She was awoken in the morning by a gentle hand brushing the hair out of her face. The smell of cigar smoke and firewhiskey let her know who it would be standing there when she opened her eyes. She didn't have to feign sleepiness. They had returned very late to the castle last night and she would have liked nothing more than to roll over and get a few more hours of rest in.
"Time to get up vixen." His gravelly voice said calmly. "Although I'm not sure if I can even call you that after seeing your more wolfie appearance last night. I have to admit I argued with Moony for hours that it was just a big dog, you know in your never ending quest to be like your dear old pads. But the old man wouldn't accept defeat, claims you are a wolf now just like him which cements his place as your favorite. You've basically torn the family apart in your absence I hope you know." He ended his pretend rant with a poke to her nose that she tried to wrinkle off.
She let out a groan as she stretched her muscles before letting out a hiss as the newly scarred skin of her abdomen stretched painfully. Her hand moved quickly to hold against it. A warm hand covered hers and helped her to sit gently.
"That brings me to my next order of business, and also why I am here so early." He looked at her in concern trying to determine how much pain she was in.
"There has been a mass exodus of students this morning, so much so that the school had decided to start yule holiday early." At her raised eyebrows he explained. "There was an article in the prophet's first thing this morning, that plus the numerous complaints of how the school has been run the last semester has left a bad taste in parents' mouths. They dont see Hogwarts as saf when the threat of Dumbledore looms above it."
She nodded thoughtfully but then paused and cocked her head. "And what does that have to do with me being in pain."
He scoffed and sneered in thought. "I am here to get both you and Harry and take you home. I am here early because I received a lovely floo call from your future in-laws." The look on his face gave away that he did not believe that adjective at all.
"Ogden practically demanded that he and Thorfinn be allowed to come get you from school and take you to be seen by their private healer." He rolled his eyes. "As if whomever it was would be better than Poppy. So I told them in the nicest way possible." That she seriously dubbed given how high tensions were last night. "That until the time you said 'I do' you were still my responsibility and I would be the one taking you home. That once home, if you were still hurting and we shared concern with the care you had received, then i would call on them to have their healer see you."
She gave a small chuckle imagining Sirius and Ogden arguing on their knees through the floo. Both men being so stubborn she could only imagine both of them probably grew stiff and had aching knees by the time they were through.
"What did Clarissa have to say?" She asked knowing Throfinns mother was probably right behind her husband listening to every word.
Sirius' frown fell. He reached a hand up to scratch his beard in a sheepish gesture, before mumbling.
"Doesn't make any sense, lovely witches such as yourself and Clarissa running off to be with those bloody vikings."
Hermione actually giggled aloud at that.
"She said they were both just really worried about you after seeing the post. The youngest boy has written home a few times and complained about the way you and Harry were being treated by Umbridge, they just want to be sure you are really ok. And since she asked so nicely, I allowed Thorfinn to accompany me today. He is in Gryffindor tower with Harry getting your trunk."
Hermione gave him a knowing smile. "You are becoming quite the pushover pads." She winked and he just pulled her into him, hugging her tightly to his chest.
"If he makes you happy, then that's all that matters. I wasn't lying when I said I could never repay you for all you have done for me. You saved my life last night and almost got yourself killed in the process. Dont ever do that to me again alright?"
She gripped him tight taking in as much of his scent as she could as they embraced. "I won't promise that I'll never save your life again Sirius. You are my family, I will always do what I can to protect you. But, I will try to not almost die again. To tell you the truth it is getting kind of old."
He snorted and they broke apart when the doors opened and Harry and Thorfinn walked in together. She smiled at the vast differences between the two. Harry had gotten taller over the years but was still dwarfed by the older man. His dark messy hair and clean face was the opposite of the vikings long blonde hair pulled back into a neat bun and his sandy facial hair. She knew that people found Harry attractive, but lord he didn't hold a candle to her wizard. Just looking into his baby blues made her stomach erupt with butterflies.
He had wanted her to stay with him last night, just needing to have her close after the events of the day. As much as she wanted to she knew they had to be back in order to not be missed. Plus, once her adrenaline from the night faded the pain appeared and she was slow moving and stiff. He let her go only with the promise she would spend as much of the break with him as possible. The long heated kiss he gave her goodbye left her wanting.
Harry crossed the room and threw his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug that made her groan with pain. He quickly loosened his hold pulling back to look at her in concern.
"Easy pup, she's a little sore this morning." Sirius warned him.
Harry looked at her guiltily but she pulled him back into her. "I'm fine Harry, just stiff. I'll be right as rain in a few hours I'm sure. How is everyone else? Did everyone get home alright?"
They spoke about the others and that they were all perfectly fine. Neville's grandmother was one of the first to arrive this morning to get Neville. Mrs. Longbottom was a fierce witch so no one stood in her way or tried talking her out of it. Luna's father hasn't contacted school yet, but they weren't sure he even received the prophet given that he was an editor of his own paper. Finally the Weasleys had decided to just let their children come home on the train. Sirius had reached out to the twins given that they were included in the debacle of yesterday but had left the ground before their group travelled to the ministry. They were supposed to come today to Grimmauld when the aurors came back to speak with them.
"Will you be there?" Sirius had turned to look at Thorfinn who seemed contrite with just staying near Hermione, not butting in their conversation.
Thor shared a glance with Hermione and then nodded his head. "Yes, I will be there as long as she wants me to."
"Who all left or is in the process of leaving this morning?" Hermione asked.
Sirius thought for a second before starting to count them off on his hands. "All the families from the sacred 28 who had children in school besides the Weasleys were the first to come. All of Slytherin, and nearly all of Ravenclaw is gone. Basically anyone who received the prophet, so that's half bloods and up have written or informed the school one way or the other. Remus has been helping Minerva sort through the mess Dumbledore left behind." He sneered. "On the bright side, it seems you started a trend with using a magical guardian, as quite a few muggle borns or half bloods that lost their wizard parents have invoked the right, so don't worry, they had people here to to get them home."
She nodded. "Good, I was worried about that. ANy word on Dumbledore?"
Harry looked sad and Sirius angry. "None, radio silence from him."
They were sitting comfortably around the living room of Grimmauld Place listening to Fred and George gushing about their plans when a knock sounded from the front door.
"That'll be the aurors." Sirius said as he stood to answer the door.
Hermione leaned back further into Thorfinns side from where they sat together on the small couch. Sirius and Harry had both been adamant that she stay relaxed and seated if not in bed until she was fully healed. She had tried to up a fuss but Remus encouraged her to just let them have their way on this. So she had spent the morning lounging on the couch with Thor while the others finished up the Christmas decorations.
Tully had spoiled them all with fresh baked goods and mugs upon mugs of hot chocolate. They all were much calmer and more relaxed now and Sirius thought it was a good time to invite the aurors over so they could get past this.
They turned hearing footsteps approach and Sirius cleared the doorway first, a strange look on his face. It was a mixture of mischievous and exasperation.
"So turns out it wasn't the aurors. However this sorry sod wasn't taking no for an answer, and considering its snowing I didn't want to have a frozen russian snowman decorating my front stoop." He chuckled as he walked through and everyone saw the wizard behind him.
Dolohov appeared sheepishly in the doorway. Hermione felt Thorfinn stiffen beneath her, the grip on her shoulder tightening. He had tried to get a moment alone with them last night but there wasn't time, and the emotions were still too high so they hadn't given him a chance. But now here he was making himself present, and given the current company she couldn't very well go off on him without the others wondering why.
"Dolly." She nodded to him in greeting, effectively breaking the tension that had gathered in the room.
"Malyshka," he gave her a small smile before greeting the others. "Thor, Potter, Lupin, Weasleys." He nodded to the others who returned the gesture. The twins tipping invisible hats his way.
"I hope I am not interrupting. I just wanted to check in on you." He said to Hermione.
"Of course not." She shook her head. "We are waiting for the aurors to come, they had some follow up questions for us and we weren't in the position to answer them yesterday."
"It actually is good you are here." Harry added, making everyone turn towards him. "You were there the day Umbridge slapped Hermione, you can be a witness for that."
Remus and Sirius having not heard that story growled at the new knowledge. She gave Harry a disapproving frown and he just shrugged, knowing they would hear it sooner than later. She huffed and explained what had happened, Harry and the twins filling in when needed.
"But it was you wasn't it?" Sirius asked almost in awe.
"Of course it was." George said with a proud smile directed at her.
"Best prank I have ever seen." Fred praised.
They all laughed at their antics before Remus spoke.
"Then how did you get past the veritaserum?" His voice was full of wonder as he looked at the four mini marauders.
"Ah, well that was difficult. We have been helping the twins create an anti compulsion candy. The sixth years learn about Amorentia the first semester in potions and there's always someone who sneaks some in and before you know it somones dosed up on love potion. So the candys keep your mind free from compulsion, it also stops the serums compulsion to make you tell the truth, a nice bonus really. We had heard that she was using veritaserum on kids throughout the semester so we went into the meeting prepared. The potion was diluted in tea, and shared between us. It probably would have been harder to fight had it been given to us directly." She shrugged.
A loud knock on the door drew here attention, this time no doubt the aurors. When Sirius returned it was with three men. Kingsley was there to finish his questioning from last night, he was accompanied by Dwlish who was helping him with the case and Yaxley who was head of DMLE and as this was an important case needed to be involved.
When they walked in he made his way to her, telling her not to get up on his accords and took her hand in greeting. He raised it to his lips with a small smirk and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
"Ms. Granger, lovely to see you again. I am sure you remember my associates, Dawlish and Kingsley." Both men gave her a smile before they moved around the room in greetings. Tully brought them all out tea and the men took a seat.
"We have a few more questions to discuss today, but also we wanted to inform you all that Delores Umbridge's body was discovered late last night."
There were a few gasps and Hermione's hand came up to her mouth in faux shock.
"I knew that was a possibility, but still to hear its true is still shocking." She said while Thorfinn rubbed her arm sympathetically.
This had Kingsleys attention and he turned towards her with a raised brow.
" How did you know it was a possibility Ms. Granger?" He asked her, getting out his notebook.
She sat up as much as she could trying to hide the grimace of pain but she knew Dolohov saw it when his eyes flashed with remorse.
"I was there last night when the centaurs carried her off. She forced me into the forest with her, claiming she was taking me to find Dumbledore. Like of all people he would come to my aid." She scoffed. "She insulted the centaurs and tried casting at them, this was after she had already angered the pack by restricting their territory. She bragged about it to them. I didn't expect she would get out of it unscathed, but dead is still a bit surprising. Afterall, they let me walk away with no problems, the centaurs read the stars to determine innocence. They must have felt mine."
Kingsley had taken as many ntes as he could while she was speaking, this was the first time he was getting this information and he wanted to make sure he had as much down as possible. This whole situation was infuriatingly frustrating to him. He had always seen Albus Dumbledore as a hero, he had practically worshipped the man in his youth and didn't think twice before accepting an invitation to his order of the phoenix. These last few years made him question the man and his real role in society, and he hated it.
"Mr. Potter," he said turning to Harry. "Why did you lead your friends to the ministry? Why would you leave the safety of the school."
Harry frowned and Hermione watched as his jaw tightened with anger.
"I think the first issue with that statement is the idea that Hogwarts was safe at any time for me." He said darkly. "Since my first year there has always been something going on that affects me negatively. And just like the other night I believe the cause of most of my peril is directly tied to Dumbledore. If we just focus on this last year, I spent 5 nights a week in detention, where I was subjected to the use of a blood quill amongst other barbaric practices. I had my post privileges stripped, so I wasn't even able to reach out to my godfather to get assistance. Dumbledore was fully aware of what was happening but chose to stay locked away in his office instead of protecting his students." He sat back with a huff before pointing to Yaxley and Dolohov.
"Now I know you were just doing what the minister and then Umbridge told you to do, but you both witnessed a senior member of the ministry physically attack a student and nothing was done about it. Hermione's face was bruised for a week after that and Umbridge flaunted it to the staff. Making snide comments and quips at her every time she saw her. I know McGonagall went to Dumbledore in shock over it and he still did nothing." He shook his head angrily. "You want to know why I went to the ministry, I will tell you. Dumbledore fed lies to me all year, harping on about the importance of a prophecy, and when I didn't react how he wanted he lied to me and told me someone abducted Sirius and were going to force him to get it by any means necessary. He had even told me the aisle number weeks before, it was all an elaborate set up." He hung his head, his voice going raspy.
"And I would have fallen for it even worse had it not been for Hermione. You asked why I lead my friends, well I didn't. You see for some unknown reason life has blessed me with true friends who jumped at the opportunity to come. They didn't even give me an option to leave them behind. We knowingly walked in to a trap, we arent as stupid as you probably assume we are. But when the alternative was I may lose Sirius, we just couldn't risk it. The only person who knew we would go to the ministry was Dumbledre, and that's because he sent us. That's not just a coincidence."
Hermione had to control her facial expression from one bursting with glee at Harry's choice of words. He had come so far, and was finally capable of seeing between the lines and exploring the grey areas of the truth. She sent him an encouraging smile and nodded his way. She glanced over at Sirius and Remus and saw they both were surprised at Harry's speech.
"I just don't see why Dumbledore would purposely put anyone in danger." Kingsley said with a sigh. "Especially you Mr. Potter. It is widely known he was the one to bring you to safety after your parents were killed. He has done a lot for the wizarding world over the years, it seems odd that he just now is a bad man."
Hermione let out a very unlady like snort and drew attention to herself. She felt Thor's hand tighten some on her shoulder and Dolohov who had taken a set next to them also stiffened. It was the only clue she had that her magic was getting just as frustrated as she was and they could feel the change in it.
"Please help me to understand." She started, her hands flexing to keep from forming fist.
"What is it that Albus Dumbledore did that earned him the right to be this untouchable beacon of light?" The room was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking on the wall.
"I have heard people sing his praises for years now but I don't see why. Perhaps it's from being raised by muggles, but I am constantly blown away by how easily people fall for his greater good nonsense. Sure he brought Harry to safety when his parents were killed, but did he? I mean the man placed him with his mothers muggle relatives that hated magic and those who used it. He was abused for years there and he never stepped in to stop it. You can claim he didn't know, but then you are stating that the so called great Dumbledore dropped an infant who supposedly defeated the dark Lord off on a doorstep and never checked on him again. I'm not sure which is worse." She spoke gain quickly before anyone could interrupt. "THEN you have to take into consideration the only reason Harry was placed with the Dursleys was because his Godfather was shipped off to Azkban without a trial and left to suffer there for 12 years because he provided a false testimony."
She refused to look up at Sirius at this, knowing he would be struggling to maintain control of his emotions and knowing seeing him that way would only make hers worse.
"Even if Sirius was gone, do you honestly think the Potters would have wanted their only son stuffed away in the muggle world? No, of course not. They would have wanted Harry to be with a family that loved him, so then why didn't he go to Remus?" She did glance up briefly to see the hurt look pass Remus' face.
She let the silence grow uncomfortable before Harry whispered. "Because of his lycanthropy."
She pointed a justified finger at Harry before sneering at the auror. "Exactly. So explain to me, how Dumbledore, champion of the wizarding world, beacon of light has done NOTHING all these years to help reform ministry laws and restrictions on those who suffer from lycanthropy despite the fact he has held some of the highest titles in our world! Yet when he needed to, he pulled strings to hire Remus to work at Hogwarts hoping it would draw Sirius out. It's pathetic and we excuse it because why?"
She took a deep breath closing her eyes trying to regain control of her magic before it exploded out in the room. She was surprised to see that besides Thor's reassuring touch Dlohov had also reached out to take a hand. The two successfully grounding her. She kept her eyes closed as she spoke.
"I don't want to insult you or your intelligence Mr. Shacklebolt. I just beg of you to really think about the truths before you come to us asking for blind support of the man. Look at the facts, I know you are a former Ravenclaw I would bet research is a pastime of yours. Just please, trust us when we say Dumbledore is no friend to us."
The aurors left after a few more questions, the room was much more subdued after Hermione's explosion. It seemed that it left everyone with a lot to think about. Sirius had always been on the fence, not trusting Dumbedore due to their past. But Remus had struggled with his blind faith. After this though, he was starting to question a lot of what had happened since his first year at school.
Dolohov had not left and she knew he wouldn't without the opportunity to talk to her, so instead of hashing out their issues at Grimmauld she wished the others goodbye as she and the two boys would be going back to her house so she could recover in her own bed.
She had promised to floo over in the morning and gave Remus and Harry a tight hug before moving on to Sirius. She hugged him before pulling back just a little bit, maneuvering a journal from her pocket into his. He looked down at her curiously when he felt the exchange.
"Read this for me. It will explain more of why I have been so upset. When you read it and are ready, we need to have a talk."
Seeing how serious she was in that moment he just nodded at her before sending her off through the floo.
When she arrived through the floo Thor wasted no time picking her up and heading to the sitting room with Dolohov on their heels. She rolled her eyes at his antics but wrapped her arms around his neck regardless. He sat her down on one of the lounges before turning and facing his best friend.
"I am going to leave you all alone for a bit, I know you have a lot to talk about and I don't have to be in the middle of it. But I warned you before, no more upsetting her. I will have Tully standing by, and if I hear you upset her in anyway you better pray you make it to the floo before I make it back to this room."
Dolohov kept eye contact as he nodded, not doubting the man in the least. Thorfinn walked over and pressed a kiss to Hermione's lips. Taking a hand and caressing her cheek lovingly.
"I'll be back soon princess."
The door shut behind him the clicking sound alerting them both they were now alone. Hermione, deciding to let him say his peace, just sat and watched as he struggled to find the words to say, running his hand through his hair so many times it started to resemble Harry's hot mess.
"I could apologize every day for the rest of my life and it would never be enough." He finally spoke, head faced down to the floor, each word sounding like it ripped at his throat to say.
"They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions and I never fully understood the statement until now." He sighed and lifted his head up to the ceiling now, as if praying for strength.
"I thought.. I believed that if I could just do enough, get noticed enough, be enough, then the Dark Lord would notice me and hold me to high enough esteem where I could ask him for you. I know you aren't a possession or something for me to own, that's not what I am trying to say. I mean it in a sense of having him declare he wanted me to marry you, to join our blood lines. I honestly believed that was my only hope in getting a future with you. Two years ago my mother told me they would remove you, my temptation, if it came to it, and I just didn't see any other way for them to not be after you at every turn than for Voldemort himself to support it."
Hermione watched him with sad eyes. Having never heard him speaking so openly before, she assumed a lot of what he was saying but it was still awful to know she was right.
"You gave me hint after hint and clue after clue but I just could not see past my own ideas and thoughts. I have never had anyone care for me honestly until you, and because of that you were just this bright light to me, and I was afraid that all this darkness I had inside of me, that I was using to be noticed was going to snuff you out. When you came to me after the tournament and you looked at me like I was your saving grace after I had just killed that Diggory kid, I knew I couldn't do it. In my gut it felt like you knew and understood and yet I didn't even give you a chance. I tried, Salazar, how I tried to just put you back in that perfect little box of friendship you were in first and second year, but every time I thought I had you locked away it burst open again and I was left wanting and hurting for you. Seeing you at school was the last time I tried to lock you away. You giving me the ultimatum made me think I could try one last time. Then sure enough here I am at my uncles when Bellatrix arrives, inviting us on a mission of the greatest importance. I thought here is my shot to prove myself to the Dark Lord, to earn his favor, to have a chance to be with you." He hands gripped the arms of the chair so hard that she heard the wood groan under the pressure.
"Then what do I do? I almost kill you in a idiotic move to save the psychotic bitch who lied to us all and tricked us into going. I knew we failed the mission but I thought if Bellatrix comes back with a story of how I rescued her, maybe that will be alright." He looked up and made eye contact with her, his green eyes swimming with unshed tears.
"I never wanted to hurt you, or Sirius, or Lupin, or Potter. I had no idea you would be there. We weren't told. When I saw you my gut clinched and I froze, when I heard you all leave I was so glad you got out of there without being hurt. Then when I cast the curse laster in the night and I heard Black scream your name I froze again, I wanted to run to you, to help you. I hate myself for what I did to you."
She listened to him speak, hurting for the both of them. She knew living a double life would cause a lot of pain and strife before it was over. She was lucky in the fact where she had real friends on both sides but the secrets she kept never got easier. The truth had a countdown and it was getting closer and closer to zero. Part of her would always feel guilty that had she told him the truth from the start, or even the start of their romantic relationship she could have saved them both a world of heartache. But she wasnt allowed to, and that's why they were there. Neither was innocent, both had made their fair share of mistakes for reasons they both believed to be right.
"I forgive you Dolly." Her voice was quiet but with it only being the two of them he heard her easily. His head popping up to look at her in surprise.
"So much of what has happened between us is because of secrets we were both forced to keep. I admit, I did try to clue you in so you would stay the course, but it wasn't fair of me to expect you would be able to do the same as Thorfinn. You are different wizards, with different families and customs and for that I owe you an apology." She said sadly.
"I forgave you already for throwing the curse, I would have expected you to come to the aid of Bellatrix no matter how bat shit she is." She let her mouth twitch in a smirk. "I was hurt, and I was angry and I took it all out on you when that wasn't fair. As the saying goes, it's the ones we love that have the ability to hurt us the most. ANd I love you Dolly, I think I have for a long time. You and Thor have always felt like 2 pieces that completed the puzzle that is me."
She smiled at him trying to convey that she meant what she said. He was looking at her with wide eyes as if he couldn't believe this was how the conversation had turned out. He was expecting rejection and curses and a demand to never look at her again. He should have known she would surprise him, she had been doing it since he first laid eyes on her.
"I love you too Malyshka. I tried to fight the feelings for so long because they are so foreign to me, but please never doubt that I love you."
He lifted himself up and practically crawled to her on his knees, approaching her lounger and framing her face with his hands.
"I will show you every day how much you mean to me, and I promise to never try to box you up again. You are it for me little witch."
He lowered his head slowly giving her every opportunity to pull away and wanted to jump with glee when she met him halfway. Their lips slotting together perfectly as their magic reached out for the other, caressing against them lovingly. His hands moving from her cheeks into her curls, gently digging themselves in to hold her closer to him.
He groaned at the feeling of her hands moving from her lap to his chest, walking their way up and around his neck as they deepened the kiss. His tongue now massaging hers, taking in the sweet taste of her.
They were pulled apart by the opening of the door and a deep chuckle.
"Thank Godric you two have worked this out. I was afraid I would have to bng your heads together."
Dolohov pulled back from her lips slowly with a smirk. "Oh fuck off Thor."
Sirius had just said goodnight to Remus and Harry and went to the library to make himself a drink and take a look at whatever it was Hermione had secretly put in his pocket earlier. He sat down on the plush chaise and pulled the small leather bound book out. His fingers traced the embossed rose design on the front before untying the straps holding it closed.
The first thing he noticed was that when he opened it a photo started to slide out from behind the cover, he reached for it before it could slip out onto the floor. He took in a shar breath when he held it up, seeing the image move before him. Holding the photo in his left hand he fully opened the cover to see the neat feminine script on the first page.
This journal is property of:
Anastasia Le Fey
The struggle to breathe was real for Sirius as he read the same seven words over and over again while looking at the photo in his other hand. The photo he had seen so many times before. Shakily he reached a hand up to his inside pocket and pulled out the folded paper, slowly opening it. He held the two photos out in his hands. The right one he had had since cleaning out his brother's room. The left is the one he just found. Besides the obvious fold marks on the right, they both had similar signs of wear, proving they were well loved by both people. The pieces falling together so clearly now in his mind.
He flipped the picture over and a sob caught in his throat at the not on the back.
'Reggie and I after a trip to the healers. The look of pure joy is there because I had just asked him to be the baby's god-father. He is both nervous and excited, but I know he will do a fine job. After all I want nothing but the best for my Hermione.'