch things up with them.

"When is your next day off? I'll take the day off as well and we'll go round and see them." Harry offered.

"I don't know, Harry. Part of the fight, in the first place, was over going with you instead of staying with them. I might need to go by myself." Harry was already shaking his head.

"No! I'll stay away, as I seem to be part of the problem but you're NOT to go alone! Not with Scabior's dad looking for revenge against you and Scabior! Did you not hear me?! The man is no longer in Azkaban! He's OUT, on house arrest, true, but he's out of Azkaban! I'll not take a chance with your safety! If I can't accompany you, I'll send guards! You are not to go alone!" Harry was greatly relieved when Hermione agreed to take guards with her. He didn't tell her but they were as much for her parents as they were for her.

The more Hermione thought about it, the more she was sure taking guards with her to her parents' house was not such a good idea. She didn't let on to Harry, though. If he had even an inkling that she was planning to slip off without the guards, he'd plaster himself to her heels and she'd never have any peace. She waited until the next morning. She went to work as usual but, at her lunch break, instead of going to the Leaky Cauldron or home, she went to the restroom. She knew it was the one place the guards wouldn't follow her into. She hurried over to the window and opened it, climbing out and pushing it mostly back closed.

She hurried down the street. The only problem now was getting into Muggle London without going into the Leaky Cauldron. Suddenly she remembered something Harry didn't even know! She had her beaded bag with her and she walked into a woman who looked similar to her.

"Oh, god! I'm so sorry! Are you alright? I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" she cried as she helped the woman to her feet. The woman brushed off her apology. "Not a problem, dear, I wasn't watching where I was going, either. It was just as much my fault!"

After the woman walked off, Hermione smiled and held her hand in front of her face. 'Good thing I never got rid of that Polyjuice Potion.' She pulled out the flask and added the hair to it. After it stopped bubbling, she took a swig. She could feel herself changing. After the change was complete, she walked confidently into the Leaky Cauldron. She faltered and almost teared up when she saw Scabior. He looked so sad. As they passed, she quickened her pace so as not to be tempted to throw her arms around him. She completely missed the arrested look on his face. He turned and looked after her.

Scabior stared at the woman who had just passed him. It wasn't Hermione but damned if she didn't SMELL like his little beauty! He shook his head. 'Damn, she was so far into his head, he was imagining random women to be her!' he went back to cleaning tables as the early birds left and the second wave started. By the time Harry Potter came rushing out of the Floo, he'd totally dismissed the woman from his mind.

"Scabior! Scabior! Have you seen Hermione? She's gone! I went to the hospital to pick her up for lunch and she was gone! The guards said she went to the restroom and didn't come out. Parvati went in and said the window had been opened." Scabior had stiffened as Harry spoke. Harry paced and pulled at his hair.

"I haven't seen her, Potter. Why would she even be here?" Scabior growled.

"Scabior, listen, she came back down last night. It was after you'd left. She was going to apologize to you. She was shocked when she realized you'd really left. I asked her if she really expected you to hang around after that. I told her, if you and her were going to have any kind of future, she needed to straighten out the rift between herself and her parents. She agreed and she was supposed to be taking guards with her but now she's gone!" Harry knew he had to keep Scabior focused on Hermione. It was the only thing he could think of that might help keep them together. If Scabior really thought she'd meant everything she'd screamed at him, he might well decide she was too much trouble and turn his attention to other witches. Harry had just barely made it through Hermione and Ron breaking up, no way he could hold it together if Scabior broke up with her!

While Harry was convincing Scabior to not give up on Hermione, she had made it out of the Cauldron and to a quiet spot where she could apparate to her parents' house. She walked up the sidewalk, never noticing the men stationed at intervals around her parents' house. She knocked on the door and waited.

"Who is- Hermione! James, come quick, dear, Hermione is back!" Janet Granger grabbed her daughter into a tight hug. James came running and engulfed them both into a tight embrace. "God, Hermione, we're so sorry, sweetheart!"

"Hermione, we love you. Yes, we were upset but only because you were in danger and we couldn't protect you! We knew how close you and Harry have always been. We also knew how protective you are over him. Sweetheart, we were mad at ourselves, much more than at you. Don't you see, sweetie, parents are supposed to protect the children, not the other way around and yet we were helpless to protect you!" James lovingly held his daughter as he explained their feelings. Hermione's eyes were swimming with tears. 'Why, why had she stayed away so long?!'

"Darling, we were scared when we said all those things. We were afraid when you found us in Australia. We didn't want to lose you again. But we ended up rowing with you and we drove you away!" Janet sobbed. It was so good to hold her baby again!

"I'm so sorry. I was still grieving after the fight and everyone we lost. I didn't think of anything but getting you back. I should have waited for a while. I knew that it would take a while to explain everything to you. I didn't think how scary it would be for you, suddenly having your memories back, being in a strange place, surrounded by people you didn't know." Hermione and her parents clung together tearfully. It was so good to be here again. She was glad now that she had taken the first step. Now that she had reconciled with her parents, she needed to talk to Scabior. She wanted to bring him to her parents. "Mum, dad, I was wondering I could bring Harry by sometime? He's missed you as much as I did."

"Of course, dear! We'd love to see Harry again! Bring him to dinner! I'll be planning a menu, we'll make a celebration party, alright? We weren't able to help you celebrate your victory then but we can now." Janet exclaimed happily. James rolled his eyes but laughed. Hermione's mum took every chance available to throw a party!

"There's something else I need to tell-." Before she could finish her sentence, there was a huge boom and the front room glass shattered! Hermione and her parents ducked behind the couch as she heard a frighteningly familiar voice from outside shout. "Come out, come out, wherever you are, mudblood! Brightest witch of her Age! One third of the Golden Trio! Come out and face me! YOU'LL NEVER DIRTY OUR LINE! NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO ABOUT IT! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!"

Scabior Sr! What was HE doing here? He was under house arrest! What the devil?! Hermione gasped in fear. She knew, now, why Harry had wanted her under strict protective custody, even here! He'd known Scabior Sr. would try something like this! God, now she had stupidly landed her parents right back in danger!

"Hermione, who is that? What is he talking about?" Janet frantically questioned her daughter.

"I'm dating Michael Scabior. That's his dad outside. He isn't thrilled with either of us! That's what I was about to tell you. I need to send a Patronus to him and Harry, they can help us!" Hermione conjured a Patrons and sent it. Hopefully, they weren't too busy right now.

Back at the Cauldron, the Floo had suddenly come to life as first Ron Weasley came rushing out, looking for Harry. Then Fenrir came out, followed by seven young men. Harry was still fast talking Scabior, trying to keep his hopes up.

"Harry! Scabior! Your dad jumped ship! He and the men confined with him burst out of the wards placed on his house! They're gone! We're tracking their devices but they're literally ALL OVER THE PLACE!" Ron screamed at them. Scabior's eyes widened and he began breathing deeply. Fenrir recognized the signs: the boy was about to go into panic mode!

"Easy, boy, we'll find them! Potter, my boys decided they wanted to come on down today!" Fenrir snapped into action. "Is Granger safe, Potter? We can help you track them down."

Harry swore. "No need! I can tell you exactly where he might be! Hermione slipped out of the hospital! Ten to one, she's gone to see her parents! If he's really bound and determined to keep her and Scabior apart, more than likely he's found out everything about her and it would lead him straight to her parents!"

Scabior was leaning against the wall, bent over, trying to catch his breath. He had both hands clenched in his hair, trying to calm down. At that moment, a silver Otto floated into view and surrounded him. They all heard it plainly.

"SCABIOR! HELP ME! GET HARRY, I'M AT MY PARENTS' HOUSE! HE KNOWS WHERE THEY LIVE! HE AND RON BOTH DO, PLEASE HURRY!" Hermione's voiced screamed in fear.

"Scabior! I'll take you and Tom through and add you to the wards! Then you and I will come back and between you, me and Ron we can transport everyone to Hermione's house!" Harry, without missing a beat, ran over and grabbed Scabior's arm as Tom caught his other arm. The three disappeared. While waiting for Harry and Scabior to return, Ron ran over and began situating Fenrir and the other wolves into groups. Harry and Scabior popped back. Harry grabbed two arms, Ron grabbed two arms and Scabior grabbed the last two wolves and Fen.

As they all popped back into sight, all hell was breaking loose on the house. The wizards outside evidently didn't care that they were in the center of a muggle neighborhood. They were bombarding the house with every dark spell there was! Tom was hunkered down beside the busted window, throwing back hexes left and right. Hermione had put her parents into the next room and was hunkered on the other side, giving back as good as they were getting. Harry, Ron, Fenrir and the wolves all ran to the other windows and began returning fire.

"Scabior!" Hermione screamed. She zigzagged to where he stood. She jumped up on him and wound herself around him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I'm not ashamed of you, I'm not! I swear, I'm not. Please forgive me!"

He wrapped his arms around her, buried his face her hair and crooned to her. "Shush, it's alright, shush, beautiful! It's alright! Let's get you and your folks safe, then we can talk, ok?"

Harry ducked a chunk of ceiling as he watched them reunite. Fenrir grabbed him. "Potter, we gotta get everyone out of here! He's not playing around! He's going to bring the fucking place down!"

"Hermione! Grab your folks, take them up, have them grab some clothes! They can't stay here! Scabior Sr. is bringing the fucking roof down! He's destroying the whole house! Get them to Grimmauld Place! Go, now! We'll hold them off until you're clear! Go!" Harry yelled at her. She kissed Scabior, jumped down, nodded and ran out, her face pale but determined. Scabior dived over the couch and came up beside Harry.

"Hey! Arseholes! I'm in here! Come get some, you fuckers!" he yelled as he jumped up and fired a slicing hex toward the wizards outside. Harry and Fen looked at each other, rolled their eyes and face palmed at the same time. 'Yep, the boy was certifiable! He was just begging the old dog outside to try and kill him!' it seemed to work as they heard a bellow of outrage from the old dog. "BOY! I'LL KILL YOU AND HER BOTH! THEN I'LL FIND YOUR MUM AND KILL HER! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST MANJACK OF YOU ALL IN THERE, PROTECTING THAT FUCKING LITTLE MUDBLOOD!"

"GO AHEAD AND TRY IT, FUCKER! I'M RIGHT HERE, COME OUT THE FUCKING SHADOWS, ARSEHOLE! YOU SCARED OF ME SEEING YOU?!" Scabior stood boldly in front of the window, a shield charm deflecting spells away from him. He watched as a shadow broke away from the rest and rushed the house. Before Harry or Fen could catch him, he jumped out the window and met his father in the middle of the yard. Neither of them were playing as they hurled nothing but the Killing curse at each other. It was literally just a matter of who managed the shot that would end the other one.

Harry rushed upstairs. "Hermione, hurry! They're going for the foundations of the house!"

"Harry, is he ok?" she needed to know before she left.

"He's more than ok, he's doing great, Hermione. He's just worried about you and your parents. He's firing curses and cussing a blue streak down there, keeping them distracted!" Harry had to laugh.

Hermione smiled and grabbed her parents by the arms. "I'll see everyone at Grimmauld Place. Bring the wolves, too. I'll make a huge pot of beef stew. I'm sure they'll be starving after this hard of a fight!" she and her parents popped out of sight. Harry rushed back down the stairs, thanking his lucky stars that she hadn't looked outside to see her boyfriend in a fight to the death with his father.

Outside, both Scabior's were still trying their hardest to kill each other. They apparently came to a mutual silent decision that their wands weren't getting the job done fast enough. They proceeded to throw them down and jump at each other. It was such an unusual sight that the other attackers soon left the shadows to watch their boss and his son try to beat the living fuck out of each other! The wolves left the house cautiously and surrounded the wizards as Harry and Ron quietly, unobtrusively rebound them and sent them back to Azkaban for breaking their bonds. Soon the only one left was the one, front and center, brawling furiously with his son.

By throwing down his wand, Malaki Scabior had fucked up. He had forgotten that the boy had werewolf strength now and he was getting his ass kicked. He had been frustrated as hell when the boy kept dodging his curses while coming entirely too close returning them. It had never crossed his mind that Scabior was more ruthless than him now, thanks to the war, constant punishments from Voldemort and his own enthusiasm for helping punish the boy. He would never have realized the boy was merely 'playing with his food', as Fenrir said, if the boy hadn't started cackling while he threw him over his shoulder yet again! The damn little brat wasn't even breathing hard while it was all Malaki could do to draw in a deep breath. He cursed and dived for his wand as Scabior jumped on his back. He wrapped his arms around his dad's neck and put him into a chokehold.

"This is for my mum and my girl, you fucker! You better be glad I met her again or your ass would already be dead right now. As it is, you are going back to Azkaban. The dementors have missed you, Pops!" Scabior snarled into his dad's ear as the man went limp in his arms. He stepped back, unconcerned with how hard his dad hit the ground. Harry and Ron were grinning ear to ear. That had been an AWESOME fight! They were seriously glad they'd never had to face him in hand to hand combat during the war! It would have been over as soon as it started!

Scabior stopped as he backed into Tom. He turned and laid his head on Tom's shoulder again. "I wanted to kill him! So fucking bad! But all I could see was her, crying, watching me get hauled off to Azkaban for killing him."

"Shhh, you did good, boy! You did good! Let the dementors have their fun with him! Can't spoil their day, can you? Gotta let them have SOME fun in their lives, right?" Tom was pleased to hear the boy chuckle.

Harry sent Scabior Sr. back with a note pinned to his chest, ordering that the man's cell be surrounded with dementors for the next week while he got the man's trial fast tracked. This time, he was going to make sure the man went to trail, even if it meant blackmailing every witch and wizard he knew personally!

The group began apparating back to Grimmauld Place as the Aurors showed up. It was going to take a lot of Obliviates to get this fight out of the neighbors' minds. The Grangers home was a loss. What hadn't been bombarded had been set on fire. There would have to be a lot of false memories planted to explain away the destroyed home.

As Scabior popped in with his fellow wolves, they were laughing and tussling as they walked into the kitchen. A moment later, he found himself with an armful of Hermione. She was crying with relief as she covered his face in kisses. He pulled her tight against him, unable to even remember now, why he'd ever been fighting with her. He buried his face in her hair, sniffed and then suddenly he set her on her feet. He backed away from her, a fierce frown on his face.

"Scabior? What's wrong?" Hermione felt her stomach clench as he stepped back from her. Harry walked in just in time to see this standoff.

"How did you get into Muggle London earlier? You were in the Cauldron, weren't you?" Scabior snapped at her. Harry's eyes shot to Hermione, who looked guilty.

"Hermione! What the hell were you thinking?!" Harry joined Scabior in frowning fiercely at her. Hermione's parents stood behind her, listening to the scolding she was getting from her 'adopted' brother.

"H-how did you know it was me?" she cringed as he folded his arms over his chest. She knew now how he'd felt when she was scolding him over knife throwing and his holster belt!

"How DID you know it was her? You said you hadn't seen her." Harry was curious to hear this.

"I didn't know it was her, at the time. You might wanna confiscate that bloody beaded bag of hers, Potter! She has bloody Polyjuice potion in there! It took me sniffing her hair just now but I smelled her earlier, at the Cauldron. I didn't recognize her then because it was a blonde walking past me!" he looked accusingly at Hermione.

"Well, Hermione? You couldn't wait until I could send guards with you?!" Harry pulled his hair into a wild mess, almost rivaling her own hair.

"I'm sorry, I should have waited! I know that now, Harry, I'm sorry!" she hunched her shoulders and looked like she was about to burst out crying.

Harry sighed and looked at Scabior. Scabior raked his hands through his hair. "Damn it!" he stepped forward and embraced her once again. "From now on, we tell you to stay put, you stay put! You got it?!" he leaned against the table and kept her close. Hermione nodded emphatically.

"Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, uh, you might want to plan on staying here for a while. I'm sorry but your home has suffered catastrophic damage. What wasn't blasted apart was burning and it might be better to just pull the rest of it down and start from scratch. I know that's not something anyone likes to hear but I couldn't let you go back without telling you." Harry looked apologetically at the Grangers.

James and Janet looked at each other, then their daughter. "That will be fine. It will give us a chance to reconnect with Hermione. And get to know this young man holding her." Hermione smiled up at Scabior as he looked at her parents.

"Scabior, oh my baby! Are you alright?" Annemarie came running into the kitchen to check on her son. She immediately started clicking her tongue at the bruised state of his knuckles.

"Scabior? What happened? What'd you DO?" Hermione gasped, seeing his knuckles for the first time.

"He went toe to toe with his old man, is what happened! You should have seen it, Hermione! He was GREAT!" Harry and Ron, along with the wolves, were happy to brag on Scabior's fight with his dad. He rolled his eyes as his mom and Hermione fussed over his hands.

Ginny and Andromeda had been helping Hermione and her mother cook a huge pot of beef stew for everyone. They announced that supper was done. They passed bowls around and the kitchen and drawing room both were filled to capacity. Everyone was talking about the fight.

Scabior and Hermione slipped out and went upstairs. They didn't say a word as they undressed and laid down. They just kept a good hold of each other. Once again, they had come entirely too close to losing each other.