Author's Note: Hello to all my loyal readers! I know it has been quite some time since I have posted anything and for that I am sorry. I don't have any posting schedule or deadlines specifically for this reason. Not to mention this chapter was fighting to be written. It took me awhile to get it to where I wanted it to be, with that being said though I am so excited for everybody to finally read this. I truly hope everybody enjoys this next installment. Please review, follow, favorite, PM me anything to let me know what you think of this chapter. I would like to thank my lovely Beta Travelilah. She did an amazing job keeping me motivated and keeping me on track.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to JK Rowling.
Chapter 11 - Diagon Alley
After the fiasco at the Ministry, they decided it would be best to postpone their trip to Diagon Alley for a few weeks. At least until the press surrounding Hermione's sudden reappearance calmed down. Hermione couldn't help feeling relieved at this decision-given that she had received enough bad press in her fourth year to last her a lifetime.
With nothing else on the agenda, she went on to spend her days reading in the library or garden with her parents; when they were busy she opted for wandering the grounds alone. She relished the time to herself, as it gave her the time to think, more importantly, it let her formulate a plan on how she was going to survive her final year at Hogwarts.
Before she knew it, three weeks had passed, and it was the night before James and Sirius were set to come home. It was dinner time when her Mum and Dad brought up the topic she had been dreading.
Dorea spoke first. "Darling, we need to discuss tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? What about it?"
Charlus and Dorea glanced at each other, have a seemingly silent conversation that only a married couple could, before it was decided upon to let Charlus take the lead. "James and Sirius will be home tomorrow. I expect Lily might be coming to stay for a few days as well. I know you didn't know James in your time, but he is quite stubborn, and he's been very curious about your past…" he trailed off.
Dorea picked up where her husband left off before their daughter had a chance to jump in. "What your father is trying to say is that James has been writing to us."
Hermione sighed, not liking where this conversation was heading.
"I'm sorry, dear," Dorea said apologetically, her eyes sincere. "But he has been asking questions about what happened to you. We have managed to put him off telling him he had to wait until the end of term, but as that is tomorrow, he will be asking questions again. After your first night here at the Manor, your father and I agreed to allow you to be the one to decide what we tell James and Sirius and what we keep between the three of us."
Hermione thought about this for a few moments. She really didn't want any of the Marauders to know about her past. It was too dangerous, and she hoped she could keep them from getting too involved in the war, though she knew the likelihood of that was low.
But how similar were Harry and James? Would James keep digging until he found the answers like his son used to do, or she guessed would do? Knowing Sirius and Remus as she did in her past, she had a feeling the three of them together were a force to be reckoned with.
"I don't want them to know anything just yet. They will already be at the forefront of the fighting no matter how much I wish they would stay out of it. If anybody found out, all of our lives would be forfeit. Do you truly believe they will keep pushing for answers until they are given?" Hermione asked.
"I do," Charlus informed his youngest.
"Then I will tell them the story I have told everybody else," Hermione explained, her tone not leaving any room for argument. "It's too dangerous for them to know anything else. Maybe one day I can tell them everything, but not now," she finished off with a shake of her head.
Charlus and Dorea glanced at each other. Neither one enjoyed the thought of lying to their children, but Hermione had a point, and they did agree to respect her wishes when it came to knowledge of the future.
"Plus my presence here has changed everything. If I am to stop Voldemort, I need everything to remain as close to the original timeline as possible. I have no idea what changes will take place simply since I am here now," Hermione added in before her parents could say anything else.
"Alright, dear. We will tell them the story that we've told the public," Charlus agreed. "I will warn you though when they do find out the truth they will be quite stroppy with all of us," he chuckled.
Hermione grinned and waved off her father's warning. "Please, if I can deal with a hormonal Harry Potter and a post-Azkaban Sirius Black who has been cooped up in Grimmauld Place, I'm sure I can deal with an irate James Potter."
Both adults only chuckled in response.
"What are the plans for tomorrow and the rest of the week?" Hermione asked.
"Well all three of us will be going to meet the train in the afternoon, and we'll have a celebratory dinner tomorrow night," Dorea informed her. "Your father and I have been discussing a trip to Diagon Alley this weekend as a family as well. I believe most of the excitement around your return has died down. We should all be able to have a nice day out."
"Alright. That sounds quite nice. Will Lily be joining us as well?"
"James has not informed us yet, but he tends to forget to do things like that," Charlus chuckled.
Both Dorea and Hermione rolled their eyes at the same time and muttered about "typical Potter men" before all three of them started laughing. It was at times quite scary how similar Hermione and Dorea were.
Lily Evans was about five seconds away from hexing James Potter unconscious. He hadn't been this annoying since before their fifth year, but before she could even raise her wand, Sirius Black spoke up.
"Prongs, if you don't stop your incessant pacing and muttering and sit your arse down, I will body-bind you!"
The messy-haired Marauder glared at his supposed best friend before flinging himself into the seat next to his girlfriend. "I can't help it. What if something has happened to her?"
"If that were the case Mum and Dad would have told us."
"But those articles in The Daily Prophet. She's never had to deal with that type of publicity. And that picture at the Ministry. She looked terrified about being ambushed," he continued to complain.
Sirius and Lily glanced at each other, silently arguing about which one of them would be dealing with the drama that was James Potter this time.
"James, love. I'm going to find Mary and say bye. I'll leave the two of you to talk," Lily, having won their argument, stood up and gathered her bag before giving her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek and leaving the compartment.
Sirius sighed, "James, first of all, you're barmy if you thought she looked terrified in that first picture. She looked annoyed more than anything. Honestly, she looked a lot like you do when you miss a goal in Quidditch," he chuckled. "Second as I said before if anything were wrong, Mum and Dad would have let us know. You need to calm down before we get there. You can't smother her, and if you keep this up, your intensity will most likely scare her."
James rubbed his hands down his face, then leaned his elbows on his knees. He knew Sirius was right, but he only had a couple of days with her before she left Hogwarts. He just wanted to make sure she was safe. She was half dead when she arrived, and as far as he knew they were still no closer to finding out how or why she had been taken in the first place.
"But what if whoever took her tries to harm her again? Or comes back for her?"
"Mum and Dad will protect her. No offence Prongs, but your Mum is a hell of a lot scarier than you are. Merlin help whoever tries to harm her children again, and I have a feeling Hermione is a little more like Mum than she is Dad. She seems like she'd be right terrifying when provoked," Sirius chuckled.
James gave Sirius a small smile. "She did survive whatever happened to her, wherever she came from, and at least we will have some answers soon. Mum and Dad promised they would tell us everything when we got home."
"See, everything will be fine. We will be home to help Mum and Dad protect her, and then she'll be off to Hogwarts. There isn't any place safer than Hogwarts."
"You're right, and I already spoke to Fabian. He agreed to keep an eye on her for me next year."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, please let me be there when you tell her that."
Hermione stood on the platform next to her parents, patiently waiting for the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. She was nervous for that evening. She agreed with her parents that they would all sit down after dinner and tell James, Sirius, and most likely Lily, Remus, and Peter about her life in Australia. She still wasn't comfortable lying to them, but she knew she couldn't tell them the truth. At least not yet. They would forgive her for her deception one day though, at least she hoped.
As the train pulled in, hoards of students began emerging from carriages, the volume on the platform increased tenfold with families being reunited after months-long absences. The smallest ones having just finished their first year, eagerly telling their parents about their adventures. The oldest celebrating with friends that they had finally completed their schooling, that bittersweet feeling has not set in, and probably wouldn't until the First of September came around again.
Lost in her thoughts, she wasn't paying attention and the next thing she knew she was in the air being spun around. "James! You put me down this instant!" Hermione shrieked, hitting his shoulder in protest.
James laughed, "And how are you, little sister? Are you enjoying the manor? What have you been up to? You haven't written at all. Hi Mum, hi Dad."
Hermione simply rolled her eyes. In the few weeks she had been living at Potter Manor, she had forgotten about James's enthusiasm for life. "I'm well. The manor is lovely, and I haven't written because I haven't had anything to write about."
"Well, we have all summer to catch up. Maybe I'll even take you on some Marauder adventures," The Potter Heir said with a grin.
"You will do no such thing, James Potter. You leave your sister out of the trouble you and your hooligan friends get into," Dorea scolded her first born.
"Hooligan friends?" Sirius dramatically sauntered up clutching his hands to his chest as if he had been wounded. "You hurt me, Mum. We are hardly hooligans. We are upstanding members of society. Even have our NEWTs and everything." Sirius leaned down to kiss the cheek of his chosen mother in greeting.
Charlus laughed at the antics of his children. "Upstanding members you say? I'll believe that when I see it. Anyway, and where is the rest of the hooligans and Lily?"
"They are coming. Lily was saying goodbye to Mary, and I think some of the other Gryffindor girls. Remus and Peter both sat with their girlfriends on the train ride home, but all will be coming back to the Manor for a few days. I think Lily is trying to avoid her house as much as possible. Her sister is getting married next month, and apparently, it is a madhouse."
Hermione snorted, quite un-ladylike much to the chagrin of her mother, though said mother only laughed.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"I told Mum that there was no way you would have a hoard of people over without at least warning her, nobody would be that rude. But she insisted you would."
"Well, they come over every break, I figured by now she would just know they were coming without me telling her," he defended himself.
"Alright, enough you two," Charlus insisted, looking fondly at his two children. "Let's gather the rest of our brood so we can head home."
Ten minutes later, the five Hogwarts graduates, plus Hermione, and the Potter parents had gathered everybody's trunks and made their way to the public Floo. Once everybody had arrived safely at the Manor, Dorea gave instructions for everybody to head to their rooms to get settled before meeting in the dining room for dinner.
"Mum, I'll be out in the garden reading until then," Hermione informed her parents as everybody dispersed.
Barely thirty minutes later, Hermione was sitting on a bench in her favorite area of the gardens when she heard a slight shuffling behind her. She turned to look only to find Peter Pettigrew walking up behind her. Despite her month of adjusting to this time period and planning on how to defeat Voldemort, she had yet to decide anything about the rat animagus. She was incredibly uncomfortable around him, and had never once been alone with him, even in the time period she grew up in. She always had back up.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he grinned apologetically.
"It's alright. I thought everybody was unpacking."
"They are. I'm only going to be here until tomorrow evening. My parents are in France, and I didn't want to go home to an empty house, but they'll be back tomorrow."
"Oh," Hermione acknowledged before the two fell into an awkward silence.
"How are you holding up?" he asked her after a few minutes of tense silence.
"As well as can be expected. Madame Pomfrey took me off all restrictions after about a week and a half of being here. Though she still demands that I don't overexert myself."
"That's good. Listen, are you okay?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. You seem…uncomfortable," the older teen observed.
Apparently, the Marauder was a lot more observant than she gave him credit for. She thought she would be able to just avoid him until she figured out his true colours, but it seemed he had other ideas.
"I'm fine. I guess I'm still just adjusting to everything. I know Mum and Dad promised James answers, but we agreed to share everything with the five of you, especially since James would probably just tell you anyway."
"It's just…" he trailed off.
"Just what?" Hermione was curious as to what he was going to say. She was unsure what Peter's motives behind this conversation were, and she was wary. She couldn't reveal too much to him until she was sure where his loyalties lay.
He seemed to be debating with himself, deciding if he wanted to continue this conversation or let it drop for now. "James is my best friend. He was my first friend actually. Growing up it was just my parents and me, so I was a little socially awkward when I came to Hogwarts. James looked past all of that and gave me a chance. He tends to mother hen all of us to the detriment of himself sometimes, I just want to make sure he is looked after as well. I owe him a lot, he's my brother."
Confused, Hermione slowly responded, "Okay? I'm not sure where you're going with this."
"James has been incredibly worried about you, especially since he hasn't heard from you at all. I know you're going through a lot but don't take advantage of how much he cares for you. Don't shut him out, let him help you."
To say Hermione was shocked would be an understatement. This man was courageous enough to come to her and practically demand she treat her own brother better. Peter clearly loved James, fully admitted he thought of him as a brother. She was reminded of Neville quite a bit actually. What happened to this man that he would sacrifice his own brother? Before she could respond, Tippy popped in.
"Dinners is ready young Mistress and Master Petey. Mistress is asking everybody to comes to the dinings room," the little elf declared before popping away again.
Peter held his hand out to Hermione to help her up. "Allow me to escort you to the dining room?"
Silently Hermione nodded and accepted his hand, regarding Peter with apprehension.
"I'm sorry if you feel I've crossed a line talking to you like this. I hope I didn't offend you. I just knew nobody else would say anything."
"Remus and Sirius wouldn't have said anything if they felt I wasn't treating James properly?" she inquired.
"No. Remus would be too concerned about alienating you or James, and Sirius is often too caught up in himself to notice these things. Sirius might say something eventually, but it would take a while."
She nodded thoughtfully, silently agreeing with that statement. This Remus would still be terrified at losing his friends, him thinking they would drop him for her wouldn't be too much of a stretch at this current time. Hermione remembered a brooding Sirius Black from her time at Grimmauld Place, he would often get stuck in his own head and be oblivious to everything going on around him, except for Harry. She assumed that was a trait picked up in Azkaban, but according to Peter, he had always been that way.
The two made it to the dining room together amid the greetings of the other occupants in the room, and dinner progressed smoothly. Hermione quietly observed the interactions between the Marauders and Lily, especially Peter. She had been wrong about him. She had assumed he was a hanger-on. That he was only friends with the Marauders because of proximity since they all shared a dorm together, but he indeed was one of them. He laughed and joked and teased with them. You could tell he cared about all of them. They were indeed his family. It honestly reminded her a little of the Weasleys and Harry at the Burrow. Hermione resolved then and there, she didn't know what caused him to defect to the Death Eaters, but whatever it was she would stop it.
After dinner, Charlus directed everybody to the sitting room for after-dinner drinks, in celebration of the five Hogwarts graduates, and for the conversation, she had been dreading.
"Now that everybody is here and settled, I would like to propose a toast," Charlus spoke with an authority that Hermione had only seen while he was dealing with some of the Potter accounts. "First congratulations are to James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily. You all made it through Hogwarts unscathed and are ready to take on the world, but know that no matter what you five will always have a home here at the Manor. Second I would just like to say how happy I am that the whole family is here to celebrate with us. I know your mother, and I have said this before, but we could not be happier that you are finally home Hermione."
At being called out, Hermione blushed, not one who enjoyed being the center of attention, even if it was only around family. "Thank you, Dad, and congratulations to all of you. I am glad that I am here to celebrate with you as well."
James, ever the one to break a mood, jumped in. "Now that we've gotten all the mushy stuff out of the way. Can we please finally get some answers?"
Lily smacked her boyfriend on the back of the head before chastising him, though she was trying to fight a grin. "James! Have a little bit of tact please."
Hermione laughed. "No, it's okay. I know he's been waiting awhile. It hasn't been fair of me that I haven't given any information, and I do want to apologize for that. I didn't consider what my silence would do to you, James."
James smiled and nodded at his sister. He didn't say anything, afraid that if he tried he would start crying. He wanted a relationship with his sister but worried that she wouldn't want one with him. If she hadn't, he would have accepted it no matter how much it would hurt him.
The young witch glanced at Peter, who gave her an encouraging smile. "I want to tell you the truth," she began.
"Darling," Dorea interrupted her, sensing that she was waffling on telling James and the others the story they had told the press.
"No, Mum. It's okay." Dorea sat down next to her daughter and put her arm around her shoulders. Hoping to give Hermione the confidence she needed. "I was raised by the name Hermione Granger. My parents were muggles, dentists. There - there is a lot I can't tell you. I know the story we put out there is that I was raised in Australia and went to school there. My family and I were attacked, and my parents were killed. Due to family magic, I was sent to James to heal. That is all I'm able to tell you right now. Please don't be upset but I can't answer any of your questions. At least not yet. I promise one day I will tell all of you everything, just let me do it on my own time."
James looked indignant, while everybody else merely looked confused.
"No!" the Potter Heir shouted. "Mum, Dad. You promised me the truth, and now I'm getting some half story you told the world and a promise of one day. I'm part of this family too. I deserve to know the truth about how my sixteen-year-old sister ended up half-dead in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds! How am I supposed to protect her if I don't even know what I'm protecting her from!"
Charlus raised himself to his full height. "Watch your tone son. You may be of age, but you are still under my roof. This was not our decision. Your mother and I agreed to let Hermione decide what to tell you. As much as you feel entitled to know everything, your mother and I will be able to protect her, and honestly from what she has told us she has done a pretty good job of protecting herself."
"This is bullshit," James declared standing up to face his father, angry at the situation. Angry that he couldn't protect his sister and it seemed he never would be able to. "We're a family. What happened to make decisions together?" With that James stalked out of the room, intent on clearing his head.
"I'll talk to him. I'll get him to see reason," Lily quickly stood up to follow him out and left.
"That went well," Hermione then gulped down her elven wine and caught a glimpse of Sirius smirking at her, while Remus studied her with a carefully blank expression and Peter looked confused.
"Are you three angry with me as well then?" she asked.
"No, I'm sure you have your reasons. We all have our secrets." Remus answered, he of all people should know about that.
Peter, still confused, wanted to know why. "I don't understand, what could be so bad that you can't tell the family?"
"I did tell the family. Mum and Dad know everything, but it would be too dangerous for anything to get out. I don't believe that anybody would willingly betray us, but I don't want to put anybody in danger by giving them the information they don't need to know," the curly-haired witch reasoned.
"Well, now you have me curious." Sirius leaned forward, a spark of curiosity unmistakable in his stormy eyes. "What could a little girl like you know that could cause so much danger?"
"Trust me, it's better this way," Hermione assured everybody in the room. "Right now, the less you know, the better. One day you will know everything, and then we'll see if you agree with my decision to keep my secrets, well, secret."
"Alright, enough serious talk. Don't say it dear," Dorea commanded as soon as she saw Sirius open his mouth to make a joke. "Honestly"–she shook her head with fondness–"you think you would have grown out of those silly puns by now. I really thought your jokes would have become more refined."
"Never, Mum," Sirius said with a grin.
Dorea smiled at her adoptive son and stood up looping her arm with her husband's. "We are off to bed. You four don't stay up too late. Peter, will you be joining us for dinner tomorrow night or leaving sometime in the afternoon?"
"I'll be leaving after breakfast, Ma'am."
"Oh, dear. How many times have I told you to call me Dorea or even Mrs. Potter?"
Peter cheekily smiled back. "I don't know, I lost count around five hundred, Ma'm."
Dorea rolled her eyes at the boy. "Alright, we will see you all in the morning."
Dorea gave each of her children a kiss on the cheek, while Charlus kissed his daughter on the top of her head and shook the hands of the three young men. The two adults then departed for the evening.
As soon as the door closed and the footsteps faded away, Sirius clapped his hands together. "Alright, now who is ready to celebrate for real with something a little stronger?" He walked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a full bottle of firewhiskey.
"I'm in," Remus responded.
Peter quickly agreed with a "me too", and all three looked at Hermione.
"Oh no, not a chance. I don't drink firewhiskey. In fact, I think I'm going to go to the library for a new book and head to bed."
Amid the boos and playful jeers, Hermione laughed and wished everybody a good night, closing the door behind her. Halfway down the hall, she ran into James and Lily. James wouldn't look her in the eye, and Lily gave her a sympathetic smile. She gave her boyfriend a quick kiss and then muttered something in his ear that Hermione couldn't hear.
After Lily departed into the sitting room, the two siblings stood in the hall awkwardly facing each other.
"So…" Hermione began.
"So…" her brother imitated.
Hermione realised she would have to be the one to initiate this conversation, and as much as she didn't want to, she knew now would probably be the best time. "I'm sorry. I know you're angry, but I really am trying to do what is best for everybody. I'm trying to protect you and all of your friends."
James sighed. "Hermione it's not your job to protect me. I'm your big brother, that's what I'm supposed to do. I just want to know how to help you."
Hermione giggled. He really was so much like Harry. "You know it's not your job to save everybody. You said so yourself, we're family. We're supposed to protect each other. It's not one person's job. If I were to tell you everything would you be able to keep it a secret from every single person in that room?"
He thought about it for a moment before agreeing. "No, you're right. I would tell them everything most likely. I always have."
"The more people who know the truth, the more danger I am in, and so is everybody else. So by you not knowing that is protecting me. I really need you to trust me. Please," Hermione begged.
After a few moments of silence, where Hermione could tell James was battling with himself, he conceded. "Alright, I'm sorry I was a bit of a git. I'm thrilled we are both home." He pulled her into a hug, which she returned tightly.
"Me too," she whispered. "Now, go spend time with your friends. Enjoy the fact you are finally free from
Hogwarts. I'm going to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night!" he called down the hall as he headed back towards the sitting room, Hermione headed in the opposite direction.
The next few days were relatively quiet at Potter Manor. Peter went home after breakfast on that first day, while Lily left a couple of days after that after receiving a letter from her mother informing her she was needed at home for the final preparations for her sister's wedding. She left with promises to return soon and muttering about how her sister didn't even want her there in the first place. Hermione felt awful for Lily. While she never had the pleasure of meeting Petunia and Vernon Dursley, she had heard enough stories about how terrible the two of them were.
Everyday James, Sirius, and Remus were up and out of the house immediately following breakfast and wouldn't return until just before dinner. Based on her parent's actions they knew what the three were doing, but everybody was remaining tight-lipped about their activities.
About a week following the end of the term it was finally decided to go to Diagon Alley, but instead of just Hermione and her mother, the whole family would be going. It seemed Charlus had some things to take care of at Gringotts and wanted to bring James along to show him what would eventually be James's responsibility, and Sirius and Remus decided to tag along with the rest of the Potter's.
So following breakfast, the whole family departed for Diagon Alley via Floo into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Alright, love," Charlus addressed his wife. "We'll most likely be a few hours. Shall we meet here for lunch?"
"Sounds lovely. We'll see you then." Charlus kissed the cheeks of both his wife and daughter, with James doing the same, and the two men departed into the alley.
"We're headed to Quality Quidditch Supplies, and then I'm sure Remus will want to go to Flourish and Blotts," Sirius informed his adoptive mother, while Remus nodded in agreement with that plan.
"Why don't we meet you at Flourish and Blotts before lunch. I'm sure Hermione will want to stop there as well." Dorea chuckled at her daughter's enthusiastic grin at the prospect of a trip to the bookstore.
Each group parted ways once they entered the alley, and Hermione was dragged by her mother to Twilfitt and Tattings.
"Mum, why can't we just go to Madame Malkins? I've gotten all of my robes from her."
"We've only shopped at Twilfitt's for years. I'm sure Madame Malkins is lovely, but the employees here know our family's preferences. Plus, I was able to inform them that we were coming today so they should already have pulled some styles for us. I know you aren't a huge fan of shopping. This way the process will be quicker."
"It's not that I hate shopping, I just feel there are better uses of my time," Hermione defended herself.
Dorea teased her daughter, "Except when it's at a bookstore, I'm guessing?"
"There are some intellectual pursuits to be found at a bookstore, and I for one do feel that learning is a better use of my time."
Doera laughed at her daughter's precociousness, something she had not seemed to grow out of.
"Let me guess you're going to be a Ravenclaw," a voice said from behind Hermione.
"Madame Tatting! How wonderful to see you?" Dorea greeted with a broad smile. "I trust everything is ready for my Hermione? Darling, let me introduce you to Bathsheba Tatting. She's been a family friend for years. Madame this is my youngest Hermione."
"Of course, I have everything set up through here," Madame Tatting gestured through the curtains into a large fitting room. "It is a pleasure to meet you, or should I say re-meet you. I did use to dress you when you were a baby."
"Pleasure," Hermione returned the sentiment, still unsure how to act around people who knew her as Charlotte rather than Hermione. "Mum has said that you are the only place to go when it comes to robes for anything. I was hoping to just get a few day robes, and maybe one set of dress robes?" She glanced at her mother, hoping she would approve.
"Only one set of dress robes?" Bathsheba seemed to be offended. "Nonsense! You will have a full wardrobe, and that includes dress robes for every season." She then grabbed Hermione by the arm and pulled her into the fitting room to begin discussing styles, fabrics, and everything else she could think of.
Dorea followed the two into the dressing room to sit on the couch that was provided and watched the interaction, adding her input whenever Hermione glanced her way. An hour later, at least two dozen sets of robes for all occasions had been decided on, Hermione had been measured, and the proprietor of the shop assured the Potter women the robes would be delivered to Potter Manor by the end of the day tomorrow. Both women left the shop relieved.
"Mum," Hermione began hesitantly, unsure how her mother would take her request.
"Yes, love?"
"I was wondering, maybe not today, but at some point would we be able to go to Muggle London to get some Muggle clothes? Not that I don't like the robes we just bought, but I'm just more comfortable in my jeans and jumpers." Hermione bit her lip nervously.
Dorea looked at her daughter, apparently scared of her response. While Dorea was hesitant with the Muggle world, she had nothing against it. "I think that would be fine, though I'm not familiar at all with Muggle London. You can ask James and Sirius to take you, I know they venture into the city much more often than your father, and I ever have."
Hermione stared incredulously at her mother and then burst out laughing. "You want me to ask James and Sirius to go shopping with me? Funnily enough, I don't see that ending well."
After thinking about it for a moment, Dorea joined in on Hermione's laughter. "You may be right about that. Well, how about Lily? She is Muggleborn. I'm sure she will be up to date on all the latest styles, and I know she will be your sister one day. From what I hear she could use one of those. James has told me about her relationship with her, and from what you've said..." Dorea trailed off.
"Yes, I am not the biggest fan of Petunia personally," Hermione muttered darkly. "But inviting Lily shopping does seem like a good idea. I have always wanted to get to know Lily Potter. From the stories everybody told me, she's quite lovely."
"Come on darling, let's go see if Sirius has destroyed Flourish and Blotts yet," Dorea looped her arm through her daughter's, and the two set off down the alley.
Upon entering the bookstore, the Potter women heard a crash coming from the back of the store. Dorea sighed, "I believe we've found Sirius. I'm going to go make sure he hasn't broken anything of value."
"Alright, I'm going to head upstairs and see if I can find anything," Hermione waved her mother off and went to explore the more obscure texts Flourish, and Blotts carried.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione was already surrounded by a stack of books she had charmed to follow her around when she spied a first edition text on Ancient Runes, something that was near impossible to find in the 90s, unfortunately for her, it was at the top of the shelf.
Just as she was reaching up to get it, she felt a presence behind her reaching up to grab the same text. She whirled around intent on demanding the book, ready to inform this person she had eyed it first, when she came face to face, well more like face to chest, with a set of expensive looking robes covering a broad and, what seemed like a muscular, chest. She looked up to determine the identity of the man who dared to take her book only to see it was Regulus Black.
"Oh shit," Hermione whispered, not realizing she had said it outloud first.
Regulus smirked, "Oh sorry, were you hoping to get this book as well?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I was. I spotted it first, so if you would please hand it over," Hermione demanded indignantly while holding out her hand.
"Yes, but I grabbed it first."
"I would have grabbed it first if I was as tall as you."
Regulus laughed, his eyes sparkling with...something. This was a different side of Regulus that Hermione had never expected. Granted she had only been briefly introduced over the span of about five minutes, so it's not like she had gotten a great read on his personality. But if she didn't know any better, she would say he was almost flirting with her.
"Well, you must learn to use your advantages. You could have used your wand to levitate it to you. Are you a witch or not?"
Hermione flushed, she had been in the Wizarding World for nearly eight years, and she still did the majority of things the Muggle way. "Yes, well. Old habits die hard I guess."
"Old habits?" Regulus questioned.
"I was raised in the Muggle world. I tend to still do things the Muggle way because of that."
"Aren't you full of surprises Miss Potter?"
"Hermione," she immediately corrected him.
"Hermione?"
"Yes. You can call me by your first name. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other in school this coming year."
"You're sure about that? Your brother seemed intent on us never speaking if he had anything to say about it," Regulus reminded her.
It was Hermione's turn to laugh now. "As if James Potter has any control over who I am or am not friends with. I know it's out of love, but I can take care of myself."
Regulus stared at the small witch for a moment before responding. "You're so sure we'll be friends? What if I don't want to be friends?"
"Fine if we aren't friends, based on your chosen reading material I believe we'll at least be intellectual adversaries."
"I believe even if we are friends, we will still be intellectual adversaries."
The two teens stared at each other for a few more seconds before Regulus broke the silence, "Well I must be off. It was nice seeing you again...Hermione." The boy spun on his heel and stalked off down the aisle, with the Ancient Runes book still in his hand.
"Wait just one second! You still have my book!" The curly-haired witch demanded, stalking after the youngest Black, catching up to him at the bottom of the stairs.
"Your book?" Regulus asked. "I was under the impression it was my book, as I am the one currently holding it."
"Yes, but I told you I spotted it first," Hermione argued. "You know a gentleman would concede and hand over the book."
The two continued to walk together towards the register, with Hermione's towering stack of books following her.
"Yes, but I am also a Slytherin, and we never hand over our advantages. I've been searching for this book for ages. I'm not about to give it up now," he reasoned while paying for the apparently much-coveted text on Ancient Runes. He then waited for the witch while she took care of her purchases.
"Fine. Keep the damn thing. I'll find another copy," Hermione sniffed haughtily.
The two walked out of the store, Hermione intent on finding her family, and Regulus to go to wherever he had planned to next. Unfortunately, they walked right into an argument between both of their mothers.
Walburga quickly spotted Hermione and turned her attention towards her.
"Ah, the Blood Traitor's daughter has finally returned. You must be so glad to have her back, Aunt Dorea," she taunted. "A shame she has being tainted by Muggles though."
Hermione was reminded of the banshee's portrait in Grimmauld Place and immediately wished she was able to pull curtains over her face to shut her up.
"We are very relieved to have her back." Dorea reached out to stroke a curl of Hermione's before snapping her steely gaze back to Walburga. "It has been a wonderful couple of weeks having all three of our children together under the one one roof."
Walburga's left eye twitched but she quickly threw back a veiled insult of her own. "Yes, three children and three times as much potential for disappointment and shame being brought upon your family's name."
Dorea immediately sprang into action, separating Hermione and Walburga. "Oh Walburga, my darling niece, I would hate to hex you for speaking to my daughter in such a manner but make no mistake, just because we share blood does not mean I will hesitate to curse you."
"You are a disgrace to Wizardkind!" The Black Matriarch shrieked. "You and your whole family! Serves you right the Patriarch blasting you off the family tree once you married that Potter. You let your son go off gallivanting with filthy muggles and mudbloods! I'm sure you're raising your daughter to be a harlot and just as loose as you were! My father told me stories, warning me of the dangers of becoming like his disgraced sister."
Dorea remained unphased by the shrieks of her niece. She sniffed and gave the mad woman a cool smile. "Well, I do believe you would be the expert on qualifies as a harlot, are you not? If I recall, your father did catch you with Edmund Bulstrode before your marriage to Orion."
Walburga's face turned a shade of red that Hermione had only ever seen on a lobster. At that moment, many things happened. Walburga pulled her wand and directed it at her aunt, while Hermione noticed as her father stepped up to her mother's side, leaving James, Sirius, and Remus off to the side pulling their wands out as well, ready to defend the woman all of them saw as a mother.
"You're causing a scene, Dorea," Charlus hissed, pulling on his wife's sleeve, while also pulling out his wand, intent on defending his wife if necessary but knowing she would much rather fight her own battles, especially when it came to her estranged family.
"Charlus, love. I am not causing a scene. If you would like to see me cause a scene I gladly will."
Not backing down, Dorea brushed his arm off and swiftly walked up to Walburga, raised her hand and delivered a swift slap to her cheek.
The sound echoed throughout the street that had gone dead quiet as soon as the fight escalated.
"Go, Mum," James and Sirius chorused in support, clapping their hands in approval.
"If you ever raise your wand to me or my own again, I will do a hell of a lot more than bitch slap you," Dorea hissed.
Charlus gasped, remembering only one other time when his wife had become so worked up she cursed.
Walburga, wisely, backed away and directed her attention towards her youngest son, completely ignoring her eldest. "Regulus. Come. We have better things to do than stand here and attempt to converse civilly with this filth." She turned around with her nose in the air, clearly expecting nothing less than her son following her direct orders.
Regulus stepped around the Potter family before he walked away though he winked at Hermione and called out, "See you at school, Hermione." At her nod, he then followed his mother and disappeared into the crowd.
Hermione turned to face her brother, whose face was approaching the color of a tomato. "What the bloody hell was that all about?"
"Well that was two people who enjoy the same subjects and who go to the same school agreeing to see each other at said school," Hermione replied sassily.
"I thought I told you to stay away from him? He's bad news," James demanded.
"Prongs is right Hermione," Sirius interjected. "I know my brother. He's mixed up with the wrong crowd. You don't want to go getting involved."
"Love," Charlus tried to mediate. "Sirius and James may be right. They know Regulus, and they know the people that Regulus spends his time with. They aren't people that are appropriate for someone like you."
"I understand where this is coming from, but as I told James after I met Regulus the first time he has been nothing but pleasant to me and until such a time that changes if we see each other I will be nothing but pleasant to him. I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character," Hermione stressed, trying to silently convey to her parents that she knew the kind of person Regulus was.
Dorea seemed to understand before Charlus did, and she pulled her daughter in for a hug. "We trust you dearly. We just ask that you be careful is all. Now come on, all of you. I'm starving. Let's get some lunch and go home."
After the incident in the alley, lunch, in which nobody dared bring up Dorea's slap of Walburga, was quite pleasant. Everybody joked with each other, and Hermione for the first time had a real feeling of contentment in the 70s.
Later, as Hermione entered her room to go to sleep, she found the Ancient Runes text from Flourish and Blotts on her pillow. That was the first time Hermione slept through the night without any nightmares.