A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter. I realize that I didn't make it clear that this is set about when the books are - late 90s. So, sorry, there should be no cell phones :) You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. Big thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter four and be on the lookout for chapter five next week.
The next morning was a Friday. Hermione was a little bit excited about the prospect of returning to classes, if only because it meant physical distance between her and her parents, who had come home sometime around three in the morning. She also really liked school. She felt comfortable in school, seeing as it was pretty much the only area of her life that she really excelled in. She wasn't great at making friends or playing sports, but she was a gifted student.
Frowning, Hermione pulled on her jeans from the day before, but she didn't fancy wearing the same blouse that she wore the day before. Opening her door, she found a black t-shirt waiting for her on the floor with a note from her mum.
She supposed that it was nice of her mum to remember that she would need to wear something to school, but she also felt like it was her parents' fault that she hadn't been able to collect her clothing in the first place.
Anyway, she wasn't going to turn down the shirt when she didn't really have any other options. Holding it up, she thought that it might fit reasonably well and pulled it over her head. The fabric was soft and well worn, the black fading into a sort of dark grey and the white band emblem that had once adorned the front was unrecognizable.
After getting ready, she grabbed her book bag and shoved her gummy worms into her bag just in case she got hungry over the day. Then, she crept down the stairs, hoping not to wake either of her parents before she went off for the day. She'd even gotten up super early so she could walk and still make it to school in time.
Her townhouse did not have a friendly, shabby Remus making waffles for breakfast, but she was surprised to see her dad waiting for her at the breakfast bar drinking a coffee.
"What are you doing up?" she asked, surprised that he'd managed to get up after so little sleep. She could see the deep purple rings under his eyes that shouted how perpetually exhausted he must be.
"Someone's got to take you to school," he answered, not sounding annoyed that he'd gotten the job.
"That's fine," she said, nibbling at her lower lip. "I can walk."
He scoffed — a mannerism that she had apparently inherited. "Don't be ridiculous," he countered. "I'm already awake anyway. The less time we spend arguing about it, the sooner I can go back to sleep."
"Alright," she agreed, feeling rather out of place with her own father, but just a smidge grateful that she wouldn't have to walk all the way to school. She wondered if he'd made it a point to wake up early to take his daughter to school or if he'd just happened to be awake.
They left the townhouse and headed to the car that was parked in front, not bothering to lock the door behind them. That bothered Hermione and she made a mental note to ask if she could get a lock for her own bedroom door.
"Aren't you worried about someone breaking in?" she asked, closing the passenger door.
Her dad snorted in delight at the prospect. "Your mum would fuck them up for one," he said, confident in his wife's ability to handle herself, which Hermione supposed was a little bit endearing. "But also, everyone in this neighborhood knows better than to try to steal from us."
"Because of Mr. Riddle?" she asked, clasping her hands together, wondering if her parents' employer was a forbidden topic.
Her father didn't seem to mind expounding on the relationship with the criminal. "Yes, because of Mr. Riddle," he agreed. "Working with him gives a certain level of respect in this area, okay? Only a complete idiot would want to be on his bad side."
"What were you and mum doing last night?" she asked, shyly. She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to hear him say the words or not.
"I think you are old enough to hear the truth," he said, looking at her quickly, before returning his gaze to the road in front of them. "We were trying to steal a truck and well, the guy who actually took it took the wrong one. But, we got it sorted out."
Hermione bit her lower lip to stop herself from scolding her father for stealing something. It wouldn't actually make him feel bad, she was sure, so what was the point. "So, is Theo one of you guys now, or what?" she asked, leaning back in the passenger seat, hoping that her dad didn't read any more into the conversation then base level interest.
Her dad laughed. "Not exactly one of us, but on his way. His father has been having him do little jobs since he was about eight," he explained. "It's naturally progressed."
She frowned, wondering if her father and mother would like her to do little jobs and tasks for them. She remembered one night, so long ago, when she was asked to sit by the phone and wait for a call from her Uncle Rabastan. Once it came in, she'd been shuttled off to the Notts and her parents hadn't returned until the next morning. She never figured out what that was about and she really didn't want to.
"Did you have a good time with Theo?" her father asked, trying to read her face for any hint of discomfort. "You were the best of friends when you were little. He missed you a lot."
Once again, there was that assertion that she'd been missed. She decided it must be true, mostly because she'd also missed her family and friends at first. But it made her feel odd, coming back to a life that she'd grown to despise. She didn't like the thought of such warm feelings lingering for her.
"Yeah, he's alright," she said breezily, before regaining some of her attitude from the day before. "He was nice enough to buy me dinner because you and mum had nothing in the fridge, which is not really acceptable. Now I feel like I owe him."
She could see her father's lips quirk up, like he was trying not to smile. "Don't worry about Theo," he insisted. "We can pay him back if you are worried."
Before they could discuss it any further, they had arrived at her school. Hermione got out of the car and looked in at her father who was a little worse for wear. "Thanks for the ride," she said, unsure of what to say to him.
A fond look came over his face as he leaned over the center console to get a better look at her. "No problem, kid," he said. "I did miss you. Someone will be by after school to pick you up."
Hermione wanted to argue again with him that she didn't need a chaperone, but before she could, he was pulling away down the street, leaving her with her own thoughts. It had been an oddly normal chit-chat with him, if you didn't account for the discussion of robbery. If she squinted, it could almost look like a totally regular chat between father and daughter. But then, nothing about this whole situation was regular.
She decided to walk into the school, even though it was still early, and head for the library. There was no point in loitering out in the courtyard waiting for other students to show up. A part of her could admit that she was hiding away, not wanting to hear the whispers about her that were sure to start. She wondered if anyone knew why she was gone the day before, if Ron or Harry had told everyone.
Finding a table near the windows, Hermione paged through her maths homework before giving her literature essay one last revision to make sure that there wasn't even a comma out of place.
"Hey," a male voice startled her out of her work.
Hermione looked up and saw the overly-angular face of her cousin, Draco Malfoy. "Hey yourself," she said back, warry.
Draco slipped into the seat across the table from her. "Heard your parents finally got you back yesterday," he said with a grin. "Now you don't have to live in squalor with Potter and Sirius."
"Heard your dad got in big trouble because your mum wouldn't take me in all those years ago," she countered. It wasn't as if Draco really cared where she'd been living these last ten years.
His face went pink in embarrassment, but she cut him off before he could say anything else.
"Listen. We haven't been friends like...ever," she said. "We don't need to start just because my parents have ripped me away from a happy home for one year. When I turn eighteen, you can bet that I won't be sticking around."
Draco looked like he wanted to argue with her more about her life with Sirius, but he stopped himself. "We'll see what really happens, Granger," he retorted. "You say that now, but a year is a long time and you never know how much things will change. Especially now that you are one of us."
Hermione didn't want to examine what 'one of us' meant to him, because she certainly didn't want to be mixed up in the world of Tom Riddle — the world that both of their parents operated in. She didn't want to be doing little tasks for her parents like Theo did. She wanted to erase every part of the Lestrange family that she had in her.
Taking off from the library, she wandered around the halls to her locker room looking for Harry and Ron, but didn't find them anywhere. That was a bit odd, she thought. Here she hoped that Harry would share his notes for the classes that she'd missed the day before.
As she moved through the day, she was approached by more people that she'd never spoken to in her life. Just before lunch, she was cornered by Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson, two of her cousin's friends. Daphne complimented Hermione on her shirt, which she found dubious, considering how polished and pretty the blonde girl was. Pansy seemed to be sizing her up, like she didn't entirely trust her. It didn't bother Hermione too much; it wasn't as if she wanted to be friends with Pansy either.
Finally, once it came time for lunch, she was able to track down her two friends at her usual spot for lunch. "I've been looking for you guys everywhere," she said, exasperated.
"Didn't think you'd want to talk to us with all your new friends," Ron said, making no secret that he was annoyed by the amount of attention she'd been getting through the day.
She raised any eyebrow, annoyed that he thought she'd asked for any of it. "You think I care what Tracy Davis thinks of me?" she demanded, irritated. She hoped that this new popularity was just an odd side effect of being the latest gossip, but it would dissipate quickly. After all, she was the same boring Hermione Granger she'd always been.
"Sorry, Hermione," Harry said sheepishly. "We meant to find you before school but...I wasn't sure if you'd want some space."
Looking Harry over, he really did seem sorry, but also like he didn't know what to do with her. Like she was some alien creature he'd never interacted with rather than the girl who'd lived across the hall for the last ten years.
"That's fine," she said, biting her lower lip. "I'd really like to pretend like yesterday never even happened though, if possible. Court obviously didn't go the way I expected and I miss you and Sirius and Remus terribly. My parents already dumped me off on my neighbor yesterday, not even twelve hours after getting me home."
"That's rough, Hermione, I'm sorry," Harry said. "Alright, no mention of your change in living situation."
She looked pointedly at Ron, the more hotheaded of her two friends. "Yeah, whatever," he agreed as well, though it wasn't clear that he really wanted to. He'd come around, she hoped.
"Great. Can one of you lend me your notes from yesterday? I don't want to fall behind," she asked, hoping that they actually had any notes to speak off.
Luckily for her, Harry agreed, mentioning that she could give them back to Sirius when he dropped off her stuff later that weekend. Hermione looked at him heartbroken, once again reminded that her relationship with Sirius's little family was effectively over.
Then lunch was over and Hermione was back on her own to fend off the casual chit chat of one of Draco's friends, Greg. By the end of the day, she was exhausted. Emotionally, she was completely up and down, unsure of where she would land. Mostly, she was upset that she knew she had to go back home to Bellatrix and Rodolphus.
Walking out of school, Hermione briefly looked around for whoever was supposed to be picking her up from school and settled almost immediately on Theo Nott. He was standing, leaning against a car, wearing a black leather jacket that was just a bit too large on him.
She scoffed. "What are you trying to be? James Dean or something?" she asked, looking him up and down.
Theo laughed, throwing his head back drawing her attention to his throat. A forbidden flash of his pulse fluttering under her lips flitted through her mind, only to have Hermione push it back down.
"It looks like we both borrow clothes from our parents from time to time," he said, gesturing to her faded t-shirt.
Hermione felt her cheeks go pink, reminded of the fact that she was in her mum's shirt, looking rather like someone she wasn't. "How come you aren't in school anyway?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.
"I dropped out last year," he said completely off-hand, not even a little bit embarrassed by the statement. "Maybe I'll go for some certifications, but I'm not rushed."
She was surprised. Theo had always seemed as smart as she was when they were younger, always able to keep up with her. She hadn't kept up with him in school and almost couldn't believe that he would give it up. It was hard not to look down on him for that.
"What are you doing here anyway?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Dolph asked me to pick you up," he teased, giving her another one of those half-grins. "Wanted to make sure his favorite daughter got home okay."
Hermione scoffed at the suggestion that she needed Theo to help her get home. "I don't need you to look after me, Theo," she scolded him, annoyed with the way that he tried to just sweep into her life like nothing had changed. "Besides, I've already got my own ride."
He looked like he was going to argue some more with her, but then she pointed over to where Sirius's squad car was waiting, ready to give Harry a lift back to their own house.
"See you, Theo," she called over her shoulder, not waiting to see if he stuck around.
Hermione jogged over to Sirius's car and leaned in the open window. "Hey Sirius," she greeted him with a grin.
"Hermione! If you aren't a sight for sore eyes," he said, a fond grin on his face. "I'm sorry for how yesterday turned out."
"It is what it is," she answered, feeling sadness take root inside her again. "Say, do you think that you could give me a lift back home?"
"I don't know if that's the best idea, Hermione," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand while he thought it over. "Those parental alienation claims could really do a lot of damage to me and I don't want the suggestion that I'm still trying to separate you from your parents."
But he had been trying to keep her away from her parents, Hermione thought bitterly. That's why he'd fought so hard to end visitations with them. It hurt to see how quickly he was giving up on her, especially when she compared it to her mum and dad, who'd never stopped fighting for her.
"Oh, okay," she said, suddenly wishing that she hadn't been so quick to brush off Theo and his offer.
Sirius's face crumpled when he saw how disappointed she looked. "Hermione—" he said, only to stop himself. "Alright, I can give you a ride, but you have to promise that we don't make this a regular thing, okay?"
She climbed into the front seat then, trying not to focus too much on how she was feeling, like she shouldn't have forced him to make the offer. They waited, listening to the radio, until Harry finally came up to the car. His presence lifted the mood a little bit as he chattered away about his day, including playing football in gym class and scoring a hat trick.
Hermione ducked further down in the car the closer that they got to her home, wishing she could pretend that they were going back to Sirius's like old times. But the illusion was shattered as he pulled up to their house and let her climb out.
"Tell Remus I say hello," she instructed the pair, feeling like she swallowed a rock. And then she watched them drive away.
Theo was sitting on the steps up to her house and gave her a little wave. "Could have gotten here a few minutes earlier if you had just come with me," he teased, unaware that she wasn't in the mood.
"Whatever," she said, walking past him and inside the townhome, shutting the door behind her.