Chapter Three: The Calm Before the Storm
Minerva sat in the Headmaster's office as Albus attempted to clear his conscience, growing angrier with each word he uttered. She knew she stood by as he made some truly questionable choices over the years, but this was madness.
"Albus, this wasn't a mistake, this was a kidnapping. On top of that, there is no doubt you've angered Lord Black and Amelia Bones who, in case you have forgotten, runs the DMLE. There's nothing you can say that will make this ok, Albus. I fear you have manipulated yourself into a tidy little corner, and I won't be there to stand at your side and tut at those who dare to defy you." Minera stood up, ready to leave the doddering old fool's presence.
"But the prophecy…" Albus said weakly.
Minerva glared at her boss. "Prophecies are a wooly business, Albus. They are predicted and they come to pass, or they do not. Manipulating a prophecy is a fool's errand. You will drive yourself mad trying to chase down any loose end, and half the time fate finds a way. There was no reason to interfere, you made your bed, and now you will lie in it!"
Albus sputtered, "But, Minerva, it was for the greater good."
"Sod your ridiculous 'Greater Good'! This wasn't for the good of anyone except Albus Dumbledore!" Minerva snapped, and left the headmaster's office.
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As the Blacks, Potters, and Amelia flooed into Grimmauld Place, the group split up. James and Lily went to the library so she could do some research, Sirius and Amelia went to his study, while Harry and Hermione made their way to the games room they favored upstairs. Harry pulled Hermione along by the hand, and as soon as the door was closed he pulled her into a hug with his lips at her neck.
"Can I kiss you again? I've been wanting to kiss you again all afternoon." Harry said lowly, his breath ghosted along the skin of her neck and she shivered.
"Gods, yes." Hermione let out a sigh as his lips traveled along her neck. "I've wanted you to do this for so long, Harry. Years, really." She felt his smile against her neck, and felt his tongue sweep out to taste the delicate skin below her ear. Whimpering, she turned her head to capture his lips, opening her mouth to his exploration as Harry groaned and pressed her lightly against the door.
Harry broke away from the kiss, bringing his hand up to caress her face. "I wanted you for years too." Harry whispered. "So much. I've had to watch you bite that lip so many times, you know." He gently coaxed her bottom lip from between her teeth with his thumb. "Do you know how deeply uncomfortable it is having an erection in the library, surrounded by your classmates?" Hermione shook her head.
"That sounds awful. Poor Harry." Hermione leaned in to kiss him again, then pulled him over to the couch in front of the fireplace to sit. Reaching out to golf his hand with her left, she lifted her right hand to look at her heir ring. "It feels weird."
"Weird bad, or weird different?" Harry leaned back so he could look at her as they talked. He loved watching her work through things.
"Weird different. It's not unfriendly or unwelcome, it's just- heavy. Not physically, the weight of the magic is heavy. I can't imagine putting it on when I was eleven like you did." Hermione picked up his right hand to look at his Potter heir ring. A ruby gryffin was inlaid into a gold ring. "The future Earl of Gryffindor."
"The future Lady Black." Harry returned, looking at her ring with the onyx raven set in mithril. He rubbed the surface of the ring briefly and looked up. "You're feeling the expectations of the family magic on you. That's the burden that feels heavy. But you will get used to it pretty quickly. I'm sure Sirius will have more to say, but I think you are handing all of this so well. It's been quite the day for you. A new set of parents, heir to an ancient and noble house, and then us." Harry took a deep breath and blew it out sharply. "So, Ron."
"It was one of the most genuinely bizarre experiences I have had in my whole life, and that's saying something, considering my morning. I had to stop and consider if I had ever given him any sort of indication that there was a possibility of him and I together because of his convictions when he spoke. But you know as well as I do that I barely know the boy. When he speaks to me he almost always uses the word swot, so I have a fair indication what he thinks about my personality. It just doesn't line up with him having his eye on me." Hermione leaned back against a pillow and frowned.
"Mi, I think that despite your academic inclinations Ron may have noticed that you are beautiful and magically powerful. Not horrible attributes in a future partner in the magical world. I'm sure all of the boys in our year see you as a potential wife, even if they've never said anything and you've never dated any of them." Harry laughed at Hermione's disbelieving look. "What is it you don't believe?"
"Harry James, there is no way all of the boys in our year think of me that way." She crossed her arms and huffed.
"Well, you are probably right, there are a few who already have marriage contracts." He laughed again and pulled her to him. "I love that you don't know what a catch you are. It's charming, really." He gave her a kiss on the nose, and then settled his arm around her as they talked.
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Sirius and Amelia entered Sirius' study and sat down in armchairs by the fire. The warm wood paneling and accents of red and gold were so Gryffindor, and consequently, so Sirius. He looked over at Amelia, beautiful with her long red hair. Not the fiery red of Lily Potter, but a soft ginger. She had it out of her customary work bun, and it fell down her back like a shimmering copper curtain. He used to love running his fingers through it, it was so silky. He cleared his throat.
"So Hermione wants to start spending more time with us. We have a few options. She could switch back and forth between houses, she could stay at one house while the other parent visits as much as they wanted, or we could all stay in one house." Sirius tried to gauge Amelia's reaction before she spoke,
Amelia considered the options Sirius had laid out. "I do have Susan to consider. I honestly don't mind any of the options you present, but I would really like to see what she is comfortable with before I make a decision. I know Hermione wants to spend time with us together, so as much as we can make it work, I think we should stay all together. But let me check in with Sue first."
"Perfectly understandable. If it sweetens the pot at all, we could go off to Black Island so it isn't like we are invading each other's territory. Maybe not right away, but it's an option. It might be nice to just stay in England and be as normal as possible. We can figure it out." He grabbed some firewhiskey and a few glasses, pouring a few fingers out for each of them. "We also need to get Hermione to her adopted parents house so she can explain what is going on. I'm not sure how they will react, or if it will matter too much." He swirled his firewhiskey. "Is the pull of the magic as strong for you as it is for me? I feel like I want to hover over her all the time, like she's a toddler who just discovered she can walk."
"I told her I was feeling the same way." Amelia laughed. "She and I talked earlier about the relationship she has with her parents. It doesn't sound horrible, but it does seem… strained. Distant is perhaps the better word."
"That sounds about right. I get the impression they were never the warm and fuzzy types, it was and is a loving relationship, but Hermione being magical puts a strain on the family. A lot of wizarding folk born in the mundane world go through it. I think it's a rare parent who can embrace what seems like an over imaginative child's fever dream. She's always been so gracious and kind, even when she was a bossy little know-it-all. They must have had a part in that, right? Well, your superior genetics didn't hurt." Sirius took a sip of his firewhiskey. "We should ask her when she wants to go visit them. I know they don't get the wizarding press, but I can only imagine things will get intense as soon as the Daily Prophet gets a hold of this."
Amelia sighed. "It really is going to be a zoo. Another reason why I have to talk to Susan sooner rather than later." She paused and looked down at her drink. "Sirius, I'm so sorry. I know that I was manipulated by the greatest manipulator of all time, but I still feel so guilty for how I treated you. I didn't tell you about your own child. You are the love of my life, you know? And this is how I treated you."
"Amy." Sirius put down his drink and pulled Amelia over to his lap. "You were always it for me." She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and sniffed as the tears started to flow. "Maybe we could go on a date. Or stay in and have a romantic dinner. Let this be a new start for us too." He kissed her temple and pulled her in close. "I forgot how good you smell."
"I was going to say the same thing! Have you worn the same cologne for 20 years, or is that just some natural Sirius Black smell?" Amelia laughed as she pulled away from him. "Let's go talk to our girl. We need to sort things out with the Grangers, but first I need to floo over and talk to Susan."
Sirius smiled as they walked out of the room. "Our girl." He whispered to himself.
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Amelia stepped through the floo into the home she shared with her niece Susan, wandlessly removing the soot from her person. Walking through the bright cheery home, she called out for Susan, and heard her footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Aunt Amelia! I was wondering where you were. Good day?" Susan smiled at her aunt as she led them towards the kitchen.
Amelia began making tea and cleared her throat. "It was an interesting day, that's for sure. Sirius Black floo called me to come over to his home. There was an incident." Susan gasped and Amelia quickly reassured her. "Oh, everyone is fine! He had been working with Hermione Granger on her occlumency and something was revealed." Amelia worried her lip between her teeth. "I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it, Hermione is my daughter, and Sirius Black's."
Susan gasped. "I didn't know you had a child, Auntie! And with Sirius Black?"
"Well, we were together through most of Hogwarts and for a few years beyond. I thought we would get married, but during the war things got complicated. I can't get into exactly why or how, but someone took Hermione from me after the explosion. I was memory charmed to think I had lost the child. Hermione was disguised with magic and adopted to a muggle family. The occlumency lesson unlocked her family magic and she looks different now. Beautiful, her face is the same, but her coloring has changed. She looks like a Black through and through. Susan, that means that Hermione is your-"
"Cousin! She's my cousin!" Susan shouted excitedly. "Oh this is so cool! Is she ok? I would be freaking out, but she's always been so steady, unless you get her angry." Susan thought quickly while Amelia smiled at her. "Can we go to her? I need to see her, Auntie. Make sure she is ok."
Amelia was so pleased with how well her loving, open Susan was taking this. She has always been such a sweet girl. "First of all, Hermione is just fine. She has embraced the family magic just as much as it has embraced her and she is adjusting wonderfully. But, I totally understand your desire to be close to her. I think it's the family magic drawing us together. Hermione was staying with the Potters, but she would like if we could all spend time together, so Sirius and I were discussing spending the summer holiday in one home to make getting to know each other as family easier. What do you think? Summer hols with the Blacks? But, Susan, I need you to know you will always be my girl. This doesn't change our relationship."
"Oh Auntie, I know that. Besides, I'm merely an adult now, it would be silly to get upset over spending time with my aunt." She put her hand on her aunt's. "Truly, this is wonderful news. I'll get Mipsy packing right away." Susan was so excited as she hurried to her room. She always liked Hermione, feeling a kinship to the intelligent witch and she wasn't worried about sharing her with her aunt. She knew Aunt Amelia loved her, and she had poured so many years into loving and caring for Susan.
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"We're cousins!" Hermione and Susan yelled happily at each other. Hermione grew up an only child, so the idea of having a sister type relationship was very appealing. "Sirius, can we put Susan in the room next to mine?" Everyone was watching on with amusement.
"Of course kitten." Sirius looked back and forth between the two squealing teenage girls with amusement. He called for a house elf to take Susan's belongings up to the room next to the one Hermione had picked out while Amelia was gone, and watched the two young witches run up the stairs.
Hermione led Susan directly to her own room, a beautiful powder blue with cream accents, and they plopped down on Hermione's bed. Susan looked fit to burst. "Ok, so tell me everything! You look amazing! What was it like when it happened? This must have been the weirdest day for you. And you went to the goblins?"
"Would you rather hear about that first, or kissing Harry, or should I mix it up?" Hermione smirked as Susan squealed. Hermione told the tale of her day, trying not to leave out any details. Susan was thrilled about her and Harry finally getting together.
"I'm so happy for you guys. Honestly, I thought you were together several times over the past few years, so I'm not shocked. Is he a good kisser? He seems like he would be." Susan blushed and tried to wave away her embarrassment with her hands. "Oh my gods, forget I even asked that!"
Hermione bit her lip and closed her eyes. "He's an amazing kisser. You hear so many stories about first kisses from other girls. Too slobbery, too forceful- he was my first kiss, so I really didn't know what to expect, but it was swoonworthy." The girls settled in for a few hours of gossip, and she couldn't wait until Susan heard about Ron Weasley's crazy behavior.
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Hermione gave Amelia and Sirius each a hug before she sat down for breakfast. "Good morning! Are you two freaking out about visiting my parents? You look a little peaked."
Sirius laughed because she was right on the gallon, they were very nervous about how things would go with the Grangers. He knew things weren't exactly bleak at her parents' house, But he wasn't sure they would be welcoming and kind. "Well, we aren't sure how they are going to react, and I don't want your relationship to end up worse because of this."
"Well, they already knew I was adopted, so it's not like this will be a surprise to them. I've also had to explain some pretty weird things to them over the years because of magic, my teeth would be a good example, and they usually accept it after I explain as logically as I can. It's hard because magic defies all logic. I use a lot of metaphors." Hermione laughed. "I genuinely think things will be fine. We are already distant, so I doubt this will make a huge difference on that front, but don't worry, they aren't cruel people." She paused as something occurred to her. Sirius could see her eyes darting about like they did when she was working through a problem. "Do you think they could have been charmed too? I don't know why they would have been, I think I am just super suspicious of everything right now."
Sirius honestly thought one couldn't be too paranoid with the revelation they had yesterday. "I can ask them to check their memories around your adoption and see if anything looks odd. It won't be goblin level diagnostics, but I should catch anything obvious."
Hermione and Amelia agreed this would be smart, if her parents agreed, and formed a plan as they finishing breakfast, Sirius, Amelia, and Hermione apparated to a point near the Grangers' home. They lived in a lovely Georgian style home with neatly manicured lawns and rose bushes. Hermione led the way to the front door and knocked on it before letting them in.
"Mother! Father! I've brought visitors!" She called out as she walked into the foyer. Sirius heard shuffling and then a man popped his head out from a doorway, and a woman walked around a corner.
"Excuse me, but you can't just barge into one's home!" Mr. Granger bristled as three strangers seem to make themselves comfortable in their foyer.
"Father, it's me, Hermione. Obviously something has happened." Hearing his daughter's voice, he looked at her closer and realized it was Hermione, but with some changes.
"Your hair! Your eyes! Is everything ok? I thought you would be with the Potters all summer, but something is clearly amiss." Mrs. Granger said as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel. "Richard, show our guests to the sitting room and I will bring some tea."
Mr. Granger looked at Hermione's changed appearance with surprise and led them to the sunny, yellow sitting room and gestured for everyone to sit down. "Sit, she won't be but a moment." He turned to Hermione. "Introduce me to your guests?"
"Let's wait until mother gets here, so I only have to explain it once." Richard looked worried until Hermione clarified. "Oh, don't worry. It's nothing horrible; just unexpected is all."
After a few minutes of polite chit chat, Jean Granger walked in with a tea tray and set it down on the table. As everyone was situating their tea, Hermione introduced them to each other. "Mother, Father, this is Lord Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, and Amelia Bones, the head of our magical law enforcement, though she isn't here in that capacity. Sirius and Amelia, these are my parents, Richard and Jean Granger." After polite greetings, Hermione continued, "Yesterday while giving me a lesson in occlumency, a magic used to shield one's mind, Sirius came across a form of magic that was used to mask my identity, and I suppose that of my birth parents. That's when my appearance changed. As it turns out, Sirius and Amelia are my birth parents. It was confirmed at the bank yesterday."
"This may be a strange question, but why would a bank confirm parentage?" Mr. Granger asked, genuinely curious about the matter.
Sirius answered, "Hermione was fascinated by this too. As you may know, the banks in the wizarding world are the work of the Goblin Nation, but they are ancient, powerful magical creatures. They also perform many types of magic that wizards and witches haven't mastered. They are especially gifted in matters of blood magic, elemental magic, and magical combat. Due to a treaty in 1612 the bank was the best place to get confirmation of Hermione's ancestry, as the goblins now work in cooperation with the Ministry of Magic."
Hermione and her father looked on with rapt attention during Sirius' explanation. " , fascinating." Richard said.
"Well, we obviously knew that Hermione wasn't biologically ours, so that isn't a surprise." Jean took a sip of her tea. "But this must have been a shock, to find out the child you gave up for adoption was under your nose the whole time!"
Amelia shifted in her seat, unsure how much to reveal to Hermione's muggle parents. "That's just it, I never gave Hermione up for adoption. I was in an explosion near the end of my pregnancy with her, and when I woke at the hospital I was told she was gone. I suppose she was gone, kidnapped, but they told me she had died. So all these years I have mourned the loss of a child, not searched for the one that was taken from me. That she turned out to be the brightest witch of her age, known for her kindness and spirit was a wonderful, albeit shocking surprise. Thank you for raising her so well. She is truly a delightful child. So smart and gracious."
Jean blushed, but Richard shifted in his chair. "The magical world has taken so much of our daughter away from us. While she is away at school, she has learned more and more that places her in a world we cannot access. We know it's unrealistic to have the same hopes and dreams for her that we did before we found out she was magical, but we had hoped we would still be her parents, and eventually grandparents. Are you going to take that away from us too?"
Hermione cried out, "Oh Father, no! You will always be my parents. I think it will be a hard adjustment, and we will need to work out the kinks as we encounter them, but I have no intention of sideling you, only adding Sirius and Amelia into my life. I have room in my heart for all of you." She reached for her father's hands. "I'm so sorry being magical has taken me away from you both. I know I didn't have any control over this situation, but neither did Sirius and Amelia, so I'm going to make sure I include all of you. Obviously magical decisions will be easier to run by them, but I will always be your girl and come to you for advice." She wiped away a tear from her eye.
"Hermione, did you want to explain about the legilimency, or should I?" Sirius asked. Hermione gestured for him to continue. "The technique I was using to help Hermione learn occlumency is called legilimency. It's used to look into another person's mind. I was using it to test whether or not Hermione had built up an effect shield and mindscape, which will be helpful for her in organizing and protecting her thoughts. I can also use it to see if your mind was altered surrounding the adoption. We don't have to do it today, but you might find it helpful to know if you were manipulated. But, in some ways, I can see a desire not to know."
Richard and Jean exchanged a meaningful glance, and Mrs. Granger said, "I think we need time to talk about that. Can we let you know Hermione?"
Hermione blew out a breath. "Of course, Mother. Take your time. I will be staying with Sirius and Amelia at Grimmauld Place. You know how to reach me through the post there."
"Let me ask you this, Amelia, since you are in law enforcement." Mr. Granger leaned forward. "Was this situation illegal? Will the person who did this be punished? Because I would kill someone who did this to us."
Sirius cleared his throat. "Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind." Amelia laid her hand on his arm, and Hermione zeroed in on that, eager to ask them about it later.
"To answer your question: yes, it is illegal, and yes, we hope to punish them. We hope to punish them very, very much for what they did. I promise you will do everything I can to make sure they suffer for what they did to our girl." Amelia's eyes looked fierce as she shook hands with the Grangers, Sirius at her side.
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The Potters and Susan were waiting for them as they arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place, and Hermione immediately flew into Harry's arms, much to the amusement of everyone. "Hey, how did it go? Are you ok?" Harry leaned back to get a good look at Hermione's face. He spent the morning worried that it was going to be an upsetting conversation, and had almost insisted on going. His dad had convinced him not to, and to let this be something for the new family to work through together.
"It went so much better than I expected! I was worried that they would be angry with me, but they were angry at the situation, and worried they might lose me. It was sweet, really. I don't think I've seen my father that intense, ever. He wants Dumbledore to pay. We didn't tell him it was Dumbledore, I think he would have flown off the handle." Hermione looked over at Amelia and Sirius. "Thank you both so much for coming with me."
"Oh, Kitten, I wouldn't have been anywhere else." He took a deep breath. "We need to talk about tomorrow though. The press will have gotten a hold of the story of your paternity by then."
"Oh they already have. We've had a few owls." Lily gestured to a table full of mail. "Mostly press requests, by the looks of the senders, but a few personal letters. I think we should take the time to craft a statement to send off to the major news publications." Hermione gathered a quill and parchment, as they all gathered around the dining room table. They weren't going to just let the press control the narrative, and had some work to do.