Chapter Twelve: Steps Forward & Setbacks

March

Hermione

It was better than any of her dreams, was all Hermione could think as she sat with all of her closest friends, surrounded by SPEW buttons and half finished posters for Elvin rights. As much as she knew Ron thought it was bullocks and both Harry and Ginny were uninterested, the three of them had still thrown themselves into helping Neville, Luna, and Hermione when they'd seen the trio working on their very political project.

She just hoped they would accept Draco into their circle once he was finally taken under Sirius's wing because she was sure that he would lose many of his current Slytherin friends. Though Hermione was well aware that he didn't consider any of those people friends aside from Theodore Knott and even then Draco was uncertain about the boy because he had a better mask than Draco himself.

Hermione herself had never put much thought into the likes of Theodore Knott, though if she were being honest, she hadn't put much thought into any Slytherins until she'd come across Draco that day.

Now it was a constant thought in the back of her mind: how many of them didn't have a choice?

Sirius

"Greetings, Chief Financial Officer Griphook," Sirius greets the goblin who seemed so fond of his godson, lowering his hood just far enough for said goblin to see his face.

"Greetings, Lord Black. We have much to cover today. Please, follow me," the goblin states, gesturing impatiently for the still wanted man to follow him.

Sirius follows Griphook, anxiety tugging at his gut as they make their way down a grandiose hallway.

"Chief Financial Officer Griphook, would you be willing to stay?" Sirius breaks the tense silence that had surrounded them when the goblin turns to leave after gesturing for Sirius to take a seat in what is clearly someone important's office.

Griphook glares critically at Sirius for a long moment before nodding sharply and standing to Sirius's right.

A door behind the ornate desk opens and Sirius rises out of respect, like his mother had forced him to do every time someone had entered the room when he was growing up, as red-caped goblin enters the room followed closely by two more burly goblins.

"Greetings Lord Black, Chief Financial Officer Griphook. Please take a seat," the goblin states, gesturing to the seat Sirius had previously been in and the one beside it where he assumer the goblin wanted Griphook to sit.

"My name is King Ragnuk of the Goblin Nation. As you are aware from your last visit, we here at Gringott's are extremely displeased with how young Lord Potter's case has been handled in your world. Children are rare in our society and cherished above all else when they enter our community. To see a child, especially one as kind as the young Lord Potter, be treated as poorly as he has is a disgrace. Luckily for us, your brother made it particularly easy for us to begin helping you Lord Black."

"My brother?" Sirius stares at King Ragnuk in complete bewilderment.

"Yes, on the 30th of December 1979, Regulus Black reinstated you into the Black family before promptly abdicating his right to the title of Lord Black which means that your family's title now falls to you as it was originally supposed to."

Sirius is almost positive his jaw dropped at that statement but if he had know how insane the rest of this visit was about to get, he would have waited to react like that.

Hermione

It was worse than her worst nightmare, the thought echoed through Hermione's mind as she tried to center herself like Draco had taught her in their Legilimency lessons. He said it helped you compartmentalize memories and allowed you to protect specific information while still letting everything else run naturally to better disguise what you were trying to hide.

But that night…

Those words kept echoing in her mind.

At first, she'd felt so much relief that she couldn't think of anything else.

But then Dumbledore had stunned her and sunk her underwater.

And she had started dreaming of every time she had been paralyzed.

She'd locked away so many things in her neat little boxes like Draco had taught her:

The basilisk and endless night petrified.

The sounds of her parents fighting.

The sight of Harry falling off his broom and what she was sure was finally going to be his doom.

But those words and that night…

They ran through her mind every night when she tried to close her eyes.