Here is your Wednesday Chapter. Enjoy some angst and dramaaaa!
August 4, 1999
Theo
The day of Ron's funeral was dreary. The energy in the whole house was sombre. Even Teddy Lupin was quiet as he was shuffled between his father and grandmother. The Weasley's were opting for a traditional funeral with a pyre. Theo sat at the back of the group with his Aunt. They watched the four remaining Weasley brothers carry Ron to the logs and herbs piled in the centre of the small yard. Ginevra was supporting her parents as they shuffled behind.
Mia sat next to Potter at the front. He was gripping her hand tightly. She'd been crying steadily since Ron had died. If he was honest with himself, Theo was a bit jealous that Potter was the one getting to comfort Mia, they were soul-siblings, not her and Potter. As if she could read his mind Augusta Longbottom tutted next to him. He looked down, suitably chasented.
The Weasleys surrounded Ron with Arthur at his head and Molly at his feet, the siblings surrounding him. The joined hands and began to chant:
This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
—Every nighte and alle,
Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,
And Magik receive thy saule.
When thou from hence away art past,
To Whinny-muir thou com'st at last;
If ever thou gavest hosen and shoon,
Sit thee down and put them on;
If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gav'st nane
The whinnes sall prick thee to the bare bane;
From Whinny-muir when thou may'st pass,
To Brig o' Dread thou com'st at last;
From Brig o' Dread when thou may'st pass,
To fire thou com'st at last;
If ever thou gavest meat or drink,
The fire sall never make thee shrink;
If meat or drink thou ne'er gav'st nane,
The fire will burn thee to the bare bane;
This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
—Every nighte and alle,
Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,
And Magik receive thy saule.
(Lyke-Wake Dirge)
It was haunting. He hadn't seen a traditional pyre burning before, but he knew that this would stick with him for as long as he lived. Each of the assembled Weasleys conjured fire and lit the bottom of the pyre. The herbs that were interspersed in the logs gave off a spicy scent that tingled Theo's nose.
The burning should have taken hours, but after only an hour, the entire pyre disappeared in a final puff of light blue smoke. He watched as Molly fell to her knees in front of the pile of ash, her family surrounding her. Ginny turned to Harry who rushed toward them, leaving Hermione alone.
Theo shot up and went to her, pulling her close as she sobbed into his chest.
When they went inside, a feast was laid out in the dining room. Everyone sat in their usual chairs, Ron's usual chair between George and Ginny sat empty. At some point in the week, Luna had moved over so that Theo could be across from Hermione. The meal was sombre. Everyone ate the meal, and then quickly shuffled off to their own corners of the house.
Potter and the Weasleys left Granger behind as they shut themselves in the parlour, George gave Mia a pained look. All she could do was shrug. As they left the dining room, Molly Weasley gave Theo's arm wrapped around Hermione's shoulders a disgusted glance.
He felt her stiffen under the glare, "Do you want me to…" he trailed off when she shook her head and wrapped her arm around his waist.
"She has never treated me the way she treated Harry. I was blessed with wonderful parents, so she never felt like I needed as much love as Harry, but she's never once asked me where they are, did you know that?"
He shook his head at her. "They're gone. I had to wipe their memories after 6th year. They don't even know they have a daughter, let alone that magic exists. They're called Monica and Wendell Wilkins. I'm the last Granger left."
He looked down at her, tucked under his arm. "Well I guess that makes both of us that last of our lines, hm Mia? Quite the pair we make." she sniffled one more time but he could see a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yes, quite the pair."
Hermione
The following weeks were a bit of a blur for Hermione. The amount of skirmishes started to increase quickly. Most of the Order was moving between safe houses so consistently, Hermione stopped paying attention to who was at meals.
After the funeral, George had come back to the lab, but just sat at his desk staring into space. Theo kept a breakneck pace on the potions creation so that they wouldn't fall behind. All of the Weasleys, except George, had gone to other safehouses.
One afternoon, Hermione was reading the book on bonds that Mrs. Longbottom had given her. She'd found herself engrossed in the lore. It was fascinating how many types of bonds existed. Over the past few weeks she'd continued to cast the Nexus Vincula charm and had taken to counting her bonds, guessing where they all went. They were sort of comforting in a way that words weren't. She could see how many people cared about her and her them.
As the afternoon wore on, Hermione switched to a book on the different magical materials that had been used to make book covers over the centuries, and why they were better or worse. At some point Theo had joined her on the couch. She had her head in his lap, where he twisted a curl around his finger. All of a sudden, Molly Weasley burst into the parlour. "You uppity slag." she hissed.
Hermione blinked at her. "Wh-what?" she stuttered.
"My baby!" the red faced Molly Weasley shrieked, "My baby has barely been dead a week and you've taken up with that Death Eater Wannabe!" Hermione's jaw dropped, and she felt Theo stiffen beside her. "I always knew you thought you were better than us. His soul has barely left this earth and here you are parading yourself around like a Muggle whore in your little skirts and short trousers! All over that good for nothing Death Eater," she hissed gesturing at Theo.
Arthur Weasley burst through the door. "That's enough, Molly, leave the girl alone," he said quietly, trying to lead her away.
"I see," Molly spat at her husband. "I see she's convinced you with her little doe-eyed act."
Hermione saw Harry, Ginny, and George standing in the doorway looking shocked at their mother's behaviour. Hermione quietly closed her book and handed it to Theo with a pat on his knee, never breaking eye contact with the irate woman.
"Oh Molly," Hermione said, voice dripping with pity. "I understand how you feel,"when Molly made to speak, she wandlessly silenced her. "It seems you are under a couple of delusions, yet again. At no point in my short life have I ever treated you with disrespect even though you've continually treated me no better than dirt on your shoe. For all your talk of being a Blood Traitor you seem to consistently hold my 'Muggle Whor-ishness' against me." Hermione noticed that Remus and Andromeda had appeared in the doorway. Hermione saw Andromeda hold the others back when they made to enter the room. She noticed that Arthur had opened his mouth to speak, so she gave him a look. "I know that you don't want more trouble, Arthur, but trust me this has been coming since Fourth Year." he closed his mouth and looked resigned.
"Now Molly," Hermione said, turning back to the witch in question. "You seem to be under a few false assumptions. Firstly, I have not, nor will I ever take up with Theodore Nott," she waved her wand "Nexus Vincula," Molly gasped as she looked at the black cord between her and Hermione, and looked at the silver cord that led to Theo who winked at her cheekily and crossed his legs, bouncing and ankle jauntily. Everyone else in the room was connected to Hermione with varying brightness of the light yellow cords. "That man is the only thing I have left that even closely resembles family," she saw Harry look a bit disappointed, but took it in stride. "You see, Molly. While we have all been grieving your sons, I have also been grieving my parents," when Molly looked surprised, Hermione scoffed, "Oh you forgot about them, didn't you. Why would lowly Muggles ever cross your mind? You see, Molly dear," Hermione continued her rage growing, "While you were all complaining about Fleur, and planning a wedding, I was OBLIVIATING myself from my parents' minds." The Weasleys, except George, all gasped, while Harry, Remus, and Andromeda looked a bit frustrated that none of them had asked.
"Now I may have understood if you had come to me in tears and asked why I didn't display my grief in the same way as the rest of you, but unfortunately you never even gave me the benefit of the doubt. And this is nothing new. While you were all planning and prepping joyously, I was setting silencing spells around my bed every night as I wept. When you were complaining about Fleur, I was comforting her about what it felt like to not be accepted by the oh so accepting Molly Weasley," she said sarcastically, "while you were jaunting around safehouses and keeping the Order fed, I was being tortured by Bellatrix LeStrange and cared for by Fleur and Andromeda. AND THAT IS ONLY IN THE LAST YEAR!" she roared.
She saw Molly's eyes fill with tears and her anger fade to embarrassment. "You think that's all? You think I don't remember how I never received a Weasley sweater, or how you would send my parents pitying looks? That I would forget about when you ate up Rita Skeeter's LIES about me and Harry? You think for one second that I don't grieve Ronald Weasley? You didn't allow me to grieve with you, instead you were too busy giving Theo dirty looks. I thought we were fighting You-Know-Who and Blood Supremacy, but that seems to be alive and well in you."
She turned around, "I think you should leave," she said quietly, cancelling all her spells without turning back around. She heard Arthur drag Molly out the door.
"That was brilliant, Mia," said Theo, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her to the couch where she curled up on his lap and began to weep.
Hermione holed herself in her room after that. She only allowed Andromeda, Teddy, Remus, and Theo to come in. She ate her meals in her room, and spent most of her time alternating between reading and weeping.
After a week of this, she heard an unfamiliar knock on her door. "''mione?" called Harry's voice, "Can I come in?"
She hoped he would go away. When she heard the door open, she saw a sheepish Theo letting Harry into the room. "Mia you have to hear him out," he said with a shrug. She huffed but sat up.
"What?" she asked shortly.
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I came to apologise," he said quietly. "I had no idea that's what she thought of you and well I'm so embarrassed that I didn't say anything. How are you?"
She looked at him coldly. "The man I have been in love with since Fourth Year is dead, Harry, before we ever even got to start. Not only that, but the only people who seem to have seen that I was suffering are a man that I've only known for a few weeks and Andromeda. You were supposed to be my best friend Harry. We were supposed to grieve together."
"I-I can't change the past, Hermione, but I can be here now. I'm not living at their safehouse anymore, and neither is George. He had a lot to say to his mother, and he hasn't spoken to her since then. Ginny has barely left her room, she has said some things about you, and after I chewed her out, well lets just say we're on a break."
Hermione looked at him in shock, "Who's been cooking?"
Harry chuckled, "Andromeda's been giving Theo and I lessons, we've been trading off." Hermione threw his arms around her.
"You're the best friend I could ask for. I guess I just have been feeling so alone and you finally had a family, and I would never want to take that from you, Harry."
"B-but Hermione, we are family." She threw her arms around him.
She heard the door creak open behind her, "I don't hear any spells or crying, is it alright to come in?" said Theo, peering around the door frame.
Hermione laughed. "Come in you big goof. I have someone to re-introduce you to."
"'mione," Harry said confused, "Nott and I have met."
"Oh I'm aware, I really just wanted to introduce you as the second and third most important Wizarding men in the world."
"Second!?" "Third!?" the two men intoned, scandalised.
"Did either of you really think you'd come before Teddy?" the let out loud peels of laughter as Theo dropped dramatically to the bed.