A/N: Happy weekend, my friends! I really love this chapter; and I hope you all do too!
The Order had shifted its meetings elsewhere after Hermione was captured (probably the Hog's Head, Hermione figured), as a precaution in case their location were compromised, but they had long since returned to their original headquarters.
They flew in by broomstick - or walked if they lived in the area. It was risky, without the ability to cloak themselves in disillusionment spells - both in terms of being seen by Muggles, but also with the risk of being noticed by more nefarious persons.
When they arrived - Albus, Minerva, Hermione, and Regulus - their fingers were near frozen to their brooms, and they prised them off in unison, each wincing identical winces. Except Regulus, whose hair was windswept and eyes were sparkling.
"I guess you've missed flying," Hermione realized. He'd been seeker for a reason, after all, and she suspected it was something similar to Harry's. Not just the exhilaration of flight, but the freedom of it. The escape.
"Very much."
They stashed their brooms and left Minerva to hold court while Albus led them, swiftly and silently, up the stairs to a portrait Hermione had noticed before, but never paid much mind.
"Albus!" the young girl, perhaps eight or nine, greeted cheerfully. "I've missed you, you know!"
Albus smiled back, but no one could possibly miss the pain in his eyes, sharp and fresh, as if brand new and not yet processed. "Ariana, my dear," he said tenderly, "I am remiss in my duties!"
"I'm your sister, Albus, not a duty," she needled playfully. "Stow your guilt and come visit from time to time. You haven't read me Beedle the Bard in a decade at least. Ab was here just last week."
Albus bowed his head, with shame more than grace. "Of course, you are right," he said, his voice low and tremulous. He opened his mouth to continue, but Hermione stepped forward instead.
"Ariana," she said, pulling a smile to her face, her heart aching at the scene playing out, "it's a pleasure to meet you."
Ariana smiled brightly. "You're Hermione, aren't you? Ab has told me about you, but not nearly enough to satisfy my curiosity!"
Hermione wondered how much curiosity a portrait could really possess. "I'll have to satisfy it myself one day, then," she replied warmly. "I'm afraid we're in a bit of a hurry today, but I'll come early to the next meeting and we can chat - just us girls."
Ariana clapped her hands together in childish delight. "Wonderful! In that case…" she snapped her fingers and her portrait swung forward to reveal a room, decorated in pastel pink and cream, pristine, untouched except to be tidied. Hermione's heart shuddered as she came to understand. This wasn't a room. Not anymore at least. It was a temple. A shrine to a girl long-dead.
She looked up at Albus, compassion in her eyes, and squeezed his fingers gently. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Though she wasn't sure for what. For knowing? For not knowing? For his heartache? For his guilt? For seeing it all on display?
He inclined his head in thanks, slowly packing away that pain, pain that had clearly lingered for decades. Pain that still bled him anew each time he examined the wound. Her hand drew itself automatically toward the words carved on her forearm. Blood traitor. It ached. Always. Nothing touched the pain. And from time to time, it seared blindingly, as if Bella were carving it there all over again.
"Minerva will come up and get you once everyone is here," Albus said after a moment, his twinkle returning to his eyes, and a smile at his lips. That can't be healthy. "I thought you'd be happier out of the way until it's time for the grand reveal."
"Thank you, sir," Regulus said, stepping forward into the room after Hermione.
She noticed that Albus didn't cross the threshold himself.
"Wonderful, I look forward to the excitement," he said, then he swept down the hall without a backward glance. Hermione heard Ariana sigh as the portrait swung shut.
She glanced around the room, feeling uneasy. There was no way she could sit down in here. "This is…"
"Eerie?" Regulus supplied. "Or perhaps you were leaning towards tastefully decorated? Well-maintained?"
Hermione forced a short laugh. "All of the above." She hesitated. "How are you feeling?"
Regulus shrugged one shoulder as if in indifference. "Whatever comes will come. I have a lioness and a mangy mutt in my corner though, so I suspect I'll weather whatever storm the Order reigns upon me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys and their drama," she huffed.
He grinned a flash of a grin, then returned to seriousness. "If the Order doesn't accept—"
"They will."
He shrugged again. "I would understand if—"
"They will," she said more firmly. "They might not react well. They might think or even say cruel things. But they will accept you Regulus." The 'or else' went unspoken, but he heard it nonetheless.
His eyes darkened slightly. "My lioness," he said softly.
Hermione nearly shivered at the tone. He took a hesitant step forward, and the portrait swung open, framing Sirius.
He looked deceptively casual, but Hermione could see the hint of fire flickering in his gaze, and the tightness of his posture. She shrugged off any disappointment at being interrupted, and offered him a smile. A smile that did little to convey just how proud and how relieved and how soul-deep happy she was to see him there, ready to fight to defend his brother to the Order. But she could tell he knew. He got her.
He stepped into the room and threw his arm around her shoulders. "Well, little brother, your white knights are here."
Regulus smirked. "I'm so relieved."
"Hey!" Hermione protested, her eyes smiling even as the rest of her face expressed outrage. "We're two of the best damned knights in the land. There are people that would envy you for having us to defend your honour!"
"They'd pay better, too," Sirius pointed out.
He and Hermione exchanged a pensive look. "Why are we doing this then?" she murmured.
They both knew Regulus would never cave and play along, as James or Lily might. But it was fun anyway. It felt good. It felt normal.
"Who would pay you?" he asked, smirking.
"He's doing the Slytherin thing, Mya," Sirius whined. "Make him stop."
Hermione laughed. "I don't know, Sirus, I think he's earned it with all the Gryffindor things he's been doing lately."
Regulus cocked an eyebrow. "If we had access to magic right now, I would make you both pay. You know that, right?"
Hermione and Sirius grinned and rolled their eyes together. "I'm simply trembling at the thought," Sirius sang. He looked around. "So. This place is creepy, yeah?"
Half an hour later, Minerva knocked at the door.
"Well, little brother, you ready to face the wolves?"
"Lions, you mean. And don't call me that."
"What?" Sirius asked innocently. "Little brother?"
Regulus' brow twitched in a suppressed frown.
"He has a point," Hermione chimed in as they passed through the portrait and followed Minerva down the hall. "He's about a million times more mature than you, Sirius. No one would ever guess you were the older one."
Regulus smirked.
"Oh. You thought I was talking about age?" Sirius said with a sly grin. His gaze darted to the front of Regulus' trousers and then back up.
Hermione felt her face flush bright red and jerked her gaze forward as Sirius burst into laughter, and Regulus casually shoved him into the wall.
"Children!" Minerva chided, the exasperation in her voice not quite strong enough to blot out the affection.
"Sorry, Minnie," Sirius said sweetly.
Hermione sensed more than heard Minerva's exasperated huff, and found a smile cutting through the blushing embarrassment on her face.
And then they were down the stairs and striding, without pause, into the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Hermione's gaze flitted from face to face. Most of them looked guarded, which told her that Albus had prepared them. They knew the boy who had just stepped through the door had once been their spy. Was now dead to Voldemort. And yet…
Her gaze landed on Remus. Who was glowering. They hadn't spoken since Molly had interrupted whatever he'd been trying to say in the Hospital Wing all those weeks ago. She wished, for a moment, that they could have been friends - after everything, after how fiercely they'd loved each other… she wished some part of it had been strong enough to endure beyond the edges of their broken hearts. And yet, she could tell by the look on his face that he was about to make her life very difficult. Her eyes narrowed on him.
"I'd like you all to welcome Regulus Black to our official ranks," Albus said, an uncommon firmness in his voice. A tone that forebode dissent in this.
Alastor shifted in his seat, drawing Hermione's attention. He was frowning, but thoughtfully.
Gideon and Fabian shrugged off the weight of the room and threw Regulus identical thumbs-ups. "We've known for ages," Gideon pointed out. "Our Mione is the worst of best influences. Knew you were done as soon as we realized she wasn't going to give up on you."
Emmeline rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of pride shining in them. "What you did, turning spy, that must have taken an incredible amount of courage. We're lucky to have you, Black."
Hermione felt her heart pounding in her chest. Pride and love buoying her. This was her team. These were the people who had her back. Always and in everything. She felt tears prickling at her eyes.
"Courage," Remus scoffed, just loud enough to be heard. As though he weren't fully committed to voicing his concerns, but was daring someone to ask him about them.
Alastor cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Molly tutted. "Remus, that's no way to talk to someone who—"
"I know what he did, Hermione," Remus snarled. "Remember?" He looked around him, disdain clear on his face. "I know."
Hermione heard Regulus' sharp intake of breath beside her, and instinctively reached to take his hand in hers. She forced her voice to steady. "And what do you plan do with that knowledge?" she asked. The barest hint of challenge in her voice. A warning. That whatever he threw at her today, she was going to win. She would win every time.
His gaze darted to her hand in Regulus', to the ferocity of her gaze, and rather than looking crestfallen as the Remus she once knew might have, he instead looked vindicated.
"I knew there was something more between you two. The way you let him—"
"That's enough," Sirius said in a low, threatening growl.
Remus looked to his friend. "You're okay with this?" he asked, incredulous. "Don't you know what he did? What he did to her?"
Hermione looked around at the suspicion creeping onto the faces around them.
Sirius only scoffed. "I do. Do you want to talk about what you did to her, Moony?"
For a split second, Remus looked ashamed. "Mate, you know I—"
"This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation," Hermione cut in sharply. "Albus is aware of the various things Regulus was required to do in service of the Dark Lord. What you're referring to here is something he had to do in service of the Order." She looked around at her teammates, friends, and fellow witches-and-wizards-at-arms. "We've all done hard, sometimes terrible things in service of this war." She swallowed.
"When I murdered Bellatrix Lestrange," she tried to ignore the gasps that rose around her, "there was no need to bring it before the Order. There was no one preparing to play judge and jury. I did what had to be done, and that was respected. Because this is war." She glanced at Regulus, whose expression was a mask to everyone else, but to her, was riddled with shame, and also gratitude.
"Anyone planning on harassing Hermione about Bella?" Sirius asked darkly. His tone warning everyone that the only available answer was 'no'. Only silence came back. "Then no one is bloody well going to harass my brother about anything he has done - for Voldemort or for the Order." His face was thunderous now, as he took in the skepticism and suspicion around him. "My brother has been part of this Order for over a year now. You can choose to respect that. Or you can schedule a time to take that up with me."
Silence reigned. He let everyone sit in the discomfort for a moment, his forbidding glare leveled at Remus.
There was a crash as spellfire collided into the wards outside, and everyone jumped to their feet, wands immediately in their hands.
Bloody hell, the timing, Hermione thought, frustrated. "How did they find us?" she hissed to Sirius.
"Someone might have been followed," James suggested. And Sirius threw him a grateful glance, even as everyone else's gaze was dragging slowly, inexorably, toward Regulus.
"We need to get you out of here," Regulus said, ignoring the stares. "If he finds you here…"
Hermione cocked an eyebrow. "Same goes for you, pretty boy, so don't get Gryffindor on me right now."
"Miss Belanger!" a voice oozed from the front lawn. "If you would be so kind as to return your person into my possession, I might consider mercy. I might be persuaded to leave the rest of your precious Order alone. For now, of course."
Albus crossed to the window and pushed the curtains aside. Hundreds of Death Eaters stood in the street. Tom bloody Riddle standing before them. Hermione could make out the cocky caress of his smirk in the dim light of the streetlights. She shuddered.
"Miss Belanger is not here," Albus said, his voice low, but clearly carrying through the window, across the yard, and into the street.
Tom's smirk didn't waver. "You forget my resources, Dumbledore. My reach. I know our dear Hermione is with you. And she is mine. The method of her retrieval is up to you, of course."
Hermione glanced to Alastor. "If he knows I'm here, knows without a doubt… Did anyone perform magic?" Everyone shook their heads, looking around to see if anyone else was copping to the mistake. "Well…" she said, gathering her thoughts, "It's immaterial for the moment—"
Elphias Doge's eyebrows flew high. "Immaterial!" he scoffed. "You bring a Death Eater into our midst and suddenly—"
Sirius' wand was immediately at Doge's throat. "You don't want to finish that statement, mate."
"Bloody hell," Hermione hissed. "This is not the time. Doge, don't be an idiot. The whole reason we were here today was to discuss how Riddle might be tracking us down. How he found Perkins and Brown, Grace and Felicity. We are not going to start pointing fingers. This is magic. And we are going to figure out what the bloody hell it is. But until then, we have a rather more urgent situation on our hands, haven't we?"
She waited for Sirius to (reluctantly) lower his wand, then turned to Albus. "How do we get out of here?"
Albus sighed. "As you all know, the house is protected by Fidelius. Voldemort's followers cannot get in unless its secret keeper dies or gives them the location. Neither of which will happen any time soon. We are safe here, so please, everyone, put your wands away and try to relax."
"We can't come back here, though, Albus," Alastor pointed out. "They'll have it watched now."
He nodded sadly, his gaze drifting to the ceiling - or perhaps toward a certain portrait of a young girl. He subtly blinked the thoughts away. "There is a way out. A passage. One way. No one can come in through it, but anyone with the password can follow the tunnel to the Hog's Head. We will leave that way. But not all of us at once. The Hog's Head is watched, so we will have to be cautious, and patient."
Albus and Alastor began organizing their departure, and the Order members' relief mingled with their suspicion, which still hung heavy in the room.
Hermione and Sirius stood firm at Regulus' side, their hard gazes daring anyone to say another word against him. The twins strolled over to them and extended their hands.
"Good to see you here, mate," they said together, as Regulus slowly shook their hands, one after the other. They glanced at Hermione. "We didn't want to ask Mione about it, but when we heard our spy had been compromised… well, we'd worried you'd been offed. Glad to see that wasn't the case."
Regulus forced a weak smile. "Just don't let the Dark Lord in on the secret."
"He thinks you're dead then?" Emmeline asked, coming to join them.
Regulus nodded silently, but Sirius wasn't having the humility.
"Reggie tried to get Mya out," Sirius cut in, the pride in his voice outshining the sorrow, just barely. "But he was caught."
The faces of Hermione's teammates immediately turned somber with respect.
"Ah, well, worth the loss of intel then," Fabian said in a low voice that rose in challenge. "No one here would argue different."
Regulus did his best to swallow back his insecurities, but his tone laid them bare. "Even though I failed?" he challenged.
Gideon pulled him into a manly, shoulder-clapping hug, his expression fierce. Hermione watched, a bemused smile on her face, as emotions clamoured inside her. Then laughed at the stunned and taken-aback expression on Regulus' face as Gideon released him.
Sirius laughed too, and in moments, Gideon's wicked grin had them all falling into laughter.
Molly Weasley elbowed them aside, tears in her eyes. "Don't you go thinking that you don't belong here, dear," she said hotly. Her voice was loud and reached into the very corners of the room. "You have done wonderful, brave things, Regulus Black, and everyone here owes you their gratitude." A tear streaked down her cheek. "You're only a boy, and you've put your life on the line time and again for our cause, for our Hermione." She rounded on the rest of the Order, sparks in her teary eyes. "If anyone wants to air their suspicions, you can speak to me. This boy saved thousands of Muggle lives on New Year's Eve. He warned us about the attack on Azkaban prison. He tipped us off to several important attacks throughout his year of spying for us." There was some uncomfortable shifting.
"Risking his life for us," Emmeline added.
"Us, the Order," Gideon said. "People who could have killed him in any given battle, on any given street."
"Us, the Order," Sirius said, his voice tinged with anger, "Who never gave him a chance for anything better."
Fabian grinned. "Aside from our Mione, of course."
Hermione squeezed Regulus' hand as he squeezed hers, and caught that glimmer of pride in Albus' and Minerva's eyes.
Hermione sighed. "Our fight isn't inside these walls," she said gently. Good cop to their bad cop. "Everyone of us here has proven themselves. Over. And over again. We are all here because we believe in something, a better world. We are a team, an army, and we will not be torn apart from within, even as Tom bloody Riddle assails us from the street." She eyed them all, almost wearily. "This isn't a dictatorship. Everyone's voice here is valid. Everyone has a right to be heard. But that right doesn't give you the privilege of tearing apart someone who has risked everything to help us. If you have so little faith in me, in my judgement, fine. But what of Minerva? Of Albus? Of Alastor? These people lead us, not because they chose to, or even because we chose them to, but because they are the right people to do so."
How did I end up being the speech person? she wondered, glancing around at the room, feeling the suspicion begin to lift, feeling ease make its way back in. How did I become Harry?
Albus made a motion for her to keep going, and she sighed.
"Every single one of us is here because we were trusted. In a time when fear is ripping apart friendships and families and communities, we make the tough call to trust people, to give them the benefit of the doubt. That's what makes us strong." She wished she could tell them how few there had been in the first war. How mistrust had kept their numbers so small. How they'd been desperate and losing until baby Harry had ended it all.
"I trust Regulus. Albus and Minerva trust Regulus. Sirius and James and Lily trust Regulus. And that means that none of you have to," she frowned at them, her gaze flicking past Remus as though he weren't even there. "That means all you have to do is keep trusting us. And if you can't do that, we're not much of a team, are we?"
She turned to Alastor, dismissing everyone else with a cursory glance. "Are we ready to begin?"
Alastor grinned at her. "Aye, lass. Let's get it started."
It took hours to evacuate everyone through the tunnel to the Hog's Head, and in the time that elapsed, they discussed the problem of Voldemort's tracking methods, even as his spellfire continued to crash against the various wards set out around the Fidelius charm as decoys. Even as he crashed, finally, through those wards.
Hermione smirked at his rage as he pared the wards down to the one charm he would never be able to get past. His scream sent shivers down the backs of the others, but Hermione basked in it. She crossed to the window and looked down at him, raging in the street. She pulled her wand from her pocket and summoned her Patronus, who prowled down to stand before the Dark Lord.
Go home, Tom, her Patronus said in her voice. You're embarrassing yourself.
Hermione smiled grimly from the window as Voldemort slashed his wand ineffectually at her Patronus, before screaming again and disapparating away.
"You sure that was… You know, a good idea?" Lily asked nervously behind her.
Hermione's grim smile didn't waver. She had suffered through the worst Tom Riddle could throw at her. And she was done being afraid.