Chapter 29
The Fishing Trip and Check-up
Hermione ran back into the house, later that morning only to be grabbed by her mother who pulled her back by her shoulders. "Shoes kitten" Minerva waved her hand towards the mud and dirt on her daughter's boots.
Hermione looked up at her mother who gently pulled her into a loving hug. She giggled at her mother happily as they walked into the kitchen to get her mid-morning medication.
"Hagrid's going to be here soon" Minerva said as she pulled her daughter onto one of the kitchen islands stools before walking over to the cupboard and pulling out three vials. Hermione winkled her nose up in disgust and looked away. "Ooch, don't make that face, it's a few gulps and I don't want you falling asleep whilst you're out fishing" she passed her daughter her medications who scowled at her now clean shoes as she swung them.
"Hermione! you need to drink this now please dear" Minerva ordered her daughter too like she was a school girl. Hermione jumped a little before grabbing the first vile and chugging it down before grabbing the second only to be stopped by her mother running her hand under her small chin. "Don't choke, dear"
She grumbled before taking the last vile and gulping it down before opening her mouth to show her mother that she had drunken everything. Her mother brushed her chin again tickling her to close her mouth which only made her giggle. Minerva smirked before beginning to chop up a few apples and bananas.
"You'll need your fishing pole for your little adventure"
Hermione tensed in fear realising her pole was in her wardrobe... in her room. Minerva arched her eyebrow at the girl before asking her what was wrong.
Hermione ended up mumbling something that Minerva could not make out.
"Say that again dear. This time with your chin not tucked into your shirt" Minerva pulled her chin up so they were staring into each other's eyes. The girl immediately, crinkled her face and looked away. She didn't like eye contact with people.
"There's strange noises and the house is creaky" She muttered, "I-I think this house is haunted!" Hermione informed her quietly almost scared an entity would over hear her but all it did was make Minerva laugh.
"A-A ghost? in this house? Whatever would you think that for?"
Hermione's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, " 'cause I hear whispering at night time. It wakes me up"
"are you sure it isn't your father snoring?"
"Yes!" Hermione's face flushed more.
Minerva placed both hands on the girl's shoulder's making her jump a little at the contact, "Kitten, I can assure you; there are no ghosts here. Not even ghouls for that matter" She muttered the last part before rubbing her daughter's cheek to get the red tinge from her cheeks to go.
"B-But I heard voices. And-And I heard something moving outside our door"
Minerva looked at Hermione worriedly for a second, "Do you need more dreamless sleep dear? I am worried you don't get enough sleep!"
"Y-You don't beweve...bel-eave me, do you?"
"Of course, I do, I'll place some enchantments on the house to make any ghosts disappear" Minerva simply tugged her wand out of her sleeve and waved it. Much to Hermione's dismay nothing happened. Not one thing. No swish and the sounds of ghosts being shoved out of the front door no nothing.
"There dear, all gone"
Hermione pouted, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. "I'm not a baby, I'm six"
Minerva sighed sitting down next to the girl knowing she had been caught out on false magic by a child. "Hermione there isn't any ghosts in this house and even if there were, we wouldn't have any bad ones. I mean even the paintings are of good wizards"
She glared at her fruit stubbornly.
"I'll prove it"
Minerva rolled her eyes before cleaning away the mess. "If you do decide to go exploring throughout the Manor, take Fawkes with you. He could use some exercise, the pudgy bird" She muttered the last part before glaring at the bird squawking in the other room as it sat on its perch near the fire place.
'Ding, Dong!'
Minerva's eyes lit up in shock before she told the girl to finish up and put her boots on as she moved to answer the door and greet her long-time friend.
It wasn't long before Hagrid and Hermione had found themselves standing out in the backyard by the lake with two fishing poles and, from Hermione's perspective: a bucket full of worms and a box filled with random bits and bobs.
"Now you have to hold the line with one hand and then pull it back, then fling it forward and release the line. There jus' like that" Hagrid taught as the two stood at the edge of the lake, the half giant trying to teach her how to fish and Hermione trying fruitlessly to cast her line out. He could see her getting rather frustrated with the exercise and decided to help her fling the smaller, pink rod out a shorter distance compared to his large fishing pole.
"Now, we wait" He prompted, patting a spot next to the ledge for her to sit with him. The small girl came and sat beside him before Fang came up and sat next to her. Hagrid couldn't help but smile at the two of them, happy to have a niece to care for and Fang to have a friend.
"How long do we wait?"
"We'll til the fish start biting?"
"When's that?"
"Not too long, but you have to be patient"
"What are we trying to catch"
"Ah, well there's some pike, powan and lamprey that usually like to stay in the cooler waters in the lake. They swim up from the river just along the side there" He pointed to an opening in between the hills where a stream was.
Hermione scratched Fang behind the ear as he started to lick her, "why do we catch them?"
"We'll for fun of course" He chuckled nervously at the bright-eyed girl. She was quite different from when he had first met her.
The first time he had babysat for Minerva she was very tense and apprehensive to make a move. Rather, Hermione spent majority of the day curled up with her back to the wall, arms crossed over her legs as she watched every small thing that moved. He remembered Fang walking backwards and forwards around her waiting for her to change into her animal form so they could play. He remembered trying to place food down next to her to eat and a book, as well as her teddy bear, which she hastily grabbed before retreating.
He originally thought taking care of the girl would be different, that they would build fortresses in the forest or play with magical creatures and Hermione could communicate what they would say to him. Instead, he could only supervise a scared young girl of whom constantly scratched and rubbed her eyes due to a light sensitivity and was scared to death by every noise or movement that was made. The storm outside that day didn't seem to reduce her stress either. He just remembered sitting their sipping tea for a number of hours watching the girl jump out of her skin at every sound of lightening that hit the Earth.
Nevertheless, he didn't know what he did exactly he do to cause her to snap out of her hyperalert trance. It really wasn't until he had decided enough was enough and moved his cushions around near the fire to make a small cubby for the girl to play in.
"Used to love building forts with my da', you know. Used to build them every other weekend when I was a kid," He flashed her a gentle smile as he set a blanket on top of the it-peed cushions. He took a step back as he watched her crawl forward and move into the cubby, reaching for the darkness. He took a step forward as he watched Fang crawl in to fit in the cubby as well. He could only chuckle and awe as he now saw the small kitten, already tucked up ready for bed and Fang come in and intrude on her space, pushing up against her body and rest his head on her body. Hagrid couldn't help but see how protective Fang had become of his new friend.
"Jus' needed a bit of shut eye did ya. I'll let ya get some sleep for a bit, ay?"
He watched as the cat's head practically fell onto the dog's before she closed her eyes and rested.
It was one of the first times he had ever got to spend with Hermione after her introduction and Minerva informing her truthfully of where she had come from. He really did have a weakness for small broken things and Hermione was no exception.
"Ha-gwid...biting...fishing wod...can't pull...Hagwid! HagWID!"
He zoned back in to see the small girl struggling immensely with pulling the fishing rod into her body trying to stop the fish from pulling her into the water.
"Oh," He suddenly realised he had been zoning out and not watching her. "Here Hermione" he took the rod from her before she fatigued and began reeling the fish in for her. She watched in anticipation as the half giant pulled and reeled constantly to try and get the fish in. "Oh, he's a big one. Reckon you've caught a winner there" he chuckled as she leant forward into the water waiting for the fish to pop up.
"'Here we go, reckon he's tiring out a bit. Here I'll hold the rod and you reel. How 'bout that?" He pulled the rod down near her, and let her grab the handle of the reel. She felt his large hand rest of hers before he showed her how to reel the fish in.
Now, you have to wait until the fish tires a little before reel 'em in, ya see" He smiled at her as he felt the fish no longer pulling.
They began to reel it in slowly taking his time to show Hermione the fun of fishing instead of playing with dangerous creatures. Truly, it was the only thing Minerva and Albus would agree on for Hagrid to bond with her. Minerva and Albus had their books and magic, Severus had his potions, Poppy had her medicine but Hagrid, he was going to have this with her.
With one last pull he heaved the brown fish out of the water before picking it up, "ah what you got here is a pike. A good sized one in fact. You can tell because it's got a white belly and brown top"
"Yer can touch her if you'd like? She doesn't bite" He watched her become hesitant holding her hands and clasping them nervously. She bit her lip before touching the fish and yelping as the fish wriggled in his hands.
"So'right!" He prompted her to calm herself. "S-still got a hook in his mouth" She gulped. Hagrid looked a bit nervous before turning his body round to release the hook from its mouth. She gulped, "does, does it hurt...it?"
His eyes widened, "Ah, no, no. He's fine, see. Now he's gonna need to go back in the water so say good bye"
"G-Goodbye Fis-sy" She waved at the fish before Hagrid gently pushed the fish back into the water, "so, what did ya think? Fun huh?"
She stared at him bright eyed before taking a gulp and hesitantly nodding, "and, it doesn't hurt them?"
"No, no 'course not"
"T-then...I like it. I think!" She smiled at him. He gave her a pat on the shoulder before grabbing another piece of cheese and threading it on and helping her cast it.
"Reckon you'll be an expert in no time" He gave her a gentle shove as the two continued to fish together enjoying one another's company.
As the evening set in, Albus finished up his meetings for the day walking Fudge out of his home as he tried to stutter that he had been disappointed not to meet Albus' only child. Of course, Albus waved him off telling him there would be ample opportunities in the future before closing the door and walking into the backyard to see Hagrid returning carrying to fishing rods and a tackle box in one hand as he steadied the small girl with his other arm on top of his shoulders. Albus smiled as Hermione continued to speak to him on random facts about Scotland and Scottish Gaelic that she had been currently learning from both her mother and grandmother. From the sounds of things, Hermione seemed happy and comfortable chattering away with the half giant.
" 'right there, Dumbledore?" Hagrid said shifting Hermione a little so she was more comfortably seated on his shoulders. Albus smiled and nodded his head before his daughter looked down at him and reached an arm out. "Papa!" She smiled, giggling as he pulled her down and into his arms.
"I expect everything went well today?"
"went better than expected actually. Hermione caught a big fish, quite surprised this fishing rod held considerin' what it's made out of"
Albus smiled and looked down at his daughter who continued to talk about how gigantic the fish was much to Hagrid's delight. Albus, seeing the half giants toothy grin towards the girl, smiled and placed his daughter on the ground before telling her to run inside to get cleaned up for her afternoon nap.
"Happy to see 'ermione comin' out of her shell. Was worried that she was never gonna be- well you know"
"She's definitely coming into herself a lot more. Shame we could not get to her sooner. I did however wonder why her magical outbursts were never reported to the ministry" Albus rubbed his beard as he glanced at the hillside from afar.
"Know a lot of wizards and witches that jus' end up swept under the rug. Look at Professor Snape"
Albus hummed before nodding and turning to see the small girl sitting at the back door and trying clumsily to pull her boots off. He smiled at her before turning back to Hagrid. "I don't know about you Hagrid but I could use a spot of tea. Care to join me?"
Hagrid smiled warmly.
It was late afternoon before Severus had returned home from his drunk escapade around the muggle woman's house. A fine dining experience courting the young woman had followed with a night's escapade of drinking too much wine and sleeping with the woman. They had spent the next morning together, her cooking breakfast for him and her son. Her son. He had completely forgotten about until the next morning when screaming and crying had awoken him with a start. Turns out a half-naked stranger in mommy's bed had been traumatising for the boy. She had cuddled and kissed the boy better as Severus had sat there awkwardly at 7AM wondering if it was possible to leave without being rude. In the end, the woman had invited him to the park with her and his son and seeing as he had nothing better to do; he agreed. Hungover and slightly sunburnt he had dragged himself home rubbing his five o'clock stubble as he yawned and entered the living room only to hear the horrid sound of squawking from Fawkes and a croaking sound he couldn't quite identify. "Evening my boy" He slumped down onto the couch rubbing face with his hands.
"mornin-" He muttered before biting his lip realising the time. Next door he could hear the sound of Minerva and Isobel chatting in the kitchen. "Atta girl. A bit more flapping when you take off"
Severus cracked his eyes open and sore a small bat sitting on the back of a chair as three couch pillows were lined up in front of it. Albus had been kneeling next to the small croaking bat giving it prepping it up to flight. Severus sighed, rubbing his temple before watching as the bat flapped its wings before leaping off the back of the chair and attempting to fly. As anticipated, it fell and landed softly on the cushions before being grabbed again and picked up by the older man. Severus groaned as he removed a medium size box from his side and shook it capturing the bats attention. The bat chattered, it's attention immediately captured on the man. Albus noticed her change and chuckled as she batted her wings and clumsily flew towards him. Severus quirked his lip as it landed hard on his lap before wrapping its claws around the box, trying to determine what it was.
"Go ahead, it's yours"
The animal chirped happily before trying to claw her way into the box.
"Hermione" Albus stood up seeing the bat clawing and chewing on the labelled box likely eating some of the contents. Severus chuckled knowing the girl was too curious as to let the box go, rather he allowed her to rip and tear at it.
Albus grabbed the bat and sat down on the couch next to Severus and telling the girl to change back. She immediately did land on her father's knee before reattempting the package again. Albus and Severus were surprised that she didn't seem to notice the blood beginning to dribble from her nose. Albus removed his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his daughter's nose much to her annoyance. She flinched away from the cloth as he continued to hold her nose to stop it bleeding. "Do you think it hurts her?"
"She doesn't seem to notice when it happens" Albus took in her sunken eyes and pale complexion as she continued to open the box and pull out a plastic bag filled with random coloured blocks.
"Lego?"
Albus arched his eyebrow as he took hold of the plastic bag.
"Janet's son plays with it. She recommended that Hermione might like to play with them"
Albus opened the packet for her and placed it in her lap for her to go through the pieces. She instantly began connecting them together. "And they're called Legos?"
"From what I was told. Although, they are basically tiny spikes to walk on" Severus turned his attention towards his god-daughter, "do not leave them lying out or they will be gone" He warned her. She gulped, nodding before mumbling a thank you and returning back to her toy. Albus took the handkerchief away from her face and checked her nose. There was still a little bit of dried blood on the edges of her nose.
"Are you alright my dear?"
She nodded before turning back to her new toy. He smiled, running his hand through her hair. He chuckled, at her intense focus.
"Thank you, Severus" Albus smiled at the man turning back to his young daughter and kissing her forehead as she continued to put pieces together. He smiled before he heard the sounds of women laughing before entering the room. Severus groaned rubbing his temples as the three women entered.
"Oh, good evening Severus. I hadn't realised you had stepped in"
"nor yourself Poppy" He looked up at the woman who was slowly coming towards him. She immediately took his jaw much to his dislike and inspected his face. He snatched away almost snarling at the woman in disgust. She hmphed in annoyance before crossing her arms. "I've come to do a quick check-up of my god-daughter however I believe you are also due for one and considering the current state you are in I can see you have not been taking care of yourself"
He glared at her in anger.
"To be fair Poppy, I barely see Mr Lucius Malfoy looking primp and clean after a night out" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled towards the man as he helped the small girl remove more pieces of plastic from the bag and attach them on a green Lego board. "I think we both know Lucius would never expose himself to the public unless he was looking 100%" Severus snorted remembering his escapades with the man a few months ago. They had been seeing each other less and less since he finally had Draco. In fact, he saw his wife more often than naught.
"Well I for one a glad you're finally starting to date again. Merlin knows it's taken you years to get over what's-her-name?" Isobel sat down in her seat opposite to the three.
"Lily" Minerva added to her mother as she smiled at the girl's intense level of concentration on her current task.
"I never said I was over her" Severus growled, the wound of losing his long-time friend and who-he-believed soul mate to his worst enemies.
"Well...at least you're trying"
He glared at Isobel as turned to Poppy, walking over to her god-daughter and running a hand through her hair to get her attention. She immediately jumped back at the shock of being touched before her eyes adjusted to the woman realising who it was. "God-mommy" She smiled joyously. She immediately stopped what she was doing and lifted her hands up to be cuddled. Poppy smiled, lifting the girl up into her arms and spinning her round.
"In French Hermione" Isobel said her name in a stern way that made Hermione lick her lips nervously.
"La Marraine" Hermione said towards her god-mother who smiled warmly at the girl. "She's learned to speak French very fast" Poppy commented.
"Smart kid," she flicked her eyes towards Minerva, "and of course private tutoring always helps. We've been trying to get her to practice at least three times per week for at least three hours. All part of-"
"Yes, màthair I get it" Minerva rolled her eyes as she continued to watch Poppy interact with the girl pretending to nibble at her fingers before flicking her wand to the other room. Her bag came flying into the lounge and settled down on the table. "Right, let me get set up. Minerva do you mind removing Hermione's jacket and shirt I need to assess how the scar tissue is healing" Minerva nodded taking the small child and settling down with her next to her mother. Hermione complied lifting her arms above her head as she pulled her jacket and shirt off. "Good girl" She kissed her daughter's forehead before pulling her into a hug. Severus rubbed his face feeling uncomfortable seeing the girl's thick scar tissue littered across her back reminding his of his own. He closed his eyes repressing memories of his father before standing up and passing the small girl her toy and excusing himself to take a shower and get cleaned up before dinner. Minerva rubbed her thumb on Hermione's cheek before noticing a small patch of red underneath her nose. She looked up at her husband who instantly knew what she was thinking.
"She had a small nose bleed earlier but nothing to be concerned about. I believe she's changed forms at least three times today and one was to sunbathe next to Fawkes when he was in the conservatory" She nodded before turning her attention to the small girl.
Poppy breathed onto the stethoscope before placing it on Hermione's bare chest. She jumped a little in her mother's arms. "Sorry sweetheart!" Poppy muttered to the girl as she checked her heart beat.
"Irregular heart beat"
"Is that normal?" Isobel asked.
"It's uncommon in children however it shouldn't be major cause for concern" She placed the end of the stethoscope on the girl's back before asking her to cough.
Poppy made a small note before placing the stethoscope down by the side. "Has she been sleeping much lately?" Poppy asked gently as she flashed a small light in the girl's eyes.
"We're down to one nap per day although. If she's had a busy day we try and get in at least two and she's been sleeping right through the night. She still does have a lot of difficult waking up in the mornings and does usually require a pepper upper potion as well as her other medication to ensure she's able to focus and enjoy the day"
"Hermione does have anaemia and has suffered quite a bit of organ damage as a result of the mal-nutrition and abuse. I wouldn't be surprised if she's having a hard time trying to get ready in the morning. The best thing you can do is ensure that she awakens with natural lighting and maybe a warm shower in the morning may help her wake up"
"We've put her on a strict diet to help her. She's been good in eating all of her vegetables, meats and fruits"
"That's good, dear. Let's check how much you weigh" Poppy waved her wand and the numbers rose as smoke out of the wand tip.
"17 kilograms. She's still rather underweight by at least two kilograms. How much does she have to eat usually?" Poppy asked as she began to assess Hermione's scar tissue to see how pliable it had become.
"Hermione eats about five to six small meals a day pending her level of activity"
The small girl yelped and pulled away from Poppy as she ran her fingers down the girl's ribs, "She's covered in between 30 to 40% of scar tissue to her whole body. Her scars are still quite sensitive, and many of them are still quite knotted. You need to make sure to continue massaging twice per day for at least 20minutes, especially for her hands, forearms and back otherwise the poor dear will go through a rather sore period when she begins to go through her growth spurts"
Minerva gulped and felt guilty. They had been doing it once per day at a minimum because it hurt the girl so much. Maybe she could ask Severus to brew some numbness cream.
"We could perhaps do a second massage in the afternoon and evening" Minerva kissed the side of her daughter's head as she continued to play with her teddy bear.
"And how's the dear been going mentally?"
"we've gone down to two-hour sessions with Andy and have been completing dream and day journals as well as getting Hermione to express her feelings every day. We're still using some dreamless sleep potion and drowsiness potions before she goes to sleep each night. You're not quite used to the house yet are you dear?"
"Hermione hasn't tried to sleep on her own yet?"
"No, no we won't be trying that for a little while. Not until she's happy enough to walk around the rooms without too much worry"
Poppy turned to her niece in worry, who immediately blurted out, "God-mommy, there's monster's and ghosts and...and-"
"It's alright dear, I understand this house is very old" Poppy placed her hand on the girl's shoulder before coaxing her to stand. Minerva gave her one last hug before letting the girl slide from her grip. Minerva and Isobel watched as Poppy assessed her movements and saw how much the girl struggled to walk without limping, to balance on one leg without stumbling and falling over. Her muscles were very underdeveloped likely from being chained up for weeks on end with little food and water, from having to scavenge for food on the streets whilst she was already very sick and injured.
Minerva wiped a tear from her cheek before noticing Hermione staring at her. She looked both hurt and guilty as her tired bagged eyes stared into Minerva's almost as if she could read the woman's mind and know exactly what she was feeling.
"Momma" Hermione immediately paddled towards her mother and hugged her legs. "Ooch, my dear" She picked her up and cuddled her tightly. She could feel her daughter hugging her back just as tightly and it made Minerva feel with guilt to know she couldn't protect her, "Maither's just upset that you got hurt" she rubbed the girl's back before grabbing a nearby blanket and wrapping it around the small child to make sure she was warm enough.
Isobel sat beside the two of them and ran circles around the girl's back as Poppy stood jotting down her notes.
"Is Hermione wanting to wear shoes a bit more?"
Minerva shook her head as she soothed the girl in her arms, thinking about the thick scar tissue on her feet. The family had tried their hardest to give the girl everything they could but it seemed they still had a long way to go.
The white-haired woman began writing notes on Hermione's progress being sure to be methodical. "I would recommend Hermione plays outside a bit more, fresh air and physical activity is very good for a child her age. Some parents like to set up obstacle courses for their children or play tag chase" Minerva nodded as Poppy continued to write. "Let's continue on with her current potions"
She ticked off a few points before bending down and placing asking the girl to open her mouth. The spaces where her six teeth had been missing now had adult teeth growing in. She smiled before asking the girl to bite down and checking her jaw alignment. Her teeth were in good condition after not brushing her teeth in over six months previously.
"How is Hermione going socially?" Poppy asked watching as Minerva placed the bear on Hermione's lap. "She's been playing a lot more with a few of the magical children including Molly's lot and she sometimes goes round to see Draco Malfoy though we usually save those for the days Hermione's feeling more energetic" Albus commented coming round and messing up his daughter's hair with his hand.
"Otherwise, she tends to become too exhausted and try and hide so she can rest. I think Severus once caught her in her kitten form snoozing away under Lilly's couch. The whole house was in a panic that day" Albus chuckled, his eyes sparkling towards his daughter who had gone scarlet at the memory of being told off.
"Hermione's doing very well. In fact, I think you deserve a nice sugar free lolly-pop for being such a good girl" Poppy pulled a purple lollypop from behind her back and gave it to the girl. Hermione's eyes lit up in wonder making the women chuckle. The girl turned to her mother to check that she was allowed it before opening the wrapper. "She is cute" Isobel smirked at the girl before turning around to Poppy who seemed to be packing up. "So, if we were to look at Hermione's social interaction. Do you believe she would be able to cope in an environment filled with muggles?"
Minerva glared at her mother.
Poppy could only shrug.
"You can only try and see if she can. Perhaps a pilot test first with maybe one or two muggle children and if she does well you can look at engaging her with a few more. I think the key would be gradual exposure"
Isobel's smile widened "and I know just the person to begin with" She relaxed back in her seat.
"Oh?" Albus seemed intrigued.
"Why isn't our dear boy dating a muggle, who happens to have a muggle-son. It would be the perfect way to determine if she's able to cope in a classroom" She smirked towards Minerva.
"I-I don't know. Albus what do you think?"
"Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Severus would be there if anything went wrong and the worst-case scenario would be Hermione presenting her powers in which case Severus could simply obliviate them"
Minerva stroked her daughter's hair as she continued to play with her toys.
"All-Alright, but only for a few hours. I don't want her getting too overwhelmed"
"Perfect, then it's a play-date" Isobel smirked before leaving the room to find her adopted-grandson. Albus leaned over the settee watching his wife and daughter with concern. He didn't feel that she was ready to yet but he could not differentiate between the gut feeling or the fact that he was now a father and was terribly afraid of messing up. Hermione lifted her head, feeling eyes watching her and realising it was her father behind her.
"Alright kitten?"
She nodded before licking her lips, her parents instantly knowing she wanted something.
"What's Obli-Obli-vi-ate?"
His eyes twinkled down at her as he began to educate her on certain charms...within reason.
Warning: Next chapter will have a massive cliff-hanger
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