A/N - Only a few chapters left. I don't know how many for sure but no more than five. Thanks for reading and be sure to review!
Chapter 24
"Harry is so happy," Hermione said with a smile. "I haven't seen him that happy since his wedding day."
She looked extremely happy herself and Adrian couldn't help but kiss her again. "So, godmother, huh?"
"Yeah," she said, another smile on her lips.
They were cuddled up together on the couch, Hermione leaning into his side, head against his chest. He had an arm wrapped around her, his fingers sliding idly up and down her arm. Daphne and Anna were in the kitchen baking something. He thought it might be bread. Adrian had stopped keeping track of Anna's cooking experiments.
"Have you ever thought about it?" he said before he could stop himself.
"Having children?"
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Why the bloody hell had he asked her that?
"I'd like to," she said softly. "Someday." She tilted her head to look up at him. "With the right person."
He stared down at her. There were so many things he wanted to say. So many things he wanted to do if he were honest. "Yeah?"
She nodded, then tipped her head back down. She began tracing one of the buttons on his shirt. "What about you?"
He swallowed thickly. "I'd like to, yeah. Haven't had the best role models though."
"I don't think that always matters," Hermione replied. "Harry had an absolutely horrid family and he's going to be a great dad, I know it."
"He's had the Weasleys though, yeah? Don't imagine Arthur Weasley is a bad father."
He could feel Hermione smile against his chest. "No, he's not. Molly is a bit smothering though."
Adrian laughed.
"I'm just saying, you get to decide what kind of parent you'll be, regardless of how you grew up. And you've usually got a partner to help you." She looked up at him again. "Unless you're planning on being a single father."
"Wasn't planning on it," he said seriously. They stared at one another for a few moments before Hermione raised up a bit and kissed him.
"Good," she said when they parted.
He wrapped both arms around her as she settled back against his chest. He wondered if she could tell that his heart was beating a bit faster. It might have been his imagination, but he could feel hers against his side and thought it might be a bit quicker than usual too. He didn't say anything though. Just held her close and breathed in the scent of her. It was all well and good to talk about things like this in the abstract. He couldn't do anything about it now anyway.
Their earlier conversation still echoed through Hermione's head as they readied themselves for bed that night. They hadn't spoken about it again and while she knew they were just talking in generalities, something about it had seemed like more. Like they'd just agreed that they both wanted the same thing in the future.
Which was completely mad. She kept repeating how short of a time they'd been together in her head whenever her thoughts had wandered to that 'someday'. She should not be thinking about this. Not yet anyway.
"What we talked about earlier today," Adrian said and Hermione's head whipped towards him, hoping she managed to keep the shock off her face. He frowned for a moment and she figured she hadn't been successful.
"About Anna and putting her name on the study."
It was all Hermione could do to keep her breath from coming out in a whoosh. Of course, that was what he wanted to talk about. Not the whole children thing.
"Oh, what about it?"
"I've been thinking and I might have come up with an idea."
She looked at him expectantly.
"Remember when you got that advanced copy of your study on premature birth? Before it had been published in the journal?"
"Yes."
"Could you get one for this study?"
"Yes, I suppose so, but we're not finished with our research yet. It might be a couple of months still, depending on how things go."
Adrian certainly didn't want to wait that long. In fact, now that he had decided, he wanted to get this done as soon as possible. "Can you write one up sooner than that?"
Hermione frowned. "It wouldn't have all the data. We haven't even started testing it on pregnant rats."
"Could you just, I don't know, make it up?"
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"You know what I want to do."
"Adrian," she said shaking her head.
"Listen to me, Hermione. I can't," he trailed off.
She sat down next to him on the bed and took his hand between both of hers. "This entire plan of yours makes me extremely nervous."
"I would make sure that yours and Anders' names weren't on it."
"It's not that," she said. "I'm scared for you. What if your father calls the Aurors the moment you step foot in the manor?"
"There are ways around that," Adrian said. "And as grateful as I am to both Harry for letting us stay at Grimmauld and Tracey for letting us stay here, I can't do it anymore. I can't stay in hiding forever."
"And if your father doesn't change his mind?" Hermione asked.
"Then we're no worse off than we were," he said. "We stay here or somewhere else until Anna is seventeen and can do what she likes. But if I can convince him, Hermione, he knows she's good at Potions but he doesn't know how good. If I can just show him."
Hermione sighed. "Let's say I do write up a study. If it's not actually published and the only name on it is Anna's do you honestly think your father will believe you? Won't he just accuse you of inventing the whole thing to try and get what you want? Who are you even going to tell him that Anna was working with? She wouldn't have been able to do this on her own, not that she isn't intelligent enough, but she has no access to a lab or ingredients, no idea how to even conduct a proper study."
"I know," Adrian said, rising from the bed in frustration. "I just don't know what else to do."
Hermione remained on the bed, biting her lip in thought. "Anders usually writes up a preliminary summary of the study to send to journals. It sometimes takes months to actually get published due to competition in the field, so the study usually isn't complete when the initial summary is done. He was planning to do that once we finish the next phase of testing. That's what we're working on next week. If you can wait until that's finished, I'll have something you could show your father. It might take another couple of weeks but it would be an official account."
"But your names would be on it," Adrian pointed out.
"Yes, but there's a way we can obscure them."
Adrian looked at her skeptically. Anything she could do could be undone with a spell, he was sure.
"Not with magic," Hermione said. "And there's no spell to counteract it."
"Muggle method?"
"Ever heard of a Sharpie?" Hermione asked with a grin.
Hermione made her way through the Ministry to Griselda Marchbanks' office. Tracey had come home to the cottage last night with a time to meet with her boss about the enrichment program. Tracey hadn't had any other details, nor had she made much headway with the research on education laws.
As Hermione stepped into the lift, she scanned the others with her, still remembering her confrontation with Adrian's father. There was no one she recognized, although it was obvious that the two witches in the opposite corner recognized her. They were whispering with one another and kept giving Hermione furtive looks. She bit back a sigh and smiled at the two women. Although this didn't happen near as often as it had the first couple of years after the war, it still happened more than enough for Hermione.
It was one of the reasons why she liked working at St. Mungo's. Once the rest of her colleagues had gotten over her status as a war heroine, no one bothered her. And she didn't have to worry about running into any admirers while doing her job either, ensconced in the workroom or the labs as she was. She was glad that she had decided against a career in the Ministry.
She reached the Magical Education Department and greeted Tracey. The other woman immediately stood and led her to Ms. Marchbanks' office.
"Hello, Miss Granger," the elder woman said as Hermione walked inside.
"Hermione," another voice greeted and Hermione turned to see Minerva sitting in one of the chairs in front of Ms. Marchbanks' desk.
"Good morning, Ms. Marchbanks, Minerva." Hermione gave the Headmistress a warm smile.
"Please, sit," Ms. Marchbanks said. "Thank you, Miss Davis."
Tracey nodded and left the office.
"I was very happy to see that you went forward with your education program despite our last meeting," Minerva said.
Hermione felt her cheeks warm. She hadn't been very professional the last time she and Minerva had met. In fact, she'd rushed out of the Headmistress's office as quickly as she could. "Yes, I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be," Minerva said. "I was just as frustrated as I'm sure you were. But it appears you have had another idea."
"Yes," Hermione said with a smile. "I hope that this meeting means that there may be a plan?"
"I have been speaking to Minerva about just that," Ms. Marchbanks said. "She agrees wholeheartedly with your proposal, not that I thought she wouldn't."
"I have spoken to the staff and there are quite a few of them who are very eager to participate," Minerva said. "As such, we have a slate of possible classes to be offered during the summer holidays."
"Classes?" Hermione questioned. "As in more than one?"
"Oh yes, Miss Granger," Ms. Marchbanks replied. "Minerva felt, and I agreed, that offering just one class might not attract enough attention. Students have different interests, after all, and a class in say, Runes, might not be of interest to everyone. However, if we can offer a variety, there would be more participation."
"Which would only make the program look more attractive to the Wizengamot," Hermione finished.
"Exactly," Ms. Marchbanks said with a smirk.
"This is so much more than I expected," Hermione said with a smile. She turned to Minerva. "And the staff is willing to give up part of their summer?"
"Most willingly," Minerva replied. "Of course, we have decided that any class offered will only be a week in length. That way not only does the staff retain the majority of their holidays, but also can concentrate on a small topic of interest to them. Most are very excited about it."
"We also thought that perhaps one or two of the classes could be more of an introduction to the entire subject," Ms. Marchbanks continued. "In that case, we could include younger children, perhaps nine and ten year-olds."
Hermione's eyes lit up at this information. If they could get younger children involved and they enjoyed the classes, they would be that much more likely to continue on later. Which could only help Hermione's dream of eventually having a full school for those like Anna.
"Filius and Calliope have suggested this for their subjects," Minerva said. Calliope Horton was the new Transfiguration professor, hired after Minerva became Headmistress.
"This is amazing," Hermione said. "And so much more than I was expecting. And none of the classes will require magic?"
"No," Minerva said. "This was made clear to my staff when they were deciding what, if anything, they would like to present."
"What other types of classes will be offered?"
"Most everything will be represented, save Divination and Muggle Studies," Minerva explained as she passed Hermione a piece of parchment with a list of possible classes and topics. "The former because Sybil seemed a bit overwhelmed by leaving the castle and Firenze doesn't think he would be welcome in the Ministry." The two had continued to teach Divination together since the war ended. "The latter because Melody had a previous trip planned that will take the majority of the summer. She did express interest in participating next summer, however."
Every subject, save two, would have a class. Hermione couldn't believe that the professors of Hogwarts had embraced her idea so fully. Now they just had to get the students to attend.
"Running the Charms and Transfiguration overview at the same time as two of the classes for older children might help with attendance," Ms. Marchbanks said perusing a copy of the same list that Hermione held.
"Yes," Minerva agreed. "If families can send more than one child at the same time, they might be more inclined to participate."
Hermione read down the list of possible topics, everything from an introduction to Runes to the brewing of what could be considered prank potions – hair-raising potion, hiccoughing solution, giggling draught. None of them were particularly useful, but Hermione knew that some students would jump at the chance to learn to brew them. Overall, there was quite a variety of topics that would hopefully attract the interest of multiple students.
"We wondered if you would be interested in participating, Miss Granger," Ms. Marchbanks said.
Hermione looked at her in confusion. Surely she didn't mean as a student.
The older woman must have realized what Hermione was thinking as she chuckled. "No, I think these classes are a bit below your skill level. What I meant was as an instructor."
"You want me to teach?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"Actually, it would be more of a presentation," Minerva said. "We thought about having a class that introduced a variety of careers, geared toward those entering third year and above. As you remember from your own student days, they will have a meeting with their Head of House to discuss this but we thought actually having someone from each profession that the students could question would be more helpful."
"Yes, it most definitely would," Hermione said. Minerva had given good advice, but the pamphlets they'd handed out were rather meager on information. For Muggleborns that had no frame of reference for various Wizarding careers, save the pamphlets and what their friends told them, it would be especially helpful.
"It would likely only be an hour or two," Ms. Marchbanks said. "As we hope to have as many professions as possible represented."
"I'd love to," Hermione said with a smile. "Unless you'd rather have Mr. Ashcroft as the head of the department?"
"I think the students would benefit more from someone actually doing the work," Minerva said. "They are not going to finish schools and be heads of departments, after all."
Hermione laughed. "True."
"All right then, Miss Davis and I will write up our proposal for the Wizengamot and Minerva will have her professors write up summaries with lesson plans for their classes and then we shall present it."
"Could you let me know when the presentation will be?" Hermione asked. "I'd like to be here."
"Absolutely," Ms. Marchbanks said. "This was your idea after all."
The three women discussed a few more things and then Ms. Marchbanks called Tracey in to brief her on the meeting. When Hermione finally left, she was extremely pleased at how well everything seemed to be coming together. And hopefully, someday, they'd have an actual school to teach those that couldn't attend Hogwarts.
Hermione and Adrian lay cuddled in bed, Adrian having convinced her to stay Tuesday night instead of going back to Sweden after supper like she'd originally planned. It would mean an early morning Portkey for her but he honestly hadn't had to work that hard to convince her.
"What are you thinking?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
"A lot of things," she said with a smile. She leaned forward and kissed him. "Mostly though, I'm worried about this plan of yours."
"I'll be fine," he said.
"What if you're not? What if your father turns you over to the Aurors?"
"Then I'll just explain why I took Anna in the first place. I can't imagine they'd blame me, especially as they've arrested Lowe."
"Yes, but you told me that your father did cancel her contract once you'd sent him the information Marcus found. He can tell the DMLE that he had no intention of going through with the betrothal once he found out about it, so why would you need to take her?"
Adrian had no response to that. Because it was true. Still, he wasn't going to give up on his plan to try to convince his father.
"I have a plan, Hermione. He won't know I'm coming so there will be no chance to contact the Aurors beforehand."
"And if he stuns you? Binds you to your chair? What then?"
"You worry too much," Adrian said, trying to kiss her. But she pulled back from him. He sighed and turned to his back.
"I just, do you know how long the sentence is for kidnapping? I asked Harry and he told me it could be up to twenty-five years. Twenty-five years, Adrian!"
"They're not going to give me twenty-five years for taking my own sister because I was scared for her safety. The sister that is sixteen years old and actually asked me to help her. She came with me willingly, remember?"
"I don't want you in Azkaban at all!"
He rolled towards her again. She looked angry but her eyes told a different story. She was scared. Adrian reached out and pulled her into his arms. This time, she let him.
"I'm not going to Azkaban. I'm not even going to get arrested."
"You don't know that."
"I told you that I have a plan."
"Not a very good one," she mumbled into his chest.
He chuckled. "And how can I improve it, oh brightest witch of her age?" he teased.
She pulled back slightly to look up at him. "You could at least have an emergency Portkey on you."
"Portkeys are regulated by the Ministry. I don't think they're going to just give me one."
"You can get a lot of things in Knockturn Alley if you know who to ask."
He stared at her in shock. While he was well aware of that fact, what in the hell had Hermione been doing in Knockturn that she knew that?
"How do you know that?"
She looked away and picked at an imaginary thread on the blanket. "Harry is an Auror and Ron was one too."
He raised his eyebrows skeptically. While he was sure that Harry and Ron had spent their fair share of time in Knockturn during investigations, raids, and arrests, he doubted that they would have given Hermione that kind of specific information.
"Hermione," he said and she finally looked up at him, albeit reluctantly. "How do you know that?"
She took a shaky breath and looked down again. "I'm not sure how much you know about what we were up to that last year of the war."
"I know that you didn't go back to Hogwarts," Adrian said. Although he had been finished with school by then, it was common knowledge that the Trio wasn't there. Mostly because Hermione and Harry would have been arrested immediately if they'd tried to attend. He'd heard plenty of stories and read things in the Prophet about what they actually were doing but he didn't know how much of it was true, if any.
"No, we didn't," she said. "We were on the run, actually."
"Because you were Muggleborn and Harry was, well, Harry?"
She managed a half-smile. "That's why we were in hiding but not why we didn't go back to Hogwarts. We wouldn't have regardless. Professor Dumbledore had sent us on a mission. One that was essential if Harry was going to destroy Voldemort."
She didn't elaborate further than that and Adrian didn't ask. They'd spoken about the war a bit while they were in Italy. She had told him about her parents and a few other small things but had never really gotten into the meat of what happened to her that year.
"While we were hiding, Harry made a mistake and said Voldemort's name. You remember that it was taboo?"
"Yes," Adrian said.
"We were caught by Snatchers and even though I tried to disguise Harry, they saw his scar and took us to Malfoy Manor."
Adrian knew that the Dark Lord had used Malfoy Manor as a sort of headquarters during the war.
"The Malfoys were there and so was…Bellatrix Lestrange." She paused and took a breath. Adrian waited for her to continue. "There was something in my bag, something that made her think that we'd been in her vault, even though we hadn't. Not then.
While they were in Italy, she had confirmed that they'd broken out of Gringotts on a dragon. The Prophet hadn't reported on the Gringotts break-in in detail at the time, Voldemort hadn't allowed them to. But Adrian had heard rumors about it later and had always wondered if it were true.
"Bellatrix, she tortured me to try to get information about what we'd taken," Hermione said, her voice very quiet. "She used the Cruciatus on me multiple times. And she threatened to give me to Fenrir Greyback if I didn't cooperate."
Adrian wrapped his arms tighter around her, fury rising in him at the thought of it. He was glad, more than ever, that the bitch was dead, the werewolf in Azkaban for life.
"Hermione, I'm-" he began but she shook her head.
"Just, let me finish, please." He nodded and she continued. "Harry and Ron had been locked in the dungeon and managed to get out. A House Elf that used to belong to the Malfoys but Harry had freed came to our rescue. He got us out of there just before they called Voldemort and paid for it with his life."
Adrian had so many questions, not the least of which was how Harry had managed to free a Malfoy House Elf, but he kept quiet, waiting for her to continue. She was quiet for so long that Adrian thought she might not continue. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her lightly. She took a shuddering breath.
"Things happened so fast after that, I really didn't have a lot of time to think about it. But after the war, if I were somewhere unfamiliar, I would get anxious. What would happen if I were trapped there, if I couldn't find my way out? And then it started happening in places that I was familiar with, the Burrow, Diagon Alley, even Hogwarts. The day I had a panic attack, I knew I had to do something. I knew how to Apparate, of course, but there are anti-Apparition wards in a lot of places.
So, I started researching Portkeys. I planned to make one myself, at first. But there wasn't a lot of information available. Not surprising considering that they're regulated by the Ministry. I went to Knockturn thinking I could find more obscure sources for research that might not be exactly…legal. Instead, I found someone who could make one for me."
"You trusted something like that?"
"Of course not," she said with a snort. "But after a few trial runs, with inanimate objects and then a rat, I was convinced and bought one. After I did, I Obliviated the wizard that sold it to me. It was a necklace and I wore it every day for the next two years. If I'd ever needed to use it, it would have taken me to the front step of Grimmauld Place."
"Why did you stop wearing it?" Adrian asked softly.
"Time, I suppose. I stopped thinking about it so much and one day I realized that I hadn't had that feeling for more than a month. I took it off, just to see what would happen. After a couple of days not wearing it, I realized I didn't need to anymore."
"I don't suppose you still have it?"
"No," she said with a sigh. "I destroyed it. Exorcising one's demons and all that."
"I'm sorry," he said. "That you had to deal with all of that."
"It's not your fault."
"I know," he said. "But I'm still sorry."
They lay in silence for a few moments until Hermione pulled back and looked up at him. "I could get you one."
"I'm sure it wasn't cheap," Adrian said.
"That doesn't matter," she replied. "And I'll feel a lot better about you going to your father if you have one."
"It's not going to work."
"Why not? I told you that I tested mine."
"Yes, but our manor has both Anti-Apparition wards and anti-Portkey wards. Most old Pureblood homes do."
She looked up at him in surprise.
"I know that the Ministry does. And I'm quite sure that Hogwarts also has them. I don't think Diagon itself does but most businesses do."
He watched her face fall and then her cheeks darken in embarrassment. "Of course, they do. It wouldn't have worked anyway, would it?"
He hugged her again. "Not everywhere, no."
"I can't believe I didn't research that."
"You were under stress. We don't always think rationally when that's the case. And by your own admission, it made you feel safe just to have it. It did the job it needed to."
"I suppose," she said. "Still, I'm doubly glad now that I didn't tell anyone about it. I would have looked like such an idiot." She looked angry with herself. He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose.
"No wonder the wizard I bought it from was so willing to go along with all my tests. He knew it wouldn't work anyway."
"Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure there are plenty of people that don't know. I only do because it's part of what my father taught me as the heir to our House. I can't imagine where I would have picked up that knowledge otherwise. Not unless I'd gotten a job somewhere that employed those types of wards."
"They've never told us about this at St. Mungo's," she said a bit petulantly.
"You're not in a department that would really need to know, I suppose. You don't see patients or treat people. And I don't imagine there are all that many people that want to visit St. Mungo's research department."
"I guess." She sighed and looked up at him. "This means that you have no protection when you go to see your father."
"I do know how to use a wand, you know," he said with a smirk.
She smacked his chest. "I'm serious, Adrian."
"I know you are, love. But I'll be careful, I promise. Slytherin, remember? We don't go running headlong into danger without a carefully thought out plan."
She smacked him again but there was a small smile on her lips. He leaned down and kissed her. "Now, I can think of far better ways to spend out last night together."
"Oh, really?" Hermione said. "Going to show me how you use your wand?"
He grinned. "Well, if you insist." She laughed as he rolled them over so she was underneath him, then kissed her again.
Hermione flipped through the notes from their observations of the rats and mice after they had given them the potion. She had asked Anders if he would allow her to begin writing up the summary of the study that they planned to submit to the journals for future publication. He had planned to do so himself, once all the data was in from their testing on the pregnant rats but had agreed to let Hermione do it instead.
She could tell that he was curious as to why she wanted to start immediately but gave her permission all the same. It was one of the things she admired most about him. He rarely pried or questioned why she wanted to do something unless it would affect the study. She just hoped that he would agree to Hermione taking a copy when the time came.
She'd been writing for a few days now as they waited for the rats to have their litters. Five had done so already and there had been one stillbirth in the second litter. Hermione had been concerned but Anders had assured her that it happened sometimes and it wasn't necessarily a result of the potion. Further diagnostics had indicated that it was likely the baby wouldn't have survived regardless. It was much smaller than its siblings and appeared to have some kind of organ defect. The next three litters had been perfectly healthy but Hermione was still anxiously awaiting the last.
As she finished writing out their findings from their initial tests, Anders' assistant, Erik, called out to them. "The last one is birthing."
Hermione jumped up from her table and hurried to the cage. She watched as the rat delivered eleven babies, all seemingly healthy. They were all moving around, at any rate. And soon they were all nursing as well. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Anders. The man waved his wand to run a diagnostic and smiled.
"All appear to be fine," he said. "I think we can conclude that the stillbirth was just a natural anomaly."
Hermione blew out a breath and nodded. Out of sixty-seven babies, losing one wasn't statistically significant. Especially with what they'd found on the diagnostic.
"How is the article coming?" Anders asked once their observations were recorded.
"I'm almost finished with the data section on the first tests."
He nodded. "Perhaps I should start writing up the second section on these current tests while you finish the first?"
"Yes, I think that would be helpful," Hermione replied with a grateful smile. Anders was much more experienced in writing journal articles and could probably finish the second section in much less time than it would have taken Hermione.
"Wonderful," he said. "We will continue to monitor the litters but I don't foresee any problems. Perhaps we will be able to submit the initial summary as early as next week."
Hermione nodded in agreement. She hoped, however, that the summary would be complete by Friday so she could take it home with her. She had told Adrian two weeks, after all and it was middle of the second week now.
By Friday morning, Hermione had finished her part of the article. She had proofread it one more time and was now heading to Anders' office to check on his progress before she left for lunch.
Knocking lightly on the doorframe, she stood in the open doorway until Anders looked up. "Ah, Hermione. Come in." He finished the thought he was working on as Hermione walked into the office and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"I've finished my section."
"Excellent," he said as she handed him the sheaf of parchment. She sat quietly as Anders scanned through what she had written. Hermione knew that he would read it in more detail later.
"This looks quite good." He looked up at her with a smile. "Although, I didn't expect anything less."
"Thank you." Hermione shifted in her chair slightly. "How is yours coming along?"
"Very well," he said. "I have almost finished."
"Oh?"
"Yes. As long as nothing comes up, I should finish this afternoon. We will have to be sure everything is exact, however, before we submit. Which means many read throughs, by both of us as well as Erik and the students."
"Of course," Hermione said. She bit her lip, wondering how to word her request. If the data was sound, she wasn't overly concerned about precise wording or the occasional misplaced comma. It wouldn't matter for what she wanted a copy of the study for.
She could just take it without asking. She already had a copy of her section and making one of Anders' wouldn't be overly difficult once he gave it to her to read. But she refused to do that. The ethical implications notwithstanding, she'd come to see Anders as a friend. She wouldn't betray him like that.
"Is something wrong?" Anders asked.
Hermione blew out a breath and looked up at the man. "I have a favor to ask."
"Of course, Hermione. You know that anything you ask I will grant if I can."
"I want to take a copy of the study with me this weekend."
Anders' brow furrowed, then he smiled. "You wish to show it to our Potions prodigy."
"No," she replied. "I mean, yes, I do, but it's not just that. There's…something else."
"I am afraid I do not understand."
Hermione looked up at the man who had given her this wonderful opportunity and knew she had to tell him the truth. Or at least as much of it as was necessary to make him understand. To do anything else would be an insult to their relationship.
"I need to show it to the father of the woman that has been helping us."
Anders frowned but Hermione continued. "I don't know if things are the same here as they are in Britain, but our helper is a Pureblood. As far as her parents are concerned, her main goal in life is to marry well, no matter her talents."
Anders sighed and shook his head. "While it is not common here, there are still a few of the old Pureblood families that cling to such notions."
Hermione breathed an internal sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to completely explain things. "I'm actually dating this woman's brother. It's how we met in the first place. He's been disowned by his father for daring to break his own betrothal contract. He's trying to help his sister further her education and eventually obtain a Mastery but it's complicated by the fact that she isn't yet of age."
"And you wish to show her father the study, in the hopes that he would realize just how talented his daughter is," Anders finished.
"Yes," Hermione said. "I understand that this is unorthodox, but time is not on our side." She paused and looked up at Anders, biting her lip again.
"Whatever you tell me, I will not repeat to anyone," Anders said, correctly guessing the reason for her hesitation.
"In order to get her out of a bad situation with her own betrothal contract, she and her brother have gone into hiding. She fully agreed to this but her father has filed kidnapping charges against her brother. They're safe for now but it's only a matter of time before the right person is questioned and possibly forced to tell the truth against their will."
"And your Department of Magical Law Enforcement uses such methods?"
"Only under certain circumstances, however, this man has money and contacts within the Ministry. And there is always the possibility that it will not be the DMLE doing the questioning."
Anders studied her for a few moments. Likely correctly guessing that Hermione was in danger of being questioned.
"I plan to hide our names on the study," she said hoping to reassure him. "He will know there are others involved but not who they are."
"And how to you plan to do this?" Anders asked in confusion.
Hermione smiled and drew a black Sharpie marker from her pocket. Anders chuckled. She had forgotten he was a half-blood and knew a fair bit about the Muggle world.
"Quite a creative solution, I must say," he said. Then he sobered. "Do you think that the study will convince this man?"
"I don't know," she said honestly. "But right now, it's the only option we have."
"And how will you show this man the study without putting yourself in danger?"
"I'm not going to be the one to show it to him," she said, face twisting at the thought of Adrian confronting his father on his own.
"Ah," Anders said in understanding. "Is that wise?"
Hermione snorted. "No. But I don't think I'll be able to stop him. He would do anything for his sister."
"I understand the sentiment," Anders said. "If you feel this is important, then yes, you may take a copy with you."
"Thank you, Anders," she said gratefully.
"However, I must ask that your young man destroy it as soon as his father has read through it. I do not want to risk it being exposed to the public before we are finished with our research."
"Of course," Hermione said. There was a spell Adrian could put on the parchment to make it destroy itself after a certain amount of time regardless of what else happened. She pushed those thoughts from her mind.
"I will let you know as soon as I'm finished," Anders said.
"Thank you," she said again. She stood from her chair and turned to leave his office.
"Good luck to your beau. I truly hope this works the way you all hope it will." He smiled up at her and Hermione nodded, unable to say anything. She certainly hoped it worked too.