THE COVER UP
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any part of the Harry Potter universe and I am grateful to be able to borrow them for a short time.
All errors are my own.
I do love reviews so if you had an inclination to leave one, I would appreciate it. MWAH!
Several hours of practice using Draco as a guinea pig had Liam proficient in both spells. They left to set up the wards around the office and to add Liam to the alarm around the house. With everything accomplished that they came to Australia to do, Mina and Draco bid everyone good-bye and apparated back to Hogsmead.
They arrived at the castle and went to see the Headmistress before even going back to their quarters to unpack.
They heard "Come in" and entered her office. "Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"This Professor." Draco rolled up the left sleeve of his white oxford button down. As the design was revealed, he kept his eyes on the Professor to make sure it was going to be alright.
McGonagall's face lite up with pleasure at the site of the dragon. "Oh. Draco! I'm so pleased for you. This is wonderful!" The old witch told her favorite former students. "This weekend has been quite momentous for you."
"Not just for me Professor. We found Mina's parents and she removed the memory charm." Draco looked just as happy for his friend as he did for himself.
"Oh Miss Granger! That is wonderful. Congratulations!" She didn't have a clue what they were talking about so she played it off as if she always knew what the young witch had done. It was a trick she had picked up from watching Dumbledore for years.
"Thank you Professor." Mina was blushing for some reason. It only deepened when she looked at Draco. "Draco convinced me it would be alright. I have a little sister, Hermione Michelle. We put wards up around their house and office. Professor, if the wards go off Draco and I will be alerted. If that happens, I'm afraid I will apparate there just as fast as I can. I'm sorry. I know it will probably cost me my job, but I just got my family back and I won't let anything happen to them."
"Miss Granger, calm yourself. I understand you would need to be with your family. I accept that it might impact your work." Professor McGonagall couldn't help but agree. She understood the importance of family. Her family after all were the teachers and students of Hogwarts. She missed her best friend, Albus, very much.
"Thank you Professor. I appreciate your understanding."
"Professor, if the alarms go off, I'm going with her." Draco stated. Mina felt her cheeks tinge just a bit pinker at his statement.
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy. Now I suggest you both get ready for dinner and make sure your lesson plans are done and submitted to your professors before tomorrow morning."
"Thank you Professor." They said in unison just before leaving her office.
They left her office and headed to their own quarters. They found notes from Babbling & Hooch asking for the lesson plans for the following week. They looked over their own plans then exchanged them. They had discovered that what one didn't see, the other did. It made for an effective partnership and much better lessons for each of them. When corrections had been made and the plans were set, they sent the plans to the respective Professors. Professor McGonagall's lessons were already set. They discovered that she was as organized as Mina was and had her plans set forth before the school year commenced. They simply checked the plans over to make sure they understood them and were prepared to teach them.
They were working on their individual lesson plans for the week after next when Draco brought up something that had been picking at the back of his mind since his conversation with Liam that morning. "Mina, how did you sleep last night?"
"Fine. Why do you ask?"
"It was something Liam said this morning. He said he didn't hear a peep out of us after we returned last night. Apparently the walls are thin and we make noise when we sleep."
"Make noise? What does that mean?"
"His words, not mine. He said you cry out in your sleep. From what Liam said it sounds like it's about…" he choked on the next word, "Bellatrix and what she did to you." Deep breath, "He just said I make noise whatever that means."
She had a frown on her face but still raised her eyebrows at him, "huh." She thought about it a minute, "well, when I did fall asleep finally, I guess I did sleep pretty well until some evil prat woke me up." She tried to joke.
He smiled sickly sweet at her, "At your service." His smile faltered, "Yea, for me too. Last night was the first time I've talked about…any of it, too anybody."
"I guess I just tried to put it behind me. If we don't talk about it, it must not have happened, right?" Mina said with a chuckle that held no humor.
"It's hard to pretend it didn't happen," he pointed at her left arm, "when you can't even look at your own arm."
They silently went back to their work. When Mina had yawned for the umpteenth time, she gave up on getting work done. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."
Draco nodded at her and started to put his work away as well. "I'm going as well. Mina, I'm not showing off my arm, but if anybody asks, I'm not keeping quiet about it." He wanted her to know as he headed to his own room.
She nodded her head at him just before closing her door for the night.
It was two weeks later that the one thing that terrified Mina most actually happened. It was about 8pm and she was grading the 3nd years' Ancient Runes homework at her desk in the common room she shared with Draco when the alarm wards went off. She left out the portrait hole at a dead run, straight for McGonagall's office.
Draco was alone in Madam Hooch's office working on new quidditch plays to hopefully help the pathetic Ravenclaw team when he felt the alarm wards activate. He dropped what he was doing and raced out of the room headed for the Headmistress' office. He knew that Mina felt the wards as well and would be headed to McGonagall's office. He would meet her there.
He arrived just a few moments after Hermione did. She was standing there excitedly talking with the Headmistress. "I have to get to Hogsmeade! The alarm went off!"
Mina saw Draco arrive but it was McGonagall who spoke to him, "Oh good. Mr. Malfoy! Get your broom, you can fly the two of you to Hogsmeade and apparate from there."
"Professor? Is your fireplace connected to the floo?"
"Of Course!"
"We'll floo to Malfoy Manor and apparate from there. It'll be faster." He grabbed Mina's hand and pulled her toward the fireplace. As he reached it, he grabbed floo powder from the pot on the mantle and pulled her into a tight hug. "Malfoy Manor!"
They arrive seconds later at an elegant parlor. They stepped out of the fireplace and Draco immediately apparated them to the street outside of Mina's parent's house. A visual inspection of the front area showed that it all looked fine. There were no lights on in the house. But it was 3am local time so everyone should have been asleep. If everything worked the way it was supposed to, the Wilkins' would have been awaken by a bright flashing light. The only physical manifestation of the alarm wards. Then, if all the directions have been followed, Mina's family should be in their 'safe' room. It was a small linen cupboard that Mina had enlarged using an undetectable extension charm as well as a disillusionment charm. To someone just opening the door it would look like any other linen cupboard with shelves holding different bed and bath linens. They would never see the family hiding within unless they walked through the cupboard shelves and into the hidden room.
Mina, wand drawn, took to the left and started to circle around to the back of the house. Draco, also with his wand drawn, took to the right checking under every bush and behind every tree. Finally he found a man sprawled out about 30 meters from the backdoor of the house; outside of the warded area.
Mina finished circling the house and joined with Draco by the downed man. "Dolohov," Draco said as he pointed his wand at the man.
"I know. I obliviated his memory after he attacked us in London." She paused before continuing, "I've check the rest of the area. There's no one else here."
Draco put a full body bind on him and the tongue tie curse so if he woke up he wouldn't be able to move or yell. After they secured him, they slowly approached the house just to make sure they weren't being watched or followed. Before they reached the house, Mina pulled out her mobile and texted her parents to let them know she and Draco were about to enter the house.
She quickly received a response letting her know they were in the safe room and asking if they could come out now. She texted back to stay where they were until she or Draco came for them with the password.
Before they reached the house the local Aurors finally arrived and tried to enter the warded area but were blocked. Hermione and Draco walked over to them and asked for identification. When they received the information they dropped the wards and the Aurors surrounded the pair. Unfortunately, they didn't recognize the pair of young people and detained them until a supervisor arrived.
It didn't take long, about 5 minutes after the supervisor arrived and they were being followed into the house by an auror. Mina quickly raced up the stairs with Draco right behind her. The auror caught up with them and checked the rest of the floor and rooms for anyone else. When he didn't find anyone, he turned to the pair, "Well? What are we doing up here?"
Mina turned to the linen cupboard, opened the door and waved her wand. When she felt the wards drop, she walked through the door and shouted, "Periodontist!"
She was quickly rushed by her father and pulled into a hug. Then pushed away so he could see her. "Are you ok? You shouldn't have come! You could have been hurt!" as she was pulled into another hug.
"Dad, I'm fine. How are you? How's mum and Hermione? Is everyone safe?" Mina answered and questioned as her mum, carrying the baby, crashed into the pair. She was trying to hug them both while holding the baby at the same time. Mina gave a silent chuckle and smile. "Mum breathe. It's ok. We got the guy. The wards worked brilliantly and he's in custody."
Draco was standing next to the auror and both men looked astonished at how the family acted toward each other. Mina had taken baby Hermione and was cooing to her while their parents hugged and tried to calm down. It took a couple of long seconds before the auror remembered his duty. "Excuse me, but as long as everyone is safe we need to get your statements and check all your wands for any spells you might have cast."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the young auror for a few moments before Michelle started to laugh. Soon Robert, Mina and Draco were also laughing.
"What?" The young auror looked completely confused.
Draco spoke first, "These are Ms. Granger's parents and sister. They're muggles." Smiling at the auror as he waited for realization to dawn.
"But if she," he pointed at Mina, "is Hermione Granger, why did she ask if 'Hermione' was ok? And this house is registered with our ministry as belonging to Robert and Michelle Wilkins. Why would muggles have their residence registered with the Wizarding Ministry?"
"All good questions, young man," Robert answered him. "They will be answered but not standing in the hallway. Hermi…Mina, can we go downstairs now? I think I need a drink."
"Absolutely, Dad." Mina smiled at him and she led the way down to the lounge where Robert poured a drink for himself and Draco. He handed the drink to Draco without thought. Draco took it without thinking anything about it. They both threw their drinks back looking like a carbon copy of each other. The supervising auror joined them in the lounge but no one noticed him right away. He watched with envy as the two men refilled their glasses.
Before he could speak Michelle and Mina spoke up. Michelle, "Robert!" Mina, "Draco!" The inflection of the women's voices was exactly the same and it stopped both men in their tracks, looking at the ladies.
Robert looked to Draco, "Like mother, like daughter." The men clinked glasses and downed their drinks again.
"That burns but good. What is that?" Draco asked as he saw Robert reach for the bottle to refill their glasses.
Robert was about to answer but Michelle had had enough, "Alright you two. You're done." That froze them in place. She walked over to them and took their glasses from them followed by the bottle in Robert's hand. She placed them on the sideboard just as they all heard a throat clear and turned to see the supervisor standing in the doorway. "Can we help you?" Michelle asked.
"Mum, Dad, this Supervisory Auror Wellsley." Mina said.
"A pleasure." He said. "I just have a few questions about what happened here." He searched through the scant notes that he had. "Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy set wards around this property, correct?"
Draco spoke first as Mina was trying to keep a fussy baby Hermione occupied. "Yes. These are Ms. Granger's parents. We wanted to protect them so we placed wards around this property and their office."
"What type of wards did you set?"
Draco went on to explain all the wards they had used until he got to the one Mina did herself. "The last ward Mina will have to explain. She didn't tell me which one it was."
Wellsley looked at Mina and she explained, "It was a shield ward of sorts. It's designed to return the spell cast back at the caster." She saw blank looks on both Aurors and her parents so she explained further. "Instead of absorbing a spell or deflecting it like a regular shield charm, this one acts like a mirror and causes the spell to bounce off and sends it back to whoever cast it."
"A return to sender spell?" Michelle asked.
"Yes, exactly." Mina smiled at her mother. "I'm calling it a mirror shield."
"That explains it," mumbled Wellsley.
"Explains what?" Draco asked.
"The man, Dolohov, is dead." The stunned silence that followed his statement was stifling.
"Wh…wh…what?" Mina was having trouble focusing, the color drained from her face and she was a little wobbly.
"Dolohov is dead. It appears he was killed with his own killing curse." Wellsley said. "His wand shows he cast an Avada. I don't know where he was aiming especially from outside and so far away, but it seems to have as you say returned to sender."
Robert's nerves got the best of him at that moment and he started to chuckle and muttered in a sing song voice 'return to sender, address unknown, return to sender. nobody home'."
"Robert?" Michelle asked.
He looked at her confused face. "Come on, Love. Return to sender? Don't you remember? It's an old Elvis song." Everyone just looked at him and that made him laugh. When he couldn't bring himself under control, Michelle stood up and got him another drink. She handed it to him and while in the middle of a laugh he did his best to swallow it down only sputtering a little.
"Really Robert! All this and you dwell on that." Michelle scolded as he continued to chuckle.
"It's not that uncommon, Mum." Mina stepped in. Her coloring has almost returned to normal and her voice was strong. "It's a bit of a shock for all of us. It's either that or cry or rage I imagine." She handed Hermione Michelle back to her mother as she turned to face the Auror, "So I killed him." She said matter of factly.
This led to several people in the room gasping and protesting her innocence. "You did not!" "No!" and "Surely not!" were spoken or shouted at the same time.
Wellsley held up his hand. "No, Miss Granger. You did not. He killed himself. There is no question of that."
"It was my spell…"
Wellsley spoke over her, "You put the shield in place; he cast the curse. That is not your fault and you will not be held accountable for his stupidity." He sighed, "The question is how did he know this place contained your family." Mina's and Draco's eye erupted in surprise. "Any thoughts?"
"Could he have tracked the magical signature on the house?" Mina asked.
"Dolohov wasn't smart enough. He was brawn not brains." Draco added. "So if that was the way, it wasn't him. Which means we have a bigger problem."
The three wizards continued to talk about how magic could have been used to track them until Robert made a suggestion, "Do they know where you have been going from school?" All eyes were on him. "I mean, could they have just followed you at some point and then just bided their time?"
"Of course! How stupid of me!" Mina exclaimed, "We were in Hogsmead together; we talked openly at school about coming to Australia and tattoos then we wandered around after we got here."
"And Liam advertised Dark Mark covers were available. It wouldn't take a genius to put it together that someone you cared about would be here. Once they got here all they would have to do is check where the strongest shields were." Draco added.
"So he may or may not have been working with someone. Which means," she walked over to the window and pulled the drapes back just an inch or so, "someone may or may not be watching the house right now." Her eyes scanned the darkness while she internally focused on the information available. She was trying to work out what should be done; what she could do to continue to keep her family safe. Outwardly she didn't show a single sign of her internal struggles. I just got them back, I can't lose them again but what else can I do? At least this time, it's only temporary. I hope. She turned to address everyone else only to find that they were all watching her in expectation. She didn't disappoint, "I think I need to stay away."
"What?" Michelle asked. "You can't! You are our daughter! I won't lose you again!"
Hermione smiled at her mother, "Mum…I…You aren't going to lose me because I won't lose you either. I just got you back after all." She walked over to her mother and pulled her and Hermione Michelle into a hug. Quickly followed by the feel of strong arms wrapping around both of them. Both women laughed as the arms squeezed tighter and tighter. "Dad, we can't breathe!" She was laughing and crying at the same time.
He was chuckling but let them go. "What will you do? Where will you go? Will you write to us?" He had many questions. He wasn't about to let his daughter walk out the door without the reassurances he and his wife needed.
She looked cautiously at the other people in the room. Wondering how much she trusted the Aurors. Should she talk in front of them? She caught Draco's attention for a second then looked at the Aurors. Draco got the message, "Gentlemen, let's take this outside and give the family a chance to talk privately." Wellsley got the point and ordered the young Auror outside. He and Draco followed talking about how to best protect the family.
When they were alone, Mina put up a muffilto charm just to be safe. "Now we can speak without worry." At her parents concerned look she added, "I'm sure they're fine since they're Aurors, that's a wizard policeman, but I don't know those particular Aurors. To answer your questions, for starters, I have to go back to work. School's still in session and we have classes to teach. Then, I don't know. I guess I'll need to find a flat or ask the Headmistress if I can spend the summer at school. As for communicating I don't think I'll send an owl but probably emails and texts when I can. Actually, can you pick me up a laptop? I'll pay you back I just can't get to a store right now and when I go back to Hogwarts…well, let's just say my chances of getting to an electronics store are virtually nil."
Robert looked at her a little askance. He finally realized that his little girl wasn't so young anymore and was quite used to making decisions and seeing them through. It also appeared that she was used to people following her advice or orders; whichever the situation call for. "Alright. I'll get you one. Specifics?" They went on to discuss her options and what she would need.
When the decision was made, she made something quite clear, "Don't send it to me yourself. Mail it to Liam and he'll send it out." Draco came back in and Mina adjusted the spell to include him. Then she had a realization, "That's not going to work either. I bet they're watching Liam too." Mina thought, who can receive muggle mail but know enough to… she got an idea. "Mrs. Figg."
"Who?" Robert asked.
"Arabella Figg, she is a squib, I hate the term. It means she's the child of magical people but didn't get any magical ability. Dad can you log on to your computer? I need to find her address." It took a bit but she found an address for Arabella Figg, Surrey England. "Oh Dad look! She has her email listed! Go Mrs. Figg." She proceeded to send an email to Mrs. Figg who promptly replied that she would be happy to be the go between for Hermione and her parents. "I'm so excited! I can't wait for her forward the package to me." Mina was beaming. "Until then I can owl her your letters and she will send them on via regular post." She grabbed her Dad and squeezed him hard.
He broke the hug to look sternly at his daughter, "One laptop coming up and you aren't going to pay us back. Save your money for finding a good flat. No slum." Robert warned. "And how's your mobile? Do you need a new one? How old is that one? What plan do you have?" This led into a discussion that completely baffled Draco. In the end Draco was told that Mina's father would be getting her a new computer and mobile as well putting her on their plan. The only thing he understood was she was getting a new mobile. The rest was a complete mystery.
"I'm sorry to bring us all back to this…unpleasantness, but, most of the Aurors have left. They took the body. They want us to put all the wards back in place including the 'return to sender' ward which Wellsley wants to learn more about; said it would be really useful. He's waiting outside to help us." Draco let them know at the same time his voice was showing the pride he felt for his friend.
Robert and Michelle shared a look after seeing how Draco was looking at their eldest daughter. Michelle was smiling, Robert not so much. Mina returned the smile before it suddenly ran away from her face. It was the beginning of not seeing her family for a long time. She held out her hands and Hermione Michelle reached out for her. They hugged before Hermione Michelle laid her head to rest on Mina's shoulder and promptly fell asleep.
"I guess this little one is tired. It's been a long night." Michelle took her youngest daughter, "I'm going to put her to bed while you two do that voodoo that you do so well." She smiled at Mina and winked at her now chuckling husband.
Draco pulled her aside to quietly ask her, "What's voodoo? I don't think we ever did a spell called that."
She laughed and pushed him towards the door, "Come on, I'll explain back at school. We have wards to put up first."
They got the wards put back up and with Wellsley's help the wards were strengthened. He was also keyed to the alarm wards and Liam was taken off of them. After a quick conversation with the Auror it was decided that what happened tonight made it unsafe for Liam to be too closely associated with her family. Mina sent a quick text to Liam. U R off wards. 2 dngrus. TX! They finished with the wards and headed back into the house.
Before Wellsley left Mina explained that the mirror shield wasn't ready yet. The spells rebounded on the caster no matter which side of the shield you were on. Her goal, she told him was to have it be moveable so Aurors could 'wear it' and to be able to cast out. "Basically a combination of the mirror shield and a traditional shield charm. The problem is they both use almost the same runes and wand motions so when combined…it has a tendency to collapse on itself. But I'm working on it!"
Draco overheard a good portion of their conversation. After Wellsley left he mumbled to Mina, "Not to mention that spell will be worth a fortune when you get it right. In its current form, it's still worth a lot of money."
Mina smiled at him, "I know. I've worked hard on this spell. I'm not going to just give it away."
Draco smiled at her comments. He never realized she was so self-aware or that she cared all that much about money. She always seemed to have a selfless Gryffindor do-gooder attitude about her. This made her seem more…normal to him.
"Are you ready to go?" Draco asked.
"No!" He saw her eyes start to mist over. "Draco, I don't want to lose them again."
He pulled her into a one-armed side hug, "You aren't losing them, you're doing what you do best." She looked at him and he rolled his eyes at her. "Protecting them. Making sure they are safe. Besides, you aren't losing them. You've already arranged to communicate with them in such a way no wizard would ever figure it out. You're just making them safer." She still looked sad, "Come on, we have to get back to school. McG's probably worried about you." He had walked them back over to her parents.
Michelle rejoined her family after putting Hermione Michelle back to bed. She watched the young people approaching with the keen eye of a mother. She recognized the looks they were giving each other and wondered how long before they realized how much they cared for each other. She glanced at her husband to see that he also recognized the look but was less than happy about it. She was smiling when they had gathered until she saw the shiny look of her daughter's eyes. "Oh honey, I know. But we aren't going anywhere and you can always come home." She pulled Mina into a hug. She tried to lighten up the situation, "At least this time when we see you, we will know who you are." Both women chuckled. "Besides, it sounds like you have many more things to do right now. I would rather you concentrate on your career and other things than worry about us. We'll be fine."
Mina stepped over to her father and threw her arms around the tall man, "Daddy, I love you so much."
"I love you too baby girl. Be safe and remember: no slum. If you need money just let me know."
"I'll be fine Daddy. I have a good job." Mina reassured him. "But before I take a flat, I'll let you know and you can check it out. Bless the internet."
While Mina was saying her goodbyes to her dad, Michelle approached Draco. "Be safe Draco." He was surprised she made the overture to him and apparently it showed on his face. "Why do you look so surprised? I can see how important she is to you and you to her. That makes you important to me. Be safe. I don't pretend to understand what your world has done or will do to you, but you have family here. Never forget that." And with that she pulled him into a hug. Then whispered in his ear, "Please take care of my baby too. I can't lose her."
Draco just nodded his head as he returned the hug. She pulled back and in true motherly fashion, "Now, you two need to get going. Do you need sandwiches for the road or anything?"
They both laughed. "No thanks mum. We will be back at Hogwarts in less than an hour."
Robert humphed, "Damn convenient, that." He shook Draco's hand and looked him square in the eye, "You'll both be safe, yes?"
Draco smiled, "Yes sir." He stepped back next to Mina and looked at her. He spun on the spot and disappeared.
"I love you!" Mina said just before she disappeared as well.
Michelle turned to Robert, "You do realize that young man may end up our son-in-law?"
All Robert did was humph before pulling the love of his life toward the stairs so they could head to bed.