AN: I start work tomorrow, so sadly I ask you not to get used to this daily update thing. Sorry I am so sporadic! I just get excited

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything!

Chapter Eighteen: Holidays

Hermione had never been more thankful for a break from school, but her brief happiness over the break disappeared when she collapsed in bed after bringing up her trunk and the pounding headache had reappeared.

Remus and Peter had said their goodbyes at the station as they both were required to go home for Christmas.

Her goodbye with Remus had been short and sweet due to them being under the watchful eye of his stern father, Dorea, and Charlus.

He'd pulled her into a tight hug and whispered, "Keep that Galleon close." He'd placed a chaste kiss on her cheek and looked at her nervously. "Take care of yourself, Hermione."

He looked at Sirius and James and they had seemed to have some kind of silent understanding where Remus stared at them and Sirius and James nodded. Hermione had watched him walk away after that until his sandy blonde hair was no longer in view.

"Come on, kitten," Sirius's quiet voice and gentle hand on her wrist had pulled her away. As soon as she snapped out of it she'd pulled away from him and latched onto James's elbow.

Dorea had watched all of these interactions carefully.

When they'd gotten back to the house, Tilly had popped in almost immediately to tell all of them that dinner was ready.

The boys had looked at Hermione expectantly, but she hadn't been paying attention. She just let go of James and shrunk her trunk to take upstairs. When she had disappeared, Charlus and Dorea both looked towards the boys.

"Yeah… she won't be coming to dinner," said James.

Hermione had been in bed for maybe five minutes before the unmistakable sound of a house elf apparating caused her to sit up.

"Tilly insists that Mistress Hermione comes down to dinner."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. She looked over at the house elf in the lavender tea towel. She had her hands on her hips and a wooden spoon in her small hand. She was waving it now as she stepped closer to her.

"Does she now?" Hermione regretted her words when Tilly's batty eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Tilly doesn't appreciated being talked down to! No she doesn't!" She whacked Hermione on the knee with the spoon. Hermione flinched. "And Tilly insists that Mistress Hermione come down to dinner!"

She hit Hermione's knee again.

"And Tilly is mad at Mistress Hermione! Mistress Hermione lose all the weight Tilly worked so hard to give you!"

She hit her thigh this time and Hermione actually yelped.

"AND Tilly insists that Mistress Hermione come to dinner right now!"

"Okay! I'm coming!" Hermione pushed herself up from the bed with much effort under Tilly's scrutinizing eyes. Tilly tsked when Hermione put a hand on her forehead when she was hit with a dizzy spell.

"Mistress Hermione not take care of herself."

Hermione watched in horror as the elf's big eyes filled with tears.

"Mistress Hermione is sad again."

Hermione panicked and began to walk out of the room to escape the crying elf. "Don't worry, Tilly. I'm going to dinner, and I am going to be happy. You'll see!"

She ran away when the elf started to wail dramatically in the middle of her room.

She slowed down as soon as she made it to the stairs and quietly made her way down to the dining room. She paused right outside the door at the sound of voices.

"I don't know, Mum. She was getting better. She was eating and happy. I think… I think Remus made her happy."

"When did it start?" Asked Charlus quietly.

"Saturday night," whispered Sirius.

James jumped in, "Wasn't that the night of her meeting with Dumbledore? Could something have happened with him?"

Dorea interrupted him.

"What happens during these 'episodes' you mentioned in the letter, James?"

Hermione listened as James sighed. She could imagine him running his fingers through his messy hair.

"She disappears."

"What do you mean, dear?"

"I don't know, she'd just zone out. She wouldn't move or blink or talk for a while. Sometimes it was five minutes and sometimes it was a couple hours."

There was a pause, and Hermione considered walking the rest of the way in, but then Charlus asked, "Did specific things trigger it?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "I think she triggered it herself. Her own thoughts..."

Hermione's eyes widened. Was he about to tell them about what she'd said to him? Suddenly Hermione felt something whack the back of her denim covered knee.

"She told me she-"

Sirius started to say right as Hermione screeched at the continued assault from the house elf.

Sirius stopped talking and jumped up at the feminine squeal coming from right outside the room, and then Hermione stumbled through the doorway. Her hair was standing on end, and she had that vacant look in her eyes that they'd all grown familiar with.

She looked at Sirius and he could see on her face that she knew what he was about to say. What he was about to tell them.

"Hermione, dear! Why don't you sit down? Have some dinner with us." Hermione's eyes didn't leave Sirius's. She felt a sudden chill and shivered. She began to get that feeling she got right before she'd lose herself, where she could physically feel her mind separating from her body.

She'd told him she didn't want anyone to know.

Tilly slapped the back of Hermione's elbow with the spoon, and Hermione barely reacted this time.

"Hermione?"

Charlus's voice made her jump. She looked up at him. Her fingers were cramping. She hadn't let go of the stone in a week.

"Tilly hit me with a spoon…" She trailed off and looked down at her hands. "Said I had to come to dinner."

Hermione didn't look up as she slowly made her way to a seat on the opposite side of the table from Sirius. She couldn't look at him.

The rest of the people at the table probably would've laughed at the idea of Tilly lashing out with a spoon, but none of them could take their eyes off of Hermione. It was like all those months of healing had disappeared.

Hermione stared at the plate of steaming food in front of her like it was an enemy on the opposite side of a battlefield.

The silence was stifling, and she knew what they needed was reassurance. She looked up at Charlus and Dorea.

"I missed you guys."

She hadn't realized how true the words were until they were out. She smiled at them, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Charlus smiled at her. "We missed you too, Hermione."

She picked up her fork. The meal pretty much mirrored her very first meal at Potter Manor. They all waited for Hermione to take her first bite before they went back to their meals. About three bites in she could feel the stone burning a hole through her hand. It was almost like she was back in the shack with the taunting words hissing at her from all angles. She put her fisted hands over her ears, but it just continued. She needed to speak with Harry.

She very slowly stood up. She removed her hands carefully and the noises rushing past her ears prevented her from hearing the people at the table's concerned questions.

She thought she asked them to excuse her, but she couldn't be sure because even her own voice was drowned in the hisses. She made her way towards the door to the backyard.

She wasn't wearing a cloak or shoes, but she hardly noticed.

She stopped about ten paces out. She was barely outside the glow from the lights of the house.

She held her breath and lifted the stone.

Three turns of the stone, and his spirit will appear.

Hermione looked up at the stars and before she could talk herself out of it she turned the stone three times.

Her head was starting to pound from holding her breath, and she had tears in her eyes.

"Hey, Mione."

All the air left her body and her knees buckled. She landed in the snow with her knees and shins making imprints. She was careful to hold on tight to the stone.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

It wasn't in her head. He was real.

She looked up and gasped.

Almost real.

"Harry."

His name came out broken.

He looked older than when she'd last seen him. He looked older than he was supposed to in general. He was skinny and probably wearing the exact same thing he'd been wearing when he died. Jeans and a grey shirt that were both torn places and covered in blood. He had an ethereal blue glow about him, but it was him.

"Harry…" She repeated.

There was a crushing weight in her chest. All the grief that she'd felt over the last few months was nothing compared to this.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's too much." She took a few deep breaths, but then Harry's voice broke the silence.

"Mione…"

She finally looked into his eyes. Even with the glow they were the deepest green she'd ever seen.

"They didn't lie, Harry." He cocked his head to the side. "You have Lily's eyes."

She had tears running down her face, but now that she'd looked into his eyes, it was like she was paralyzed.

They just stared at each other for a couple minutes before Hermione spoke.

"I can't do this without you, Harry."

Harry smiled at her and said, "That's funny because I said the same thing about you."

Hermione laughed humorlessly.

"If anyone could do this alone, it's you, Mione."

Hermione looked down at his feet. She was sobbing now, and clutching at her chest.

"But you don't have to do it alone." Hermione's head snapped up. Harry took a couple steps towards her and crouched down, so they were at eye level. She held herself tight so that she wouldn't try to wrap him in a hug. "My family, Hermione. My grandparents. They'll help you."

She choked up.

"Dorea and Charlus? I'm a burden to them. I have so many problems. I don't really even know how to be a person anymore."

"Bollocks."

Hermione gave a watery laugh.

"It's true!"

Harry smiled at her. She was finally starting to breathe normally when he said, "We came for you, you know?"

Hermione's eyes widened and she fell back, so that she was sitting fully on her legs.

"Harry?"

He kept talking, "I have to tell you. Everything that happened afterwards, I have to tell you," he said forcefully. Hermione hesitated a moment before nodding. "Dobby died right after he apparated us out. Bellatrix's cursed blade. He took us to Shell Cottage. The entire Weasley family came when Bill sent a Patronus telling them we were there."

Hermione held her breath again as she listened. She never thought she'd hear this. He was answering all the questions she hadn't dared to ask.

"Molly lost it. Said that we had to go back for you. She called an Order meeting, but Moody and Shacklebolt refused. They said the Order wasn't strong enough for an ambush for just one person. That's when I said it. I told them I couldn't do it without you." Harry's eyes had tears in them. "I tried everything to convince them, but they wouldn't hear it. Even Remus and Tonks refused."

Hermione balked. "Even Remus wouldn't?"

Harry smiled at her sadly. "He wasn't your Remus then, Mione."

"Remus would never leave someone!" She sobbed. "He wouldn't leave me there!" Harry reached a hand out and stopped a few inches from hers. He pulled back and kept going.

"So Ron and I went to Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Neville, Seamus, Ginny, and a few other people. We had a plan. It was a few weeks after they had taken you, and we left in the middle of the night. We apparated right outside Malfoy Manor, and we were ready. We had a solid plan."

Hermione froze up. She knew something must've gone terribly wrong because if it hadn't, Hermione would've only been in that cell for three weeks, not eight months.

"Harry." She took a deep breath. "What happened?"

"Snape was there waiting for us in Death Eater garb. He told us that he couldn't let us do it. Told us he had orders from Dumbledore," Harry was spitting out his words now. He put his face in his hands for a moment before looking up with a tortured expression. "He said if we went after you, any chances of winning the war would be over. He said you were part of a bigger plan. Something instrumental to the Order."

Hermione's hands flew to her cheeks.

Snape told her he had orders from Dumbledore right before he sent her here. How long had he planned on her being the failsafe? Had he decided since she first got snatched that he would keep her there? Just in case?

She was sobbing again. She didn't know if she could bare to hear the rest, but she had to know.

"You just left after that?" She asked shakily. Harry shook his head.

"Of course not! We didn't believe him. Told him there was nothing he could say that would stop us. He'd planned for that though. He knew we wouldn't listen. Called us 'damn Gryffindor idiots,' and then called the other Death Eaters. It was only about ten of them, but they got Neville and Fred."

Hermione flew up and spun, so her back was to him with her eyes squeezed tight.

"We had to get out of there, Hermione. No one would go back after that! I tried to get an elf to take me, but they all refused because I was Harry Potter."

Hermione pushed her palms against her temples. "Snape kept me there. He could've gotten me out, and he kept me there."

She felt his cold presence beside her.

"I wanted you to know. I wanted you to know we came for you."

"Harry, I…"

"Hermione?"

Hermione jumped and in her panic, dropped the stone in the snow.

She looked to the left right as Harry's spirit faded into nothing. She reached out for where he was, and that was when the cold began to seep into her bones.

"No!" Hermione dropped into the snow for the second time and searched with blurry eyes for the stone. "I'm not ready!" Her fingers were shaking and numb and she couldn't see. "I'm not done," she whispered.

Then there was someone in the snow next to her, and they plucked the stone from the snow and held it in the center of their palm. The Deathly Hallows symbol pointed to the sky.

Hermione snatched it and held it close to her chest.

"Hermione, is that what I think it is?"

Dorea was a pureblood. She knew all the stories and legends, and that stone was something she'd seen in illustrations from her favorite childhood storybook. From the story about becoming the master of death.

There was a gentle hand on her shoulder. Hermione wiped at her eyes.

"I just… I just needed to talk to him."

The hand moved to her cheek. "I know, dear."

Hermione looked up into Dorea's familiar Black family eyes.

There was no mistaking the look she was giving her as anything but pitying. She'd heard all of Hermione's side of the conversation. Hermione sucked in a deep breath.

"Since that first day in that place he knew he would… he would let me rot just in case everyone else died."

Dorea just nodded.

"I thought they just left me there. That they didn't even come after me, but they did. Snape stopped them and told them I was a part of a bigger plan." Hermione's next words came out like her last breath of air. "He had Death Eaters ambush them. They killed Neville and Fred."

Dorea pulled her into her arms.

"I hate him." Hermione was heaving. "I hate him!"

They had all followed Hermione out of the dining room, but she seemed like a woman possessed. She walked straight out into the snow, and they'd all paused in the doorway. Dorea had held her hand up and that was that. She'd quietly slid the door open and followed her. They'd all watched from the window as Hermione walked barefoot into the snow like some sort of ghost before she stopped right outside the light from inside. They watched her silhouette look up like she was searching for something before she collapsed in the snow. They watched as she fell back on her calves and they watched as her entire body started to shake.

"Why is Mum just standing there!"

"Shush, James!"

It wasn't until Hermione jumped and spun around that they saw her face. They could see the betrayal and devastation. Sirius wanted to be thankful that the expression on her face was anything but apathetic, but seeing those expressions hurt him.

It wasn't until she had turned around that Sirius realized she was talking. He wondered if the voices had come back, and if they had, he couldn't decide if that was a good thing.

Then her eyes flew open and whatever she'd been holding in her hand dropped in the snow. They watched her fall after it, and wipe at her eyes as her entire body shook. When Dorea dropped into the snow next to her and pulled her into her arms like some ragdoll, Charlus pulled away from the window and turned towards Sirius and James.

"You boys should head upstairs."

Then he dismissed them with a wave of his hand before opening the door and walking in the snow towards the two witches.

James and Sirius had waited until Charlus had pulled Hermione from Dorea's arms and stood with her like when they'd originally seen them together stepping through the floo on June 14th. James's eyes watered when for the first time in his life, he watched his mother weep on her hands and knees. Sirius looked over and grabbed James's shoulder.

"Come on, Jamie," Sirius whispered.

Sirius had to bodily drag James up the stairs.

Hermione had let Charlus take her upstairs. Then she'd stared blankly ahead when a wailing Tilly drew her a warm bath as she'd shivered on the floor of the bathroom. Then she'd been left alone and sunk deep into the tub in hopes that the steaming soapy water would scare the chill from her bones. Then she scrubbed at her skin until it had turned a deep, irritated red. She'd scrubbed at her 'Mudblood' scar until the never fully healed lines bled like the day she got it. Then she watched the blood swirl in the water until a red-faced Dorea had yanked the door open and pulled her from the water. She stood like a statue as the woman forced her into Hermione's favorite old tan jumper of James's and a pair of plaid sleep shorts. She barely managed to lift her feet when Dorea shoved fluffy and warmth charmed socks up her legs.

She didn't wake back up from her daze until Dorea tried to pry the stone from her frozen fingers.

"No!"

Dorea had taken one look at her expression, the same one she'd worn when she'd held one of the strongest Wizards in history at wand point in his own meeting, and let go.

Hermione had let her lead her to bed after that. Let her wrap her in blankets like some kind of baby.

She watched Dorea shut the door quietly behind her, and then there was silence.

Hermione had tried to fall asleep on her own, but the chill had seeped into her being and her mind wouldn't be quiet about what she'd learned.

She didn't know what time it was, or how long she'd tried to fall asleep before she made the decision.

Harry had said she didn't need to do it alone. He'd said his family would help. After a few deep breaths she'd locked the stone in the drawer next to her bed and opened her door.

The hall was pitch black, and the walk to the room the boys were sleeping in was longer than she'd remembered.

It felt like a lifetime before she was slowly pushing his door open and shifting restlessly in the doorway. The light was on and the boys were sitting on the floor wide awake.

Their heads flew up and neither of them could hide their shocked expressions. She was a mess. Her hair had dried at odd angles and her skin was red like it had been rubbed raw. Her left forearm was puffier like something was wrapped around it under the knit of her jumper. They could see the hem of her plaid shorts peeking out from underneath, and her face was deathly pale which emphasized the dark violet bags under her eyes. Her lips were a sickly purple rather than their normal rosy color.

Right before Dorea and Charlus had retired into their own suite for the night Charlus had silently stalked into their room and said, "Things always get worse before they get better."

Sirius and James both found themselves hoping this was the worse part Charlus had mentioned. That from here it couldn't get worse, and she would start recovering. Actually recovering.

Both boys were silent as she stared at the forgotten game of exploding snap game between them and played nervously with the loose threads at the ends of her sleeves.

"I can't sleep," she whispered.

James immediately jumped up and pulled her into his arms.

"You'll sleep here tonight. We'll take care of you, Hermione."

After that they sandwiched into the large bed just like they used to and each time she woke up crying they held her hand tighter.

Hermione fell asleep with the thought that she wouldn't let her past control her anymore.

The next morning she surprised everyone in the household by waking up at a decent time, taking a shower, actually brushing her hair, and showing up for breakfast in normal clothes.

They all watched wearily as she shoveled a healthy amount of eggs and potatoes on her plate and ate nearly all of it.

Once she'd pushed her plate away with a sigh and looked up at them she saw three shocked expressions and Dorea's knowing eyes.

"What?" She asked rather unnecessarily.

When no one said anything, Hermione finished off her pumpkin juice and stood up.

"I'm going to be in the library finishing my holiday assignments." She picked up her plate to take to the kitchen, but Tilly snatched it from her hands before she could even start heading in that direction. She scowled and turned on the two gobsmacked boys. "I strongly suggest you boys do the same."

If possible, James's jaw dropped even further, but Sirius's turned into a proud grin.

"There's our swot!" He exclaimed before topping it off with a fist pump in the air.

On her way out she made sure to smack him extra hard on the back of his head.

Once she was gone Sirius turned and grinned at the other occupants of the table.

"It's like the last week didn't even happen," James said in a mystified voice.

Dorea smirked when she said, "I'm not surprised one bit." She delicately picked up her fork, and Charlus leaned over to press a kiss to his wife's cheek.

"She's resembling you more and more each day, love."

Dorea smiled mischievously. "No wonder she was almost a Slytherin."

James spat out his pumpkin juice and yelled, "I thought she was kidding about that!"

Charlus laughed heartily when he said, "Not at all."

Hermione spent the next few days trying to get her physical and mental health in check. She only disappeared a few times, and each time she came back she was wrapped in a blanket, and someone in the house was holding her hand.

Her and Dorea ended up going Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley, and Remus and Hermione exchanged messages through the Galleons nearly every moment of the day.

For his Christmas present, she sent him a new sharp looking messenger bag and a small charmed notebook that allowed them to write to each other whenever they wanted. She had a matching one, and as soon as she'd sent off the package, she walked around with the notebook held tightly in her arms. Christmas Eve she was sitting in front of the fire when it warmed up from its place on her lap.

She couldn't open it fast enough.

Right at the top of the first page, in his neat script Remus had written:

I miss you more than I have ever missed anyone.

Just like that all the dark thoughts that she'd been trying to push away about what Harry had told her about Remus finally disappeared. Harry was right. He hadn't been her Remus when he'd agreed that saving her wasn't an option. She knew now that this Remus would always come for her.

You were supposed to wait until Christmas, Remus… But I miss you too.

The full moon had been the week before they'd left for break, and James had mentioned that morning that it had been the worst one yet since they'd started being there with him.

All four boys had showed up to breakfast the next day bruised and torn, and she hadn't even noticed. The notebook warmed up again.

Are you okay?

Hermione's eyes watered. She hadn't been thinking about how her health was affecting those around her in the past week, and here Remus was asking about her.

"I'm so selfish," she whispered to herself.

"You are probably the least selfish witch I have ever met."

Hermione's head whipped around. She wiped at her eyes when she saw the messy salt and pepper hair of Charlus.

"Not lately," she muttered.

She turned back towards the notebook and quickly responded as Charlus made his way around the couch and took a seat in the armchair facing her.

I'm sorry I have been so distant lately. I'm a lot better. Promise. I'll write more later.

She shut the notebook before she could add anything else, and looked back into the fire.

"So… Remus Lupin?" Charlus asked with a mischievous smile on his face. Hermione flushed and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Are you about to do a protective father bit? Because I am not sure I will respond well to that."

Charlus smiled and lifted his hands up in surrender. "Actually, I was just going to say that he is probably the best choice you could've made out of your lot of boys."

Hermione actually laughed and turned back to the fire. "He's wonderful," she said with pink cheeks.

"Now, I actually did come here to pull information from you." Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? What kind of information?"

Charlus sighed and gave an exasperated look, "Regarding my dearest son, James, and his apparently upcoming nuptials with a certain Muggleborn witch that he was yelling about this morning."

She laughed again and said, "Trust me, they are not quite there yet. In fact, I believe her most recent opinion of him is somewhere in the 'toerag' vicinity."

He chuckled before it dropped into a sad smile.

They were both silent for a couple minutes before he said, "Dorea mentioned you told Harry he had Lily's eyes."

Hermione pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "Yes, well, she comes around eventually," she whispered.

Charlus snorted, "Hard to believe, but I guess my son can be quite determined."

She smiled at him, "Stubborn to a fault, that one."

The doors to the library, which had been barely cracked before, flew open the rest of the way just then and James flew in the room screaming bloody murder. Moments later Sirius appeared in the doorway with Slytherin green hair and unbridled rage in his expression.

"Oh, dear."

James leaned down and wrapped his arms around Hermione's torso before hauling her up and using her as if she was some kind of human shield.

"If you're going to hex me, you're going to have to hex Hermione first!"

Hermione's toes were dangling about six inches off the ground, and her arms were trapped tightly at her sides. She squirmed in his arms and one look at Sirius's furious expression had her screeching, "I did not agree to this!"

James was stronger than his wiry frame let on, and she could barely move an inch. "You better think long and hard about this, Pads. Moony will kill you if you harm one hair on her head!"

Hermione scowled and screamed, "You prats shouldn't be worried about, Moony! I'm going to kill both of you myself!"

Charlus was laughing from his place in the chair, and that's when Dorea glided into the room and said calmly, "Sirius, I am so glad you've decided to show some Slytherin pride. Couldn't be more proud of you, dear."

That seemed to be the line for him because before she could even blink Sirius had launched himself over the couch. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and actually screamed, and James unceremoniously dropped Hermione back onto the floor and, somehow, avoided Sirius long enough to sprint from the room.

Hermione grumbled on the floor and rubbed the place on her bum where she'd fallen.

"I'll get them back for this," she said under her breath.

"I have no doubt about that," laughed Charlus.

A few minutes later James and Sirius returned to the room looking like a matching set.

Hermione couldn't hold back the laughter that bubbled in her chest.

Hermione slept easier that night than she had in a long time, and when she woke up to Sirius and James jumping on the bed, she couldn't even find it in herself to be angry. She even laughed as they pulled her down into the cheerily decorated sitting room where Dorea and Charlus were waiting.

She'd flushed with surprise when they'd all sat down to open presents, and she found that her pile was quite a bit larger than the two boys.

"It seems you've made yourself quite a few friends," said Dorea with a secretive smile.

She opened each present with wonder and complete reverence.

James got her a magical planner that she could link to her own magic to add engagements as she planned them. Sirius, as promised, got her a shirt with 'Black's Number One Fan' in large gold letters. Peter sent her another box of sugar quills and an actual self-inking quill that wrote in ink that only she could see. Remus got her another charm for her bracelet, a small little coin, and tucked a piece of parchment with it which she carefully placed on the table to her right to read later.

After that every present that she saw was a surprise, and all of them came with little notes.

She had laughed pleasantly when she'd opened a small package from Pandora and seen a pair of radish earrings resting at the bottom. She put them in her ears with a large smile on her face before pulling out the note.

Hope you've reconsidered your stance on Divinations, dear friend!

Hermione threw it on top of Remus's and said to herself, "Such an odd witch."

She'd teared up when she saw a familiar looking lumpy package from Molly Weasley. She'd opened it carefully and had clutched the fabric of the hand knit jumper to her face for a few moments. There was a note inside that said:

I always love having an extra mouth to feed. You are welcome to pop in to the Burrow anytime.

After that she opened an unsigned package and saw a set of stationary with her initials at the bottom. Written in perfect longhand on the first letter was simply:

Hope you're taking care of yourself, Pet.

Hermione had spent a long moment just staring at it before Sirius exclaimed over her shoulder, "Who's that from? And why are they calling you Pet?"

Hermione's eyes widened, and she said quickly, "Just an old friend, Sirius."

She tucked the note with the others and moved on to the next package which ended up being a plate full of rock cakes from Hagrid and a piece of parchment asking her to visit more often. Sirius threw himself over the edge of the couch, so that he was sitting next to her.

Once he was settled he flicked one of her earrings and said, "Oddly enough, I rather like these."

Hermione had smiled and reached up to touch them. "Oddly enough, I rather like them also."

She had actually giggled when she saw that Lily had sent her a four part muggle book series about a young heroine falling in love with a werewolf.

She'd written inside one of the covers:

Fitting, don't you think?

"You're not actually going to read that rubbish are you?"

Sirius was flipping through one of the novels when Hermione snatched it from his hands and said through her laughter, "Of course, I am!"

Sirius smirked at her and rested his arms on the back of the couch. It was then that Hermione saw the Dragon pendant resting against his collarbones.

She beamed at him, and he gave her a soft smile.

"Thanks, kitten."

He wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her close to press a fat kiss on top of her head before releasing her. Hermione pulled on the chain around her neck and showed him her matching necklace.

"We match," she said quietly. She'd turned both of the charms into portkeys that would automatically take you to a 'safe place' when activated. She'd found the spell in a book in the restricted section of Hogwarts and written it down.

He ran a finger over the dragon she was holding up and grinned wolfishly at her.

Before he could say anything she turned away and grabbed the next package.

The last one in the stack.

It was from Dorea and Charlus.

When she opened it and saw what it was her hand flew over her mouth.

It was a framed black and white muggle photograph of her parents. Her real parents.

"How…"

Hermione looked up to see Dorea and Charlus smiling grievously at her from across the room.

Dorea simply said, "Called in some favors."

Hermione's eyes flew back to the picture. Her fingertips glided over the glass. It was a wedding picture. She remembered then that they got married in the summer of 1975. She found herself so relieved, that despite the fact that they would never have her, at least they would always have each other.

She could feel Sirius looking at the picture from over her shoulder. There was nothing in it to giveaway when it was taken, so she didn't bother hiding it. Her mother had worn a timeless dress reminiscent of 1940's fashion. Hermione remembered how as a child she'd always begged her mother to let her try it on.

Hermione's fingers shook over her mouth as she told Sirius, "These are my parents. Jean and Daniel Granger."

James slid into the spot on the opposite side of her from Sirius.

He looked up at Hermione and smiled, "You look just like your Mum."

Hermione let out a choked laugh and wiped her eyes. "Everyone always said we looked more like twins than mother and daughter, but I acted more like my dad."

Hermione, similar to how she'd felt on her birthday, couldn't help thinking this was the best Christmas she'd ever had.

AN: Lot of emotional turmoil for Hermione in this chapter. So much inner dialogue I had a little trouble getting it to flow right.

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