A / N
This is the first chapter of this fanfiction. I hope you like it.
The work is not proofread as I do not have a Beta. So if you are up for the job, ping me!
Not going to waste your time reading exceptionally long author's note. Go ahead and read.
Xx_
Sia.
01 The Tales of Beedle the Bard
"To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive."
— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
"Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonor. Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me."
"Reducto."
The tree burst to pieces throwing him back into the debris. With a swish, his wand flew out of his hand and was caught by his opponent. Another swish, and thick ropes coiled around his hands and legs.
With a grace of a cheetah, she came out of the shadows and walked to her captive. Her eyes roamed over the figure in satisfaction, making a smirk come up on her bruised face.
"Mulciber." The name came out like a bile from her mouth. "Fancy seeing you like this."
Mulciber growled and tried to undo the ropes wandlessly. He may be an absolute dangerous death eater with a cruel soul and love for dark arts but he was not gifted in magic without a wand. Speaking of which, his captor flaunted what he needed the most in front of his face.
"Weasley." He managed to grit out through his broken jaw. "Your end is near. They-"
"You are the only thing near me right now, Mulciber and you don't really look like my end." She said coolly. "Now, I am not really in the mood for a short talk. So, let's get it over with, yeah?"
Her own wand lowered and she raised Mulciber's his own wand against him. Magic rushed through her veins into the wand, no doubt accepting its new master. Oh, what a way to go when your own wand kills you!
"Sectumsempra."
Killing curse just wasn't suitable for a man like him.
She watched in immense satisfaction as blood poured out of the death eater's body. With a quick decision, she waved her wand and a red pouch from his body came into her hand.
"And to hope you creatures would carry some more galleons around." She grumbled under her breath.
Coins clinking, Ginevra Weasley emptied the pouch into her pocket before throwing it carelessly and sealing her pocket shut. Money was tight these days and they needed all they could have.
"Where is everybody?"
"Harry..."
"Oh come on, what's the matter with you?"
"Oh, she's passed."
"There, she's gone."
"No! No! NO!"
A beautiful white dove flew across the bright sky.
It's misty eyes shone brightly and determinedly as it tried to cover the long distance to it's destination as soon as possible.
The ministry was still searching for them with the bounty raised even higher than the last month. However, this wasn't the reason it was hurrying up in the sky.
Somehow, their safe place had been compromised. They had no time to put it under Fidelius charm as they had just moved there two days prior. How they had traced them to there, it had no idea. But it knew if it didn't hurry up, they would get caught.
As the forest cleared and the local village came into view, it increased it's speed until it reached a lone cottage by the river. No one could expect that a small house with a broken roof and wilderness growing around it could inhabit someone. And that's what made it perfect. Now however...
The dove perched on a branch of a tree and looked around itself. Assured that no one was following, it dove across and settled on the ground.
As the wards around the cottage shifted, the dove changed it's form and Luna Lovegood walked through the door to give the inhabitants the news.
"There's a reason I can hear them... the Horcruxes. I think I've known for awhile. And I think you have too."
"I'll go with you!"
"No. Kill the snake. Kill the snake and then it's just him."
She had to be quick.
It was wearing off.
The potion was wearing off.
With a quick glance around, she shifted her expressions to rival those of the aristocratic pureblood woman she had polyjuiced herself.
"Be quick, woman." She sneered, tapping her fingers on the counter.
"Of course, Mrs Parkinson." The half-blood just alive for her brilliant potion skills, nodded hurriedly and packed the potion tightly.
It was a quick in and out task. However, the Polyjuice Potion was too less and too weak to make it work to its full capacity. The shop wasn't crowded when she had arrived but the numbers were gradually increasing. In a world like today, one could never have enough potions.
With a quick swipe of galleons across the counter, she collected the Anti Paralysis Potion and made her way to the door.
However, she wasn't quick enough as the woman on the counter had seen her long sleek black hair change to bushy dark brown just as she went out of the door.
The woman whispered her name for now they had taken it away from her too.
Diagon Alley stood stunned as a number of pops sounded all across the street. Black robed, mask faced death eaters had set the Anti Disapparition, she realized as she tried to disapparate. She shot a look at the shop she just exited, no doubt knowing the woman had called them.
There was no time to be wasted, however, as she squared her shoulders and took her position. The death eaters circled around her, finally having the new Undesirable No 1 in their trap.
Seven voices called at once."Stupefy."
A blue shield erupted from the wand that had finally accepted her as it's true master a year ago when she had cast her first dark curse. It absorbed the stunners before fading and making her face her opponents.
"Impedimenta."
"Locomotor Wibbly."
"Petrificus Totalus."
She was wanted alive.
A warmth of magic spread across her whole body as she defected these spells without muttering a word.
Magic was special. Trust your magic.
In school, Defence was not her strongest subject. She had received an E in it while she had Os in others. But the time had changed. She had changed. She was older, mature and experienced. And she had come to trust her magic. The magic which had chosen her when she was born.
Non verbals flowing as air around her, she stunned three death eaters. The four angry ones, now left, started to use more dark curses to make her submit. A curse grazed her shoulders and it made her decide, it was enough.
"Protego Diabolica." She shouted loudly and in an instant a thick protective ring of black fire conjured around her.
Taking the advantage of the death eaters' back pedal, Hermione Granger flew away.
"Harry Potter is dead."
The fire outside the camp cackled as the three people huddled close together near it, waiting for the fourth one. They didn't have to wait long as she arrived. Identical sighs if relief rushed from them when she cleared from the trees and came into view.
"Neville!" Hermione rushed to the young man on a cot. "I've got it. I've got it, Nev."
She fumbled through her bag, taking out the parcel she purchased a few minutes back and handed it to the blonde besides her.
Luna unscrewed the cork and dipped the vial in Neville Longbottom' mouth, rubbing his back soothingly. Meanwhile, Ginny raised her wand and healed the cut on Hermione's shoulder. The wound healed, leaving a bright pink scar behind which thankfully, unlike most of the scars on her body, will fade with time.
"Debrief?" Ginny asked Hermione.
"Debrief." Hermione agreed.
"Go ahead, then."
Not wasting any time further, Hermione told exactly what had happened while she had gone to fetch the potion. Her expression remained blank yet stoic as she recalled the screams of the death eaters when fire caught them. All this time, Luna massaged Neville's feet as they got their strength back.
Looking at them now was so different when they were in school. The war had hardened them. It made them vicious. Removed any guilt they had of killing a fellow human, though who they killed didn't have any humanity left to begin with.
Two years and one week ago, Harry Potter died in the Battle of Hogwarts. And world was never the same. Soon after Hagrid brought his body, Neville stood up against Voldemort and managed to decapitate Nagini. The fight continued ferociously as everyone tried to take down as many death eaters as possible. In a gruesome duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange, Lestrange came up as the winner, hitting her with a curse that boiled her blood, breaking the flesh that kept them inside. Molly died with her body splashed across in pieces.
Ginny lost her mother, her brother and her love on the same day.
The Order retreated and hid in a safe house for the following months. They attacked, fought and killed. But it wasn't enough. After the death of Harry, every eyes turned to the remaining members of the Golden Trio. After a year in hiding and planning with Minerva McGonagall, Horace Slughorn and Filius Flitwick, Ron, Hermione and Neville led the coup to take back Hogwarts. Voldemort was heard to be out of country at that time and the few death eaters' children that attended school were sent out for an early summer.
The plan was simple. Enter the castle with the tunnel, disillusion yourself and imperious as many death eaters as you could and make them fight each other. If they fight the imperious, kill them. A simple Avada and that's it. It was difficult to smuggle that many people but the Order managed. They did as planned and almost won. Until Bellatrix came.
Turns out, there was a mole in Order. The plan was already relayed to Voldemort and he trusted his first in command to take care of this issue. The outcome of the second Battle of Hogwarts was the same as the first one. Lucius Malfoy killed McGonagall before Ernie MacMillan and Seamus Finnigan killed him. George Weasley used the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder while Bill Weasley took down the Anti Disapparition jinx and the Order escaped.
Or those left of the Order did.
Ron Weasley died that day. Hit with an Avada right on the chest by Bellatrix Lestrange.
Percy Weasley and Fleur Delacour Weasley were captured.
A few days later his body hung at 93 Diagon Alley and Fleur was raped in the middle of the crowd.
Katie Bell was reduced to pieces.
Hannah Abbott's body dissolved in itself.
Neville Longbottom was bitten by Fenrir Greyback.
Mundungus Fletcher was the mole.
After that, there was no takeover plans again.
Every month, there were ambushes and the Order of the Pheonix kept thinning out. Every month, dozens of people went for fight and only a handful came back. Every month, Neville changed into a wolf and howled in a warded circle in the forest. It wasn't until five months ago that almost all the members were wiped out. Their safe house burnt into ashes and Neville's lower body was paralysed.
"Feeling better?" Luna asked Neville.
"Yeah." He muttered before grasping his hand and trying to take a step. "I don't know how far I can go."
"It's fine, Nev. We are here." Ginny reassured him while Hermione nodded her head.
Only the four of them were left. And they would make sure to stay with each other until the end.
"Where should we go next?" Luna asked. "It's been three days here, already."
"South." Hermione answered her with a nod.
There was no other questions asked as Ginny and Neville took two books out of Hermione's beaded bag while Luna turned into a dove and flew around them. Hermione watched the dove with fascination. No matter how many times she saw Luna like this, the dove never failed to bring it's peace to her. After a few minutes of complete silence, she took out the Tales of Beedle the Bard and began reading it for probably the hundredth time.
"It's cool, isn't it?" Ginny voiced out after some time.
"What is?" Neville asked.
"The fact that a children's book isn't actually just a children's book. Deathly Hallows are real." She cast a look at the beaded bag which had two of the Hallows in there. "Who would've thought?"
"I think Beedle was a very sly man. He wrote something as serious as Hallows and put it in a children's sleep time book. No one could have guessed." Neville remarked.
Dove-Luna, came from the tree and perched herself on Hermione's shoulder.
Hermione's brows furrowed as she glanced at the cover of the book and realized something. The Tale of the Three Brothers; The Fountain of Fair Fortune; The WarLock's Hairy Heart; The Wizard and the Hopping Pot; Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump. All fantasies, yet only one of them, real? She finally questioned. "Who was Beedle the Bard, anyway?"
The resigned expression from Ginny's face faded, giving rise to a familiar expression of nostalgia. Small smile graced her face.
"I remember asking Mum that. Not much is known about him except that he was born in Yorkshire in the fifteenth century. It was the time when muggles were shit scared of magic. Magic was an abomination during that period. Muggles hunted down witches and wizards and burnt them alive. Though stories reflect that he rather liked Muggles."
"And when did he write these stories?" Hermione asked, shutting the book and keeping it at the side.
"Different points of time in his life?" Ginny shrugged. "There are speculations about it. Like Babbitty Rabbitty, for instance. It is said that this was his first story that he wrote in his birth town before he started his journey around the world."
Neville thought of something before adding, "Some say Babbitty Rabbitty was kind of loosely based on Agnes Bernauer, a muggle who everyone thought was a witch. Wendel witnessed the muggles throwing her in the river Danube and told Beedle about it. Beedle was upset, he wanted everyone to know that having magic wasn't a curse. That's why he wrote Babbitty and made her demand the King to make a statue of her on a stump."
He blushed under the gazes of three witches for Luna had now in her human form sitting besides Hermione. "What? Gran did read me stories!"
The witches smirked in unison making him grumble something under his breath.
"My Dad always thought that Beedle was a seer." Luna told them.
"Why?" Ginny frowned at her.
Luna shrugged. "It's just the way the stories are written, I believe. He was never able to read the runes, my Dad, but he always believed that the runes were powerful. Why else would someone completely write in runes unless they wanted the information to get to the person who deserves it? I personally think Wrackspurts flew through his ears that made Beedle do it."
"What else do you know about him?" Hermione raised her brows, running every possibility of Luna just said through her mind. "Did he have any other special powers?"
"His magic was strong." Neville mused. "Gran told me when magical folks separated from non magicals, that it was an uproar that he was the descendant of Merlin himself. But it wasn't true as Merlin didn't have any heir even though. He was involved with Morgana, yes but nowhere is mentioned thay he had a kid. Beedle writings provided people satisfaction that love, bravery and courage are above everything. And at the end of the day everything will be alright."
Ginny scoffed. "It's the end of the day and I don't see everything being alright."
Everyone grimaced at that.
"Besides," Neville said, bringing everyone back from their thoughts, "Shakespeare bloke was a fantastic author but we see no muggle worshipping him as their deity's heir, now do we?"
Hermione scoffed, shaking her head. She put the book in her bag before stretching. Her bones popped as she did so. Working with Ginny, the two of them roasted the fishes, Luna had fetched earlier while Neville went through Hermione's seventh year History of Magic book, desperately wishing he could do something, anything to help his family.
His scarred face turned pensive as he realized how much of a burden he was to them. In the second Battle of Hogwarts, he was bitten to become a werewolf. The transformation was not the worst thing, if he had to be honest. True it was painful but at least it was only once a month. His first transformation was very excruciating. He was alone in a warded circle and thus his wolf bled him out. For the second one, Hermione had transfigured a twig and three stones into a snake, cat, rabbit and lion. It didn't satisfy his wolf but at least he had something to play with. The third one was the same.
The fourth one was when a beautiful dove had joined him after he transformed. He was positively happy the next day. In the fifth one, a red fox joined and he had fun playing with two animals. The seventh one was when an eagle came and his heart warmed. The wolf then spent every full moon chasing the fox and trying to catch the dove and the eagle.
Being a werewolf wasn't the worst to happen to him.
No, the worst was the curse from Carrow that took the life of the lower parts of his body. Five months ago, he was almost wiped out with the rest of the Order members but a stroke of luck saved him. Luna killed Carrow, taking his wand and disapparated them out. He was alive but not for long or so he thought until Hermione casted some charms that though couldn't take out the dark curse but provided some life in his legs. But he wasn't able to take part in any duel now.
A smack to his shoulders brought him from the reverie. Hermione waved a stick with a roasted fish in front of him, raising her brows.
"Sorry. Just got lost in thoughts." He smiled sheepishly.
"Figured." She smiled and gave him his dinner, going back to the fire to help Ginny cast food charms on the ones that had burnt.
How much he wished he could do something for them. How much he wished to contribute to save the world.
After dinner was over, Ginny helped Neville back in the tent to his bed. Hermione was left alone with Luna when the blonde smiled at her.
"You know Mya, it's sometimes very difficult to remember that you weren't born in the magical world." Hermione smiled a little at that. "If you need any information on Beedle or any of his stories, just ask, okay?"
She nodded before giving her a hug. "Good night, Lu."
"Night, Mya."
Left alone in the darkness, Hermione played with the chain around her neck as her gaze travelled to what most believed to be a children's fantasy book.
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