Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own the sandbox the is the Harry Potter Universe. (If I did, I definitely wouldn't have student debt.) Said sandbox belongs to J. K. Rowling. I just building little castles in it.
Chapter Three: A Little too Stuck in Their Heads
October
Sirius
When he was younger, Sirius Black had hated being alone. He'd done everything he could to keep himself constantly surrounded by people. He'd used every tool he'd been taught growing up to let people see exactly what they wanted to see and it had worked with everyone. Everyone except the three boys he'd clicked with in their shared cabin on the Hogwarts Express that first day. As much as he tried, they saw through every mask he tried to hide behind.
Howlers from his mother were burnt with a flick of Remus's wand, using a spell he'd stayed up the entire night after the first one had come through to master, before they even had a chance to open. An old afghan smelling distinctly like James Potter was found tucked around him every time he snuck downstairs after waking up from a nightmare…and Peter…Peter had passed him small snacks during History of Magic from his backpack every time he'd skipped breakfast because his nightmares usually lead to a nauseous morning start.
Looking back, it was obvious they had known something was going on but Sirius hadn't opened up about it until after he'd showed up on the Potters' doorstep after his sixth year. Looking back, he wished more than anything he'd opened up sooner especially now that he was seeing his pups make the same mistakes.
*flashback*
Sirius watches Hermione and Remus leave on Harry and Hermione's first visit to the human him before turning his attention back to his godson. "Do you have any idea what that was about?"
"None at all," Harry replies too quickly, his eyes darting away from Sirius's gaze.
"You're a shit liar, Harry. Just like your father." A smile quirks at Sirius's lips as Harry's wide eyes meet his once again. Like a deer caught in the headlights.
Harry looks away again and changes the subject as he walks over to the couch Remus had been reading on earlier. "I'm really glad I only have Divination on Mondays this year even though it is a double class. I'm really starting to think I should have followed Hermione's lead last year and given it up. It's completely useless."
Sirius shakes his head, a fond smile stretching across his lips as he follows his godson to the couch. Just like his father.
The social awkwardness and stilted conversation over the next twenty minutes, however, shows that this boy is just as much his mother's son as he is his fathers. Because James was the type of person who could befriend almost anyone, he wore his heart on his sleeve and wasn't afraid to tell the people in his life how important they were to him, but Lily had always been a bit harder to read, a bit nervous around others and socially awkward, until she'd finally opened up to the Marauders and separated herself from Snape.
"Can I ask you something?" The openness in Harry's voice surprises Sirius after the last little bit.
"Of course," Sirius replies almost instantly, his gaze focusing solely on his godson who was shifting uncomfortably on the couch. Almost like he didn't want to ask the question he was about to ask.
"When you were talking the other day, you kept saying that Hermione needed you. Why did she need you?" Harry's eyes stare directly into Sirius's as he asks the question and Sirius has to look away. That was the one question he couldn't answer.
"I think that's something you need to ask her yourself." His voice is quiet as his gaze slips back to his godson.
Harry runs his fingers roughly through his already messy hair, an irritated sigh escaping his lips. "I've tried but she doesn't want to talk about it."
Sirius is quiet for a moment before he asks his own set of questions. "Can I ask you something?" He waits for his godson to nod before continuing, "What did Hermione mean when she said that you hadn't been honest with your own home life that day on the train?"
"Nothing," Harry responds almost instantly as he looks anywhere but where Sirius is sitting on the couch.
A sad smile twitches across Sirius's lips as he watches his godson before he finally responds, "Maybe if you were honest with her, she would be honest with you. Being brave doesn't always mean being strong Harry, I think that's something both you and Hermione need to learn."
*end flashback*
Sirius Black had hated being alone. He'd done everything he could to keep himself constantly surrounded by people. He'd used every tool he'd been taught growing up to let people see exactly what they wanted to see and it had worked with everyone…but he'd also done everything in his power to keep everyone from seeing him for exactly who he was and what had made him who he was until his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The year he'd been disowned by his blood and adopted in every way that mattered by the Potters. The year he couldn't hide what had happened to him anymore. The year he realized what exactly it means to be a family. The year he finally saw what James did in Lily.
Sirius had never understood how someone as outgoing as James could go for someone as quiet as Lily, how someone with his heart on his sleeve willing kept coming back to someone who constantly kept her heart to herself and continually refused to go out with him. Until the looks (of disdain from the Slytherins and pity from every other pureblood) had gotten too much and he'd gone to the only place no one else in Hogwarts went: the periodicals section of the Hogwarts Library (aka the dustiest corner of the entire school).
Only he hadn't been alone. Lily Evans had been there and she'd given him her usual wary gaze until she'd seen the look on his face. Something in her face then had instantly changed. But she didn't say anything, she'd simply cleared a space for him and went back to whatever she was working on.
He'd sat with her that first day in complete silence, stuck in his own thoughts, then he'd come back the next day and the next until finally they'd started talking. She hadn't said much but she'd listened more openly and honestly than anyone else he had ever met in his life and he ended up sharing more with her than he had even his three closest friends. Then she'd started actively participating in their conversations, cutting him off any time he tried to talk negatively about himself or make excuses for things (both that he and his family had done) that weren't ok and talking to him with such confidence and kindness that he honestly started believing that he could be the person she saw him as. The person that he later found out his Marauders also saw him as. And somewhere along the way, they became friends.
But even then, Sirius Black still couldn't understand his best (and only) girl friend's need to be alone.
Now though, Sirius finally understood. He didn't need to be surrounded and liked by everybody, or even the majority. He just had to have his family on his side. And he did, as small and as awkward as it was at the moment.
*flashback*
The room is quiet. Not the foreboding kind of quiet of the house he grew up in, the tense sort of silence he'd been required to keep as an Auror on stakeouts, or the horrific kind of quiet of Azkaban; but the comfortable kind of quiet that used to drive him crazy as a kid because he didn't understand it. He understood now though.
They had chatted for a bit once Moony and Hermione had come back into Moony's living quarters but they hadn't said anything of substance. (Honestly, it had felt like they were all walking on eggshells and unsure what they could say.) Then they had lapsed into the sort of silence they were in now.
Harry's head rested in Hermione's lap as she ran her fingers through his unruly hair with one hand, her other holding a book about the creation of The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
Remus mirrored Hermione in the seat directly across from her, each of them nearly turning their pages in sync with identical creases of concentration in between their brows.
Sirius couldn't help but wonder whether mirrored mannerisms came from a mass amount of time spent together or from the fact that she was a part of his pack.
*end flashback*
A knock at Remus's door startles Sirius from his thoughts and he freezes, praying whoever it is doesn't decide to come in as he shifts into his animagus form.
The knock sounds again, closely followed by a familiar voice. "Lupin? Are you in there? There's something I need to talk to you about," his godson's voice floats through the room.
Sirius transforms back into his human form before quickly striding to the door and cautiously pulling it open. "Sorry, Harry. It's just me here right now, Moony had a detention he had to run tonight. Is it something I could help you with?"
Harry nods, running his fingers through his unusually tangled hair as he strides through the door Sirius was holding open for him. He is quiet for a few moments as he paces in front of Sirius who sits on the couch, watching his frazzled godson in amusement.
"What's going on, pup?" Sirius questions and Harry freezes for a moment at the nickname before collapsing on the couch beside his godfather.
"I'm pretty sure I screwed up things with Hermione tonight," Harry mumbles but Sirius hears him perfectly clear and has to fight the smile trying to spread across his face. Harry really did remind him of James sometimes.
"I doubt you did, pup. That girl has a bigger heart than anyone I have ever met and she's probably already forgiven you for whatever stupid comment you made. Now, what happened exactly?"
"I was reading up on some defensive charms and Hermione was working on spew—."
"Spew?" Sirius cuts his godson off, curious over whatever his pup could be concocting with such a stupid name.
"It's a political group Hermione has created to support the welfare of house elves. She's made buttons and everything."
"Interesting… Has Hermione talked to the house elves here at Hogwarts?" Sirius continues questioning his godson who shakes his head in response. "I think you should take her down to the kitchens one night and have the elves explain their bonds to the wizarding community, she might be surprised with what she finds."
"I'll definitely do that if she gets over the fact that I basically acted like an ass tonight," Harry said, bringing Sirius back to the original topic. "Hermione and I were doing our own things in the common room tonight when I noticed that she had been staring at her list of supporters and completely ignoring the massive tomb on her lap so I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was worried about Neville. Her worry surprised me, I hadn't realized that she was friends with him and I told her that… Apparently that was the wrong thing to say though because she got royally pissed off, I could feel her magic crackling in the air when she glared at me and said that Neville had been her first friend and, unlike some people, he had never turned his back on her."
Sirius shoots his godson a questioning look but Harry answers before he can verbalize the question.
"Last year, I got this new broom but there was no tag saying who it was from… I actually still don't know who got it for me but that's beside the point… Hermione immediately assumed the worst and turned the broom into McGonagall without talking to me and I was pissed. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just talk to me, why she didn't trust me enough to hear her out and trust her judgment. I would have handed over the broom myself if she had just talked to me but she didn't and I was hurt so I didn't talk to her. The rest of Gryffindor followed my lead apparently though I didn't realize that until everything was all over, I had just assumed that everyone else was acting normally. After all, it was my broom and they didn't have any reason to be mad. The only person who didn't follow the rest of the pack was Neville apparently. I thought she had forgiven me but it looks like I was wrong."
Sirius reaches out to his godson, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she has forgiven you and that she feels extremely guilty for throwing that in your face. She was probably just defending Neville. If what you're saying about him is true about him being her first friend, she's probably just as protective of him as she is of you and we both know how protective she is of you."
A smile tugs at Harry's lips and Sirius can't help but grin back as he states, "I think you should sleep on it tonight, give her some time to cool down, and apologize to her tomorrow."
"I think you're right." Harry nods, rising to his feet. "Thank you, Sirius."
"Anytime, pup."
Hermione
"But you said that's illegal," Hermione speaks out as Professor Moody clears the desks away so that they can practice throwing off the Imperius Curse.
This isn't right. In that moment, she was so thankful that this man wasn't teaching the younger years but if his last class had made her doubt whether he should be teaching children at all, this class made her certain of it. Just hearing and seeing the unforgivables had brought up so many awful memories for so many people, so what would actually experiencing one do?
*flashback*
"Where's your head, Mione?" Hermione's eyes snap up from the list she'd been staring at instead of looking through the tome lying abandoned on her lap, her fingers tracing over the fourth name signed up to support S.P.E.W (the only name besides her own that hadn't been signed in an attempt to shut her up), at the sound of her best friend's voice.
"I'm worried about Neville," Hermione responds, her eyebrows drawn together in concern.
Harry shrugs in return and irritation floods through Hermione as her eyes narrow dangerously. Harry doesn't notice this of course. "He seemed fine earlier when Ron and I were working on our Divination homework. He was reading some Herbology book Moody had given him."
"Just because someone seems fine doesn't mean they are." Hermione's voice is harsh as she gathers up her books, the sound of the letter her father had sent her that morning nearly making her flinch as it crunches in between the books as she pulls them into her arms, intent on finding Neville and seeing how he was doing for herself. "The curse clearly bothered him, Harry. You don't just react like that over nothing."
"Since when do you care about Neville so much, Hermione?" Harry blocks her path, suspicion swirling in his emerald orbs.
Hermione's eyes spark with barely contained power, the air around her almost crackling with energy. "I have always cared about Neville, Harry. He was my first friend and, unlike some people, he has never turned his back on me." Hermione shoulder checks Harry as she passes him and storms up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
Harry doesn't follow her and Hermione feels a twinge of guilt, she hadn't meant to throw the fact that both Harry and Ron had abandoned her last year when she had reported the mysterious broom Harry had gotten after his own had been broken by the Whomping Willow. At the time, she had been so afraid that someone may have jinxed it that she didn't even think to talk it through with Harry before she reported it to Professor McGonagall. No one in Gryffindor had been happy with her when their Head of House had confiscated their Seeker's broom and no one had talked to her in the few weeks it had taken Professor McGonagall to determine the broom was safe…everyone except Neville that is. The boys, well Harry at least, had understood her reasons once they finally let her explain and had apologized for not giving her a chance to explain in the first place. She had forgiven them and it was a hit below the belt to throw that back in his face now but her emotions were all over the place today from that stupid letter and their even stupider lesson and really she was very worried for her first friend.
Hermione shakes her head to clear away those thoughts and knocks on the fourth years' door. She would apologize to Harry later.
"Hi Hermione. Not that I'm not glad to see you or anything but what're you doing up here so late?" Neville's smile is genuine as he holds the door open a little wider so that Hermione can enter the empty dorm but the surprise is clearly written across his face.
"Thanks, Nev." Hermione smiles brightly at the chubby boy as he clears a number of papers and Herbology books from his bed so that she has a place to sit down. "I just wanted to see how you were doing? I was really worried about you after Professor Moody's lesson today." Trever XII (at least Hermione thought it was the twelfth, she honestly couldn't remember how many times she had replaced his toad when she'd found the previous dead somewhere in the castle after Neville had lost him, anymore but she really didn't want Neville to know his beloved pet had died...many times) hops toward Hermione, nudging her hand softly before nestling into her lap.
The smile fades from Neville's face as he reaches out to stroke Trevor's back. "I've been better. I didn't realize it would be so hard seeing that curse in action. I thought I could handle it but clearly I couldn't."
Hermione is quiet for a moment as she studies Neville's solemn face. "Can I ask why it was so hard for you, Neville?"
Neville's gaze snaps up to Hermione's and the long silence that follows almost makes Hermione think that she has pushed her friend too far but Neville begins speaking just as Hermione is about to open her mouth to retract her statement. "During the war with You-Know-Who, my parents fought against him with everything they had. They were both Aurors, partners both at work and in life, and they were damn good at what they did. You-Know-Who wanted them on his side but they rejected him three times before they found out that they were having me and they decided to go into hiding. They were safe for almost two years. I was just over a year old when their hiding place was found but I wasn't with them for some reason, my Gran refuses to tell me why until I'm older. They fought like hell, took down more than their fair share of Death Eaters, but they were outnumbered. They were captured and tortured for information by Bellatrix Lestrange but no matter how hard she pushed, they wouldn't give her what she wanted. They lost their minds to the torture. My father's been in a coma and my mother has resided in the mental ward at St. Mungos for the past thirteen years because of that woman." Neville takes a deep breath, his tear-filled eyes never leaving Hermione's as her hand squeezes his in comfort. "She used the Cruciatus Curse to torture them."
*end flashback*
"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."
Hermione's eyes narrow at the professor, her back tensing in the same way it had when she'd punched Draco in the face last year. She was so sick of people treating her as though she were some invalid just because she liked to follow the rule, because she liked to be in control when she could. Professor Snape gave her enough hell in school; she didn't need it from Professor Moody as well.
"I'd actually like to volunteer to go first, sir." Her voice is cold even to her own ears and she can feel everyone's attention on her now as they stare at her in shock. She had never been so rude to a teacher before.
Professor Moody's eyes narrow right back at Hermione but she doesn't flinch away which seems to surprise him.
"Come on then." His voice is gruffer than usual as he jerks his head to the right, directing her to take the spot across from his.
Hermione makes her way to the spot, head held high as her magic thrums around her.
"Imperio!" It was the most wonderful feeling. [Hermione] felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in [her] head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. [She] stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching [her]. And then [she] heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of [her] empty brain: Slap Longbottom… Slap Longbottom… Hermione began to raise her foot to make her way toward Neville before setting it back down. Why? Neville had always been good to her… Slap Longbottom… Hermione struggled against the voice, her body completely frozen. She wouldn't lose control to this jackass, she just had to figure out how... Slap Longbottom… This was a dark spell meant to take away your choices, your happiness. HAPPINESS… SLAP LONGBOTTOM!
*flashback*
Hermione groggily blinks her eyes as someone carefully moves her over before snapping into a sitting position. She hadn't meant to fall asleep on his bed while she waited for him after her talk with Neville.
"Sorry." Harry's voice is quiet as he smiles at his friend apologetically. "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"It's alright, I didn't mean to fall asleep." Hermione grins back for a moment before it falls from her face, an apologetic expression taking over. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have thrown last year back in your face, especially when I forgave you as soon as you heard me out. You had every right to be angry with me and there really wasn't anything to forgive."
"I'm just sorry that everyone else decided to follow my lead when it had nothing to do with them. I would have done something about it if I had known." Harry smiles at her before pulling her against his chest in a tight hug.
"I know you would have." Hermione smiles against his neck, hugging him back just as tightly.
"I also wanted to apologize for how I reacted earlier, I was a right asshole."
"There's really nothing to forgive, Harry. I think we both just blew the entire situation out of proportion. I was already having a bad day because of the letter I got from home this morning and then we had that stupid lesson and my worry for Neville just took over. "
The two teens sat in silence, neither one willing to let go of the other, until Harry pulled them both into a sitting position and began to speak again, "There's something I want to talk to you about."
Hermione pulls back a little so her questioning gaze can meet Harry's completely serious stare though her arms remain lightly wrapped around her friend. "What is it, Harry?"
"You told me you didn't want to tell me about your home life because I was never completely open with my own and I know that was just an excuse but I want you to know that I trust you more than anyone in the world and I am so tired of hiding… I'm not doing this because I want you to tell me what's going on with you, not entirely at least, and I want you to know that I don't expect you to tell me anything after you hear what I have to say… I'm doing this because you're my best friend and I trust you more than I trust anyone else in the world. You're the most important person in my life and I would definitely be dead if it weren't for you."
Harry takes a deep breath, smiling slightly at Hermione when he feels her arms tighten slightly around him in an attempt to show him that she wasn't going anywhere.
"I know there's a lot you've probably assumed, you wouldn't send me food or take care of Hedwig without question during the summer if you didn't know something was up. You've probably heard Ron and the twins talk about the bars on my window when they came to get me for second year as well. But what I've never told anyone before, anyone who was actually willing to listen and believe me at least, is that I lived under the staircase in the Dursley's house for ten years before they moved me up into Dudley's second bedroom and the only reason they moved me into his second room with all his broken and abandoned toys was that they were trying to fool the owls. They were trying to keep me from getting my Hogwarts letter… My story starts before then though… Honestly, I don't really remember when it started. Vernon was always punishing me for my 'freakishness' but the older I got, the worst the punishments got. At first it was just a smack here and there but when I was six, I had a major outburst of magic and Vernon lost it. He threw me across the room and I hit my head on the wall, the next thing I remember is barely being able to open my swollen eyes as I woke up in my cupboard with bruises caking my entire body and an extremely tender rib cage. I tried to open my cupboard door but it was locked. They didn't let me out for three days. Beatings like that were normal after that and locking me in my cupboard was even more frequent. I tried to reach out to a teacher in my second year of school but she didn't believe me and when Vernon found out, he whipped me with one of his old belts until my back bled. I didn't try to reach out again after that but Vernon seemed to take up the position that he could beat the 'freakishness' out of me. I was never given anything that was actually mine and Dudley's massive hand-me-downs hid the bruises extremely well. My beatings didn't get any worse than that for a long time but things started to get worse after I returned from my second year. The Dursely's were not happy that I had lied about being able to use magic outside of school… I ended up in the hospital for two and a half weeks, that's why it took me so long to write to you… Then last summer, Vernon crushed my airway with his hands until I passed out. I couldn't talk for two weeks after that and the bruises didn't go away for almost a month. More beatings and food withdrawal happened during that time period of course but that was the worst of it.'' Harry's eyes never left Hermione's teary gaze. She didn't pity him though she wanted more than anything to protect him.
"We're going to figure out a way to get you out of there, Harry." Her voice is more determined than it had ever been before and the look in Harry's eyes tells her that he believes in her completely.
The two teens once again fall into silence as they settle back down into the bed, Harry twirling one of her curls around his finger as Hermione listens to her best friend's heartbeat.
At least ten minutes pass before Hermione finally breaks the silence, "I honestly don't remember much of my life outside of primary school and Hogwarts…I remember my father back handing me when I was five because I questioned how God could be real when there was so much science that proved otherwise…I remember my mother yanking me out of bed at nine in the morning one summer when I was seven, telling me that she wouldn't stand me just lazing around the house even though I could barely move because my body had been so bruised from the night before…I remember every time my father hit me for speaking out of turn or not doing something that he thought I should have…I remember trying to tell my mother and her telling me that I was an ungrateful brat, that I should be grateful for what he gave us and that anything he did happened because I couldn't follow our house's rules… But I have these massive holes in my memory, that I can't remember for the life of me…Though if I'm being honest, I've never tried as hard as I could…I've always figured that there was a reason I had blocked out parts of my childhood and that there are some things that are better left forgotten… Since I've come to Hogwarts, I haven't had any of those blank spots…I think it's because I'm here so often to be honest…I barely spend any time in that house during the year so I don't need to block anything out…But he has a way of reminding me what I have to come back to, even while I'm here and he's there…Like that letter today, he didn't write anything outlandish…He wouldn't risk get caught that way…But it was his way of reminding me that I am only here because he allows me to be and that he could pull me out of Hogwarts at any moment."
Tears stream down Hermione's cheeks as she buries her face in Harry's chest, clutching her best friend tightly, and she feels Harry's own tears seeping through her hair as he holds on to her just as tightly.
*end flashback*
Hermione pulls on her Patronus memory. Harry's emerald gaze sparkling with laughter as he smiles brightly down at her, holding out his hand to help her up from where she had slipped and fell when Ginny had convinced their group to ice-skating on Black Lake instead of going to Hogsmeade. The only issue was Hermione didn't know how to skate and had fallen on her ass the second she had stepped onto the ice. Ginny had doubled over with laughter almost immediately and Neville was clearly fighting a losing battle against his own laughter. Ron hadn't been there to make fun of her because he had had detention that day for she couldn't even remember what. It was the first time she was alright with not being in control and trusted those around her.
Hermione blinked and her eyes cleared as she turned her head toward Professor Moody, "No."
His eyes widen in surprise then narrow in anger for a moment before he plasters a smile across his face. "Very good, Granger. 10 points to Gryffindor. Now, who's next."
No one stepped forward so Professor Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. [Hermione] watched as, one by one, [her] classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.
"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."
Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!"
Hermione bit her bottom lip as she watched her friend bend slightly at his knees and then freeze for a few moments. She knew he could do it, he was more than strong enough. Another moment passes and he does a weird sort of jump that has him smashing into the table, a pained look flaring across his face as he comes out of his trance.
"Now, that's more like it! ...Look at that, you lot . . . Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that's where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!"
Hermione glares at the older man as Professor Moody has Harry try four more times, getting more beat up each time, before finally letting out their class.
She waves Ron off to their next class as she waits for Harry, both of their bags slung across her shoulder. Harry limps his way over to her and she immediately wraps her free arm around his waist to help him walk. The two teens are silent as they exit the classroom and Hermione leads them down the hall.
"How did you break the curse so easily?" Harry finally breaks the silence.
"I thought about the memory I use to call on my Patronus," Hermione replies then continues when Harry shoots her a questioning look. "The Imperius Curse is a dark spell that is meant to take away your choices. By taking away your choices, it takes away your happiness much like how dementors are dark creatures whose only purpose is to drain you of every happy memory you have. Happiness drives dementors away through use of your Patronus so I thought that maybe happiness could ground me enough to throw off the Imperius Curse. Darkness can't be fought with dark emotions like anger or irritation or reluctance at what the caster wants you to do. To fight darkness, you need light. Happiness is what gives people drive, it is what keeps us fighting even when we feel like we can't fight anymore… Next time, and there will be a next time if I know Professor Moody the way I think I do, pull on your Patronus memory and you'll be able to throw it off."
"You're amazing, Hermione. I don't think I tell you that enough," Harry tells her after a moment, leaning over a bit so that he can drop a kiss on the top of her head.
Sirius
Sirius's attention was pulled from the tome he was reading on wizarding law when two knocks sounded on Remus's door.
"Professor Lupin?" His pup's voice sounded from the other side moments later and he immediately closed his book, his eyebrows pulled together in concern. She's supposed to be in class right now.
Remus was halfway to the door, his open book abandoned on the coffee table, before Sirius had even registered that Remus was no longer leaning against him on the couch.
"What happened?" Remus asks as he ushers Sirius's clearly injured godson and his pup in before shutting and locking the door.
Sirius springs from his seat as Hermione helps Harry sit in the middle of the couch, both of them moving out of the way as Remus bustles over to Harry and begins waving his wand in intricate patterns above the younger man's body.
"We were practicing throwing off the Imperius Curse in DADA and Harry managed to fight it for a little bit on his first attempt so Professor Moody continued making him try, even though he got hurt every time he attempted to fight it, until he could completely throw it off. It took him four more tries after his first," Hermione tells them, her concerned gaze never leaving Harry.
Remus finishes healing Harry and Hermione visibly relaxes, dropping two bags that Sirius hadn't realized she was carrying onto the ground before sitting on the couch next to Harry and resting her head on his shoulder as she tosses her legs over his. Remus takes the seat of the other side of Harry and Sirius collapses into the rickety armchair closest to the two kids.
"Why are you reading up on wizarding law?" His pup's question breaks the silence the four of them had fallen into, her curious chocolate eye connecting with Sirius's eyes.
"I was trying to see if there was anything in here that could get me exonerated without having Pettigrew in hand. Specifically, if there was any law against imprisonment without trial."
Sirius watches his pup's gaze dull a bit as she pull her bottom lip in between her teeth, clearly running through everything she knew on wizarding law. Why she knew anything about wizarding law, he didn't know. But she wasn't the smartest with of her age for nothing. Her gaze sharpens suddenly and her attention turns toward Harry as she bite her lip a bit harder, like she wants to ask him something but isn't sure if she should. Which is odd for her.
His godson raises his eyebrows at her as though he's surprised she won't just ask him whatever it is going through her head. "What is it, Mione?"
"I just think it's strange… In every story I've heard and every description people give when they talk about your Mum, her brilliant mind is brought up in some way. Lily was at the top of her graduating class and one hell of a practical fighter as well, according to anyone who came in contact with her during the war. People praise her for her practicality… I find it hard to believe that she didn't have a backup plan. She wouldn't have let the fact that Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper die with her and James in case something happened and, if she was anything like me, she would have wanted all of her bases covered."
"What about their will?" Remus's question brought three surprised gazes onto his.
"What will?" Harry voices Sirius's thoughts. He had never heard about any will, why would James and Lily even need a will if all of their earthly belongings went to their only child no matter what should they have died.
"Your parents wrote a will shortly before they went into hiding. Dumbledore had it sealed the day after they died but it was supposed to have been read to you no matter what after your eleventh birthday..." A growl rumbles through Remus's chest as he takes in Harry's still confused expression. "Harry… How have you been getting your money out of Gringotts?"
Fury boils in Sirius's stomach as he waits for his godson, his pup, to answer the question. He can physically feel his magic humming around him and, from where he's watching Harry, he can see Hermione's unruly curls begin to spark as her own magic flares.
"Someone always takes me. First it was Hagrid but it's been Mrs. Weasley for the past three years. Hagrid told me I wasn't allowed to keep my key until I came of age…" Harry trails off, his gaze flickering from one person to the next as though looking for someone to give him a straight answer.
"Harry." Sirius's voice his gruff as he speaks through almost clenched teeth in an attempt to control his anger. "At the very least, you should have been given your key when you reentered the magical world… No one has a right to keep that key except yourself or someone you trust completely. That coming of age excuse they gave you is shit and the fact that they've been keeping you from hearing the will means that they have something to hide."
The rest of their conversation trails off into lighter topics, no one wanting to focus on something they can't currently change being locked away in a Scottish castle, and dinner is brought to them from the kitchens because none of them have any interest in going to the Great Hall after the revelation of this hot mess.
It's two hours after the teens leave that Sirius decides to check on Hermione, it wasn't like her to confront professors the way Harry had described today and he was worried, but she isn't in her bed like he expects her to be.
A protective ball twists in Sirius's stomach as he storms down the girls' staircase and up the boys' because there's really only one other place his pup would be at this time of night.
He freezes in the doorway when he hears his pup whispering, which surprises Sirius because he would have expected them to put up a silencing charm so she wouldn't get caught.
"Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? I couldn't sleep with Lavender and Pavarti prattling on about the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students," Hermione asks quietly.
"Sure." Harry's reply is followed by rustling as his pup slips under the covers.
The two teens fall into a comfortable silence and Sirius almost decides to back out, after all this is clearly innocent and he can talk to them about it later, but their voices pull his attention back to them before he can take more than a step.
"How do we know who to trust?" Harry's voice is so quiet even Sirius's canine sense barely pick it up.
"I don't know."
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't know." Her voice is barely a whisper.
