Author's Note: Thank you so much for your patience while I perfected this chapter. It is a monster! Over 11,000 words. This will most likely be the only chapter this long. It took a great deal of time to write and edit so I really hope everybody enjoys it. There is a lot of information in this chapter that everybody should already know (information that was in the HP series) so the main point of this chapter is to set up the action of this fic AND to establish the dynamic between Hermione and her parents. I think you will really love how I portray Mama Potter! She has become one of my favorite characters to write.
I have not started on the next chapter yet. This one took a lot out of me, plus I was recently promoted at work so I am trying to find a new balance between work and writing. Don't worry though I will get there, and as soon as I do you will have a new chapter!
I am beyond blown away by all of the support I have gotten on this story so far. The response has been so amazing and positive. Please keep reviewing, following, favorite-ing, all that good stuff. Let me know what you want to read or your thoughts on the characters. Anything you want to tell me I appreciate.
I would love to thank Travelilah for being my beta! She has been an amazing support, and she is an amazing writer! Currently working on a time travel piece as well, so go and check it out if you have the chance!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters! I am simply playing in the sandbox that JK Rowling created for us.
Now with that out of the way, on to...
Chapter 9
After the tea had been prepared, the three settled in the sitting room, Hermione across from her parents. "I know you both have questions, though there are some things I don't know, but I will tell you everything I can," she began.
"I believe we would first like to know how you ended up at Hogwarts in the state that you did?" Dorea questioned.
Hermione bit her lip, unsure how to start. It would be easier to just tell them everything without them asking questions. Otherwise her answers wouldn't make sense. She had already decided to tell them everything, but she hadn't decided how. Would it be best to tell them all at once or slowly let them get used to the idea that their daughter had been raised in the future alongside their grandson and then tell them about Voldemort? Figuring it would be best to get it all out of the way, like ripping off a plaster, she decided to take the plunge.
"It will probably be best if I start from the beginning. Maybe just leave your questions for later?" she asked.
At their simultaneous nods, she began. "As you know I was raised as a Muggleborn by the name of Hermione Granger, and I grew up believing that I was born on September 19th, 1979."
Both Dorea and Charlus gasped.
"That's not possible. That's not for another year," Dorea managed to get out after recovering slightly from her shock.
"I know, and I would have thought it impossible as well, but it is. As I said, I grew up in London with two Muggle parents, both dentists, and when I turned 11, Professor McGonagall came to my house to deliver my letter. It actually made a lot of sense. I was able to do things nobody else could. It took Professor McGonagall a little longer to convince my parents, but it just felt right to me. Anyway, I went to Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor during my first year."
"Gryffindor? You're a Gryffindor?" Charlus asked excitedly, speaking up for the first time since Dorea served the tea, unable able to hide the immense pride in his eyes at hearing his daughter had been sorted into his house.
Hermione smiled. "Well I was almost a Ravenclaw, but yes I am a Gryffindor. Anyway, to answer your first question, the reason James found me the way he did is because I was already at Hogwarts. There was a battle. Death Eaters had taken over the castle and, well it's complicated, and quite a long story, but the students who were of legal age and the Order were taking it back. We were trying to end it. I was separated from my friends by a Death Eater. He pushed us away from the battle and forced a potion on me, hit me with some sort of spell that hurt like mad, then another spell and a white light. The next thing I know I'm waking up in the Hospital Wing to a man who is supposed to be dead."
"Dead? Who?" Dorea wondered aloud.
"In my time, Professor Dumbledore died the year previously."
"How?" Charlus whispered, while Dorea was shocked into silence, a look of disbelief on her face.
"That's part of the long story," Hermione answered with a sigh, knowing she wouldn't be able to get through everything without interruptions like that.
"You said the Order. What do you know about the Order?" Charlus wanted to know.
"Quite a lot actually. I spent a couple of summers with my two best friends staying at the Order's headquarters."
"Why would they let children stay at Order headquarters? You are nowhere near old enough to be involved." Dorea demanded.
"Maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that I was involved, as well as my friends," Hermione said with a slightly bitter tone to her voice. She had missed out on so much growing up, her childhood had ended almost as soon as she had entered the magical world. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were always right in the thick of things, and while she wouldn't change doing everything she could to help Harry, a part of her wished she had the opportunity to just be a kid. To not be fighting for her life almost every year.
"Let's go back to what you said yesterday about you fighting since you were twelve. Hmm?" Dorea fixed Hermione with a gimlet stare.
The curly haired witch grimaced. "Yes well, that goes back to my first year. As I said I was sorted into Gryffindor, and that is where I met my two best friends. Ron Weasley and," at this Hermione paused for a moment. She knew she would have to tell them Harry's story, and she knew how much this would hurt them, but she also knew that they could stop this from happening. "And Harry Potter."
Dorea gasped while Charlus looked a little dumbstruck. "Harry.." Dorea began.
"James's son." Hermione smiled thinking of the messy haired boy with emerald green eyes.
"And his mother?" Dorea pressed for more information.
The younger witch chuckled a little sadly, "Lily is his mother. From what I was told they were very happy."
Dorea's smile fell a little as she caught the tone of her daughter's voice, "What you were told? Did you not know them?"
"Harry's life, well he didn't have it easy. In a couple of years, there will be a prophecy that predicts the downfall of Voldemort. It says that a boy born at the end of July will have the power to destroy the Dark Lord. It could have been one of two boys, but he decides that it's Harry. The three of them go into hiding but ultimately are found. Both Lily and James die trying to protect their son. James tried to hold him off to give Lily time to run, but she couldn't get away. Lily ultimately refused to stand aside and sacrificed her own life for Harry's. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, it backfired because of the protection Lily had created for him by sacrificing her life for her son's." Hermione paused seeing the looks on the Potter's faces; both were horror stricken at the fate that awaited their son and future daughter-in-law. "Would you like me to stop for now? I can tell you the rest later."
"N—No," Charlus managed to get out, his arm around his wife who seemed to be in shock. Her baby boy dead in just three short years. Her grandson an orphan before he can even remember his parents.
"What happens next?" The Potter Matriarch choked out.
"Voldemort is destroyed temporarily, what remains of him flees the country, and Dumbledore sends Harry to Lily's sister-"
"Lily's sister?" Dorea interrupted. "And why are we not given custody of our grandson?" She demanded in outrage.
"I don't know how, but all I know is the Dursley's were Harry's only living relatives. Dumbledore had other reasons to send him there, something about Blood Wards and protection offered by living with somebody who shares the same blood as his mother."
"So we die within three years as well then," Charlus figured sadly, glancing at his wife who had a look of pure defiance on her face. His wife was as stubborn as they come and she looked as if she was practically daring the fates to take her from this world before she had a chance to take down the wizard who dared to harm her family.
"Not necessarily. I don't know how it happened the first time around but if we can prevent your deaths as well as James and Lily's, we will," the youngest Potter argued, while looking warily at her Mum. She could see a little of that pesky Black insanity peeking out.
"Now as I said, I met Harry and Ron our first year. It took a little to become friends, but we did after they saved me from a Troll that a Professor who was being possessed by Voldemort let in as a distraction on Halloween."
"I'm sorry did you say a Professor was possessed by Voldemort? And he let a Troll loose in the castle?" Charlus said a little incredulously. At Hermione's nod, he muttered, "I think I need something a little stronger than tea." He got up and went to pour himself and his wife a glass of firewhiskey.
"Well, we realized later that the troll was a distraction so the Professor could attempt to get past the Cerberus that was guarding Nicholas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone that was hidden on the third floor, that year it was forbidden for students. As I quickly learned, Harry could never leave well enough alone, and by the end of the year when we figured the Professor was going to go after the stone, we followed him. Harry made it to the very end where he faced Voldemort again and was able to stop him from getting the stone and returning to full power."
"That was your first year?" Dorea exclaimed.
"Yes, unfortunately."
"What was Albus thinking? Hiding something that valuable in a school. Locking up a Cerberus where any student could stumble upon it!" she continued, ignoring her daughter's comment.
"Please! What's done is done, err...sort of. I guess it will happen? I'm not sure. Time travel is a little tricky, especially with me being so far in the past. I'm not really sure what will happen. Every little detail that is changed could have huge consequences. But the point is we all survived then, the stone was ultimately destroyed, and Fluffy was removed from the school."
"Fluffy?" Charlus questioned, "The Cerberus? Who would name a three-headed dog Fluffy?"
"Who do you think?" Hermione snorted. "Hagrid of course."
Charlus rolled his eyes but allowed his daughter to continue.
"Now I don't think you really want me to go into details about the next few years," Hermione tried to move on.
"No please, I think details would be best," Dorea suggested with a look that said it wasn't actually a suggestion. Despite the two having never met, it was oddly reminiscent of Helen Granger's look whenever Hermione tried to gloss over what had happened each year when she returned home for the summer. Maybe it was a mother thing.
"Alright, but I should warn you it does get worse."
Charlus gestured as if to say 'go on' while Dorea continued to give her a penetrating stare, both taking a sip of their firewhiskey to brace themselves for what was to come.
"Well, second year started out normal enough, minus the fact that Harry and Ron flew an enchanted car to school when they couldn't get through to the platform," Hermione started telling the next part of the tale.
Charlus and Dorea just snorted and shook their heads, both thinking that was exactly something the son of James Potter would do. In fact, Harry and Ron reminded them a little of James and Sirius so far.
Hermione continued, "Until Halloween that is, when Harry, Ron, and I found the caretaker's cat petrified and hung up in the middle of a corridor with a message saying the Heir of Slytherin had opened the Chamber of Secrets. It caused everybody to panic obviously. Harry always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and when it came out that he was a Parselmouth, everybody began to think he was the Heir of Slytherin. He had been hearing voices and because of this I was able to figure out that Slytherin's monster was a Basilisk. Unfortunately, before I could tell anybody, I was petrified. Harry and Ron were able to figure out where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was. When Ron's sister Ginny was taken into the chamber, Harry and Ron went after her. It was discovered that she was the one to open the Chamber after being possessed by a soul fragment of Voldemort's that he had stored in an old school diary. She had been writing in it all year, and he was able to drain her of her life to help aid him in gaining power. Harry was able to kill the Basilisk, destroy the diary, and save Ginny. As well as preventing Voldemort from returning once again."
"Parselmouth! How? That doesn't run in our family," Charlus exclaimed.
"Kill the...he was twelve! And you were petrified! How? I just don't understand how all of this could go on at Hogwarts with Dumbledore there!" Dorea practically screeched at the same time as her husband. She couldn't believe it. Her grandson faced Voldemort three times before he turned thirteen and lived! Her daughter was petrified by a Basilisk!
"Too many questions!" Hermione interrupted her parents' tirade, "First, the night that Voldemort tried to kill Harry when he was a baby, it's believed that some of his powers were transferred. Since Voldemort could speak Parseltongue, so could Harry. Second, well...Dumbledore wasn't there. A little more than halfway through the year the Board of Governor's suspended him from his post. I believe that he knew it was Voldemort behind the attacks, he just didn't know how. When Ginny was taken, Dumbledore returned to the castle, but Harry and Ron had already gone into the chamber themselves. As I said in the Hospital Wing, he is a great wizard, but he isn't infallible. I've known him to make many mistakes all which at the time he thought he was acting in the best interest of everybody. Something good did come out of it though, Harry was able to give Dumbledore the diary and based on Harry's account, he was able to figure out how to bring down Voldemort."
"What do you mean?" Charlus questioned.
"I said the diary contained a soul fragment of Voldemort's. He created what is called a Horcrux. It's the darkest magic you could possibly come across. To create one is incredibly barbaric, it involves murder and a number of other things. By sixth year Dumbledore finally revealed to Harry, who then told us, that he had created six Horcruxes, and the seventh soul fragment was in Voldemort himself. Voldemort couldn't die until they were all destroyed. I believe in this time there are only five Horcruxes. He creates the sixth when he is resurrected to full power."
"And when is that?" Dorea inquired, her face a mask of poise but her tone betraying how unnerved she was.
"He returns at the end of our fourth year. I'll explain that as much as I can when I get to it, but Harry was the only one besides a Death Eater, and Voldemort himself who was there for that, and Harry didn't want to give us any details. We also never asked, we didn't want to put him through reliving that," Hermione informed them.
"Alright, well what happened your third year? I suspect another daring escape from death's clutches again?" Dorea asked sarcastically.
"Well yes but surprisingly Voldemort does not make an appearance. This...well this will be quite difficult I expect. You view James's friends as your own children as well? Especially Sirius?"
"Yes, of course we do. Sirius has been living with us full time for over two years now, as for the other two they are over as much as they can be." Charlus informed his daughter.
"I told you that Voldemort found the Potter's despite the fact they were in hiding. What I didn't say is that a Fidelius Charm had been performed and they were betrayed by their Secret Keeper. I want you to know that I am not convinced their Secret Keeper will still switch sides, this is what happened in my past. He could be irredeemable, but I just—I just don't know. Everybody thought that Sirius was the Secret Keeper for the Potters but," she managed to get out before her mother cut her off.
"No!" Dorea exclaimed interrupting Hermione, "Sirius would never do that. He would die before he led James and Lily to their deaths, and I'm sure he would feel the same about any children they have!"
"Mum!" Hermione shouted, trying to get Dorea's attention. She was beginning to rant, bordering on hysterics.
Dorea immediately quieted, more out of shock that Hermione referred to her as Mum than anything.
"Thank you," Hermione continued, "As I was saying everybody thought that Sirius was the Secret Keeper, but he wasn't. It was apparently him trying to be clever. He suggested somebody else, but then leaked that he still was the Secret Keeper, so Death Eaters went after him instead of the real one. The only people that knew the truth were Sirius, James, Lily, and the real Secret Keeper. Not even Dumbledore knew. When Sirius discovered that Pe—Peter betrayed James and Lily, he went after him. Peter, unfortunately, got the better of Sirius. He shouted for everybody to hear that Sirius betrayed the Potters before cutting his finger off, so it looked like he had been blown up, and then blowing up the street they were on himself. He then disappeared leaving Sirius to take the fall for everything, including the twelve Muggles who died in the explosion. Sirius was then arrested and thrown into Azkaban without a trial."
"Azkaban?!" Charlus cried incredulously, "With no trial? That's outrageous! What was the Ministry thinking!"
"What does this have to do with your third year, dear?" Dorea asked, ignoring her husband's outburst, despite the fact she was absolutely seething at what awaited her sons in the future. She couldn't quite believe that quiet, sweet Peter Pettigrew could betray James and Lily that way, but she would wait to pass judgement. It seemed that not everything was as it appeared.
"Everything actually. The summer between my second and third year Sirius escaped from Azkaban. Since it was believed he was Voldemort's right hand man, it was believed he must have used dark magic to escape. Everybody thought that he was going after Harry, in hopes that killing Harry would bring back his old master," Hermione started telling the events of her third year. "We later learned this wasn't the case, but it's not until the end of the year. Third year was a little hectic for me. This isn't my first experience with time travel, I was granted permission to use a time turner to take all of the classes offered, I ended up overtaxing myself slightly, but ultimately it turned out for the best. See, the Ministry decided to station Dementors around Hogwarts as a way of catching Sirius, since they thought he would head there first. While they weren't wrong about that, they were wrong as to the reason."
"And what was the real reason Sirius felt the need to go to Hogwarts once he left Azkaban?" Dorea wondered aloud.
"How much do you know about James and his friends? Any of their secrets? Such as what they do once a month?" Hermione asked, hoping they already knew because if they didn't Hermione was sure she was about to get her new big brother and his friends into some kind of trouble.
Her Mum and Dad just snorted. "You mean their reckless and ingenious plan to keep Remus company? Yes we know all about what they decided to do," Dorea informed Hermione. "Incredibly dangerous thing to do, but we didn't find out until after they had already accomplished it."
"Well good, that makes this a little easier. Sirius escaped Azkaban as a dog since Dementors don't affect animals as they do people, but he decided to go to Hogwarts since that is where Peter was hiding in his Animagus form as Ron's pet rat, a pet rat that had been in his family for twelve years." Hermione rolled her eyes, what common non-magical rat lives for twelve years and nobody thinks to question it? "Ron and his family were on the front page of the Daily Prophet, and Sirius caught a glimpse of Scabbers sitting on Ron's shoulder. He immediately recognized the rat and realized that Peter was in a perfect position to harm Harry if Voldemort ever did return to full power."
"So Sirius escaped to protect Harry?" Charlus acknowledged.
"Yes. James and Lily named Sirius Harry's godfather. He loved him so much, he would have done anything for him," Hermione nodded in confirmation.
"I've been wondering, if we didn't make it to the end of the War, Sirius was in prison, Peter decided to live as a rat, where is Remus in all of this?" Dorea queried.
Hermione gave them both a sad smile. "Remus was left alone. He wasn't allowed Harry due to Dumbledore's wards that he erected around the Dursley's and because of his condition, but that year he was our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, the best one we've ever had to be honest. Taught Harry the Patronus Charm that year too."
"The Patronus Charm? He learned it at thirteen?" Charlus said in wonderment.
"Yes. It became somewhat of a specialty of his. Harry ended up teaching a bunch of us during our fifth year. You know Remus never came out and said it, but I believe he wanted to teach that year so he could keep an eye on Harry. He believed Sirius had been the traitor. I know he felt as if he had failed James and Lily, he wanted to make it up to them by protecting Harry. Anyway, at the end of the year Sirius, in his Animagus form dragged Ron through the Whomping Willow tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. Of course, Harry and I followed, and Remus saw us go through on an enchanted map that they had all created when they were still at Hogwarts. It was there that everything came out. Remus and Sirius forced Peter to transform, Sirius was able to tell Harry the truth, and Harry stopped Remus and Sirius from killing Peter. He convinced them to hand Peter over to the Dementors, so Sirius could go free. Unfortunately, it was the full moon, and we had forgotten. Remus transformed, and Sirius managed to get him away from us. Sirius ended up being captured and was going to be Kissed, but that is where my time turner comes in. Dumbledore gave Harry and I instructions to help save Sirius since the Ministry didn't believe us when we told them what really happened. We went back a few hours and broke Sirius out just before the Dementors were brought in."
"I'm sorry. So you thought it was a good idea to follow a random, stray dog through a secret tunnel when an escaped convict who was believed to have murdered thirteen people and betray his best friends to the evilest wizard in recent history was on the loose and in the general vicinity of where you were instead of getting somebody in a position of authority to help? Did I get that right?" Dorea asked as calmly as she possibly could.
Hermione paused. Looking back she knew they didn't always make the best decisions, but at the moment it had seemed to be the only option. Despite the outward calm appearance that Dorea was portraying, Hermione didn't think she actually was. "Yes…." she said hesitantly.
"What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" Dorea yelled, jumping up from her seat and pacing in front of the couch she was seated on. "While I know Sirius would never harm any of you, you did not know that at the time! How could you be so reckless? You said you were almost put in Ravenclaw. There has to be some ounce of logic in there! This is your fault you know!" Dorea rounded on Charlus.
"My fault?" Charlus sputtered, disbelieving his wife was blaming him. "How is this my fault?"
"Your family is the Gryffindor side. You're the one that passed on these reckless tendencies to our children, and apparently our grandchild!"
Hermione started giggling. She knew this probably wasn't the best time to start laughing, but she just couldn't help it.
"And just what are you laughing at young lady? This is not funny. We should ground you. All the school rules you were clearly breaking, putting yourself in danger like that. Going after stones and convicts, wandering around the school alone when a Basilisk is on the loose," Dorea demanded of her daughter.
Dorea wasn't necessarily angry, just worried. If this was only Hermione's third year, Voldemort hadn't even returned yet. She knew that even worse things were to come and she didn't know how she was going to handle it. Madame Pomfrey had told them about her scars. When did she get those? How did she get into a situation where somebody could carve a racial slur into a child's arm?
"I'm sorry," Hermione began. "You're right it's not funny at all. It's just when you're friends with Harry, logic most of the time goes out the window. I would try and reason with him most of the time, but he was incredibly stubborn. We would mostly follow him to make sure that he didn't end up dead. Where Harry went, Ron and I did too. Since that first year when we went after the stone, really when they saved me from the troll, we would have never let him face anything alone."
Dorea stared at her daughter for a moment before muttering about "stubborn Gryffindors" before sitting down again and then gesturing for Hermione to continue.
"Well despite us not being able to prove Sirius innocent, Harry did finally have family out there who loved him. It helped him immensely," Hermione continued her story. "Despite the Werewolf and Dementors, I'd say that was probably the least dangerous year we had."
Charlus narrowed his eyes slightly, "Surprisingly that does not comfort us much."
Hermione grimaced, "No I would expect not."
"Please just continue," Dorea practically begged. "I would like to get through this as quickly as possible."
"Well, the next year was when things started to get bad. At the Quidditch World Cup, there was a Death Eater attack; the first one since Voldemort's downfall. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, they attacked the Muggles who were running the campsites but the Ministry was able to prevent any lasting damage. However, they did cause quite a bit of destruction. We all made it back to the Weasleys unharmed and then headed to Hogwarts a few days later. Unfortunately, instead of a quiet year, Professor Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts would be hosting the TriWizard Tournament that year. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students stayed with us for the whole year. On Halloween that year the Goblet of Fire announced four champions instead of three. Of course, Harry was the fourth champion."
At that Charlus snorted, "Naturally. He does have a habit of getting into trouble doesn't he?"
Hermione laughed. "Harry used to say he never went looking for trouble, trouble always found him. He hated his fame and hated anything that brought him even more attention unless it was Quidditch, so being a TriWizard Champion was definitely not something he wanted, not that many people believed him. Most of the school, as well as the press, turned on him. It was awful; luckily he managed to make it through the first two tasks with only a little bit of trouble. He did quite well for only being fourteen while the three other champions were seventeen."
"Do we even want to know what the tasks were?" Dorea asked while rubbing her temples.
"Probably not."
"Please just continue then." Hermione was instructed.
"Well the third task seemed to be the easiest. All the champions had to do was get to the center of a maze where the TriWizard Cup was hidden. The first person to make it to the cup won. Harry and the other Hogwarts champion were the ones to make it to the center of the maze. They agreed to take it together saying it would still be a Hogwarts victory, but the cup turned out to be a Portkey and took the both of them to a graveyard where Peter and Voldemort were waiting. Cedric was killed instantly, and Harry was tied up. Peter completed a ritual using Harry that brought Voldemort back to full strength. I don't know exactly what happened in the graveyard. Harry didn't like to talk about it, but somehow he was able to get back to the cup and bring Cedric and himself back to Hogwarts. Despite everything Harry didn't die that night like Voldemort planned so he was able to inform Professor Dumbledore immediately, and he was able to reform the Order only a few hours after Voldemort's return to power."
Both of the elder Potters were horrified about what their grandson was forced to endure. Fourteen years old having faced Voldemort four times, coming out of the encounters alive all four times, yet witnessing horrors no child should ever have to. How much more was he supposed to endure?
"How did the cup become a Portkey? Surely it wasn't anybody within Hogwarts?" Dorea questioned.
"Actually it was. Our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor that year was a retired Auror by the name of Alastor Moody," Hermione began to answer.
"Alastor? Surely he didn't have anything to do with that! He's quite well respected and firm in his stance against dark magic," Charlus protested.
"He didn't. Well not really. Before the school year started his house was broken into, and he was overpowered. He was forced to spend the year being held captive in his trunk while a Death Eater impersonated him using Polyjuice Potion. This Death Eater is the one who put Harry's name in the Cup as well as the one who charmed the cup to be a Portkey. When he was discovered, the Minister had him Kissed immediately. Unfortunately, the Minister did not want to admit that Voldemort had returned to full power and began a smear campaign against both Harry and Professor Dumbledore."
"What do you mean by a smear campaign?" Dorea probed, narrowing her eyes at that particular bit of information.
"Nothing overt, but snide comments here and there in the Daily Prophet. Harry was painted as unstable. The year before there was a reporter by the name of Rita Skeeter who preferred to write gossip than any actual facts. She printed a couple of stories about a supposed love triangle between myself, Harry, and the Durmstrang champion Viktor, as well as a memorable one about Harry having what she called 'fits'. Whenever Voldemort got particularly angry or had any strong emotions, Harry's scar, where the original Killing Curse rebounded off of him, would hurt sometimes to the point he would pass out. After he began to speak out against the Ministry, the Daily Prophet brought this back up saying that Harry was unstable."
"Now really. That just seems unnecessary. You're just children. Who would be that interested in your lives?" Dorea complained.
"Well, Harry was the Boy Who Lived. People treated him like a hero, most of the time. The public is willing to believe any drivel the Ministry and Daily Prophet feed them. Nobody ever wants to think for themselves. It wasn't just Harry they were attacking. They were doing the same to Dumbledore as well saying he was getting old and senile. He was removed from the Wizengamot as well as the International Confederation Of Wizards. The Minister feared Dumbledore was trying to take his job, so he wanted to discredit him. Of course, it was ridiculous. Dumbledore never wanted to be Minister. So after everything in the Prophet, the Ministry also decided it was time they stepped in at Hogwarts and appointed our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for that year. She was originally the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and was reporting back to him everything she observed. She turned out to be useless. Refused to teach us anything except theory even though it was our OWL year. She was a horrid old hag." Hermione snapped remembering how terrible of a person Dolores Umbridge turned out to be.
Charlus chuckled at his daughter's apparent hatred of this Professor. "She might be a Ministry Official, but surely she couldn't be that bad."
"She was worse. When she refused to teach us anything we decided to start our own group. Harry teaching us proper defence, though we had to keep it a secret as a Ministry decree banned any student organizations without the approval of Hogwarts High Inquisitor, who so happened to be Professor Umbridge. As a joke, we called it Dumbledore's Army since that was the Ministry's biggest fear. One of our members, however, betrayed us and told Umbridge about our meetings when Umbridge threatened the girl's Mum's job within the Ministry. When they found our membership list, the Minister and some Aurors confronted Dumbledore who took the fall for us. They attempted to arrest him but he fled and went into hiding, and then Umbridge was announced as the new Headmistress. For our punishment for being involved, we were all given detention where we were forced to write lines using Blood Quills."
"Blood Quills?" Dorea shrieked. "Those are illegal except for signing binding contracts! And she used them in students?"
"Yes. She was doing it all year. Harry had detention with her so many times throughout the year for telling people Voldemort was back that his hand was permanently scarred," Hermione spat in disgust. "She's an evil woman. I hate her probably as much as I hate Voldemort. Anyway, after Dumbledore left things got worse, then during our History of Magic OWL Harry collapsed again. He had a vision of Voldemort holding Sirius hostage in the Department of Mysteries. We tried to see if Sirius was at Order headquarters but the House Elf told us no and that he wasn't ever coming back. We were using Umbridge's fire to Floo Sirius, and she ended up catching us. We were able to get away after a small fight and a group of us including Ron's younger sister Ginny as well as our other friends Neville and Luna flew to the Ministry on thestrals to save Sirius."
"Excuse me! You left school grounds illegally, flew on the backs of creatures you can only see if you've seen death, to break into a government building to confront the darkest wizard in history? Please tell me I am hearing this wrong?" Dorea seethed.
Hermione cringed at her mother's tone. "No. You did not hear that wrong."
"What in Merlin's name were you thinking!" Charlus growled out. "Surely there was somebody you could have informed? Minerva even!"
"Professor McGonagall wasn't on school grounds. She had been hit in the chest with four stunners at once while trying to defend Hagrid when Professor Umbridge was firing him from his post as Care of Magical Creatures Professor and Groundskeeper. It was a nasty fight. The only other teacher in the Order was also the Order member who was spying on the Death Eaters. He was originally a Death Eater in the First War, and we weren't sure we could trust him. Harry tried getting a message to him, but we didn't think he understood."
"So you just thought that the next best thing to do would be to go gallivanting off to London?" Dorea inquired, struggling to keep her temper.
"Yes, Harry thought so. You have to understand. Harry thought Sirius was being tortured and would be killed. Sirius was the only family Harry had, and he refused to lose him. He was going to London whether we went with him or not. I told you. We would have followed Harry to the ends of the earth."
"How did Harry even know this was real? That it wasn't just a nightmare?" Charlus wondered aloud.
"Earlier in the year, Harry had another dream. Ron's Dad was in the Ministry late one night and was attacked by Voldemort's snake. It turned out to be true. The only reason Mr Weasley survived is because Harry was able to tell Dumbledore. He thought it was the same thing."
After a few moments of contemplation of this, Dorea acquiesced, figuring she needed to hear the end of the story, "Fair enough. Please continue."
"Well…." Hermione knew they weren't happy with some of her decisions, and she knew once she told them what happened at the Ministry they'd be even less pleased. "Well...when we got to the Department of Mysteries, it turned out to be a trap. After the attack on Mr Weasley, Voldemort had realized the connection between himself and Harry. I told you about the prophecy that was made about Harry and Voldemort, Harry didn't know it existed, and Voldemort has only ever heard part of it. He had spent the year trying to get into the Department of Mysteries, so he could hear the full thing. However only those the prophecy has been made about can retrieve it, and Voldemort couldn't get it himself so he tricked Harry into going. He then sent Death Eaters to take the prophecy from Harry. Obviously, he wouldn't hand it over and a fight broke out. I was hit relatively early on with a curse by Dolohov which knocked me out. When I finally woke up in the Hospital Wing a few days later, I found out…" Hermione paused knowing what she was about to say would be hard for them to hear. "I found out that the Order came to help, including Sirius. They were fighting in the Death Chamber. Bellatrix hit him with a stunner, and he fell through the Veil. Harry was...Harry was devastated. Remus had to hold him back to stop Harry from going after Sirius."
Both Dorea and Charlus were silently crying. Their daughter seriously injured and their other son killed in the same battle. Their Grandson had to witness the death of the only parent he had ever known.
Hermione continued when they didn't say anything. "Harry didn't take it well at all. He withdrew from us even more, blamed himself for Sirius's death. I think despite everything that we had already been through, that's when the War really started for us. I could have died. Madame Pomfrey said that if I hadn't silenced Dolohov, his curse probably would have killed me. Sirius did die, and even though Cedric had been killed the year before this time, it was the first real battle any of us had ever been in."
Finally, Charlus, voice thick with tears, was able to speak. "Is that where some of your scars came from?"
Hermione bristled slightly. She didn't want her parents to know about them. She didn't want them to worry any more than she knew they already would. "My scars? How do you know about those?"
"Madame Pomfrey," the Potter Patriarch informed her. "She told us her initial findings from when she examined you once James brought you in."
"Oh, well yes. The one that is down my chest is from Dolohov. All I remember is purple flames. Madame Pomfrey is the one who originally treated me. She said it's meant to burn you from the inside out, but silencing him was enough to dampen the effects, though I was still taking potions up to ten times a day for a few weeks. It was quite unpleasant," Hermione informed them.
Dorea scoffed at the almost casual way her daughter described an attempt on her life, "You know most people are a little more bothered when somebody tries to kill them."
"Most people yes, sadly this became the norm over the next couple of years. It was war, and I was the Muggleborn best friend of The Chosen One. I was a target everywhere I went," Hermione shrugged.
"What happened after the battle?" Charlus asked, wanting Hermione to continue.
"Well towards the end of the battle Voldemort himself showed up and confronted Harry. Then Dumbledore showed up, and the two duelled. Once the Minister and other Ministry officials started arriving and saw Voldemort with their own eyes, they couldn't deny anymore he had returned. The Prophet began to hail Dumbledore and Harry as heroes again and within weeks Minister Fudge resigned. Umbridge was also removed from Hogwarts, where Dumbledore was reinstated. Unfortunately now we were in open warfare. With everybody knowing he had regained power, Voldemort didn't bother hiding in the shadows anymore. Muggleborns, Blood Traitors, Muggles, anybody who spoke out against Voldemort was murdered."
"Oddly enough, despite all of this sixth year for me was one of the calmest. We were able to be normal teenagers. Harry was made Quidditch Captain, I was able to focus on my classes without too many distractions. We didn't have Voldemort possessing any teachers, or Basilisks, or any of the threats coming from inside the school as we had the previous years. At least we didn't know about the threat within the school. It was...nice almost. Well minus the drama with Ron, but nothing life threatening," Hermione amended.
"What do you mean by threat within the school?" Charlus asked her.
"Harry was convinced one of our classmates, Draco, was a Death Eater and that he was planning something. Neither Ron nor I believed Harry. Though there were a couple of attacks. A girl named Katie Bell was cursed by a necklace and Ron was poisoned. It seemed that both attempts were meant for Professor Dumbledore."
Dorea gasped, "You said earlier that Dumbledore died. Is this how?"
"Yes. Throughout the year Professor Dumbledore was giving Harry private lessons. These lessons consisted of learning about Voldemort's past. This is how we found out he wanted seven Horcruxes. When Dumbledore thought he found another towards the end of the school year, he took Harry with him to retrieve it. There were obstacles and protections around it though. One of them was a potion that had to be drunk. It weakened Dumbledore immensely. When they returned to Hogwarts the Dark Mark was already over the Astronomy tower so the two flew up there to see what happened. At this point, Harry was hidden underneath his Invisibility Cloak. They were met by Draco who revealed that he was a Death Eater. As punishment for his father's failure in the Department of Mysteries, Draco was ordered to kill Dumbledore. Voldemort most likely expected him to fail."
"The cloak?" Charlus stopped Hermione, with an excited gleam in his eyes, before she could continue. "Harry had been given the Cloak?
"Yes. Professor Dumbledore had it when the Potter's were murdered. He gave it to Harry for Christmas his first year," she answered her father with a smile before continuing. "Anyway, Draco disarmed Dumbledore, but he couldn't bring himself to kill him. Harry said that he was starting to lower his wand. That's when other Death Eaters joined them. Including our Potions Master, well that year he was our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor instead of Potions. He was the Order member who was our spy within the Death Eaters. Harry said that Dumbledore begged him, but he killed him anyway. Harry was inconsolable. Losing Sirius was one thing. He lost the only father figure he ever knew, but losing Dumbledore wasn't just a blow to Harry. It was a major blow to the entire Order, to everybody who fought for the Light," Hermione said sadly.
"Who?" Charlus whispered. "Who killed Albus?" Charlus could hardly believe it. Albus Dumbledore had been a good friend of his father. Charlus grew up knowing him and as Charlus got older, Albus became a great friend to him as well. He couldn't believe that somebody Albus trusted murdered him.
"Severus Snape," Hermione was able to choke out. She wasn't sure she wanted to reveal Snape's identity just like she wasn't sure she wanted to real Peter's, but the Potter's did have a right to know. She couldn't keep it from them if they outright asked her.
"Severus Snape?" Dorea demanded sharply. At Hermione's nod, she continued. "The same Severus Snape that's in school with the boys now?"
"Yes," Hermione answered. "But something was off. I can't believe that Snape would outright murder Professor Dumbledore. I know what Harry saw, but it just doesn't make sense to me."
"Why do you think that?" Charlus asked his daughter.
"Voldemort is arrogant. He is incredibly talented, nobody can deny that, but he's arrogant. He couldn't believe that somebody would betray him, even if just out of fear. Dumbledore, on the other hand, I can't imagine that he had been fooled for over fifteen years. I don't know what really happened on that tower that night, but I feel that there is more to it." Hermione furrowed her brows in concentration, almost forgetting her parents were there as she tried to figure out this puzzle. "Anyway, I don't know if I'll ever figure it out. It's not like I can ask either Snape or Professor Dumbledore now."
"So you think Severus can be trusted?" Dorea wondered aloud.
"Not necessarily," Hermione answered, "but I don't think he should necessarily be distrusted. Right now though there is no point in worrying about it. I do know he was a faithful Death Eater right when he leaves Hogwarts. It's not for another year or so that he supposedly defects."
"So what happened after Dumbledore's death?" Charlus prompted her to continue.
"Harry knew that there was no way to end the War without destroying the Horcruxes, so he decided that as soon as he turned seventeen, he was going to leave to start searching for them. That is also when the blood protection he had at his Aunt's from Lily's sacrifice ended so he knew he wouldn't be safe staying in one place. Ron and I decided to go with him, and we all agreed we wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts," Hermione waited for the outburst that she had dropped out.
"Not return to Hogwarts?" Dorea demanded. "You decided to not finish your education?"
"Yes. Ending Voldemort was more important. Though even if I hadn't decided myself not to return to Hogwarts, I wouldn't have been allowed back anyway."
"And why not?" Dorea presses for more information.
"The beginning of August, the Ministry fell to Voldemort. We were actually at the wedding of Bill Weasley when it happened. Death Eaters attacked looking for information on Harry. Luckily we escaped, and they didn't have any idea Harry had actually been there. Almost overnight new laws were enacted including mandatory attendance for anybody who is a half- or pureblood. Muggleborns were no longer allowed to attend Hogwarts. There was also the Muggleborn Registration Committee run by none other than Dolores Umbridge," Hermione growled.
"What is the Muggleborn Registration Committee?" Dorea spat out with disgust. She could only fathom how horrid it was.
"The Ministry came out with supposed research that magic could only come from those with magical blood. The Muggleborn Registration Committee made it mandatory all Muggleborns come in to prove their ancestry, and if they couldn't they would be accused of stealing their magic and thrown into Azkaban. We had to break into the Ministry to steal back a Horcrux that Umbridge had and witnessed one of these trials. It was horrible. After the Ministry fell, the three of us were on the run. Harry was the most wanted person in the country followed closely by myself and Ron. Myself for not presenting myself at the Ministry for the Muggleborn Registration and my association with Harry. Ron for truancy and his association with Harry."
"This is when things got really bad. We were able to stay at Grimmuald Place for a little bit," Hermione continued with her story.
"Grimmuald Place? One of the Black family homes?" Dorea questioned shocked. "Why there?"
"It was the original Order headquarters. Sirius offered it to Dumbledore, since he was the last living Black heir it was his. When Sirius died, he left everything to Harry. It was under a Fidelus, so it was relatively safe. We were nervous Snape would find us since he knew the location, but we never saw him. After we broke into the Ministry, we were followed trying to escape, so we couldn't stay there any longer. The next few months were….difficult. We lived in a tent, moving around the country every few days. Food was scarce. We ate what we could find, and every once in awhile we would sneak into a Muggle village and take some food. We didn't do this much as we didn't want to draw any attention but sometimes we got desperate. Tensions were so high. We had a Horcrux but no way to destroy it and eventually, Ron left. He couldn't take it anymore. He did come back to us sometime after Christmas though. One night Harry was keeping watch outside and saw a Patronus and decided to follow it. The doe led him to a lake where the Sword of Gryffindor was hidden. The idiot decided to jump into it with the Horcrux around his neck, and the Horcrux started to strangle him. Ron ended up saving him and getting the sword."
"Why is the sword important?" Charlus asked.
"Harry used the sword to kill the Basilisk in our second year. Since it's Goblin made it only takes in that which makes it stronger, like Basilisk venom. And Basilisk venom is one of the only ways to destroy a Horcrux," Hermione informed them.
"Interesting," the Potter Patriarch muttered.
"Things were better once we had destroyed the Horcrux, but we still had three more plus the bit of soul that still resided inside Voldemort."
"Three more? What were the other three already destroyed?" Dorea inquired, wanting to get all of the facts straight.
"Well, the diary was destroyed by Harry in second year. Before our sixth year, Dumbledore destroyed a ring that belonged to Voldemort's mother's family, and the one we destroyed was a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin. Dumbledore had a theory that he was using items of historical magical significance, as well as items important to him. He believed Helga Hufflepuff's cup was also used as well as maybe something of Ravenclaw's. When he returned to full power, he made his final Horcrux into his snake Nagini. That is what we were going after when I was sent back, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Despite destroying the locket, we weren't any closer to finding the others. One night we messed up. There was a taboo on the name Voldemort and Harry said it. Snatchers found us instantly and captured us. We were taken to Malfoy Manor which was home base for Voldemort. Luckily he wasn't there, but the Malfoys were as well as Bellatrix. They were going to call for Voldemort, let him know that Harry Potter had been caught, but Bellatrix saw the Sword of Gryffindor before they could do this and lost it. Apparently, the sword was supposed to be in her vault. You said you know about my scars?" Hermione paused waiting for them to answer.
At their nods, she continued. "Bellatrix decided to torture me for information. I could hear Harry and Ron yelling for me. Begging to be taken instead," Hermione paused again, her voice thick with tears at the memory of her torture and her friends screams for her. "I….I honestly don't know how long I was under the curse for, but it felt like hours. I refused to tell her anything, and that's when she took out her knife. It was a cursed blade, it can never be healed. She wanted me to have a constant reminder that I don't belong."
Dorea immediately got up, sat next to Hermione, and wrapped her daughter in a hug. "Of course you belong. You aren't a Muggleborn."
Hermione immediately pulled away, glaring at the older woman. "It wouldn't matter if I was. Blood means nothing, and the fact that two wars have been fought over this is ridiculous."
"Of course not. That's not what I meant. I just meant that word doesn't define you. Even if you were truly a Muggleborn, you aren't defined by that."
Hermione sighed. "I have spent the last seven years fighting for my right to be a part of the Magical world. Studying everything I could to prove to everybody that I belong just as much as Ron or Draco. I'm sick and tired of all the prejudice. Against Muggleborns, magical creatures, even the prejudice between the Houses at Hogwarts. It's meaningless."
"Why don't you keep telling us what happened?" Charlus suggested. He didn't think it was the best time to get into centuries old prejudices and grudges at the moment. Not when more important things, such as figuring out the best way to end the War, needed to be discussed first.
"Alright. Well, we did eventually escape. Harry and Ron were able to break out of the dungeons surprisingly with the help of Peter. During the ritual to bring Voldemort back, Peter had to cut off his right hand. As a reward, Voldemort gave him a silver hand to replace it. Since Harry saved Peter's life in the Shrieking Shack by preventing Remus and Sirius from killing him, Peter owed Harry a life debt and in the dungeon Harry reminded Peter of this. Peter allowed them to go but then his hand turned on him, he strangled himself to death."
Dorea gasped at the thought of little Peter's death. She felt somewhat conflicted as this was the man who caused her one son's death and another to be imprisoned in Azkaban, but this was also the sweet boy who she had seen grow from a shy eleven year old to a young man excited for his future. She couldn't reconcile the two. What could happen in just three years that would change Peter so drastically he would betray his best friends?
After a slight pause, allowing the information to sink in, Hermione continued. "A House Elf who used to belong to the Malfoy's was able to apparate us as well as the other prisoners Voldemort has holding captive. That was a little over a month ago for me. It took awhile for me to recover from the Cruciatus but the after effects have gotten much better. Despite the torture, it did provide us with some information. We realized that Bellatrix thought we had been in her vault and she seemed really worried. We knew that Voldemort used his followers to guard Horcruxes, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that there was a Horcrux in the Lestrange vault."
"In Gringotts?" Charlus questioned sharply. Hermione nodded in response to this. "I can just picture some insane plan now to infiltrate the bank."
"You're right. It was insane. Bellatrix left a hair on me when she was torturing me, and we were able to disarm her and take her wand with us when we escaped. We disguised Ron, Harry and a goblin that was being held captive in the dungeons were under the invisibility cloak, and I polyjuiced to be Bellatrix." Hermione waited for the explosion she was sure would come.
"I'm sorry, you did what?" Dorea exclaimed. "Why? Why would you think that would be the best idea?"
"It was the only plan we had at the time. We were desperate, and anyway, it worked. Well sort of. By the time we got to the vault, they knew that somebody had broken in and we were cornered in their vault. But the good news is we had the cup!"
"How exactly did you escape if you were cornered?" Charlus wanted to know.
"We sort of escaped on the back of one of the dragons they use as security," Hermione cringed slightly. "Again it was the only option we had at the time. It was either that or be captured, and that was not an option."
"Alright, so you escaped on a dragon. What happened next?" Charlus sighed exasperatedly. He shouldn't be surprised given everything his daughter had done, but yet he still was.
"I told you about the connection between Harry and Voldemort. Voldemort mostly tried to keep this connection closed, but sometimes when he was extremely angry or extremely happy, he would let Harry in accidentally. Harry saw him at the bank and he was furious. He killed pretty much everybody there, and now he knew that we were hunting Horcruxes. Harry also saw that there was one more Horcrux at Hogwarts and it had to do with Ravenclaw. Voldemort assumed this one was the safest, so he planned on checking that one last. We knew we had to get to Hogwarts before Voldemort did, so that is where we went next. This was a few days ago. We apparated to Hogsmeade and hid in the Hogs Head when an alarm alerted Death Eaters somebody was out past the curfew Voldemort had imposed. Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, runs the pub, I'm not sure if you know that. He helped us and then tried to convince us to run. When we refused, he helped us get into Hogwarts through a secret passage that had created itself earlier in the year for students who were hiding while in Hogwarts. Snape had been appointed Headmaster, and two other Death Eaters were made Professors as well and put in charge of discipline. Hogwarts wasn't the same. We made it into Hogwarts and what was left of the Order as well as the graduated members of Dumbledore's Army were alerted."
"Once we were inside all students and faculty were called to the Great Hall as Snape had been alerted that we would try and infiltrate the school. Harry revealed himself and confronted Snape. He then fled to join the Death Eaters, and McGonagall took charge. A short while later the battle started. Hundreds of Death Eaters stormed the castle, but everybody who was able stayed to defend it. Ron and I went back to the Chamber of Secrets to destroy the cup since we had lost the sword at Gringotts, and Harry went with our friend Luna to try and locate the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, this is what we believed one of his last Horcruxes to be. Harry realized that he had seen it before in the Room of Requirement."
"What is the Room of Requirement?" Charlus asked trying to keep up with the story. It seemed that the end was near and a lot had taken place in such a short period of time.
"It's a room within Hogwarts on the seventh floor. It's hidden until somebody has a great need. All you have to do is pace three times in front of the wall across from the tapestry where Barnabas the Barmy is teaching trolls to dance thinking of what you need. That is where all the students were hiding from the Carrows, the Death Eater Professors. We originally came across the room in our fifth year, and that is where we held DA meetings, but Harry remembered seeing the Diadem in the room during our sixth year. So we went back there and located it but then we were confronted by three Slytherins who were in our year, including Draco. One of the other boys then cast Fiendfyre, which just so happens to be the only other way besides Basilisk venom that can destroy a Horcrux. He didn't make it out of the room, but the rest of us did and the diadem was destroyed. That is when we knew we needed to go after Nagini. Harry looked into Voldemort's mind and saw he was in the Shrieking Shack waiting for Harry to come to him. It's where the three of us were headed when I was sent back. We were running across one of the courtyards near the Greenhouses when Rabastan Lestrange cut me off. We began to duel but he kept backing me away from everything. I don't think Harry or Ron realized I wasn't with them anymore. It was all very chaotic. Once we were away from the battle, he bound me and forced me to drink a potion. He also hit me with some spell that hurt almost as bad as the Cruciatus, and then there was a bright light. That's the last thing I remember before waking up in the Hospital Wing a couple of days ago."
Dorea and Charlus both sat in shock for a few moments before Dorea broke the silence. "Do you have any idea what the spells or potion he used on you?"
"One of the spells was definitely the one to send me back here. Dumbledore found it, and he should be able to tell you more about it. I didn't really have a chance to ask any details before you arrived and we did the familial spell. As for the other spell I suspect it was dismantling glamours that had been placed on me. It was quite a shock looking in the mirror I can tell you. I used to have light brown hair and dark brown eyes, and my nose is slightly different. It's a little disconcerting actually. As for the potion, I don't know. I was hoping Madame Pomfrey could tell but I've been a little preoccupied, I forgot to ask," Hermione chuckled. Preoccupied was one way to put it. Stunned and confused beyond belief at the situation she found herself in was another.
At their stunned silence, Hermione tried to make the situation a little better. "I know this is a lot to take in, and I'm sorry I dumped all of it on you like this. I just figured it would be easier to get it all out at once. At least this way you know there won't be any surprises."
A burst of inspiration hit Hermione. She reached into her beaded bag and found a picture of her, Ron, and Harry from the last Christmas they spent at the Burrow. She looked at it with a sad smile, knowing this would be the only way she would ever see her Harry and Ron again, before handing it over to her parents. "Here. This was taken our sixth year. We all spent Christmas together at the Weasley's. I want you to know that despite everything, I was happy. Both Harry and I were loved and cared for."
Dorea gently took the picture from Hermione and looked at it with tears in her eyes. The three teenagers were all laughing as the two boys tackled the girl before they all looked at whoever was taking the picture with large smiles and waves to the camera.
"Merlin! He does look just like James," Charlus whispered. "And you're right. You do look different from this picture. You still have the crazy Potter hair though," he teased his daughter.
Hermione started to chuckle before yawning halfway through, causing Dorea to jump into action. "That's enough for now. We've been talking for hours. I think it's best if you go up and take a nap. Pippy can show you to your room."
"Actually I would really like it if I could take a shower first. I've been living in a tent for almost a year."
"Of course, but then rest. Madame Pomfrey said you weren't to over exert yourself and I don't think reliving the past seven years of your life was what she had in mind. Pippy!" Dorea called.
With a crack, Pippy appeared next to Dorea. "Yes, Mistress?"
"Can you please show Hermione to her room? And make sure she has everything she needs."
"Of course Mistress! Come on Little Miss. Pippy has prepareds everything you need!" Pippy exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Hermione's hand and dragging her out of the room.
Dorea watched her daughter being dragged around by the little house elf with a small smile on her face. After the two had disappeared, she turned to her husband.
"What are we going to do Charlus? If anybody finds out…." she trailed off.
"Nobody is going to find out, we will make sure of it. And now we know who hurt her. We may not know who took her yet but we will find out," Charlus assured his wife. "I just can't believe what she's been through."
"She survived though, and she is home."
"What are we going to do?" Charlus wondered aloud, repeating his wife's earlier sentiments.
"We will not let anything happen to her. Or to any of our other children," she declared, believing this with all her heart.
"You know she won't let us do this without her right?" Charlus chuckled.
"Of course not. She refused to let Harry do anything on his own. I don't think even James is as stubborn as she is."
"Speaking of, what do we tell James? You know he will ask questions. Do we tell him the truth?" Charlus asked.
"I don't know, Charlus. I really don't know. I think...it's not really our story to tell. Maybe we should let Hermione decide," the Potter Matriarch suggested.
"It may be Hermione's experiences, but it is something that affects us all. She was friends with James's son. Our grandson. Just because we weren't there….the outcome of this war will impact our family directly," he argued.
"But the knowledge would put James in danger as well. Hermione is already in danger if anybody finds out where she came from. I can't have two of my children being hunted."
"From the sounds of it, in a few years James and his family will be targets anyway, and you know that Albus is planning on extending invitations to the Order. James and Sirius are adults. We can't tell them they aren't allowed to join," Charlus reasoned.
Dorea sighed. "I know. I wish we were able to shield them all from this. I understand why she didn't want to say anything to Albus either."
"I agree. He knows where she came from, he will try to get her to help."
"Well she obviously wants to help, I just don't think she wants Albus too," Dorea said. "We need to find out exactly why she doesn't trust Albus. Yes, he didn't always make the best decisions but nothing to me screams that he is untrustworthy."
"Let's give her a few days. She'll get settled and adjust to live here. We can talk to her again before James comes home. We'll let her make the decisions for now. She has been on her own for so long, I don't think she would handle it too well if we start dictating her life," Charlus decided. They had many answers but still so many questions. Nothing was going to be decided tonight.
"You're right," Dorea started.
Charlus gasped interrupting his wife. "Did you just say I'm right? I think that is the first time in over thirty years of marriage you have ever uttered those words. How did that taste?"
Dorea chuckled and lightly swatted her husband on his arm, "Hush. As I was saying, I agree. We'll let her rest before we bring anything up again. Now, I will be in the library. There are a few things I want to look into. I'll tell Pippy to start dinner. I think we all want an early night," she said as she stood, leaning down to give her husband a peck on the cheek.
"You're going to see if you can find the spell that took Hermione aren't you?" Charlus guessed.
"Of course. I'm sure we will have something in our library that can tell us how she was taken. Now that I have a better place to start, my research will be much more productive."
"Alright, love. I'll be in my study if you need me," Charlus informed his wife as he stood as well. Before Dorea could walk out of the room, Charlus pulled her into his arms. "Our little girl is home," he said with a bright smile.
Dorea returned the smile with one of her own, "I know."
With a final kiss between the couple, both walked out of their sitting room and went their separate ways, content in the knowledge that for the time being all of their children were safe.