TW: Battle sequence, friends.
The thundering continued to roll through the air as the Death Eaters apparated, full force, into the square… and froze. It was the barest moment of hesitation. But it was enough.
The "good guys" leapt into action, a flurry of spells slashing out through the darkness of Trafalgar Square. Hermione's wand cast a quick Protego, deflecting a flash of red from the Auror beside her. And then she released him from her focus. She fired spell after spell into the fray. Dodging, blocking, and keeping her team in her periphery at all times, and the fountain at her back.
And then the source of the thundering was made clear as giants emerged from the shadows of Muggle London. That's going to take a lot of obliviating.
Someone nearby shouted "Bloody fucking hell!" and Hermione nearly laughed. And then her brain pushed aside the borderline hysteria and began whirling over the possibilities.
There were ten of the giants, by Hermione's quick count. All coming from the southern access points. They were close enough now that the ground quivered beneath each step. Hermione deflected and returned a hex even as half her focus remained on the giants. One of them jostled another… right through the side of Whitehall Theatre. She winced, and then jerked as a slicing hex caught her in the leg.
Hermione growled, and her gaze flew back to her opponent, whose smirk she could practically feel radiating out from beneath the stupid mask. She fired a slicing hex right back, angry with the Death Eater, angry with herself, and angry about the bloody Whitehall Theatre. The hex caught her opponent in the shoulder, and she followed it up with a lightning fast stupefy that took him down.
She glanced back to the giants who were now pushing each other back and forth across Whitehall, buildings and debris tumbling in their wake. The destruction was staggering, but at least they weren't really advancing for the moment. Merlin, giants. And she'd thought Grawp was bad… If only there were someway to keep them out long enough to deal with the Death Eaters…
A terrible idea struck her. "Blow up the street!" she screamed over the noise. "Block them out!" She pointed her wand at the road that lay between her and the giants. "Bombarda Maxima!" The road blew apart, chunks of pavement, dust, and dirt flying through the air. Death Eaters and Aurors alike cast the debris aside, and then returned to duelling. The explosion drew the giants' attention, and they immediately dropped their infighting and returned to advancing on the square. "Bombarda Maxima!" Hermione screamed again, and this time she wasn't alone, a trickle of relief whispered through her as the crater grew deeper and wider... but as explosions shook the earth around them, and their destruction rent the air, Voldemort appeared.
He screamed his torrential rage, and a whirlwind blasted outward from where he stood. Before she even had time to think, Hermione was thrown to the ground, the twins and Emmeline falling beside her. Her palms tore against the stone, her bones jarring against the force of Voldemort's magic, and the force of the fall. Everything hurt, but she'd felt worse. She dragged herself back to her feet just as Voldemort and his Death Eaters disappeared.
There was no time to breath a sigh of relief, because the giants were still there. Parts of the road before the giants were still intact and the first of them stumbled into the square, their expressions greedy and hungry for violence. Hermione shuddered as spellwork rose up around her, ineffectually bouncing off the giants' relatively impervious skin. But Hermione already knew what to do. If she'd learned anything in first year, it was this… Spells might not do much against an enormous magical creature, but just about anything can be knocked out the Muggle way.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" she roared, her spell whizzing toward the largest chunk of road she could find. Every iota of her focus strained against the immense weight of the rock, pushing it to fly through the air, and then, with relief, she dropped the damned thing right on top of the giant entering the square.
The massive weight crashed into the giant's head, and for one awful moment, nothing happened. Everyone in the entire square seemed frozen, holding their breaths… and then the creature teetered slowly from one side to the other… before crashing to the ground, unconscious.
A cheer rose up around her.
"That's our Mione!" Gideon exclaimed gleefully, pulling her into a sideways hug.
"Alright people, you know what to do!" Alastor shouted.
Several more chunks of road flew through the air. Hermione didn't bother to watch them make impact. Instead she whirled to find Alastor. His tall, broad figure stood out in the crowd, and she ran for him, leaping over a knocked out Death Eater, and squinting her eyes against the dust as she went.
"Alastor," she grabbed his well-muscled forearm, pulling his attention to her. Alastor whirled to face her. "He wanted bodies. He's going to get them somewhere else. We have to get out of here and find out where they've gone!"
Alastor stared at her for a moment, then nodded curtly. "Get the Order back to Headquarters. I'll get there as soon as I can."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Alastor cut across her. "We can't just apparate into random Muggle neighbourhoods looking for Death Eaters," he growled. "We need to check the monitoring system. Get back to Headquarters - and wait."
Hermione swallowed her fear and anger, then nodded and ran back to her team.
"Good thing the Muggles already thought there was a gas leak," Gideon chuckled as she reached them.
Hermione couldn't decide whether to roll her eyes or laugh, but was immediately saved the trouble when the wards at Lily's home were tripped.
"Shit!" Already in battle mode, she didn't freeze or hesitate. "Lily's parents are in danger," she said. "I have to go. Don't die. Get back to headquarters." And she apparated away before anyone could stop her, or otherwise react at all.
The street was dark. Dark and quiet. Most of the houses on the block belonged to families. There were no parties sounding from backyards. No couples snogging in the bushes. It was just past midnight now. Whatever families had stayed up till midnight were now getting ready for bed. Soft bathroom lights shone from a few sparse houses. The others were dark.
Hermione's careful gaze scanned the street, quickly picking out a group of shadows creeping up the front walks of several silent homes. She took a slow, steadying breath. There were at least six of them, and all spread out down the street. There would definitely be a fight, and she didn't love the odds. Alright, then, Hermione. Even them up. Let's get this done, she told herself, raising her wand.
She shot two silent stupefies in quick succession. The red flashes lit up the street, warning her targets. But the Death Eaters reacted too slowly, too surprised to block in time, and they fell to the ground, unconscious. Hermione immediately shielded, dashing toward the stupefied pair. She ducked behind a nearby shrub and flicked her wand at them. "Incarcerous," she whispered. Not waiting to watch as her magic tied them up.
Instead she turned her attention to the street. The Death Eaters should have been silently stalking her. Instead they were cursing each other under their breath.
"Homenum revelio." Sure enough, four spots lit up in the darkness. Two down, four to go. She fired a quick succession of stupefies in the direction of the glowing indicators. All were blocked but one. Halfway there.
She allowed herself a glance down the street at Lily's home, hoping to hell that her friend wouldn't glance out the window and notice the flashes of light in the street. "Stupid to leave it to chance," she muttered. She quickly sent her Lioness to let Lily know to stay away from the windows - and to make sure her parents did the same.
"I guess there must be someone important on this street, Malfoy," one of the remaining Death Eaters muttered.
Hermione's chest constricted. Not again!
"Well, we knew something was up when we couldn't apparate in," another said in a low voice.
Lucius was silent.
"Oi, scum! Come out and fight us or we'll head straight for the house your Patronus just entered, and see what we find!"
Hermione hesitated. Three against one was bad odds. Would Lucius take her? Would he deliver her to his master? She didn't know. She certainly couldn't expect him to be an ally here - not if he still enjoyed being, you know, alive.
Spellfire flashed in her general direction, and the bush she was hiding behind caught fire.
Her mind rushed over her options. She needed to move. She had lost the element of surprise, and with these odds, she needed it back. But how the hell did you surprise someone who already knew where— Ah.
She shifted. It was a strange feeling, her body no longer hers, not entirely. Her muscles thickening. Her body lengthening. Fur… everywhere. She suppressed the flashback to her second-year encounter with Polyjuice. And then she was no longer a young woman. She was a lioness. Strength and courage trembled through her veins as she lay in wait. The Death Eaters creeping closer and closer.
Hermione's tail quivered. Her flank twitched. A spell flashed past her and she ducked low. Closer… Closer…
And then she pounced. A roar tore from her chest almost instinctively, and the Death Eaters reeled back in astonishment. Or what she assumed was astonishment, since she couldn't actually see their faces. Surprise, she thought, with a deep sense of satisfaction.
She landed heavily, 200-plus pounds of lioness, on one of the Death Eaters, knocking his mask away to be sure it wasn't Lucius, her claws digging deep into his chest. Rosier. Fluidly, she shifted back to human form, her wand immediately in her hands. "Stupefy!" Only seconds had passed. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair.
And then she was a lioness again. She pounced at the Death Eater who wasn't Lucius, trapping him beneath her powerful form. Shift. Human again. Her wand in her hand. The Death Eater stupefied.
Hermione stood and turned to face Lucius, stepping close, a scowl on her face, and her wand pointed at his throat. "This is Lily's street," she hissed. "As I'm sure you now realize." Fury was trembling through her now. Unadulterated rage. Lily could have died. Her parents could have died. And this man, this boy would have done nothing to stop it. "You deserve Azkaban," she spat. "You deserve worse."
Lucius said nothing. Did nothing. He looked almost relieved. It made her angry. It made her heart hurt.
"What am I supposed to do here, Lucius?" she asked coldly. "I keep wondering, you know… what would you do if our positions were reversed? Would you save me, Lucius? Would you lower yourself to help a blood traitor? Or would you take me in? Tom Riddle isn't very forgiving."
Still he said nothing.
"Stupefy," she growled.
Lucius fell to the ground and she hoped it hurt. She stared at him for a long moment, and then she pulled him off the street, and tucked his body under a bush, where hopefully no one would see it.
She was tired. She was sweaty. Her body ached. There were scratches on her arms and face from flying road debris and bush branches. There was a slash on her arm she didn't remember getting, and a deep cut on her cheek. Her leg was still bleeding from the slicing hex in Trafalgar, and her hands stung as sweat soaked into the scratches and around the bits of stone that had lodged in them.
All in a day's work.
She cast her Patronus, sending it to notify Alastor that she had five Death Eaters for garbage pickup. She petrified them all for good measure and levitated them into Lily's backyard.
Then she knocked on the front door. "It's me, Lils!" she said tiredly. She thought over what she might say to prove it was her. "When Mel finally escaped the hospital wing, we spent the entire day locked in our dormitory, chatting and eating cake. It was my birthday, and we cried and we laughed and it was probably the best birthday of my life."
The door flew open and Hermione was dragged inside and into the tightest hug she'd ever experienced. Even counting Hagrid. Hermione kicked the door shut behind her.
"Hermione, you're okay!" her friend practically shrieked into her ear. Lily pushed her away for proper inspection.
Hermione smiled tiredly. "Yes, I'm okay, Lily. I'm okay. You're okay. Your parents are okay." She scanned the room. "Where are they?"
Lily flushed a dark red. "I… er… locked them in their room, actually."
Hermione cringed slightly, trying not to laugh. "Well, we'd better go let them out," she said. "But, er… let's wait for Alastor so we don't have to explain why I'm here alone, yeah?"
Lily nodded furiously and pulled Hermione in for another hug, and Hermione could feel Lily's tears soaking into the fabric of her shirt. "They'd be dead if it weren't for you!" Lily sobbed, fear and relief colliding.
Hermione's heart went cold. "No, Lils. It was my fault they came in the first place. In the original timeline, they attacked Trafalgar. It was because of me that we were there, waiting. They never would have come here otherw—"
"Shut up, James!" Lily laugh-sobbed, pulling away and looking Hermione in the eye. "You're being an idiot!" Lily said seriously. "You just saved my parents, Hermione! And probably a lot of other people. So stop. Just stop and feel good about it, for once! It's not your job to stop the Death Eaters from being Death Eaters. It's your job to do your best to save the people you can save." She paused. "If you could do anything differently tonight… if you could go back and do it over, would you change any of the things you did?"
Hermione hesitated, trying to look at the question honestly. Thinking about the giants and Trafalgar, Lucius and the Death Eaters… "No," she admitted finally. "I wouldn't."
Lily beamed brilliantly. "Well, there you go. Come on, I'll make you some tea."
"Lily, I have to get back. There could be other—"
There was a bang at the door. Lily froze.
"Who's there?" Hermione called.
"Alastor Moody!" came the gruff voice. Hermione waited. "Your first day of training with the Order you forgot you had a wand, and stepped in front of a stunner directed to Molly Weasley. When you came to, I swore I'd never let you on my team."
Hermione flushed. "Of course that's the memory you'd pick," she grumbled.
Lily was sniggering behind her.
"Your turn," he growled impatiently.
"Alright then," Hermione said. "That same day of training, you and I duelled, and I won one out of three, and you changed your mind about my being on your team."
Alastor's gruff laugh sounded through the door. Hermione swung it open.
"Alastor, Lily Evans. Lily, this is Alastor Moody, Head of the Auror Division."
Lily waved uncomfortably, and Alastor inclined his head. "Pleasure," he said. "Where are they?"
Lily looked confused, but Hermione merely gestured for Alastor to follow her. She led him through the house and out the back door where the five Death Eaters lay stiffly in a pile on the grass.
Lily gasped, a trembling hand reaching for the door frame, as the whole night became suddenly, solidly, real for her. Hermione slipped her hand into Lily's and squeezed gently. Alastor pulled a handful of portkeys from his pocket and slipped them into the Death Eaters' robes, remotely activating them. With a rush of air, they were gone, and Lily's yard looked as normal as it ever did, aside from a slight rumpling of the grass.
"What's the current status?" Hermione asked.
Alastor swiped his hand across his face tiredly, glancing at Lily with a frown. "Trafalgar is a right mess. Obliviators have been called in and they're dealing with the fallout from the giants. Magical Creatures department has already been and gone. The giants are being dealt with as we speak."
"And the rest?" Hermione asked almost reluctantly.
Alastor drew a deep breath and seemed to age before her eyes, and shook his head. "We stopped a few, but these were unprotected Muggle communities. It was a quick in-and-out for most of the bastards. By the time we got there, it was too late."
Hermione thought she might throw up. "How many?"
Alastor's eyes narrowed. "Fewer than it'd've been at Trafalgar," he said sternly.
"How many."
"… We don't know yet."
Lily's gaze was darting from Hermione to Alastor and back again.
"One of the Death Eaters got away," Hermione lied. "They know this street is warded. We need to get Lily's parents somewhere safer, or else put better protections in place."
Alastor cursed. "Look, lass," he said, almost apologetically, "I've got to get back to the Ministry. Albus is still there. I'll send him your way in a moment and he can sort this out with the girl's parents." He hesitated. "You did good today, Hermione. The way you dealt with the giants… it saved a lot of people. You saved a lot of people. Hold onto that, as the count comes in."
Hermione knew she wouldn't - couldn't. Tonight they lost. It was a weird way to lose. But it was a loss nonetheless.
Lily squeezed her hand and then released as they followed Alastor through the house to the front door. He nodded his goodbye as he stepped through the door, and Hermione shut it firmly behind him.
"What now?" Lily asked in a quiet voice.
Hermione smiled tightly. "Now I guess we let your parents out of their room and deal with the fallout until Albus can get here."
Lily's parents were furious. But beneath that, their fear was palpable. By the time Hermione and Lily had finally soothed the biggest of their emotions, and shifted them to the comfort of the living room, there was another knock at the door.
Hermione strode through the hallway to answer it. "Who's there?" she asked as Lily's parents exchanged a bewildered look behind her.
"It is I, Albus Dumbledore. I first met you late one evening in September of 1976, when you made a terrible choice, and vowed to stay to defeat Voldemort."
Hermione opened the door. "I'm calling him Tom Riddle now," she said lightly, to break up the gravity of his words and the way they settled in her stomach.
Albus chuckled softly. "Excellent. Excellent."
She paused for a moment, searching for evidence of her identity. The first thing that came to mind was hardly any lighter than his had been, but she went with it anyway. "In my sixth year, you were dying of a curse that afflicted your hand. The curse was fatal. And I was very mad at you."
Albus inclined his head in acknowledgement… and apology. "I'm a thousand times grateful to have been spared that fate this time around, my dear."
Hermione forced a smile and stepped to the side, admitting him to the house. Together they entered the Evans' living room.
"Mr and Mrs Evans, this is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, and my… er… adoptive father."
It was a mark of the night's events that Albus' eyes didn't bother twinkling, and that Lily's parents stayed firmly seated where they were, rather than standing to greet the man they'd probably always been curious about.
"A pleasure to meet you both," Albus said somberly, "though certainly not under the circumstances I might have wished." He glanced to Lily and offered her a comforting smile that instantly eased some of the tension in her shoulders. "Lily is a great credit to our school. Her mind and her character are consistently of the most impressive caliber."
Lily flushed pink, and even her parents seemed slightly mollified by his words.
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Lily said softly.
"Nothing we didn't already know," Lily's father said with pride, squeezing Lily's hand.
"Please, take a seat," her mother invited.
Albus gratefully accepted, sinking into a plush armchair near the window.
Hermione wasn't interested in anymore of the small talk. She was exhausted. Albus noticed. "This evening has been trying for all of us, Hermione." She did her best to communicate with her eyes that Lily's parents should not know she'd spent it fighting for her life. The lightest brush of legilimency in her mind, followed by a nod, told her he'd gotten the message. "If you need to rest, by all means, Mr and Mrs Evans and myself can sort this out amongst ourselves."
Hermione shook her head and moved to sit with Lily on the adjacent love seat. Lily offered her a grateful smile. Lily respected Albus deeply, but she didn't know him. Hermione knew that her presence was much more comforting, and there was absolutely no way she'd rather rest than be here for her friend.
"Sorry, just one thing before I forget," she said. She conjured her lioness and sent it to the boys at Hogwarts, to let them know she was safe, and checked the galleon she'd linked with Narcissa's to be sure it was still cool to the touch - it was.
Lily's parents were staring at her with mingled curiosity and amazement. She ignored the questions in their gazes and turned to Albus.
"I'll go more fully into it with you later, Albus, but for now, suffice it to say that it's possible that Tom now knows that someone of interest lives on this street." She could feel herself slipping into Order-mode. Her soldier voice, and manner of speech creeping in by default. "The wards I put up at the beginning of the holidays allowed the Order to respond in time to prevent any bloodshed here, but if they've become persons of interest because of those wards, we will have a problem on our hands."
Albus nodded thoughtfully before turning his eyes to Lily's parents. "This must all be quite overwhelming for you both," he said, his voice full of genuine compassion. "A magical war that seems to be dragging you into it. An attempted attack on your street."
Lily's mother nodded. "It seems like… like Lily's gotten sucked into this world that seemed so wonderful and magical at first… and now suddenly turns out to be dangerous and awful."
Her father agreed. "We never should have let her go. If we had any way of knowing—"
"Dad!" Lily gasped. "You can't possibly mean that." Her gaze flicked from face to face. "Magic is part of me. I belong in that world. You couldn't possible want to take that from me…"
He opened his mouth to reply - and from the look on his face, it wasn't going to be something favourable.
"You can't stop me," she said suddenly, her tone fierce and her hair sparking slightly with escaped magic. "I've heard you and Mum talking when you think I can't hear you. And you can't stop me from going back to school. You can't stop me from being a witch. You… you can't stop me from fighting to save a world that is mine."
Her parents froze.
Well shit.
Lily's parents weren't stupid. Their gazes immediately drifted to Hermione. "You stopped the men in the street," Lily's mother said slowly. "It wasn't a group of highly trained adults. It was you."
"But," Lily's father spluttered, "You're just a girl!"
Hermione glanced at Lily and sighed. "I could obliviate them," she murmured, too quietly for anyone to hear but Lily.
A bubble of laughter burst from her friend's throat. "Don't you dare," she said.
Hermione shrugged jokingly and turned back to Lily's parents. "Yes," she said firmly. "I protected your home today. I am not just a girl; I'm a member of the Order's best combat team. I am as highly trained as most magical policemen. I am good at what I do. I understand that concerns you. I understand that I look like a child to you. I am not a child. I was here to protect you tonight so that Lily didn't have to. Lily, who is not as well-trained as I am, but certainly one day could be if she so chose." Hermione glanced at her friend, whose hands were trembling lightly in her lap, and gave her the warmest smile she could muster.
"Lily is amazing," Hermione went on. "And I understand your desire to protect her. What parent wouldn't want to? I empathize, because I assure you, there's nothing I want more than to keep the people I love out of this war. Nothing." She poured every ounce of feeling and truth into that word, letting the fierce sense of protection she felt for the people she was here to save, to protect. "And yet, I don't have a single close friend whom I don't respect enough to respect their choices. I don't have a single close friend I can, in good conscience, keep from this battle." She smiled wryly. "Quite frankly, I'm not sure I'd be physically capable anyway. Gryffindors are a stubborn lot."
Lily's mother opened and closed her mouth several times. Her gaze flicking from Lily, to Hermione, and back again, as she wrestled with the idea of her daughter fighting in a war.
Lily's father had no such dissonance. "She's a child!" he protested sharply. "She doesn't stop being our child just because she's joined some insane world—"
"Lily will be 18 in 30 days," Hermione interrupted, as she felt Lily's anger building. Any minute now, her fiery friend was going to explode. "Even in the Muggle world, that's old enough to join the army without parental consent."
Her father fell silent.
"This is really what you want?" her mother asked in a whisper of a voice. "These people, these Death Eaters… they sound dangerous, Lily…"
"Yeah, well, I can be dangerous too," Lily retorted.
Hermione groaned inwardly, but a tiny smile crept onto Lily's father's face.
"Well, now that's out of the way," Albus said cheerfully, "Let's discuss how we move forward, shall we?"
Hermione returned to the castle around four in the morning and crept into the Common Room as quietly as she could. Sure enough, there were the Marauders, all passed out together on the couch before the fire. She slipped over to them and pressed her lips to Remus', kissing him softly awake.
His eyes flew open, and he pulled her in for a tight hug. "We were so worried," he whispered.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "There wasn't time to come back and—"
"We'd have worried anyway," he said quietly.
Hermione quirked a half smile. "I know."
She kissed his cheek and pulled gently away to wake Sirius, with a hair ruffle, and James, with a gentle foot nudge.
Sirius woke with a start, relief in his eyes, but James jerked immediately to his feet, his eyes wide with worry. "Is she okay? Is Lily okay?"
Hermione smiled softly. "Yes, James. She's fine. Just as I said in my Patronus message. Lily is fine. Her parents are fine. The wards worked exactly as they were meant—"
"Thank Merlin!" he breathed, and pulled Hermione in for a hug of his own. Hermione was startled, but she hugged him back, smiling at his relief. "Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for saving her. For being there. For thinking to set wards. For protecting her. Them. Just… thank you."
Hermione was astonished to hear the tearfulness of his voice, and even more surprised when the boy buried his face in her neck, sobbing. She glanced at Sirius and Remus over James' shoulder, but they just smiled and shrugged.
"We tried to tell him you wouldn't have said she was okay if she weren't, but…"
"Just wait till he sees Lily tomorrow," Sirius joked.
Slowly James pulled away, wiping his tears with the back of his hand, and then ruffling his messy, sleepy hair.
"How did it go?" Remus asked finally, tugging her onto his lap. "What happened?"
"The wards were triggered, and everyone had the battle in hand, so I apparated to the edge of the wards. There were um, six Death Eaters, spread out down the street. But I had the element of surprise," she shrugged and chuckled. "The animagus thing was a shock for them, I think."
"Merlin, Mya," Sirius said with a frown. "Six against one… Those aren't great odds."
She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm fine, Sirius. The rest of the Order was fighting a handful of giants. I had it. And Lily is—"
"Excuse me, giants?" James interrupted.
Hermione sighed and called Hatty for some breakfast before digging into the whole story – minus the part where the "escaped" Death Eater was Lucius. When she was done, the sun was reaching for the horizon, and she was tired as hell. But everyone was coming back today, so she had one last thing she needed to do before she could pass out. She extricated herself from Remus' grasp, sent the boys to bed, and headed for the dungeons.
She gave the password herself and snuck into the Slytherin Common Room, where she was welcomed warmly with a wand shoved immediately into her face.
"It's just me, Narcissa," Hermione said softly. "I just wanted to check on him. To see if he's…"
"Okay?" the girl said, a note of hysteria in her voice. The wand lowered, and she led Hermione to the couch where Regulus was sleeping. "Physically," she said, pulling herself together, "He's fine." Hermione felt a trickle of relief ooze through her. "But Hermione…" the girl's eyes met hers like pools of sadness, "He looked… haunted. More than ever before. I didn't know what to say. He wouldn't tell me what happened. He said… he said Lucius never came back and—"
"Lucius is fine, Narcissa. He should be awake and home by now."
The Slytherin let out a long, slow, breath of relief. "You saved him again," she said more than asked.
"I didn't send him to Azkaban, if that's what you mean," Hermione said dryly.
"Thank—"
"He'd have taken you in, New Girl," came the raspy voice from the couch. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Lucius is okay, but he's not on your side. You shouldn't be doing this."
Hermione sat beside him. She desperately wanted to take his hand in hers and thank him for telling her. To apologize for not being able to do the thing properly, but he shook his head almost imperceptibly. Not in front of Narcissa.
"Well, now that I know Lucius is alright, and you're alright, and Regulus is alright…" Narcissa said tiredly, "I'm going to bed. Happy New Years, I guess. Thank you both for not dying." And away she went up the stairs.
Hermione still didn't take his hand, as she would have done with Sirius. "Tell me," she invited.
All he said was: "Three hundred. Just over."
Hermione's eyes fell shut, tears fighting their way out, her breath trapped in her chest.
"Hey now, New Girl," Regulus said. "If we'd hit Trafalgar, it would have been thousands." He hesitated, feeling the words on his tongue before he let them out. "We won," he whispered finally.
Hermione eyes flew open and she took in the conflicted, but determined expression on his face, and the tears began to fall, pouring down her cheeks. He was out. Not out out. But out. She couldn't help herself. She grabbed his hand in hers and placed the quickest of kisses on his cheek.
"We have to get you out," she whispered, as though someone might hear. "We have to get you safe."
But Regulus just shook his head, his gaze rising slowly from their interlocked hands. "No, New Girl," he said reluctantly. "I have to stay."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest.
"I have to make up for the evil I've done," he said firmly. "And the best way I can do that, is to stay."
Hermione remembered Professor Snape. Twisted and angry. Remembered the fear and anger in his voice the night of Volde— Tom Riddle's return. Remembered the tortured sadness that swept around him like a black cloud. Was it because he'd sold Lily out? Or was it the spying? The fear and the evil of it? What had broken his soul?
"New Girl," Regulus said gently. "I can do this. I have to do this."
And this time her traitorous mind turned to the Horcruxes. Turned to the advantage the Order would have with a spy in Tom Riddle's midst. She bit her lip.
Regulus smirked. "There she is." He squeezed her hand awkwardly and then released it. "We can do this."
And Hermione's sacrifice, in coming back to this time, in staying and changing the future, suddenly felt infinitesimally small by comparison.
A/N: Regulus just perpetually breaks my heart, folks *crying emoji* *heart eyes*