Chapter 14: Of Allies and Admittance
Hagrid handed Hermione an afghan-sized handkerchief. He'd barely finished the article before he left the hut, ignoring the brisk wind, to keep an eye on the treeline in case the distraught witch decided to run for cover in the woods again. His instincts turned out to be correct, but he caught her attention quickly and she ran straight into his massive arms, no longer able to fight back her tears.
"It's a'right there, Hermione, c'mon inside now."
Hagrid had perfected the level of enthusiasm with which to pat students on the back; he guided her into the hut firmly but without making her lose her balance. She finished wiping her eyes just as Hagrid presented her with a large cup of sweet tea.
Hagrid heard the oncoming footsteps before Hermione did. He looked at the door in concern, but Hermione choked out, "It's Blaise."
Hagrid let her Guardian inside before bolting the door.
"I thought Draco might follow me," Hermione gulped as Blaise lifted her into his lap.
"True love or not, it's harder for me to be separated from you when you're upset," Blaise muttered. He locked his arms around her and felt his inner wolf calm, knowing she was safe. "None of us like it when you run away, but if you're not in my line of sight it's like there's a fire in my chest–"
"Well, yeh can splash that on if yeh need ter put it out," Hagrid joked weakly as he passed Blaise his own tea. Blaise chuckled.
"You're going to make me leave, aren't you?" Hermione asked quietly. Blaise took a deep breath and exchanged a look with Hagrid, whose eyes were sad.
"By dinnertime, the whole school'll know," Blaise gritted through his teeth. "It's too dangerous now. I dunno who decided to publish this damned article but if they'd only waited three more weeks–"
"I was so close," Hermione whispered as she squeezed her eyes shut. Blaise held her tightly, wishing he could reassure her.
A sudden knock on the cabin door made them all jump. Blaise narrowed his gaze at the door. He knew it wasn't one of the other Guardians, but he didn't sense danger. To his surprise, Hagrid looked at him for nonverbal permission before moving to the door. Blaise gave him a short nod but slid Hermione off his lap to the next chair so he could stand quickly if needed.
"Neville!" Hagrid said in surprise. "Everythin' alright?"
"Hey, Hagrid, sorry to bother you. I thought I saw Hermione heading this way, is she here?"
Blaise didn't know Neville, really. He shot Hermione a warning glance when she nodded at Hagrid. Hagrid opened the door and her tall, lanky friend entered looking relieved.
"Hermione, hey," Neville breathed. "Zabini."
"Longbottom." Blaise replied suspiciously.
"It's alright," Hermione murmured sideways at him. This was strange; a year ago it would've been easier to trust Neville over Blaise.
Neville sat down carefully and studied his oldest friend.
"I wanted to make sure you were OK," he started. "I … I saw the article."
"You and the rest of the school," Hermione mumbled. Neville rubbed the back of his neck.
"I was worried that'd happen eventually,"
Blaise shot him a look. "What?"
"Er, well … see, Hermione, I knew you were the Elemental Mage. I figured it out about two months ago."
Hermione stared at him, and a sudden tinkling noise suggested Hagrid dropped a teacup in surprise.
"How … how?" she breathed.
Neville extracted a leather-bound journal from inside his robes, opened to a page, and slid it across the table. In elegant handwritten script was the Mage Elementum, not perfectly transcribed, but close to the Black original.
"This was my mother's," Neville said quietly. "Gran said she used to read these stories to me every night, and Gran started doing it after … after my mother couldn't. She gave me the journal after the Battle; said my Mum would've been so proud of me."
A wave of sympathy fell over Hermione as Neville returned the book to his pocket.
"I overheard Ginny say something one day about fighting the Darkness, which made me think of the story. Then I remembered the Sorting Hat said something about a pure soul …"
"You figured out it was Hermione?" Blaise asked sharply. "Did you tell anyone?!"
Neville shook his head fiercely. "Of course not! Especially 'cause I didn't know for sure. I wondered why she started spending time with you and Nott, and then that day the students were attacked Harry and Ron were looking for her and all four of you were panicking. I couldn't figure out why the Slytherins were suddenly so interested in keeping her safe, and then I realised," Neville chuckled and looked back at his friend. "Brightest witch of the age? Had to be you."
Hermione was used to the phrase, but she went pink anyway.
"I didn't want to say anything 'cause I figured your Guardians wouldn't like it much," Neville continued. "Especially Malfoy … that was a little surprising, I'll admit." He exchanged a smile with Hermione. "It fits though, especially with the five of them following you around all the time."
"They do lack a certain subtlety," Hermione murmured with a smirk at Blaise, who rolled his eyes.
"Look, Hermione, if you're thinking about leaving Hogwarts–"
"She has to," Blaise interrupted. "Nobody's supposed to know about her–"
"I don't think it's as bad as you think," Neville responded quietly. "Loads of people were talking about the Hat's warning. Professor Sprout will've had suspicions, and so'll Hannah. Merlin, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the school read the article and figured that they suspected you all along. The story's pretty well-known and … really, it makes sense."
Hermione felt some of the tightness across her chest relax. "Are you saying nobody will mind?"
"Mind?" Neville laughed. "C'mon, Hermione, d'you not notice everyone in the school watching you all the time anyway? You've always been the most brilliant witch in the place and Mage or not, you'd be the most famous person here if Harry hadn't come back."
Hermione pinked again and she looked at Hagrid and then Blaise. They obviously agreed with Neville.
"You don't have to tell anyone else that it's true," Neville continued as he looked carefully at his friend. "People will talk, but you don't have to confirm anything. If you're worried about getting attacked or something, isn't this the safest place for you anyway? You know all of us would look out for you, even if the Guardians aren't around. Me and Hannah, and Anthony and Luna–"
"You would?" her voice was very small. Neville chuckled.
"If you're the most powerful witch out there – like I said, nobody's really gonna be surprised – and the legend says you could get rid of all Dark magic? We all fought together for Harry, to defeat Voldemort." Neville reached across the table for her hand. "Harry's done being the Saviour, Hermione, but of course we'll help out if it's your turn."
Hermione's tears spilled over as she squeezed Neville's hand. Suddenly she couldn't stand the distance. She stood up quickly and stumbled around the table to throw her arms around him while Hagrid blew his nose loudly in the corner.
I don't want to be a hero … neither did Harry. But we couldn't ask for more to get us through this.
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A hushed meeting was held in Hagrid's garden that morning. Neville firmly maintained that the truth wasn't necessary but if it came out, he trusted all former DA members to stand with them. Except, perhaps, Zacharias Smith.
Draco frustratingly denied all suggestions; he wanted Hermione safely back at the Manor away from anyone who could possibly be possessed.
Though it made angry fire stir up in his chest, Blaise agreed with the Gryffindors who argued that Hermione could be kept safe here for three more weeks. NEWTs aside, Blaise wanted a chance to draw the Darkness out so they could destroy it, and the more people they could trust to protect Hermione made it easier for him to cope.
Ron added with a somewhat wicked expression that he wanted to see the Darkness go up against McGonagall, and Harry chuckled at that. Theo, who remained silent during the debate, finally spoke up.
"I want to implement safety measures just in case something does happen. I agree that if we send Hermione away, the Darkness won't bother staying at Hogwarts because she's the target. But if it makes itself known, we should plan for several possible scenarios to get her somewhere safe and hidden, whether it's here or not."
"She doesn't go anywhere alone," Draco said promptly. The other four Guardians nodded in agreement. Hermione just sighed; she didn't like being talked about as if she weren't there, but her wizards could hardly fight their instincts. Her safety was their safety.
"At least one of us has every class with her," Blaise reminded them. "The only time she's not with one of us is when she's in her dormitory."
Ginny chortled under her breath and looked sideways at the Slytherins, "You two gonna lock her up in your room again?"
Hermione turned pink, Neville looked confused, and Harry and Ron went red.
"Er– that's not necessary," Harry said quickly. "She's safe in Gryffindor Tower, me and Ron aren't far away–"
"You guys can't get up the girls' staircase," Ginny reminded them. "But what am I, chopped dragon liver?"
"The Darkness could possess a girl," Ron argued. "If you two are both sleeping, it has the upper hand–"
Hagrid coughed suddenly to get their attention. Professor McGonagall swept down the lawn, looking flustered.
"Miss Granger, are you alright?"
"Yes, thank you, Professor," Hermione said quietly. "I'm considering leaving–"
Their Headmistress looked positively heartbroken. "Miss Granger, you don't need to tell me how important the NEWTs are to you. I value your safety, of course, but should there be anything I can do to keep you safe here for three weeks more … Merlin knows I owe the three of you everything as it is."
There were some exchanged looks between the Guardians and Hagrid.
Ginny crossed her arms angrily for not being nonverbally consulted. Draco of all people noticed first and silently battled the ginger with his eyes. Over the past several months it was surprising how well the two of them learned to communicate, though often with excessive curse words. Or curses.
With a sigh, Draco finally gave in.
"She can stay," he said reluctantly. "But she's not staying in her dormitory without one of us."
"We have several rooms in the castle reserved for visitors," Professor McGonagall said immediately. "We will need three of them shortly to house the Ministry examiners, but one will remain free. Miss Granger, you're welcome to move there for the remainder of your time in the castle. It is well-protected and there is a second bed–" she raised an eyebrow at Draco, who turned pink "–for one of your Guardians to accompany you. I believe I make myself clear."
"Yes," Hermione said with a smile. "Thank you, Professor."
"I see you've been brought into the conspiracy, Longbottom? I'm hardly surprised, I must admit; I rather expect Miss Lovegood to appear next."
There were a few chuckles and Ginny piped up,
"Y'know, we really should tell her the truth. She'll help look out for Hermione just as much as any of us. I can go talk to her later–"
"I think Ron should talk to Luna," Harry said promptly. Ron turned pink and stared at his friend.
"Me?"
Harry shrugged innocently. "Didn't you have that last Herbology project with her anyway?"
"Oh, er– right." He was now a tinge of green.
Theo jumped in to spare Ron further discolouration. "Headmistress, we need to have several designated locations around the school we can escort Hermione in case of danger–"
"My office," Professor McGonagall said promptly. "Miss Granger, I'll give you the password privately; you may enter at any time, and the Floo is at your disposal as well–"
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione repeated softly as she exchanged a smile with her teacher. Professor McGonagall excused herself to return to the school.
"Can al'ays come here, Hermione," Hagrid reminded her warmly. She squeezed his hand gratefully.
"We need at least one more option in the castle," Ron said. "Too bad the Room of Requirement was destroyed–"
"How 'bout the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw common rooms?" Neville suggested. "The Darkness probably knows all you Guardians are either Gryffindor or Slytherin."
"That's good," Ron agreed. "But we'll need to know the passwords–"
"Ravenclaw doesn't have a password," Harry remembered. "You just answer a question to get in."
"I'll talk to Hannah; I reckon she'll let Hermione into Hufflepuff no problem."
"Thanks, Neville," Hermione murmured. Their friend shrugged with a grin.
"I think he's just looking for an excuse to get into Hufflepuff," Draco muttered. Neville's ears turned red, but he didn't stop grinning.
"Like you can talk about inter-house relationships, Malfoy."
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For the remainder of the day Hermione focused desperately on her work but also watched her fellow students out the corner of her eye. People were certainly looking at her, but Harry murmured that it was, indeed, nothing new. Hermione had been so focused this year that she'd barely spared a thought to the looks that followed her, Harry, and Ron around all the time anyway.
She supposed, with an internal sigh, that she should get used to the attention at some point now that it was on her more than Harry.
The room Professor McGonagall provided on the fifth floor came with a large, old-fashioned key instead of a password, and she was reassured that standard unlocking charms would not be effective to gain entry. Two beds and two desks took up most of the room, reminding her of Draco and Blaise's dormitory but with a larger window and an attached bathroom. Ginny helped Hermione move her trunk downstairs and pretended not to feel sad about losing her favourite dormmate. She planned a cover story to tell the other girls who would notice her friend's absence.
"Hermione was so worried about failing her NEWTs, Parvati, she started having emotional breakdowns! The Headmistress had to give her a quiet room away from everybody, otherwise she might've started disrupting the rest of Gryffindor with her hyperactive study mentality and tendency to snap under pressure–"
"Oh, shut up," Hermione sighed at the redhead.
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"I didn't realise being the Mage's loyal handmaiden would include reading all her mail," Ginny joked as they flipped through the onslaught of envelopes Hermione received in response to the article.
"This bloke says he's definitely your Guardian," Ron said with a smirk. "He's got a special connection to fire."
"He's probably a pyromaniac," Hermione yawned. She remained engrossed in her Potions textbook with her legs thrown over Draco's lap.
"Fourth bloke who wants to marry you," Harry announced as he added another letter to the bin. "Not as creepy as some of the ones I got after the war; at least ten different witches told me they wanted to bear my children."
"There's worse things than offers like that," Blaise teased but Harry shook his head.
"Even if I weren't with Ginny, those letters scared me. One of the witches was fifty years old, and one wanted to brew a fertility potion with my … er, contribution."
There were a few cringes around the room.
"At least these are nicer than the hate mail you got in fourth year," Ron observed with a nudge to Hermione. "Everyone thought you cheated on Harry – remember one person sent you Bubotuber pus?"
"No, Ron, I completely forgot," Hermione said dryly.
"That was Draco," Blaise said simply.
"WHAT!?"
The Gryffindors dropped everything they were holding, and Theo put a hand to his head with a sigh.
"Zabini," the blond growled. Blaise adopted an innocent face.
"It was the perfect cover, really, because all kinds of people hated her, so it was easy to slip it in. You were mad at them about the whole ferret thing; that's why you gave Rita Skeeter all that dirt on Potter, too."
"That maniac professor broke five of my ribs!" Draco said, irritated. "It was completely uncalled for."
"Maybe, but Hermione didn't curse you!" Harry said, angry on his friend's behalf. "She wanted to tell Moody off for that!"
"I think Draco was jealous because of how good she looked at the Yule Ball," Theo observed slyly. Draco scowled but Ron squinted at Theo.
"Were you even there?"
"No, but I didn't have to be. Draco's behaviour towards her for the next month told me everything I needed to know."
Blaise chuckled. "You think he liked her even then?"
"I suspected as much, only because Draco tends to pout when he wants something he can't have," Theo drawled with a grin.
Hermione was furious, but now she couldn't help snickering with her friends. Draco scowled at Theo but was more concerned about his girlfriend's inevitable wrath.
"Can we just agree I got you back for slapping me?" Draco murmured to her.
"We'll see. I might just owe you one more for that pus."
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It was decided that Theo would bunk with Hermione since they were prone to keep each other up late with their revisions anyway. To Hermione's amusement her boyfriend allowed the arrangement; it was Blaise that took longer to convince.
Theo cast extra locking charms on the door and Hermione added a few of the enchantments that kept her, Harry, and Ron safe last year. Blaise attempted to break into the room and failed, so he relented to return to his own dorm satisfied that she was safe.
Hermione and Theo settled onto their respective beds, occasionally tossing questions back and forth as they paged through their Runes notes.
They were silent for a while before Theo spoke up softly.
"Blaise told me what you did for your parents."
Hermione glanced over. She hadn't realised her friend had put away his books and now sat on the edge of the bed, watching her carefully.
"It's alright," she answered quietly as she put her own study materials aside. "I'm still sad sometimes, but I know they're alive and that's more than I can say for other families that didn't make it through the war in one piece."
"You're allowed to mourn," Theo said gently. "Don't ever feel guilty because you think your pain is less than someone else's. Everyone suffered in their own way."
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "I don't feel guilty anymore, I suppose, but I certainly did for a while. I didn't lose a brother like Ron, and I didn't lose my father like you or Draco–"
Theo made a small noise in his throat. Hermione swung her legs to the floor and studied his suddenly incensed face.
"I'm not sad about that," Theo said sharply. "He deserved to die long before the war, and I wish he hadn't been so lucky as to go out with a simple Avada–"
"Stop," Hermione interrupted. Theo wasn't himself when he allowed his anger out. "It's over, Theo. And no matter what, you lost a family member. And he was– he was the only one you had left."
Theo's expression didn't change.
She added softly, "You're allowed to mourn the loss of family, no matter how you felt about him personally."
He stayed quiet for so long she thought he might've fallen asleep. Suddenly he rose to his feet, unembarrassed in his blue silk pajamas, and joined her.
"I didn't lose my family," he said softly as he slipped an arm around her. "I found a better one."
Though Professor McGonagall would likely click her tongue, Theo's warm, gentle arm remained around Hermione for the rest of the night.
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At Neville's insistence, Luna and Hannah were brought into the secret. Luna beamed at Hermione and touched her cheek in a manner reminiscent of the centaurs.
"I always knew you had a strong soul," she said firmly before skipping away and planting herself into a seat between Ron and Ginny.
Hannah was intrigued by the story and immediately taught the Guardians how to enter the Hufflepuff common room, insisting that Hermione would be welcomed with open arms. Neville also revealed that Professor Sprout provided him a set of keys into the greenhouses, which could be used as an extra refuge if needed.
Draco's worries about keeping Hermione's secret safe were slowly fading. He still insisted she go nowhere without a Guardian, but the ability to trust the others was surprisingly refreshing. He had a quiet conversation with Blaise one night about it; Blaise admitted he found it quite easy to trust Hermione's other friends, and he suspected it was largely because of her soul's influence.
Draco certainly never expected he'd trust people like Longbottom of his own accord. He'd been horrible to the Gryffindor for years, but Neville was willing to put everything behind him thanks to how Draco had changed in the last year. When Neville started spending time with them all, he spoke to the Slytherins with the same respect he showed the Gryffindors, and Draco found himself in awe and admiration. He wouldn't've expected the same courtesy from his own house. He was further pleased to enjoy discussing garden-grown potion ingredients with Neville, possibly their only overlapping area of interest.
Hermione summarised quietly one day, "We're not children anymore."
Between the helpful efforts of their extended group, Hermione rarely travelled with less than two escorts. Ron constantly kept his eyes peeled for a sign of Darkness and was becoming adept at noticing flashes from further away. He also made a habit of cataloguing auras of the people they spent time with and was hardly surprised to note that the person with the Lightest aura outside the group of Guardians was Luna.
Though Hermione was getting used to being watched as she moved through her last week of classes, people weren't just watching her with public interest. The professors gave Hermione supportive smiles and knowing glances at every opportunity – she presumed McGonagall confirmed her identity with the staff so they'd keep an eye on her.
It certainly seemed more students guessed the truth, as Neville predicted, since many also started to keep a careful eye out for Hermione. Several former DA members and some students that Hermione had never even spoken to before would offer her supportive smiles or looks of admiration as she passed them, not unlike those Harry received after the Battle of Hogwarts.
They already think I'm their Saviour, and I haven't even done anything yet, she mused. When she talked about this with Harry, he joked that she was repeating his life from first year and promptly tagged her "It" again.
When Draco could leave Hermione safely in the company of others, he often wandered outside towards the Forest. He couldn't cross the perimeter on his own, but he found himself inexplicably drawn to the trees. Hagrid was the first to notice his new pattern, and one day Draco broke down and confessed his worries to the half-giant. He admitted – without detail – what happened the night in the Manor when "he" made the trees in the wall come to life. He dreaded the power that supposedly lived within him and feared he couldn't control it. Even with Harry's help, he hadn't been able to re-create Hermione's magic with the apple tree.
To Draco's surprise, Hagrid sympathised and responded gruffly about being afraid of his own strength, particularly as a student.
"Would make a friend, see, an' then I'd try an' hug 'em, or even clap 'em on the back, an' they'd get bruised or hurt somehow an' they'd be scared o' me all over again, so I 'ad to keep me distance. Took a lon' time, y'know, before I trusted m'own strength.
"But yeh have somethin' real valuable, Draco. Yeh've got friends that'll help yeh."
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Draco lay awake in deep thought, listening to Blaise's breathing from across the room. He was learning to read the Guardians' emotions from further away and no longer needed a physical connection to identify strong feelings. He could sense now that he wasn't the only one lying awake, presumably also in deep thought.
He couldn't conjure his Patronus yet without help, so he sent an owl.
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Potter,
Been doing a lot of thinking lately. Theo's rubbing off on me.
I know you're awake too. Can we talk privately? I need your help with something.
Don't let it go to your head.
Draco
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Midnight alright? Meet me in the trophy room. That's always unlocked.
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