Disclaimer: Sadly, still not my sandbox; this is just my sand castle in J. K. Rowling's sandbox.
Chapter Nine: Birth Parents Begone
January
Sirius
Sirius huffed as beads of sweat streaked down his neck and slipped to the small of his back but he continued pressing his magic into the stupid sticking charm that held up his vile mother's portrait.
Grimmauld Place was the safest place for him, his mate, and their cubs but he refused to let them come back to the darkness they'd initially been introduced to. They all deserved someplace that felt like their own to call home.
Not screaming portraits, elf heads, and darkness in every corner.
Sirius would give them that.
With one final shriek, his Walburga Black's portrait finally popped off the wall.
Before it hit the ground, Kretcher scooped the picture into his arms and disappeared to the nook that he had claimed for his nest.
Sirius smiled as he leaned back against the wall closest to him, glad he would never see that damned thing again. He and Kretcher had made a deal. Sirius wouldn't burn Walburga Black's last surviving image and Kretcher could keep his old Mistress's painting in his nest if Kretcher helped prep cleanse and reorganize the house Sirius's current pack and the true Black, pureblooded heir that he promised Kretcher he would be claiming as soon as the house was habitable.
Having to wait to burn his mother's image was a small price to pay to finally have the grumpy elf entirely on his side. Besides, it's not like he'd have to see her any time soon either way.
Sirius was glad to have the help with his renovation and glad that having Harry, Hermione, and Remus in classes all day gave him the time he needed to actually put work into this renovation.
Hermione
"Ready little cub?" Remus leans around Harry, who is squeezing Hermione's left hand to support, to look into the young witch's eyes as the adoption papers crinkle slightly in her right hand.
Hermione opens her mouth to speak but no words come out of her mouth until Sirius's large hand covers hers, gently loosening the death grip she had on the papers and giving her his trademark smirk of confidence (though she could see the concern for her shining brightly in his eyes).
"I am," she states simply, taking in the first actual breath of air that she feels like she's taken all day.
She smiles at the werewolf and squeezes Harry's hand one last time before letting go and taking a step forward on her own, her confidence growing with each step as she strides toward her parents' dental office. This was the only chance she'd have for at least another month (if they had another Hogsmeade trip then), maybe until the end of the year (if the tournament interfered with their Hogsmeade trips), and she refused to waste it.
She doesn't stop when she reaches the door because she knows that her true family will watch her back. The bell dings as she walks through the door and straight toward the front desk. Remus, Sirius, and Harry take their places a few steps behind her just in case something goes wrong.
Her mother stands behind the front desk, closing the file she had been looking at as she speaks, "I'm sorry but we're clo–"
The older woman's eyes meet the identical ones of her daughter, no more words coming out of her mouth.
Hermione had always thought her mother was beautiful in a tragic sort of way but looking at her now, Hermione couldn't see from that point of view anymore. The woman standing on the other side of the desk was frail looking. Her hair was pulled back into an immaculate French braid and her clothes perfectly pressed. Anyone else would see her red rimmed, clearly bloodshot eyes, and think she hadn't slept well the night before. They would never think that those eyes were the result of the bottle of vodka she clutched to her chest like a sad sort of teddy-bear each night. They would never think that the hollowed (or chiseled as many of her envious female patients stated) cheeks and splotchy skin were cleverly disguised by the makeup routine she'd perfected before Hermione could remember. They would never think that her ribs could be seen if she took her clothes off. But that was all Hermione could see at that moment. A broken woman who had stood idly by while her child was tormented. A disgrace.
"Hermione, sweetheart, where have you been? We've been so w–"
"Don't."
The older woman flinches away from the cold authority in her daughter's voice.
"You don't get to pretend to be worried about my wellbeing now when you stood by for years and let your husband hurt me."
"I'm so sorry–"
"You're sorry?" Hermione cuts her off once again, her magic flaring around her even if she doesn't raise her voice. "You think you can just say sorry and everything will be fine. Being sorry can't erase the fact that you didn't believe me the first time I told you he hurt me. Or that you didn't do anything to stop him from hurting me for years when you finally realized he was. That you just curled up with your bottle and tuned out the rest of the world instead of helping me. That you didn't do anything when I screamed that night and don't even try to tell me that you didn't hear me because I know you heard me and I know that you know I haven't cried out for help in years so you don't get to say sorry and have everything be ok."
"You're right." The older woman sighs after a beat of silence. "There is no excuse. And I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I do love you, no matter what you might think. I love you more than anything in this world, sweetheart."
Hermione stares at the broken woman in front of her, her eyes never leaving the older woman's as she places the adoption papers on the desk facing the other woman.
"Then do right by me for the first time in your life. If you love me as much as you say then sign these papers so that I can get away from this life and be with people who will protect me with everything they have." She pulls one of the pens from the jar on the desk and places it on top of the papers.
"Will this make you happy?" The woman Hermione was supposed to call her mother asks, her eyes sparking with a strength Hermione had never seen as she stares the younger woman down.
Hermione nods and the older woman's lips tug up in a bitter smile.
"That's all I've ever wanted."
She signs the papers then looks up at the girl who was no longer her daughter with tears in her eyes.
"This isn't how I planned things you know. I grew up in a very conservative home with a mother who stayed home to homeschool me and a father who was a pastor. The only reason they allowed me to go to university was so I could meet a husband. I met your father there and he offered me an escape. He promised to let me work even after we were married, he offered me a partnership instead of the type of relationship my own parents had. He promised me the world I wanted and I was so lovesick that I didn't realize what he was doing until it was too late. By the first time he hit me, we were already married with everything under both our names and all of my friends and family were completely alienated from me. I had nowhere to go so I stayed. I started drinking in an attempt to numb the pain and then I became addicted, drinking even when he didn't hurt me. Then we had you and I thought things would get better but they didn't. The first time I saw him hit you and realized you had been telling the truth, I was going to leave and take you with me but he threatened to take you away from me if I tried. He said no judge would ever believe a drunk and that he'd take me for everything I was worth then make sure I never saw you again. So I stayed and he continued hurting us both. That night I heard you scream, I was lying in bed with a half empty bottle of vodka pressed to my chest. I was paralyzed and I didn't know what to do. I kept telling myself that if you screamed again, I would go help you but you never did. It's no excuse but that's what happened. I don't expect you to forgive me because I don't deserve it but you deserve to know why. You are the only part of my life that I am proud of, I don't know how it happened but you are a much stronger woman than I could ever be."
"Thank you," Hermione whispers because she can't lie and tell the older woman she forgives her when she doesn't. She might eventually but she can't right now.
She takes the papers and pen from the desk and strides toward the door she knows the monster she's supposed to call her father is currently lurking behind.
Hermione bursts his office, her magic crackling around her and a malicious smile twitching at her lips as the monster that called himself her father jumps from his desk.
"What are you doing here?" He snarls but for the first time ever she can see the fear in his eyes.
"I'm here for two things. First, you're going to willingly sign these–"
"And why the hell–"
"Shut up." She draws Lily's wand faster than he can comprehend and points the sparking end at the older man, a vicious hex on the tip of her tongue. "For once, I am going to speak and you are going to listen. You will sign these papers and then you will answer my questions or I will force you to."
Laughter escapes his lips as he takes a confident step toward the younger girl. "You wouldn't hurt me. You couldn't hurt a fly even if you wanted to."
"I think you overestimate my character." With a flick of her wrist, the older man flies through the air and slams into the wall of his office. A bat bogey hex flying at his face before he can realize he's stuck to the wall, horrified screams leaving his throat as he unsuccessfully attempts to get away from the hex. Three quick strides has her right in front of the monster, the air around her sparking as she stops the bed and slams the papers next to his right hand, forcing a pen into his hand. "Now sign the damn papers."
He struggles for a few moments, attempting to move away from the wall Hermione's magic had him pinned to. "If I sign the fucking papers will you let me up."
Hermione nods once, the pen scratches against paper, she snatches the document from the wall, and the monster falls to the ground.
"I just have one question for you," Hermione's voice is steady even though it feels like she has lava coursing through her veins, moments from exploding. "Why did you do it? Why did you hurt your own daughter?"
Sick laughter, the kind only heard in horror movies, rings through the air as he dead eyes meet her sparking orbs. "Because I could." He spits at her.
Another flick of her wand has the spit flying back at him. "You disgust me."
He snarls, lunging at her.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The air crackles around him as his frozen body clatters to the ground and she takes a step towards him, looming over his prone figure. "How does it feel to be at the mercy of someone else, to know that you have no control over what happens next?" Hermione raises Lily's wand and fear flares through his eyes, his normally icy gaze melting away to tears. The wand starts to glow green as she begins to speak, "Ava–." He closes his eyes, it's as close to cowering as he can get while petrified. As she lowers Lily's wand, her head shaking, the wand pulses softly (almost comfortingly) in her hand. "You're not worth it."
She turns her back on the man that had made her life hell for as long as she could remember as she takes a step toward the people who make up her future knowing that they will always watch her back.
"I'm so proud of you, little cub," Remus whispers in Hermione's ear, hugging her tightly to his chest.
"I don't know if it was because I was too weak to do it or if it was because I was strong enough not to," her voice sounds like she'd swallowed a cup of gravel but she honestly didn't care at this point, she was finally free.
"You know you're going to have to kill people in this war."
Her gaze snaps toward the man who had protected her when she'd stopped trying to protect herself, a cold fury much different from the explosion she'd had early flaring through her eyes.
"Murder is different from battle, Sirius." Her voice is icy even to her own ears.
"Will you be able to do it?"
"When it comes to protecting the people I love, our enemies won't stand a chance." Even if the tone of her voice had left room for doubt at that statement, the murderous glint in her eyes did not. "Do not underestimate me, Sirius."
Sirius
It'd been over a week since either of his pups had spoken to him. He'd tried to approach her more than once. To apologize for everything. To tell her that she meant the world to him and he wanted her safe more than anything in the upcoming war...he'd just gone about it the wrong way. But every time he'd tried to talk to her…something had stood in his way.
His hope that today would be different though came to a crashing halt when he hit the edge of the underbrush, still hidden in the shadows but able to see everything in the small alcove near Black Lake that Sirius hadn't known existed until that moment.
Because Harry was already making his way toward Hermione who was sitting on a fairly new looking wooden swing attached to a sturdy tree, staring down at the wands in her hands.
"Mione."
Hermione jumps like she hadn't heard Harry enter the alcove.
"Are you alright, love?" He steps in front of her, squatting down to her eye level.
"I've just been thinking a lot about what's happened and what's going to happen… and what would've happened if I'd never come to Hogwarts…"
Hermione lifts the wand in her right hand, her eyes never leaving the familiar elegant vine etchings as she twists it between herself and Harry, "You know, I didn't believe Professor McGonagall when she showed up at my front door. I thought for sure she'd made a mistake and when she took me into Olivander's shop for our first stop, I was sure she was about to see that I wasn't who she thought I'd be…but the second Olivander placed this wand in my hand, I realized that she was right…That this piece of wood was my chance to actually make something of myself. To shape my future into whatever I wanted it to be. To eventually be free."
"And then you gave me this…" Hermione lifts the identically colored but sleekly designed wand in her left hand as her right hand settles back in her lap. "And I realized, really realized not just realized in the back of my mind, that I have a real chance at a family. That you are my family. And family protects each other with everything…And I almost corrupted that…I almost used your mum's wand to cast the curse that she fell protecting you from…the fact that I could so easily disgrace someone who should have been family…Harry, that's disgusting."
Harry's hand cover's Hermione's as he stares at her with the softest smile Sirius had ever seen on his godson's face, "But you didn't, Mione. You did exactly what you needed to do and, if I'm as much like my mum as everyone has been telling me lately, she would be just as proud of you as I am. You are one of the most caring people I have met in my entire life and I am so glad that you are finally free."
Hermione pulls Harry into a soft kiss, her lips pulling up into a smile that mirrors Harry's when she finally pulls away, "I love you."
"More than anything."
There is a long moment of comfortable silence as the two teens rest their foreheads against each other.
"Push me?" Hermione asks, eventually breaking the silence as she slips Lily's wand into her ankle brace and her own wand behind her ear.
Harry grins mischievously, quickly slipping behind her and pushing her before she has a chance to hold on.
An un-Hermione-like squeak leaves her throat as she scrambles to hold on.
"Harry!" She tries to scold the teenage boy but the laughter in her tone takes away any bite she might have had.
"I was just doing what you asked," he replied in mock innocence, a shiteating grin tugging at his lips.
Hermione grins, shaking her head at Harry over her shoulder, as she begins kicking her legs in an attempt to get higher.
"Higher, Harry!" Hermione laughs as her unruly curls fly behind her, nearly whacking Harry in the face as she goes by him.
"Any higher and you'll fly off!" Harry's laughter joins hers and Sirius's heart breaks a little bit because he wasn't a part of this moment.
He wasn't part of their happiness in this moment. He was actually part of the reason they shouldn't have been as happy as they were right now, he had been a complete arse. But they were happy despite that. They were having the types of moments that they should've had their entire lives but didn't because fate had worked against them. Instead of growing bitter and paranoid like Sirius (and Remus to a point) had though, they decided to find joy in each other. They stole moments of happiness to hold them through the sea of darkness they had known their entire lives until they had met one another. They were so much stronger than anyone gave them credit for, than anyone would probably ever know if Sirius was being honest with himself.
A throat clearing draws his attention to his lover who had come up behind him at some point.
"I fucked up." It's a statement, not a question, and his eyes stare at the door his pup had left through even though he couldn't see her anymore.
"You did." Sirius's head snaps in Remus's direction, surprised at his lover's answer. Remus had always been an optimist, the fact that those words came out of his mouth instead of the reassurance Sirius had been looking for just showed Sirius how much he had messed up. How he really had hurt their daughter and how their daughter came first for Remus just like she came first for Sirius.
"Will she forgive me?"
"I wouldn't blame her if she didn't." He doesn't elaborate even though Sirius wishes more than anything that he would.
"Do you think she will?" Sirius prods.
Anger and love war in his eyes until he finally growls out, "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she's a lot like you," he says then holds out his hand. "Let's head in, you can talk to our cubs when they come in for their extra defense lesson tomorrow."
