As time passed on, Hermione became aware of everything and the way things had become since she had been gone. Dumbledore had been right; it was very hard for her. When she realized that she had missed her daughter's first words, and her first steps, she cried. She would get so frustrated that she would randomly throw things. But, she got better, and everything started to get back to normal. At the latest Order meeting, there was a slight problem.
"You all, remember the traitor that we discovered was among us two years ago, correct?" Dumbledore looked around and saw everyone shake their head in agreement. "Well, he or she has not shown any sign of, involvement in quite a while." He paused. "Until now that is."
"What? Why would he wait two years to come back." Lupin asked out loud.
"Or she." Snape glared over at Hermione.
"Because, maybe whoever it was thought that it would be easier to blame someone else then taking it on themselves." She glared right back.
"Wait a minute, you don't think that-" Harry looked over at Dumbledore puzzled.
"No, I do not-"
"Think about it! Whoever this traitor is, their, traiting decreased when Hermione was expecting April. Then when Hermione was in St. Mungos these past years, they showed NO sign of movement. Now suddenly, their back." Snape looked over at where Hermione was seated next to Harry and Ron. "And so0 is she" He added coldly.
"You jerk! How dare you say that Herm-" Ron stood up but Hermione pushed him back down.
"I'm glad that you have been so clever as to come up with a timeline of events and how it leads to me being the traitor." She smiled at him, causing everyone to become even more confused then they already were. "And that's exactly what he wanted."
"What are you-"
"Think about it! If you, and everyone else in the Order, believed that it was me-"
"But we don't-"
"I know, Molly. If everyone thought that it was me, the entire Order would fall apart! That's exactly what he wanted! For us to keep our guards down and allow him to destroy us!"
"She's quite right Severus, quite right." He smiled at Hermione.
"And he's the one who worked with Death Eaters, he should expect deceit and trickory to get to people." She whispered under her breath, causing Ron and Harry to snicker.
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Later that night, they all decided to give Harry and Hermione some time with April, alone. Everyone went over to the Burrow after shopping at Diagon Alley. The three of them sat around and played games, talked about what had happened in the past 2 years, and April showed Hermione her photo album. They were getting ready to sit down and have dinner when Harry realized that there wasn't anything in the house to eat.
"Goddamn Sirius! I swear, between him and Ron, I don't know whose worse!" Hermione laughed at her husband.
"Look, it's not a big deal. Just go to the Burrow and ask to borrow something for dinner. I'll stay here with April." He looked weary. "Just go!" Hermione pushed him and he apparated to the Burrow.
"Mommy, can I go upstairs and play with my dolls?"
"Yes you can. I'll be up in a minute to check on you okay?"
"Ok-ay!" She laughed and ran up the stairs to her room.
Hermione was sitting in the living room, looking through some more pictures when she heard a noise upstairs.
"April? Are you okay?" She hollered up the stairs but nobody answered. She walked up the stairs and into April's room.
"Look Mommy! Uncle Percy is here!" April was sitting on her bed looking from Hermione to Percy.
"Oh, that-that's good. Hey April hunny? Why don't you stay here and me and Uncle Percy are gonna go talk in the hall okay?"
"Okay."
The two walked into the hallway and Hermione's mind was racing. She knew that something wasn't right. The look in Percy's eyes was almost maniacal. She thought rapidly to the previous meeting when Snape was giving off the reasons why Hermione was the traitor.
"Stopped when I was pregnant with April, which was also right after we defeated Voldemort, and didn't do a thing until I came back. Wants us to fall apart and not be concentrated on what's really going on." She thought to herself. Then it all made sense.
"So, Percy, wh-what are you doing here?" Hermione asked him.
"Oh, um, just wanted to stop by and say hello that's all." He looked back at April. "She's getting bigger everyday."
"Ya, ya she is."
"It was erm, amazing how the Order stayed together and on task while you were in St. Mungos. Never fell apart, stayed strong and did what they had to do until you got back." He looked at her and smiled. She smiled right back.
"So, what have you been up to these past couple years?" She was going to get him to admit this no matter what she had to do.
"Oh, nothing really. Went on a little trip to France while you were, sick. Did some work down there for a couple years. I came back just before you got out of Mungos actually."
"So he was gone the whole time I was sick, that would explain the two year time period. Came back just before I did." She knew for sure now, and was going to prove it.
"So, was France fun? Did you see the sights?" She knew that there used to be Death Eaters stationed somewhere in France, and thought that was probably the only place he saw.
"Erm, no not really. Too much work to do." He was moving his feet back and forth across the floor and could tell he was getting nervous.
"Oh, right. Well, let me take your coat." She reached for his arm and he drew back, dropping his notebook in the process.
"No, that's okay." They both leaned down to pick up the papers and she grabbed his left arm. She lifted up the arm of his coat and saw what she dreaded to see: the Dark Mark.
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