Yay: Bonus chapter for the week! I did a double update, so if you didn't read 16, you'll want to go back and read that.
okay, carry on...
Chapter 17: Friday, December 29, 1979 cont'd
"Protecting people from the truth is another way of shutting them out."
-Blaize Clement
A silence thick as glue hung in the air. Sirius stood across the table, arms folded over his chest and jaw clenched, staring at Hermione with question in his eye. She could feel Lily and James' eyes burning holes into her and Remus sat completely still, staring down at his hands that were clasped on the table.
Hermione took in a sharp breath, trying to calm her pulsing anger. Her eyes finally left Sirius' face to find Lily's. Lily wasn't looking at her face, instead her eyes were glued to the scarred word on her forearm, a horrified look in her eyes. She fought the urge to cover the scar. Sirius had pulled it out of her, had pushed and pushed until she tumbled over the edge. He could damn well stare at the disgusting mark on her flesh while she proved him wrong.
"My name is Hermione Granger," she said, taking in a long breath. "And technically, I am from 1979."
Sirius' brows pulled together in confusion, but it was James who spoke. "Technically?"
"I was born September 19th, 1979."
"You're an infant?" Remus spoke, his words coming out slowly. "Four minutes ago I was convinced you were a Death Eater, and now you're telling us you're an infant?"
Hermione couldn't help the puff of laughter that came from her chest, "No, Remus. Obviously I am not an infant right now."
"I'm very confused," James admitted.
"I was born in 1979, but I am from 2001." Hermione waited for the burn on her wrist, the burn that told her she was revealing too much, but it didn't come. "I'm sorry I lied to you, about everything. I used the Time Stone as part of an Order mission that removed me from my own time and brought me here."
"You're from 2001?" Lily asked, "And the Order is still needed then?"
Hermione thought carefully, not wanting to reveal too much information. "Yes, it is."
"So all of our efforts now," James began. "They've been for nothing?"
Hermione sighed, resuming her seated position in the chair, "Not exactly,"
"And you can't tell us what happens," Sirius said, a knowing look on his face.
"I can't," Hermione confirmed.
"So you're important," Lily whispered, her eyes finally pulling up from the scar. "In 2001, you're important to the cause. Time travel is risky, it wouldn't be something trusted to just anyone."
Hermione nodded, her wrist aching in warning.
"Do you know us, in 2001, are we friends? Do you know what happens to us and-
Hermione held up her hand, cutting Lily off. "I can't answer that, Lily, I'm sorry."
Lily bit into her bottom lip, nodding in understanding.
"Why the journal?" Remus asked, turning his torso a bit to look at her.
Hermione sighed, "I want to keep track of everything while I'm here, so that I have information to take back. I didn't come here for no reason, you understand. I have a purpose."
"When you go back?" Lily asked, "So you aren't… I mean, how long…?"
Hermione shrugged, "Theoretically? As long as it takes." October 31, 1981, she thought. However, giving an actual date, putting a label on the amount of time, it would open more questions than she was sure she'd be able to answer.
"Why are you here? Why now?" Sirius asked.
"The creatures, Dementors, they aren't creatures being born out of the blue. It's a curse set to attack a specific magical signature. The Muggleborns that have disappeared aren't going missing and being killed. They're going missing and being turned."
"Th-those things… The Dementors, they're people?!" Lily asked, her voice breaking.
Hermione wet her lips before sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, closing her eyes as she nodded. "Muggleborns. Apparently our magical signature is different than that of pure or halfblood. Same with hybrid creatures and beasts, the signature reads differently and the curse attacks that magic, slowly draining it until they turn."
"So you aren't a half-blood," Sirius stated.
"I'm a muggleborn," Hermione confirmed.
"And your parents, are they alive?" James asked.
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. I like to think they are. When I left them, they moved to Australia."
"Did you go to school?" Remus asked.
"I did, Hogwarts, actually."
"That's why you're so good at healing and potions and everything!" Lily said.
"Partially, some of it I had to learn on my own."
"What house were you in?" Sirius asked, his gaze becoming a bit more intense than it had been in the last few minutes. As if the answer that she gave determined if she was worth the effort he was putting in to biting his tongue.
Now, Hermione beamed. A bright smile that she knew reached her eyes. "Gryffindor."
"Well, that's all right then!" James laughed, clapping his hands together. "Another lion in the house is never a bad thing!"
"Can you prove that?" Sirius asked.
She arched an eyebrow at him and smirked, "Do you need me to?"
"It would make me feel better, yes."
Hermione snorted, "The entrance is on the seventh floor and is concealed by the portrait of the Fat Lady who gets quite offended when you call her that."
"Easy," Sirius said. "We knew where all the entrances to the commons were at while we were there."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Your initials are carved into the wood of the door frame above the third year boys' dormitory."
Sirius' mouth twitched and his eyes danced a moment before he nodded, "That's true."
"I know it is, I've seen it." Hermione said, huffing out a breath.
"The Time Stone," Sirius said, finally sitting in the chair across from her. "How did you get it?"
"I'm friends with…" she trailed off, her arm burning and she took an annoyed breath, rubbing at her wrist. "A friend gave it to me."
"A Black heir?"
Hermione carefully answered his question, "Of sorts."
"You have to give a blood sacrifice to make it work, right?" Sirius asked.
"I do."
"Why here?" James whispered, looking at Hermione. "Why come back to now?"
"We had hoped you would have more information on the Dementor's curse," Hermione said.
"Someone you know is infected," Remus said, so quietly it was almost inaudible. His eyes burned into hers as he spoke, watching her closely.
Hermione could tell them. She figured that she could tell them she was infected, after all it wouldn't change much if they knew, except perhaps, to force them into figuring it out faster. But if she told them, she would have to explain how she got cursed and have to explain how it was living inside of her, slowly eating away at her. It wasn't time to tell them yet. Eventually, she would. She silently made that promise to herself, but tonight was not the time.
"Something like that," she said.
The room was completely silent for several long minutes as Lily, James, Sirius and Remus processed the information Hermione had given them. Hermione sat completely still, eyes cast down to the table as she calmed her breathing.
"I think you owe her an apology, mate." James said finally, looking at Sirius.
Sirius shifted in his seat, but remained silent.
"Pads, you accused her of being a death eater, when she obviously is not one. You need to apologize, you stubborn git."
"James, it's fine." Hermione said.
"No," James said, a bit of anger in his tone as his eyes landed on her forearm. "It's not. Look at your arm! You had every reason to hide that! It could be Lily who was marked like that! I know enough about magic to recognize a cursed scar when I see one! That was the result of torture. It could just as easily be Lily! Sirius, you need to apologize!"
"James," Hermione said, her voice soft as she pulled her sleeve over her arm. "It's okay, really. It happened years ago and-
"That doesn't make it better!" James said, standing up from his chair. He began pacing the kitchen, his hand carding through his hair. "In fact, that makes it worse. You're only twenty-two! If it happened years ago.. Merlin, how long is this fucking war going to drag on?! How many people are going to be hurt?! I can't…" James shook his head as he stormed out of the room.
Everyone at the table jumped a bit when his bedroom door slammed closed and Lily got to her feet. "I'm going to go check on him," she said. "I'll be back."
Lily got up from the table and disappeared down the hall. Hermione sat for a few minutes longer before she stood, grabbing the necklace off the table and walking to the back door. Sirius arched an eyebrow at her and she pointed to the sky through the window, "Waxing Gibbous. I have to do it tonight or I disappear. And if it's okay with you, I'd really like to stay."
Sirius' gaze lingered on her before he slowly nodded.
Hermione stepped back from the door and turned to him, her palm outstretched to him, "My blade. I assume you have it, I need it."
Sirius smirked and stuffed his hand into his inner pocket, pulling out the shiny dagger and handing it to her. "It's a nice dagger, even better seeing as it has my family's runes etched into it. I don't know what you've gotten mixed up into with the Black's in 2001, but I truly hope they've improved."
Hermione's fingers curled around the hilt and she dropped her hand to her side, she thought of Draco, both a Black and Malfoy heir. Her head bobbed a few times, "He did."
She turned away and stepped to the back door, opening it just wide enough to slip through. Hermione made her way over to the bench under the tree and cast a few warming charms and cleaned the light snowfall from the seat. She sat down and stared at the necklace, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
Considering everything that had come out tonight, she supposed it couldn't get much worse. A strange relief settled over her. It felt good to not have to hold it all in, to lie to them so frequently. And while they couldn't know everything, she felt better knowing that they at least knew more about who she really was and she would be able to relate to them more about her time at Hogwarts and her life at home growing up.
The crunching sound from leaves and snow pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Remus towering over her. His hands were shoved in his pockets, shoulders slumped forward and his mouth was twisted off to the side.
"Have you done it yet?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head, "No, not yet."
"Can I… Would it be okay if I watch?"
Her brows pulled together, creasing her forehead as she regarded him for a moment. Slowly, she nodded, "Yes. I don't think that would be a problem."
Remus sat next to her on the bench, his body heat practically radiating off of him. She looked at the side of his face, watching him as he stared at the open palm of her hand, a mild interest in his eyes. He looked exhausted. The skin under his eyes was purple and his face seemed paler than normal, and he looked almost as if he were going to curl in on himself any second.
Slowly, Hermione dragged her eyes from Remus' face and picked up the dagger from where it laid in her lap. She winced as she dragged it across her palm, wrapping her hand around the stone. She could feel it heat up, a soft glow permeating around it.
"Ego offerre anima mea; dedi sanguinem meum," she whispered the incantation three times, feeling the warmth spread through her as her palm began to tingle. After a few seconds had passed, the glowing ceased and she opened her palm, slipping the necklace over her neck and tucking it beneath her jumper.
"Do you… Do you want me to heal it for you?" Remus asked.
Hermione shook her head, "I need to use dittany for it to close up all the way. I have some at my house, I'll do it when I get home."
She conjured a cloth and pressed it into her palm, taking slow breaths as the bleeding began to slow. After the warmth from the ritual wore off, she stood tugging at the hem of her jumper and smoothing her trousers over her thighs. Before Hermione could walk away, however, she felt Remus' fingers curl around her wrist, lightly tugging her back toward the bench.
When she turned to look at him, regret of the action flashed across his face. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"It's okay," she said.
Remus wasn't physically affectionate. It was almost as if it pained him to be in too close proximity with anyone. Lily challenged him with this, frequently running a hand through his hair or nudging him to sit straighter. But she hadn't seen Remus go out of his way to physically touch anyone.
Hermione arched an eyebrow at him, urging him to say whatever it was that was on his mind. His eyes shifted from her face and fell to the bench next to him and she stepped forward, falling back into the spot she had just gotten up from.
"I offer my soul, I have given my blood." Remus whispered the English translation of the incantation. "You have to give it pieces of your soul to stay?"
Hermione shrugged, "It's blood magic. No matter what, it takes a toll on a person's soul. At least this way, I get to stay an extra thirty days."
Remus' lip twitched as he shifted in his seat, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He ran his fingers through his hair and cleared his throat before speaking again, "I want to erm… A-apologize to you Hermione."
"What for?" she asked.
"I let Sirius convince me that you were one of them," he admitted. "I was sure of it. And I am very sorry that I thought that, even for a split second. Holding a secret like that… Having to be a completely different person than you truly are… I know, I mean… I think that must be difficult."
If anyone could relate to her in this moment, it was Remus. Having to hide her identity, not able to let anyone get too close, afraid of what would happen to them if they found out. Remus definitely knew how this felt.
Hermione sighed, "It's okay, Remus."
"No, no it isn't." Remus said, his voice tense as his jaw tightened. His mouth twisted to the side as he chewed the inside of his cheek. Hermione could tell he was frustrated with himself.
She reached a tentative hand toward him, resting it lightly on the top of his forearm. The heat of his skin seeped through the threadbare cardigan he wore, warming her icy fingers.
"Remus, look at me."
Remus pulled his head up, the tension releasing from around his mouth as he stared at her, his eyes flickering over her face- golden swirls dotted with green. She turned so she was facing him completely, looking at him straight on. Hermione moved her hand, cupping his much larger one in both of hers, her wrapped hand resting lightly over his knuckles. He straightened his back a bit, his eyes falling to her hands. She waited a moment before speaking, waiting to see if he would pull away, when he didn't she finally opened her mouth.
"It's okay that you didn't trust me fully, that you doubted my intentions. Sirius had the wrong idea, but his apprehension wasn't completely misplaced. I'll even forgive you for reading my journal out loud, in front of everyone. For the record, it's quite rude to read a witch's journal."
"Shit, Hermione, Merlin! I'm sorry, I knew Sirius was wrong! And I- I still…" Remus trailed off shaking his head, "I am so sorry, Hermione."
Hearing her name tumble past his lips warmed something inside of her and she smiled, withdrawing her hands from his.
"We should go in," she said. "It's freezing out."
"Yeah," Remus said. "Hermione, truly, I am so sorry. I… I'll make it up to you, I swear."
Hermione studied his face for a moment, a light chuckle dancing from her lips as she moved to stand up. Without thinking about it, she stooped down and placed a chaste peck to his cheek. When she pulled away, she watched as his hand flew to his face, his fingertip lightly touching the spot her lips had just been.
"It's okay, Remus. I accept your apology."
Hermione stared at him another second or two before biting into her lip and smiling. She turned on her heel and walked back to the house, hoping that James had calmed down enough that she could take her leave and go home to relax in a hot bath. This day had proven to be one of the more stressful ones she had encountered since her arrival, and her palm was now throbbing from the open wound. It would be a relief to heal it and soak away the tension in her back.
When she entered the house, Remus was still outside, his hand pressed to his cheek. Briefly, Hermione wondered if the fluttering in her chest was heart palpitations from stress, or if it was because she could still feel the warmth of Remus' skin on her lips.
.
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a/n: Whew, those two chapters were a doozy! How are we feeling? Leave a review, let me know!
Next update will be Thursday! :)
xo