Chapter Twenty-four: Wherein Hermione and Viktor invade France.
Summary: Well, they embark on a trip and do have a lovely lunch there. Perhaps 'invade' was a bit grandiose.
Hermione had invited Viktor to join her as she sat down at her weekly meeting with Mory, her much saner head elf, and listened patiently as he gave what were becoming the standard updates, then it was her turn for questions. Today she had only one, delicate though it was.
"I have a question for you because I trust you're the only one who will give me a totally honest answer, and not the answer I want to have."
The elderly elf gave Hermione an odd look from his stool by the fire in her study. She herself was seated on a cushion across from him on the hearth. Viktor was on the sofa.
"What does Mistress Pendragon wish to know the truth of?" he asked in his kindly fashion.
"You know the situation with my parents."
The old elf tugged his ear and nodded sadly.
"You know I deeply respect the International Statute of Secrecy, and not just because it is wizarding law, but because it protects magical beings like elves, and merfolk, and centaurs."
The old elf nodded sagely. They had discussed it at length.
"You may not know that I have one living grandparent. My mother's mother, who lives in France. She is also a Pendragon, and a Bennoit, but entirely non-magical, and of course we have never been allowed to tell her." Hermione took a deep breath, because there was no going back after this. "I want to know if I would have your blessing to tell her."
Mory sighed and tugged on his left ear while he stared silently into the fire.
"It is a hard fate to have families so torn. This cannot be how it was meant to work, I think. It makes for a hard world," he said, clearly considering the issue.
"Whatever else we do, Mory, let us make this world less hard, for others, if not for ourselves," Hermione said, considering all the reforms she wanted to enact and wondering if it might actually take her whole expected lifetime of 110 more years to get everything to a better place. Maybe. But if so, what a legacy to leave. A better world, in only a hundred years.
"You have my blessing, Mistress Pendragon, and I am honored you have sought it. Tell your grandmother, and we will bring her to your wedding, and your seating. Little Josy speaks French, you know. Her mother was a Beauxbatons elf. I will arrange for her to listen for you, and to know of your errand. Call upon her when you wish to leave France and she will remember your grandmother's home, and fetch her when needed."
"Thank you, Mory," Hermione said quietly. "I have no further questions today."
The old elf nodded once, then he began to tell her about the secrets of the Pendragon Castle in Wales.
[translated from the French]
November 16, 199_
Hogwarts School for Gifted Children
Hogsmeade, Scotland
Dear Grandmama,
Viktor and I have decided to get married after Christmas, and we would like you to attend. We'll actually be in Provence this Sunday, and I wondered if we could stop by for lunch. We haven't much time, no more than a few hours, but I wanted to introduce him to you, and tell you a few other interesting details besides.
Look for us around lunchtime on Sunday.
Love,
Hermione
November 16, 199_
Hogwarts Castle
Dear Mum & Dad,
I haven't written at all in November, I know, and here half the month is gone. It's been tumultuous, but I'm happy to report that at no time was I in mortal danger! There was a bizarre powerplay with my former Head Elf that left me dehydrated and exhausted for days as I recovered, but still, not the end of the world. But that led to further drama, since Minerva allowed Viktor to spend the evenings with me until I felt better, and I got so used to being able to sleep through the night (such a novel concept in recent days) and then Viktor was gone, and I couldn't and he was a mess too, so… long story short, I negotiated and now all engaged students seventeen and older with emotional trauma (which is all of us, of course) can have their intended spend the night. And so Viktor hasn't quite moved in, I have a new Head Elf who is just the sweetest, kindest old thing, and I can sleep at night. Mostly. I mean, there are still nightmares and crying jags, but not near as bad as they have been.
So, my new Head Elf, Mory, who is quite two hundred years old and who only expects to live another thirty years or so, is now courting Pampy, one of my personal elves from the House of Black, and there is a bit of drama there that I try not to laugh at. Apparently he approached them together and told them he had permission to court them and Tampy flat out told him no, but Pampy 'was curious'. This is what she tells me.
Tampy feels her sister is betraying the trust by being courted by someone who once held resentment against me, and of course I've undergone an unbreakable vow with Tampy but not Pampy, and there are great fears that the world is going to end if Pampy accepts him.
Pampy, on the other hand, feels that it is inevitable the two families of elves will get along and intermarry, and points out that I had been quite upfront about my hope that we'll all get along soon, and quite upfront in the dreadful thing I had done to gain the other elves' enmity. Pampy also pointed to Grims, the former Head Elf, whom she just calls the Poisoner, not, I have been assured that she's actually poisoning people, but that she has a poisonous personality, and points out that it's she who led the charge of hatred against me, and now that she is out of the picture it will be easier for Pendragon and Black elves to get along. And it has to start somewhere.
In the midst of this, I have been trying to gently encourage Pampy to have patience and not to be too angry with her sister, and Tampy to have compassion, and not to do things that she might later regret. But it has been nice to get them to talk a bit more about themselves, which I have done in the past few weeks. I hope this won't be a rift they can't get over, but I've so little experience of house elves and their culture, I can't actually say. Still, I hope.
Mory, for all his years, is sweet and wonderful, he's a good manager and he has a very amusing sense of humor. He's a wise old thing and he has a place in my heart. His former mate died years ago, though I have no idea just how long. For all that it would clearly be a December-May relationship, as the Twins are apparently thirty (so many questions about what kind of elf Kreacher was before the horcrux), if they decide to go for it, I wish them well.
Moving on a bit, I had formerly thought that my tiny little castle in Wales (oh look, poor me, my personal castle is so small and manageable compared to the one I currently live in, but I have so many elves, what will I do? Poor me.) was quite boring, you know, compared to Hogwarts and all its secret passages and rooms… And today Mory told me about the secret passages in The Curtain! And then we went and he demonstrated them all for me!
First, there is a way to get down to the elf level (the basement and apparently sub basement), but it takes a Pendragon willingly offering blood to do it. (Of course.) It's so that the elves will be entirely safe in a siege. I went down there and had a look around. They've got complete access to all the external food stores and water sources and the composting system! But of course they do. I'm coming to understand this castle means business when it comes to withstanding siege warfare, and even magical siege warfare, in a way perhaps that Hogwarts never quite was.
Second, the bedroom Viktor and I chose, the blue front facing suite on the first floor has become the Master Suite, which is apparently more than a designation. It's bigger, for one. But also, there is a secret door in the powder room that goes directly to the third floor study that I share with Viktor which is also a grand library, two sitting rooms/areas, two potion labs, and a dueling/charms work area, with a private floo connection.
Third, in that same Master Suite there is a curtain (a fabric one) over a doorway of mist that goes to whichever part of the New Palace we choose to walk into, directly from our bedroom.
Fourth, concerning the New Palace - the mist has several interesting properties and one of them is that if you walk into it with a firm idea of where you want to go within the structure, you go directly there, despite what room would come next in the layout. I don't know if it will work for semi-magical or non-magical people, but it certainly worked for me.
And fifth, there is access to the stones from inside The Curtain! It's only from the third floor charms area. It's a secret door directly into the ground floor courtyard of the area, and it's strictly one-way.
Viktor had sat in with my meeting with Mory tonight, and had accompanied us on our quick tour of the castle. He looks like he is bursting with insight, but I've made him hold off until later because it's been ages since I've written you, and I missed how much it helps me to feel closer to you, and how ordered my mind feels afterwards.
Lastly, I had a nice chat with Mory about the layout of my suite, and accommodating Viktor a bit more, and also (though it might be none of my business) the layout of the suites with couples in them, or other engaged persons. I suggested that if it was possible, he might consider upgrading their suites to include a short sofa and a bit of a private toilet and bath arrangement. I noted that Harry and Ginny, though both students, only had the same space as a single student would in the suite, and had to share a desk, which I thought ridiculous, though of course I don't mind Ginny working out in my study. It's nice to share the space in a quiet fashion. And that led to what I needed after Christmas break, which he's just going to arrange for now.
I'd say this is such a surreal time, but I'm not sure what normal really looks like. None of my years since I found out I was magical have been normal. The new normal is non-normative to begin with, so why should I expect it to suddenly settle down into a complacent, suburban Milton-Keynes set up? I suppose I should be grateful that there are no nefarious plots.
Well, I speak too soon. Apparently they are, but other people are taking care of them for me, which… yes. Well. I'm just not used to adults being effective in that way. (Oh! That sounds so harsh. I don't mean to be harsh. Honestly, I don't. It's just… been perhaps a hard seven years. Well, I'll worry about death threats and curses via owl post come May, and learn to deal with them, then.)
I love you, and I miss you. I'm coming to adjust to the idea that you really might return to me, remember me I mean, and so I've got a whole packet of letters for you, just waiting in my purse, to catch you up on all of the minutiae that I know you'll want to know. Lord knows I've written it all down for you.
Love always,
Hermione
"Luna, when is your birthday?" Hermione asked, fixing herself a sandwich at the lunch table. They had been joined by Tommy and Negash, and Harry, but Neville and Ginny had yet to show up.
"Last week. November twelfth."
"Oh, damn," Hermione said, pulling out her date book and marking it down.
"Mine's August first," Tommy offered blithely.
Hermione grinned at him, then looked to Negash. "And what about you? When's your birthday, Negash?"
"September third," he said, and didn't that just explain everything?
"Well, I'm sorry that I missed both of your birthdays. I shall get you something when I go out, Negash. Luna, may I take you shopping? The Yule Ball is coming up and perhaps you need a dress?"
"I have a favorite one I'll wear. But will you have a pair of shoes made for me? There's a favorite cobbler my father had, but he does ladies shoes as well, but really good ones, with dragon tooth heels and feather-light soles. Did you know that if you're wearing dragonhide - real dragon leather, I mean, not the faux stuff they make now - that your feet won't get cold, even in the dungeon? My feet are always cold."
Hermione grinned. "I've got five trunks of dragonhide, and there's probably teeth down there too, though I haven't checked. I'd love to visit this cobbler with you, and I may need some shoes, too. Mind if Ginny comes along and we make a day of it? Lunch out, that kind of thing?"
Luna's eyes lit up. "Ooh, yes. Check with your fabric elves. They should get to know the contents of those trunks, regardless, and then you can have them work with the cobbler on the supplies. And you know, I wouldn't mind successive annual presents of dragonhide shoes to my measurements, in different colors."
"What's this about dragonhide shoes?" Ginny asked, sitting down next to Harry and putting a pile of library books on the table next to her.
"We need to go shopping," Hermione explained.
"Yes we certainly do. You need to up your game in regards to Hunt Club Casual, for one."
"And I missed Luna's birthday. And she needs to introduce us to an excellent cobbler she knows."
"You know, Christmas is coming up, Hermione," Ginny said with a grin.
"And you'd like a pair of shoes?" Hermione said with a corresponding grin.
"You read my mind."
"With the feather-light sole, you can walk on water," Luna pointed out, apropos of Luna.
Harry almost choked with laughter.
Hermione narrowed a glance at him. "Not a word," she said, pointing at him. "Only one of us has a savior complex, and it's not me."
Harry still snorfled into his napkin and then proceeded to have a very long conversation with his Therapy Snake.
November, 17, 199_
Hogwarts Castle
Dear Elizabeth,
All is quite a good deal calmer with me and mine now, and I thank you for your forbearance. I am quite well again, and perhaps a tiny bit better than I have been in the past. Enclosed, please find the list of the moments of mortal peril that I had not yet shared with you. And apparently Hogwarts security measures have kept me quite safe against the ten credible death threats I had unknowingly received, and arrests have been made. But I have not had to directly deal with it, and I am extremely grateful.
A question about knighthoods. It may sound strange, but I would very much like to bestow a posthumous knighthood, and before you just say no, let me tell you why. First, he deserves it. He risked life and limb for years as Dumbledore's spy in Tom's camp, and though he is a controversial figure for a variety of reasons, he is sane, wise, noble, and the bravest man I have perhaps ever known, and that includes my ridiculous brother Harry who has bravery oozing out of his pores. And I would very much appreciate his council, as a knight. Yes, I know. He's dead. And yet. Which brings me to my second reason: most of the people I will end up knighting (not the ex-boyfriend Ron, however) will end up helping me in some way. Harry wants to train to become my Librarian. (Oh, so many interesting things about magical librarians, Elizabeth, but I digress. The Great Library of Alexandria STILL EXISTS. In some form, at least. I want to go visit, but perhaps that will wait until Viktor and I take a honeymoon. Because of course we will go visit libraries on our honeymoon.) Neville is to become my secretary (or something like that. Currently we're going with assistant, but I'm open to suggestions as concerns the title, there.), and of course they're both my advisors as well. And I would very much like to extend the honor to my dead professor, too. (He was Headmaster, but not while I attended Hogwarts. Anyway.) And still, you may ask why. Or perhaps how. He has not left a ghost behind, but there is a single solitary magical portrait of him, which he allowed to capture his entire memory and personality, which not all subjects do allow. Normally a wizarding portrait requires the consent of the subject and a drop of blood (not strictly ritual blood magic, as there is no song, I don't think, but magic involving blood), but apparently, because the extant portrait is, if you will, a complete picture, the portrait himself can give consent for another to be made. Now, while no one has a phial of reserved blood hanging about in stasis, we do have a phial of memories that he gave up to Harry to explain everything as he died in my arms during the war. Harry has agreed to give them up to me (he had no family to return them to, so Harry just kept them safe, along with his posthumous Order of Merlin, 1st Class), and so… I could have his advice and insight, and he could finally have some vindication for all his pain and efforts. I don't like to ask him to agree to another portrait and help me without receiving a knighthood because… well, without going into too much detail I got the impression that he'd made a variety of Unbreakable Vows to both Tom and Dumbledore, and both were exacting masters in their own way, and neither one of them did anything for him that wasn't self serving. And I don't want to be that way. And perhaps this is just a glossier, shinier version, but I'd rather be the one to offer the honor first, and receive what he is willing to offer in return, and so be his final lord who has compassion and mercy, rather than another who is willing to literally work him to death.
So, if you agree, there would still be oaths of fealty, etc, I would just be talking to his current portrait, as I'm not at all sure that a second one could be commissioned and complete by February. (Though of course it is possible. Honestly, I'm not sure. More on this later.)
Speaking of the oaths of fealty, I haven't done this yet but I think I want to sit down with each knight (perhaps Ron via letter, as contact with him either makes me feel quite sad, or fills me with rage - for details, read the enclosed list - and also triggers Viktor's jealousy issues) and discuss what I'm going to say and what oath they want to make. I was relieved to hear you say that they could all be quite different. I'm thinking with Ron it would be quite sufficient for him to swear to keep my confidence, as he has already promised to do. But that's the easiest one, really.
So that's it for the knighthood issues. I've contacted your leathersmith via post and I have an appointment to stop in with said sword for measurements while I'm out on Saturday shopping with my favorite ladies, Ginny and Luna. I have no idea if he'll be able to do me a scabbard by the end of December, but it is six weeks, so armed with your letter of introduction, I'm hoping it's possible.
I double checked on this - once the sword is in the stone, I can take it out again, but I think it would only be me, Viktor, Harry, any children I possibly have, and possibly Neville if he's wearing one of my signet rings. Gelwyn was very disturbed to hear that I might want to take it out again, but when I assured her it would be for less than an hour in order to participate in a ceremony in which no blood was spilled, but that people were honored by its presence, she looked less agitated.
I don't like to agitate Gelwyn, Elizabeth. She's no light lady swanning about storing weapons in her free time. So, perhaps it's time to tell you about the Merfolk.
First, we do not call them mermaids. Those are things of non-magical legend. The Merfolk live in communities in both lake and ocean. There are at least three different races, if you will. The freshwater dwellers, the cold ocean dwellers, and the warm ocean dwellers. The warm ocean dwellers look closest to the mermaids of non-magical legend. They have the most human-like features and the least fish-like features, though they do still have the tail, sometimes split, sometimes not. The cold ocean dwellers have the most fish-like features. The freshwater dwellers, with whom I have had personal contact, are somewhere in between. They are entirely green with rather flat human-like faces, but aerodynamic for movement in the water. They have a mouth full of shark-like teeth, and their tails are more like sharks - not the flat horizontal fin you see in Disney films, but an upright vertical fin at the end of their tail. They have gills on the sides of their necks, as I do when I eat gillyweed. They are sentient (obviously), live in communities and the freshwater dwellers build homes and live stationary lives (the ocean dwellers do not do either), they have an extremely complex culture with its own set of moral judgments, rules of behavior, and so on. They are not violent with one another but they do have a great deal of violence in their eating, and this I have born personal witness to. They farm, after a fashion, and fish, they build and use tools. They have wrought metal weaponry and I'm so interested to know how that came about, as they have no smiths and can only exist above water for very brief periods of time. They do have a capacity to breath air through their mouths and noses rather than gills, but I gather it's not as efficient as their gills, and they get short of breath too easily, after a time.
It is my belief that they were the originators of ritual blood magic which does not require a wand, and does require singing and the shedding of blood. Apropos of this, merfolk have no speaking voice. The freshwater dwellers cannot be understood at all above water unless you put water in your ears, and you'll just hurt yourself trying if you don't. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard, but turned up to eleven. I understand that the cold ocean dwellers can be heard very well above water, and very clearly, and that is part of the siren legend, and the warm ocean dwellers very clearly but very faintly can be heard above water. But they all have the capacity to sing in the same beautiful, entrancing fashion.
Master Torquill, my Parliamentarian Tutor and the master of ceremonies I had introduced you to in a separate letter, has been working with Gelwyn to design the program. They check in with me occasionally and I'm grateful, but really, Master Torquill is enjoying himself no end, and I just have no interest, except in getting the thing done and done well. But I have been informed that there will be a merfolk choir, which should be a particular treat, and will require us to make about 20,000 water plugs for everyone's ears. Or possibly to disseminate the spell and the water, and then have people on hand ready to make them for the children and the non-magical and semi-magical guests.
Augusta and Narcissa continue to make great strides and it seems they have most details all wrapped up, though I'll be honest; I'm totally grateful not to have to deal with any of that. It would be my idea of a nightmare, having to prepare an event like this. I'm glad there are people who are good at this sort of thing. And there will be Shakespeare on the Pendragon Stage! It's so thrilling, Elizabeth. The response to the ad you suggested was overwhelming, and Narcissa was clear to mention that squibs up to the fourth generation removed were welcome and encouraged to respond, and they have! Of course, not all of the applicants were free for such a short notice rehearsal and performance, but enough were to make a go of it, and all are very, very interested in being long-term members of what might someday be the Regent's Shakespeare Company, but for now is the Regent's Players. Only one big name was free to join us this time around, but he's been cast as the Duke, and he's also willing to take on being the Director and he was able to recommend to us a Producer, a Stage Manager, and a Costume Director who were all in the know. And it's Sir P_ S_! Can you believe it? Can you just believe it? His grandmother was a witch, and he's always been close to that side of the family. Elizabeth, I'm going to get to meet Sir P_ S_! I'll try not to be too much of a fangirl. But I might have to stroll down there sometime when I know they're practicing on the stage and just soak it all in. When Narcissa provided me with a list of all applicants and their contact information who had Shakespeare in their repertoire, I almost fainted, I tell you. I've seen some of these names on the stage, and they were just brilliant. So many of them RSC! I'm slowly working through writing each of them a short note, bit of a form in some ways, but inviting them officially to the currently loose gathering of the other RSC. Of course, I need to figure a way to secure funding for this. I'll be discussing this with Narcissa as well, because I think she might have a flair for such things.
Okay. Moving on. I have quizzed my Head Elf most particularly on the secrets of the castle in Wales and he has admitted that there are no hidden monsters, but there certainly are other secrets, and he's walking me through them one by one. Apparently everything that doesn't have to do with the New Palace is a secret that involves the castle becoming impervious to siege warfare. And the New Palace continues to be an indefensible piece of frivolous fluff, but now I know why the elves hate it so much! They credit it with the downfall of the Pendragons! Given the fact there are orgy rooms and both banqueting and vomiting facilities (part of the communal toilet), I begin to get their point. I think it's easy for the modern world to remember the good and useful things the Roman Empire has given us - the maths, the architecture, the sanitation and medicine, the politics, and so forth, and forget that it was bread and circuses, work every other day, and watching lions not just devour Christians for sport, but massive bloodbaths and beastiality on stage, paedophilia as standard in men's lives, and orgies of food and sex at home. Ah, Pax Romana.
Please forgive me for using you as a mail owl, but would you be so kind as to pass on the enclosed letter to Charles from me? I wanted to get on his calendar for Harry's knighthood in February.
Also, it was recommended to me that you might like some books on these various topics, but of course there's nothing available for a semi-magical audience that isn't totally patronizing, and I'm not giving you those. But I have included in here copies of Hogwarts, A History (this year's edition which does cover the Final Battle), Quidditch Through The Ages, and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. I know, they're tiny. I've put a very mild shrinking charm on them that should wear off sometime between twelve and seventy-two hours from now, so if you just set them aside, they'll soon regain their normal size. And of course this all makes me think about other things it would be useful for non-magical parents to know: a complete and in depth curriculum overview of all seven years, of all courses offered, and as well a theoretical underpinning for each subject matter. I mean, perhaps some parents wouldn't give a fig, but I know mine would have been quite interested, and would have liked to have had a basic understanding in order to discuss it more readily with me.
That's it for this week. Thanks again for the two weeks off. I had to get well, and then screw my head back on straight again, but I think I'm good now.
Hoping you're well,
Hermione
November 18, 199_
Buckingham Palace
Dear Hermione,
Now that I know you can be trusted to be quite forthcoming and regular in your communication, if you do, perchance need to skip a week, I will quite understand. I will miss our ongoing conversation, of course, but sometimes life makes demands that must be met immediately.
I have in the past offered medals, decorations, and honors on the dead, though I usually offer them privately to the next-of-kin, but if your professor, in death, seems to still be quite himself as it were, I think his portrait could be a fine stand in. In such a case, simply hold Excalibur before him, tip to the ground, I think.
I have noticed that your newspapers use the postnomial abbreviation OM for Order of Merlin, which of course makes sense, though I am more used to it meaning Order of Merit, but you might do well to consider the postnomial abbreviation KM for Knight of Merlin.
About this professor of yours. I take it that he was the spy, the Headmaster of your missing seventh year? Do I understand correctly that he was the one you could not save, who died in your arms? I'm so sorry, my dear.
I have wished over and over, and particularly as I read your lists, that such horrors need not have been yours. And it seems quite clear to me that though you and your fellows to be knighted did admirable jobs of it, it need not have been you. Yes, I understand that Harry was a horcrux as well, and in the end that was taken care of without him dying entirely, but I still do not approve of this grooming of you to be a child soldier. It was entirely unnecessary. Were there no other people of merit, resiliency, and stout heart who could not have sufficed? Are the pickings of Avalon so bereft? I take it you have no standing army? And the police force is unequipped? Have you no analogue to MI5 or MI6?
See to this, Hermione. I do not ask you to go to war. I do not ask you to hoard power like Dumbledore in his sentient castle. And I do not ask you to revive or compete with this Order of the Phoenix. And I do not ask that you do this in the next ten years. But clearly, clearly there must be a comprehensive plan in place that is agreed to by all stakeholders to both provide quality investigation and decisive action and possibly covert operations when absolutely necessary. The unmitigated bungling that occurred with Tom's bids for power was an utter farce, and people died. It happened. Let it not happen again.
Your Regency will change many things for Avalon, and so many of them may go unnoticed; those little actions we take to make life easier for all, cleaner, healthier, safer, kinder. You may not be thanked. You may not be liked. You may in the end be respected, but perhaps not even that by the majority. But you will have done the best that you possibly could, and you will have made the world a better place for having been in it. If you can do those things and also find happiness with your lot in life, such as it is, then you will have lived the best possible life anyone can hope for, my dear.
So your castle has secrets, does it? I'm glad there are no monsters.
Thank you for the books. I have put them up for safekeeping and will check on them in a few days to see if they could be read without a microfiche machine.
I'm thrilled to hear that the Regent's Players have been born, and that you will manage to have such an excellent Director and Duke on board. I do enjoy having seen him in roles before, and I will be very happy to see him on your stage, if time permits. You are allowed your excitement, Hermione. Do not lose your joy in the midst of all your responsibility. I'm quite looking forward to meeting your husband and seeing him play quidditch, and I am allowing myself that joy. (It sounds fascinating to me. The boys have always enjoyed polo, and I feel there are certain similarities there.) Allow yourself yours.
As to funding, when you consult with Narcissa, which I think is a wonderful idea, consider the idea of patronage and know that the House of Windsor will join as a patron.
Charles has included letters for you and Harry, and I have a letter for Master Torquill.
Enjoy yourself in the midst of your studies and your responsibilities, Hermione, and do not forget to take care of yourself.
Your friend,
Elizabeth
November 19, 199_
Pendragon Suite
Dear Minerva,
Might it be possible for me to have an entirely private conference, somehow, with Headmaster Snape in such a way that does not unduly single him out and so provide awkwardness amongst his colleagues for him?
I have convinced him to receive a knighthood, gotten Elizabeth's blessing on it, and now I have some rather pointed questions to put to him. Among other things I want to have a second portrait commissioned. If that second portrait is not finished and ready by the time of the investiture, might we borrow his Headmaster Portrait for the ceremony?
Thank you so much,
Hermione
November 19, 199_
Offices of the Head
Your Majesty,
I believe that can be arranged. It may take a bit of finegalling, and I shall try to arrange it for an afternoon next week if it can be done. There is a single landscape in my private study that is by invitation only as concerns wandering portrait figures. I shall see if I can secure an audience with him on your behalf next Friday at four in the afternoon. Be a moment early and I'll let you into the space. I daren't set foot in, for he would leave.
I would arrange it earlier, but it may take significant time to have him tracked down and to get the message to him privately.
Of course I will make the portrait available if necessary. Do invite me to the investiture. I should like to see him again.
You're quite welcome,
MGM
Hermione opened the bottle of wine and Viktor unwrapped the cheese and started slicing it. Luna had been alerted to come and join the gang at nine on Friday if she wanted the latest in care packages and she brought along a jar of tapenade from her horde, so then in addition to apples, fried things, and nuts, there was also olive tapenade on crusty bread and an entirely delightful cheese selection that was Draco's thank you for the quidditch game.
When Ginny asked how the game went, Hermione tried to hide her smile.
Viktor slowly turned to her. When she looked at him, she knew she was blushing. He had one eyebrow raised and he was silently communicating something to her, but she wasn't getting the message.
"You didn't tell them?" he asked quietly, though of course everyone could hear.
Hermione scoffed. "They don't ask me about quidditch. And I don't tell them everything. Just, you know, when I don't know what you're on about."
"Don't make me ask Luna how it went," Ginny warned.
Luna giggled. "It's really funny, though. You should get Viktor to tell the story."
Viktor's head slowly swivelled to take in Luna and her giggling. Hermione couldn't see the look on his face, but she would bet it was priceless. "And how would you know this, Miss Lovegood?"
She grinned. "Because I see right through you, Mr. Krum." She crinkled her nose at him.
At this, Viktor stopped slicing cheese entirely, sat back on the couch, spread his arms along the back and let his head fall back entirely. "Will the humiliation never end?" he groaned.
"But the Inferi won. Prophet said it was a good game. You were in rare form, Kaminski was a beast on goal, the Harpies had a good showing, but it wasn't good enough, etc, etc," Harry said.
"Not sure this has to do with that, mate," Neville said mildly, filling his plate.
"I don't get it," Harry admitted plainly.
"Well, let's get some wine and then I've got a toast," Hermione said.
"Oh, God," Viktor groaned, still not moving.
Everyone had a wineglass in their hands for the toast except Viktor, whose glass was waiting for him on the table.
"I would like to propose a toast to Viktor, who can still win games and outplay the opposing team, even while thoroughly distracted by me. To Viktor's Mad Skillz."
"To Viktor's Mad Skillz!" everyone agreed, and they toasted him while he had his hands covering his face.
Everyone had drunk to Viktor and his undoubted skill and was plating up goodies when Hermione turned to her beautiful man who still had his hands over his face. "Do you want to tell the story, or should we hear Luna's version? It could be quite good."
Viktor groaned in response.
"I won't, unless I have his consent. That wouldn't be right," Luna said.
Viktor sighed and let his hands fall to his lap. "Go on. I am mildly curious as to what you will say." He still wasn't looking at anyone but the ceiling, however.
"Well, it was you, wasn't it Ginny? That helped Hermione get ready?" Luna asked.
"And I did a terrific job, even if I say it myself. We got her hair absolutely perfect. Perfect, I tell you. She could have been wearing sweats and those bunny slippers of hers and still rocked a party."
"So true," Viktor muttered.
"And she wasn't wearing sweats. I'm sure she wore clothes that flattered her, because she always does," Luna continued.
"That's also Ginny, these days. Used to be my mum. I have no natural aptitude, is where I'm going with this. It's always other people, and I'm grateful," Hermione added.
"And Viktor is a professional," Luna said. "I'm sure he's not distracted by many things, not many at all when he's focused. Especially as his job is to notice what others don't, in the midst of great distraction. And he is the peak example of this job done well. But I think, you know, we all have thresholds beyond which we get triggered. We can only take so much. And I think we just discovered what Viktor's threshold is; and I'm sure it wasn't just that her hair was wonderful. But sometimes when we do certain things on the outside, that promotes something on the inside to shine through. And certainly it is the case that often when we look good and we know it, it helps us to feel good and express it in ways we're otherwise unused to. And if there is someone in our life who is devoted to us the way Viktor is with Hermione, then I imagine that a certain signal is sent in such a moment, something that says, 'If you don't come over here right now, you're going to miss out on witnessing something so purely good, so worthwhile, and so very fragile that your lack of presence may ensure that it remains ephemeral, whereas your witness and fostering of it may command repeat performances.' And of course it's all very unconscious, very visceral. For a woman, she might talk about her heart. For a man, it might have to do with desire alone, hence the embarrassment, and if it is as strong as I imagine, I'm sure his teammates teased him mercilessly, because that's what people do. But that's just the surface, the reaction within us that ensures we get to the right place at the right time. Underneath it all, I think what really happened was that Viktor was able to see the beautiful light within Hermione, and mostly unobscured, and maybe for the first time. And inconveniently, it happened in the middle of one of his games. Or possibly right at the beginning." And then Luna ate some tapenade, sighed with pleasure, and leaned back on the couch she shared with the Potters. "I love his tapenade," she breathed.
"That was beautiful. And true," Viktor said, now looking at the blond.
"Oh, you've tried the tapenade?" Luna asked.
"He means what you said before, Luna," Ginny said.
"Oh, right. Well, that was just obvious. And if you took your teammates' view of reality, Viktor, I can understand why you were so embarrassed. But really. Why do that? You might also choose to own your own interpretation of this, whatever it is."
"Mm. My own interpretation." He looked at Hermione. "I looked to Hermione and saw instead Aphrodite, who beckoned me to join her. That I had to say wait instead of yes crushed something inside of me."
"That was beautiful, Viktor, and true," Luna pointed out. "But I bet it didn't remain crushed."
Hermione was looking at him and she loved the devilish look he gave her; the quirk of an eyebrow and a tiny smile, but also a look in those dark eyes that called to mind a beautiful evening filled with figuring out how to eat Ethiopian food and many, many hours of fornicating in the Roman Bath. "No," he said, staring at Hermione boldly. "It didn't."
Harry cleared his throat.
"So, Luna. How's your campaign with Draco, then?" Neville asked, changing the subject.
"Slow and steady," she reported back with a smile, but then, she was often smiling.
"He is a fool if he does not see your worth," Viktor remarked, putting a few fried things on his plate and sitting back with his arm behind Hermione's shoulders.
"I think he does, but he's scared, and fear doesn't mobilize him, like it does with our lions, here. Fear makes him hide until he feels safe again. So everything is hidden. His thoughts. His feelings. But that's okay. I'm working on developing a safe space between us, and I don't mean to rush him along, not really. At least, not at this point. Everyone deserves to have a safe space, don't you think?"
"What do you do when you get scared, Luna?" Harry asked.
"I intellectualize."
"And that means…" Ginny prompted.
"It means that I think about it. I think about anger. I think about pain. I think about fear. I think, think, think, and I don't feel. Because thinking feels safer than feeling because feeling involves going back to the darkness that scares me and facing it. Of course, that's the only way to get rid of it, but it requires great courage. I have that courage, but sometimes I forget because just thinking about it instead seems like the rational response, and it certainly is a more pleasant sensation. But in a way, intellectualizing is only good for martialing my courage to the fore. And if I dwell there too long, the fears and anguish multiply while my back is turned, for all that I don't feel them doing so."
"Pretty sure I do that," Harry said.
"I do that," Hermione agreed.
"Yep, me too," Ginny said.
"I try not to, but yes, it is still a temptation," Viktor admitted.
Everyone looked at Neville. He nodded. "It's a familiar pattern," he admitted with a wry grin.
It was quiet after that as the group of friends silently ate and drank.
"Can we do this after we graduate?" Harry asked quietly. "I don't want to lose this."
Hermione smiled and Neville silently nodded. It was Luna who responded.
"I think that's a wonderful idea. We all need connection, to be around people who love us, appreciate us, and understand us. We'll be busy, but no more or less busy than we are now."
"Well, I've got a castle with forty bedrooms, so you're all welcome to stay for long periods of time. I mean," Hermione glanced at Viktor, having not actually discussed this with him, specifically. He nodded his approval and so she continued on. "Neville, if you want to get out of your Grandmother's house, you're more than welcome to move in. We'll set you up with private space and set some boundaries so you don't feel like you're just working all the time. And we have 50,000 acres. There's more than enough space to host any herbology project you're considering, if you didn't want to do it elsewhere. You don't have to decide now, but consider it as an option."
Neville grinned and nodded silently.
"Harry and Ginny, I know you'll have your own lovely home soon enough, but I hope you'll come and stay with us for long periods. I know our parents will.
"Luna, you're always welcome, and especially if it's hard to be in your father's house. Viktor's friends, likewise, will come and visit us and stay, and I think," here she looked back at Viktor, who nodded silently again, "we just always want our home to be open to the people we love. Especially since we've been given so much."
Luna smiled. "I will take you up on that. May I stay with you over the Christmas holidays?"
"Most certainly," Viktor answered.
"Let's stay with your sister for the holidays. We can visit Mum and Dad for Boxing Day," Ginny urged, putting her arms around Harry's neck and giving his cheek a brief kiss.
Harry nodded and leaned his head against hers.
"I would like to invite Bill and Fleur to stay over Christmas as well. She is certainly the most local of my own friends," Viktor said, and Hermione smiled in response.
Ginny sighed. "She's rather intimidating as sister-in-laws go, but she and Bill seem to fit quite well," she grudgingly admitted.
Harry looked at her and Hermione watched as he tugged lightly on a lock of her hair to get her attention. "Hey. You're already perfect, Gin. No need to compare."
"You don't compare yourself to me, do you?" Hermione asked, rhetorically.
Ginny snorted. "I know your faults all too well, Hermione. You don't intimidate me."
"Fleur also has faults," Viktor pointed out calmly. "She's nosey. A good friend, but still. Nosey. And she's sometimes a little too insightful. Also, she can read lips. This is very inconvenient, sometimes."
A look of recognition dawned over Ginny's face. "Oh. Oh. Oh, I see." Then she shifted that look of recognition to Hermione, who didn't quite get it.
"Oh, God," Viktor groaned and laid his head on the back of the couch again.
"You know," Ginny said while grinning hugely, "a little bird told me that Fleur subscribes to various French style magazines."
"Oh... dear," Hermione said quietly and somewhat surprised. But, of course… And she'd known… Because Ginny had said… But she hadn't imagined… Oh, dear. And she read lips. Oh, dear.
"I don't get it," Neville said.
"You know how Viktor usually scowls at the camera? Well, there was that one time he didn't," Ginny said.
"Yeah, I'm failing to see how that could be embarrassing," Harry said.
"That might be," Luna posited, "because you're failing to grasp the magnitude of understatement your wife is using. So, Viktor," she said, turning her insight on him. "Were you entirely naked?"
Viktor groaned.
Hermione came to his defence. "He had his trousers on." Still, she was grinning.
"Barely," Ginny said in a sing-song voice. "According to Mum. And Fleur. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen the pictures. But apparently you have, Hermione."
"Of course I have," she said, still grinning.
Viktor groaned.
She turned her grinning gaze on Viktor. "So, did Fleur write to you after that and tease the hell out of you? You never mentioned."
Viktor groaned. "That is because I have not yet decided if it was best idea or worst idea of my life."
"Wait, when was this?" Harry asked.
"Round about the time he discovered I was lusting after his picture in the paper," Hermione said, still grinning.
Viktor groaned, and this time put his free arm over his face. He was now hiding in his own elbow.
"Right," Neville said decisively. "If a man wants to do a sexy photo shoot, then I say he should be able to do it without all this falderal. Viktor, good for you."
"Did you do it just to impress Hermione?" Harry asked, totally in earnest.
"Essentially," Viktor said on a groan, still hiding under his elbow.
"'Mione, were you impressed?" Harry asked.
"Entirely," she confirmed. "Totally and completely."
"Right," Harry said, his voice carrying his conviction. "So then it did exactly what you wanted it to do, Viktor. Well done."
"Come on," Hermione quietly cajoled, leaning into Viktor's chest a bit more. "You've nothing to be embarrassed about, my beautiful man. Go back to the place where you were shameless. Women only tease like this because we're impressed and it's not always acceptable or convenient to admit it. And besides, when they asked you to make love to the camera, you did a magnificent job of it. Honestly. You totally got that camera off, Viktor. Hard. At least twice."
He laughed at that and came out from hiding. Silent laughter still shaking his chest, he leaned his forehead into hers. He didn't say anything, like he might have done if they had been alone, but his laughter and his joy said everything that was necessary, then.
Then Luna proposed a toast. "To Viktor! May he always get what he needs."
Everyone toasted Viktor and this time he just smiled at everyone and then kissed Hermione ever-so-chastely on the lips.
November 20, 199_
Hogwarts Castle
My darling Viktor,
Today you played the Bournemouth Bulls. Well, your whole team did. Did you win? Did you lose? I have no way of knowing. But I know that you flew well, you were not distracted by me, as I was not there at all, and most importantly you did your best. You always do.
I hope that you are doing well and feeling good and not in any way injured. However it is that you are, I hope you will take care of yourself well, and I look forward to having dinner with you tonight at the restaurant of your choosing. Tell me where I should meet you at six and I will be there.
I love you, my darling one. I feel I don't tell you this often enough. But I do. I love you. I don't have your eloquence to guide me through moments like this, but I have bluntness, and I have honesty. So I'll just say that I'm so grateful that you're in my life. I'm grateful that you love me. I'm grateful your heart is so big and that you've learned your father's lessons in wisdom so well. And I'm grateful you had such an amazing mother, because that has prepared you for me. Okay, that came out wrong. I think what I mean to say is that I noticed when we had dinner with them the first time that Sofia is a strong woman and a powerful witch and it dawned on me at some point that with a mother like that, it was no wonder you aren't intimidated by strong women, and that you are instead quite comfortable around them, rather than the simpering idiots and the mask of simpering idiot that some rather intelligent women don in order to fit in.
Some people I know would love to have groupies and would have shagged every single one of them. And you have always seemed… vaguely repulsed by them? Something like that.
One day soon, will you consider bringing your cello back? I would love to hear you play, and even if you're just practicing in the background, it would be very welcome. When I was little, my parents always played music (records and tapes, and the radio, I mean, they were not musicians themselves) in the background, and it is something that I miss.
Well, not a particularly sexy letter, but one that is full of love. Let me give you something a bit sexier. I'm hoping to buy a cute date night dress. Not eternal style, just something for now, at this weight that I could wear out with you. Possibly an LBD (little black dress) that can be accessorized in so many different ways. But after dinner, and a walk on the beach, I'm very much looking forward to having you peel that dress off me, Viktor. I want you to make me come, just by kissing and sucking my skin, and all those lovely erogenous zones you've so thoroughly documented.
41 days. 41 days until penetrative orgasm, Viktor. Oh, the things I want to do to you. The things I definitely want you to do to me...
I love you so,
Hermione
November 20, 199_
The Cross Hotel, Ely
My sweet Myon,
Well, the Inferi lost to the Bulls today, which means our season is officially over, and we are in the post-season, now. It is hard to lose, no matter when. Earlier in the tournament only has different regrets than losing now, in the finals. Bournemouth will continue on to the National Championship next week, and I wish them well.
I think I will go for a run, then a swim, then a nap. And then I will be fit to join you for dinner. Just floo to my hotel. If I'm still feeling down, I'll save the more elaborate plans for another day.
These are the moments I would love to lose myself in your arms and in your thighs, to sink into your body and have to neither think nor feel. And yet, would that be the best thing? Why should I offer you all my pain and sorrow when I also have the means to release it? I love the idea of slow, sweet sex after a defeat, but I think I would just rather take the opportunity to have slow, sweet sex when we both feel like it, and perhaps after a defeat… I just need to take care of myself.
I don't know. Luna's words last night convicted me. I am glad you have such wise friends, Myon. I was worried, with my distance from Papa and Mama I would not be challenged on my foolishness often enough, but I see now I should have no such concerns.
I want always to be brave enough to get for myself what I need. And I think, after a defeat, perhaps what I need is time to let it go. And I can hide inside of sex, inside of you and wait for you, in a way, to resolve my problems for me. But when I put it so clearly I do not like it at all as an option. I want to bring to you my best, Myon. Always my best. And sometimes, my best is quite broken and still it is the best I can offer. But I do not wish to bring to you my brokenness when I am reserving the means for fixing it. That seems… strangely manipulative.
I love you, Myon. I am grateful for your love and your light, and I will happily peel your new dress off your beautiful body and make you sigh my name in pleasure. It is among my favorite things to do, you know. But to be in your presence, to share your thoughts, your feelings, your love. All these are as important to me as sharing my body with you and partaking of your own. And despite my nap today, I may be ready for an early night and a long sleep curled up around you.
Thank you for making me feel safe, Myon. I love you with all my heart, and all my soul, and all my body, and with the very essence of myself I do love you.
Forever yours,
Viktor
HERMIONE TO INVADE FRANCE?
Daily Prophet Staff Reporter
[moving picture of Lady Granger in the arms of Viktor Krum, arriving via portkey]
International suspicions have been aroused by Lady Hermione's unannounced arrival on France's sunny shores yesterday morning. The press were out in force to greet her, along with French Aurors who took Granger and Krum both into custody. They have not been seen since and could not be contacted for comment.
Viktor Krum, a fairly decent seeker who recently lost the National Semi-Finals for the Ely Inferi by ending the game early and catching the snitch at entirely the wrong time, has half moved into Hogwarts under their new rule allowing engaged couples to partially cohabitate if the students are of age and have 'emotional bruising'.
When sought for comment, Inferi Head Coach J.X.C. MacAster said, "Viktor Krum has not applied for vacation this week, and he was not responsible for losing the game against the Bulls. That was a team effort, you clod, and thanks for rubbing it in. I signalled to Krum to end the misery, and he did, on my order. You have seven seconds to get to an exit zone. Tippy! Release the dogs!"
When sought for comment, the Countess Black said, "This is libel!"
The intrepid reporters of the Daily Prophet will bring you all the latest breaking news on England's most recent invasion of France. Will this war be over in a hundred days? Could Lady Hermione be content with simply taking Provence or will she want Paris, too? Will a new Joan of Arc rise up against her, and will her old war pals Harry Potter, OM, Ron Weasley, OM, and Neville Longbottom, OM talk sense into her fevered brain, or will they join her in the insane bid for power she's clearly already roped Krum into? If Hermione Granger turns into our next Dark Lady, will her Order of Merlin be revoked, or will she nefariously turn all the OMs against the country in the mass uprising? Will anyone be safe again?
And what if she gets her hands Excalibur?
"Oh, for the love of Jesus," Hermione murmured.
Moments later, dimly across the Great Hall her shriek of outrage could be heard, and it cut through the breakfast chatter like, well, an ancient sword of legend.
"I ALREADY HAVE EXCALIBUR, YOU IDIOT!"
The Headmistress could be clearly heard to clear her throat.
Everyone in the Great Hall watched with rapt attention.
"Your Majesty, could you spare a moment?" the Headmistress politely asked. Everyone watched as Hermione Granger stood up, smoothed her school uniform, and walked up to the dias where the Head Table was.
"Yes, Headmistress. How can I help you?" they heard her say serenely, as if someone else had shrieked in outrage.
"Did you go and invade France this weekend?"
"No, Headmistress. I introduced Viktor to my grandmother in Provence. She's a second-generation squib. We invited her to the wedding. And then Viktor worked in her rose garden."
"I see. And do you have any plans to invade France at any point in the future?"
"No, Headmistress. I approve neither of war nor conquest. I shall not invade France, under any circumstance."
"I see. Thank you for clearing that up for me, and I appreciate your time and candor."
"You're very welcome, Headmistress. Have a lovely breakfast."
"You as well, Your Majesty."
The moment Hermione Granger was seated, the whispering became a roar.