Chapter 9
I have no apologies – anyone following this story must know by now that I am a very slow writer. It's getting more serious and I'm attempting to stay more in the canon – both difficult for me! Here we go for the next little bit!
P.S. THANK YOU KuraiBites for updating Those Gilded Chains We Wear – best fanfic EVER, and a good kick in my pants to get going! This chapter may be a slow start (again) but at least it's something!
Professor McGonagall led Hermione into an empty classroom and gestured for her to sit down on one of the desks. She then gently proceeded to explain that something had happened to Mr. Weasley the night before, something that they had been alerted to by a dream of Harry's. The Weasley children and Harry had all been taken to Sirius's house in the night, and they were going to visit Mr. Weasley that day. And, although Hermione would not be able to join them until the term officially ended that day, she was certainly welcome to do so then. Did Hermione have any questions?
Hermione tried concentrating on what her teacher was telling her, but her own thoughts rushed about so much that they drowned out the woman's words as if they were a waterfall, and Prof. McGonagall were standing behind it. This was too much, too big to take in, and way too serious for Hermione to be able to make sense of it all. Finally she just gave in. Looking up at her professor in bewilderment, with tears in her eyes, Hermione meekly asked, "May I please go see Professor Dumbledore?"
Prof. McGonagall looked surprised – she had been expecting a bevy of questions from her naturally inquisitive student. But she could see that Hermione had something on her mind, and she didn't hesitate to acquiesce to her simple request. She nodded, patted Hermione awkwardly on the shoulder in an attempt at sympathy, and led her out of the classroom.
Hermione had been to Prof. Dumbledore's office a few times, and normally she was intrigued by all that interesting objects that it held. She would spend most of her visit trying to peer into corners, cataloguing each item to read about later. This morning she was so lost and overwhelmed that she barely noticed that Dumbledore had been talking to one of the portraits when she came in, and that it was talking back to him. When he saw Prof. McGonagall come in with Hermione, he immediately stopped his conversation and turned to them with a smile.
"Ah, Minerva! You are in luck! Delores has finally finished fussing at me for sending the Weasley children home without her specific permission and left. We are enjoying a bit of peace and quiet here, and it so nice of you to join us!" He looked kindly over to Hermione, and his next words were more quietly spoken. "My dear, I assume that Professor McGonagall has told you the unfortunate news?"
Hermione nodded morosely, and then whispered, "I was hoping I could talk with you about something."
Dumbledore peered at Hermione through his half-moon glasses intently for a brief moment, and then with a gentle smile, said, "Yes, of course. Minerva, could you leave us, please?"
With a look at her employer that implied that she'd be back to talk later, Prof. McGonagall nodded and left.
Hermione warred with herself, but decided to start from the beginning and not leave anything out, even if she ended up expelled or worse. But she couldn't let someone get hurt because of what she was hiding. She took a deep breath, preparing to begin.
Dumbledore cut her off before she could utter a word. "Ms. Granger, a cup of tea? I find that tales of intrigue and heartfelt confessions always go better with a nice warm beverage." Hermione's head jerked up at that, and with a shock she realized that Dumbledore might really know everything that went on in the school, as the students had whispered. Thankfully, she also noticed a little twinkle in his eyes. With a steadier breath and a small smile, she nodded.
Over tea, Hermione told Dumbledore about all of her encounters with Bellatrix and Lyra Black. He nodded thoughtfully through most of her tale, though he did grunt occasionally, such as when she mentioned that Bellatrix was in the forest, and when she spoke of the lesson that Jugson gave in the Hog's Head.
"And when Bellatrix said she had something important to do last night, and then I found out that Mr. Weasley had been injured, it just seemed too coincidental and I had to tell you. I understand if you need to expel me…" Hermione's voice faded away as she came to the end of her tale. She knew she'd have to face the consequences of her actions, but she wasn't quite ready for it.
She was definitely unprepared for what Dumbledore said next.
"I think the first course of action is that you should join your friends. I find that facing hard times is easier with ones you love, and they need you there with them. You will also feel better when you see how Mr. Weasley is faring."
"But, but… what about Bellatrix? And what I told you?"
"I would be surprised if she were not involved in last night's activities, but from what you said, it doesn't sound as if she were expecting to be. Otherwise, why would she have made plans with you for that same night?"
Hermione noticed that Dumbledore referenced Bellatrix as if she and Lyra were indeed the same person, and she felt reassured that her conclusion was validated.
"I'm so sorry, sir. I don't know what I was thinking, getting involved in this. I've never done anything like this before."
"Ms. Granger, you needn't beat yourself up. You wanted to learn more, both about yourself and about magic, so you went. There has been no harm done, and indeed your instincts are still leading you along a good path, as you are here now. And rest assured, if you had been in true danger, I would have stopped you long ago."
"But, but… you knew?" Hermione was confused. If he knew, why on earth hadn't Dumbledore stopped her?
"Not the exact specifics, but yes, I knew you were meeting with Lyra Black. Her magical signature is hard to hide."
"Lyra? But aren't she and Bellatrix the same person? Didn't you just say that Bellatrix had made plans to meet with me?"
"It's a bit… convoluted. But then, Bellatrix has always been convoluted. I don't want to reveal all I know about her, as it is her own private story, but even when she was a student, there seemed to be a wild side and a thoughtful side, often warring with each other, sometimes living in harmony. The only difference now is that she appears to have given one side a name and an identity separate from her own."
"And they have different magical signatures?"
"Similar, but I can tell the difference. A few other professors can as well – self-preservation, you see." Dumbledore chuckled at some memory, but did not expand on it.
"Is it like split-personality disorder?" Hermione was fascinated, as certain pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
"I don't believe so, no. I'm not entirely familiar with the symptoms of that muggle diagnosis, but I don't think it quite fits. Bellatrix is quite capable of using her best assets, let's just say. I believe that her decision to have Lyra approach you has been quite calculated."
Hermione fell silent for a moment, processing everything. Dumbledore allowed her this quiet, and busied himself with gathering up the crumbs of his biscuit.
Finally she spoke. "What should I do now? I mean, in terms of contact with Lyra Black? Is it dangerous to continue? Or do you want me to lure her here to capture her?" She spoke the last in an attempt to be responsible, but her heart clenched just to mention the possibility.
"My dear, you should do what you think is the right thing, both to yourself and to Lyra Black."
"But does that mean…"
"You may be assured of your safety. Both because of your prodigious talents and instincts, and also because Fawkes will alert me if necessary."
"So you want me to…"
"But right now I think the best course of action is to visit your friends. Do you need to send an owl to your parents?"
"Yes, but…"
"Consider it done. Now, Ms. Granger, the train is leaving shortly; I expect you have some packing to do."
Hermione knew when she'd been dismissed, so she thanked Professor Dumbledore and took her leave. She glanced back just as she was exiting and saw that he was again standing in front of the portraits of old headmasters. Furrowing her brow in confusion at their conversation, Hermione closed the door and returned to her room.
Hermione spent the almost the entire trip back to London trying to make heads or tails of what Dumbledore was advising her to do. Was he encouraging her to continue meeting with Ms. Black? And, he had only referred to her as "Lyra" in the last bit of their conversation. She started feeling annoyance that Dumbledore hadn't been clearer with her, and she was beginning to empathize with Harry's frustration with the man.
He certainly doesn't spell things out, does he?
Then, a second later, because she was exhausted and couldn't help herself, Well, maybe that's all he does. Spells. Heh.
Hermione shook her head at herself and her bad puns, and decided it was time to try to get some sleep. She managed to nap soundly for the remainder of the trip, waking in time to drag her trunk from the train to the Knight Bus, heading for 12 Grimmauld Place.
When she arrived, her reunion with her friends, seeing Mr. Weasley in St. Mungo's, and trying to get Harry to talk about what had happened all kept her busy and drove almost all thoughts of the dark witch from her mind. She had enough to keep herself occupied for the few weeks of vacation, and telling herself that she'd deal with things when she returned to Hogwarts gave her the excuse she needed to avoid thinking about difficult topics. When she realized that she found it easier to think about Voldemort and Harry's visions, and her best friend's father almost dying, rather than an intriguing black-haired witch, she had to grimace at herself. Still, it was nice to be able to compartmentalize, and she was not looking forward to having to make decisions when she returned to school.
On the train ride back, Hermione suddenly felt overwhelmed by the fact that she could no longer avoid dealing with the issue. Her mind raced with the possible choices she had, and the possible outcomes of each. The young witch did have the presence of mind to notice, once again, that neither Ron nor Harry caught wind that anything was up with their friend. She supposed that their past years together had trained them well enough to think that the only drama she had in her life came from them (except for the Viktor Krum surprise – ha!) and that any thought she spent was on schoolwork or helping them with their own problems. It worked well in her favor this time, however, and she was not going to complain about their oblivious natures. She did wonder, though, what it might be like to confide in a friend about all of this turmoil, and briefly entertained the idea of sharing with Ginny. Until she remembered that Bellatrix's possible involvement with the near death of Ginny's father might derail any honest, open conversation they might have.
In the end, Hermione supposed she was on her own when it came to figuring out what to do next. Well, unless you counted the nonsensical advice that Dumbledore had given her. "You should do what you think is the right thing, both to yourself and to Lyra Black." What was the RIGHT thing to do? How could she possibly know what the right thing to do was – she could not read the future, like the nitwit Trelawney claimed to do!
The return-to-school banquet and the social joviality in the commons room allowed Hermione a brief, if enforced, escape from her own thoughts. Eventually, though, she ended up yet again wide awake in bed. She tried to quiet her thoughts, focus on her breathing, allow an answer to come to her rather than chase it down. And lo and behold, something did. "You should do what you think is the right thing, both to yourself and to Lyra Black." …"both to yourself and to Lyra Black."
Hermione almost sat up with the realization of the words Dumbledore had actually said. He hadn't told her to do the right thing, in general. He'd told her to do right by herself and Lyra Black. Looking back on their conversation, and remembering his gentle assessment of Bellatrix and her other side, Hermione realized that the right thing to do for herself and Lyra would be to allow these sessions of genuine learning and respect to continue. To hold Lyra accountable for something that Bellatrix may have been involved in, to cut her off (and thereby her own learning), would be abrupt and possibly cruel.
Hermione leaned over and scrabbled about in her trunk to find the plant book. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea, what she was going to do next, but she thought she'd give it a go. If nothing came of it, no harm done. Hopefully.
Lighting the tip of her wand dimly, and opening the book to the front page, Hermione contemplated her words carefully. Her last message, asking if she had the right day, was still written there. The young witch carefully applied her quill to the space below and wrote, Happy New Year! I hope all is well with you. ~R.S. Nothing too aggressive, and could be played off as a polite greeting. But it was, she hoped, a way to open the door a bit wider. Hermione's heart pounded at her audacity to try to make contact with the dark witch, but she was confident she'd done the right thing, and that allowed her to go to sleep at last.
The morning light shone faintly when Hermione jolted awake, as jittery as if she were expecting a visit from Santa. Nearest thing to it, she supposed. She reached down and grabbed the plant book, holding her breath as she flipped back the cover. She was so delighted at seeing different handwriting that she almost squealed. Instead, she bit her lip and forced herself to calm down. The holidays are never as good as they are promised to be. We are behind a few lessons. This Thursday, and be prepared to work hard. ~L.B. At reading the final line, Hermione had to grin: Or should that be ~Prof. B? Work hard indeed. She would definitely be prepared.
Author's note: So this chapter was light on contact between our two witches, but things aren't going to stay that way!