A/N: All HP characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.
Unspeakable Chapter 9: FeelingsSirius took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. Losing consciousness here would be one of the worst things that could happen to him at the moment. Just a few more steps…almost there.
Sirius stumbled once but regained some semblance of balance before slumping against a wall at the end of the alleyway. He was now past the anti-Apparition wards. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment, concentrating on arriving at la Solar Luna. It was more difficult than usual, but Sirius was able to Disapparate and then Apparate into an upstairs corridor of the manor.
He was relieved to find that there was no one else in the hallway. It just wouldn't do if someone saw him in his present state. Too many awkward questions would be asked, and Sirius wasn't feeling up to the task of creating the believable lies that suspicious situations typically required.
He made his way slowly down the hallway, wishing fervently that he could slip through unnoticed. After trying several doors that led to various unoccupied rooms of the house, Sirius found what the Order had just converted into a storeroom.
At every Order base, there was one location where all of the medical supplies and potions were kept. This particular place looked as though it had once been a kitchen, as many cabinets and tables filled the room.
Sirius opened one of the cabinets on his right and found the healing potions. Frowning for a moment at the rows of neatly labeled bottles, he tried to remember which one was used to eliminate dizziness and clear the drinker's head. I was always abysmal with those bloody potions. Which one was it again?
In hopes of finding the correct substance, he began randomly reading labels, as the room continued to spin. Ah, here it is, the Claresco potion. At least I think that's the right one.
Sirius hesitated for only a second before grabbing the small bottle and downing its contents. He made a face. The stuff tasted awful, but it began to work quickly. The spots of color that drifted in front of Sirius' eyes vanished, and the room ceased to whirl.
He could feel bruises forming on his back from his collision with the brick wall, and a gash on his upper arm was bleeding profusely. Looking in a small mirror that hung on the wall, he also noticed a bruise above his left eye. Now that he was once again alert, Sirius resolved to find something to heal or at the very least, hide his various injuries.
Upon her return, Hermione immediately traversed the corridors of la Solar Luna to her mother's room. The door was still slightly ajar, and she peeked in. Her mother was sitting propped against the pillows, reading a novel from the library.
"Mum!" Hermione cried, hurrying across the room to hug her mother.
Mrs. Granger looked up at the sound of Hermione's voice and cast her book onto the bedside table. She smiled as she embraced her daughter.
"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.
"Much better than before. In fact, I'm hoping to explore the house a bit tomorrow."
"Mum, I'm so sorry. None of this should have ever happened. If I had known…" Hermione was overcome by guilt when she saw her mother like this. Her life had been interrupted by a struggle that she had no part in.
"Hermione, there was no way you could have known. You shouldn't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. In the middle of a war, unpleasant things happen, but you have done nothing that you should be ashamed of. I'm very proud of you."
Hermione had never believed that her mother would blame her for the attack, but she had felt that it had happened because of her. Her mother's words calmed her, though. Her parents had always been able to reassure her, to make her believe that everything would be okay. It was soothing to be near family again.
"How have you been, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked, curious to hear the latest details of her daughter's life.
Hermione then began to talk. She left out the parts of her story that included Order business and the situation at the Department, but she told her mother about her new job, Grace, Sirius, and many other aspects of her life. Hermione was surprised to find that it felt good to voice her thoughts on the chaotic happenings to someone, and Mrs. Granger was happy to hear that her daughter was finding her way back to the better life that she had left behind years ago.
Finally, she recounted her visit to Mar Azul. Mrs. Granger was eager to visit the town after the description of its beauty she had been given and decided to make the most of her time in Spain once she had fully recovered.
"I bought several pictures of the town and the sea," Hermione said, taking the aforementioned items from her pocket and using magic to return them to their original size.
She paused before adding, "I bought a dress, too. I really don't know what came over me, but it was amazing. I didn't even have an occasion to wear it, but then, I was talking to Bill Weasley, and he told me about the fiestas in the village plaza. I think I might go tomorrow night. The Spanish culture really is fascinating."
"A dress. Hermione, you really must try it on," Mrs. Granger said with a smile. After all, she was curious about a dress that could attract even Hermione's attention in such a manner.
"Be right back," Hermione grumbled, but it only took about a second for a smile that matched her mother's to appear on her face. She went back to her room, lifted the shrinking spell from the dress, and tried it on.
As she stood in front of her mirror, Hermione couldn't help noticing how different she looked. Hardly anyone ever saw her so dressed up, so when she did make the effort, people were surprised. With a slight laugh, Hermione remembered the Yule Ball in her fourth year. Shocking people really was amusing at times.
While she studied her reflection, an odd thought entered her mind. What will Sirius say when he sees me? For reasons she couldn't quite figure out, Hermione hoped he would like the way she looked in the dress.
Feeling that it was strange of her to suddenly wonder what Sirius thought about her appearance, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. She could make sense of that later.
Hermione walked back down the hallway to her mother's room, thinking that her cane was dreadfully out of place in her current ensemble. However, when Mrs. Granger saw her, she was astounded. "The dress is very pretty. Are you sure you aren't dressing up for someone in particular? The last time you made this much of an effort you were dating that awful Bryson boy from the Auror Division."
"Mum, who could I possibly be trying to impress now?" Hermione said incredulously.
Before Mrs. Granger could say anything further, a series of loud crashes sounded from upstairs. It sounded as though someone was smashing glass in one of the rooms above them. "I'm going to go make sure everything is okay. I'll be back," Hermione said as she walked out into the hallway.
After ascending the stairs, she was in the corridor that the commotion had come from. It really wasn't hard to tell which room to go to, as she could hear Sirius cursing from the other end of the hall.
Hermione entered the storeroom to find Sirius standing in front of an open cabinet with broken bottles of healing potions littering the floor around him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could see the bruises on his back and the gash on his arm. Hermione also noticed yet another bruise above his eye. What in the world could he have been doing?
She stood in the doorway, staring at Sirius, momentarily transfixed. He was looking back at her with a strange, startled expression on his face. Upon realizing that she had been staring, Hermione averted her gaze and stepped forward into the room. He must think I look weird. It's not like I dress this way every day.
Sirius had been taken by surprise when Hermione arrived. He had hoped that the awful crashing noises would go unnoticed in such a large house, but his hopes were soon dashed. He had tried to think of a plausible excuse for what he had been doing, but Sirius found that Hermione distracted him. She was wearing a dress and staring at him in shock, and all he could do was simply stare back.
When she began to walk toward him, it dawned on Sirius that he was standing amid broken glass and spilled potions. She had already taken out her wand and repaired several of them when he started to help clean up the mess.
Once the fragments of glass had been removed from the floor, Hermione came to stand closer to Sirius, who had taken a towel from the counter to wipe away the blood that was running down his arm.
"What happened to you?" she asked, as she reached for a bottle of dark green liquid from the cabinet.
Sirius watched as Hermione poured some of the stuff onto a cloth, trying to think of something to tell her. "I was…uh…mugged while I was in Barcelona. I thought I would go look at the town, and…things didn't go as I had planned." Sirius knew the excuse was lame, and he was certain that Hermione doubted the story, but thankfully, she didn't question him.
Hermione knew that there was something that Sirius was keeping from her, but there was time for that later. Right now, she had to take care of the many cuts and bruises that he had obtained because he obviously couldn't tell one healing potion from another.
Holding his arm with one hand, she pressed the cloth soaked in the dark green potion onto the scratch. Sirius winced in pain; the stuff stung like fire. Almost instantly, the gash started to fade. It became gradually lighter until it was just a scar, and then it disappeared altogether. The stinging stopped, and all Sirius felt was Hermione's hand on his arm. He had no idea why the situation seemed so awkward, but it was strangely different and yet nice to be so near her.
Next, Hermione reached for a bottle of light blue potion. "This won't hurt so much," she said as she took the stopper from the bottle. Hermione attributed the odd, fast beating of her heart to her worry for an injured friend, as she deftly applied the substance to the ugly, purple bruises, her fingers brushing across Sirius' back as she worked.
Once she had finished, she moved to stand in front of Sirius. Pushing several strands of jet-black hair from the bruise above his eye, Hermione began to apply more healing potion.
Sirius flinched and pulled away almost as soon as she touched the injury, but Hermione persisted. "Hold still," she admonished quietly, as the bruise faded and then vanished.
The two were now standing face to face, and Hermione reluctantly moved her hand. "Better now?" she asked, almost in a whisper.
"Yeah," Sirius answered, likewise at a loss for words.
Hermione was aware of how closely they were standing and was torn between wanting to stay like that for a while longer and the urge to run back to her room.
Suddenly, Grace's yell of "Hermione! Sirius! Remus is here to see you!" caused them to break apart. Hermione walked into the corridor, and after putting on a shirt, Sirius followed.
They made their way down half of the hallway in silence, but as they started to descend to stairs, Sirius spoke. "What's the dress for, Hermione?"
She excitedly told him of her plans for the next evening. "…It just sounded like so much fun that I decided to go."
"So, who's the lucky guy you're going with?" he asked. He had never seen anyone dressed so just to party alone.
"Well, I was hoping it would be you," Hermione said, smiling and laughing slightly.
Hermione mentally berated herself. I sounded so stupid. I shouldn't have said anything. I really must learn to keep my thoughts to myself.
Sirius was surprised but pleased at her answer. "Anything for you," he said with a grin, as they arrived in the entrance hall.
Grace was just excusing herself from the group with the intention of working on a report for the Department when they reached Remus.
"Is something the matter?" Hermione asked as she looked at him. The expression on Remus' face was tense, as though he was dreading something, and he had one hand pressed to his temple, seemingly trying to push certain thoughts from his mind.
"The Order had several things to discuss with you, Hermione, so I brought the messages for them. I wanted to see both of you before I left."
"You're leaving? Did that teaching job in Ireland that you were telling me about finally come through?" Sirius asked.
"I'll be teaching, but it won't be in Ireland," Remus said, sighing wearily. "I'm going back to Hogwarts as Defense professor."
"Wouldn't they have contacted you sooner? Classes have been in session for over two months now." Hermione pointed out.
"Do you remember Hector Octavian? He taught Defense and worked with the Order."
"Yes," she answered, wondering what the man could have to do with whatever was bothering Remus. Sirius nodded, and Remus continued the story.
"Last night, the Order sent several people to search your mother's old house. Only the Order, a few trusted Aurors, and Harris knew about the attack. Somehow, Kingsley kept the news away from the Ministry and out of the newspapers. Hector had been missing since the night of the two missions, and his body was finally found in the forest behind the house. Dumbledore owled me this morning to ask me to teach. I'll be leaving later today."
Hermione was shocked speechless. This just doesn't end. Their fight is with me, but everyone else is getting hurt. How am I supposed to stop this?
"Because of this latest discovery, the Order had been in a bit of an upheaval. No one feels at all safe, and they can't figure out the enemy's motives this time. I was also told to give you something, but I want you to know that if you refuse, I will simply take them back. I, along with several others, thought that no one had the right to ask such a thing."
Remus took a thin package wrapped in brown paper from the table beside him. "As you know, the Auror Division takes photos of every crime scene. There have been no leads as to the attack, and some Order members believe that it would be helpful if you…" he left the sentence unfinished, looking uncomfortable. After taking a steadying breath, Remus completed his explanation, "…looked through the photos."
Hermione felt as though someone had knocked the wind out of her, as she reached out with a trembling hand to take the package.
"Who's idea was this, Remus?" Sirius demanded, his face steadily darkening with anger.
"Snape's," Remus said, resignedly. He had anticipated Sirius reaction. His friend had always had a nasty temper when angered, and his wrath was rarely worse than when he was fighting with Snape.
"He'll have me to answer to for this," Sirius said, as he moved to snatch the dreaded package from Hermione.
"No, he was right, Sirius. This is something I have to do, even if I don't like it."
"Are you sure?" Remus questioned.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hermione said, although she didn't sound very convincing.
"I have to get back to the Order, but I'll owl you as soon as I arrive at Hogwarts," Remus said.
"Take care, Moony," Sirius told his old friend.
"Goodbye, Remus," Hermione said, as he walked out to return to England.
"I'll be in my room. I should get this over with," she sighed, turning to leave.
Sirius watched as Hermione trudged up the staircase. He wished there was some way he could help her. He knew how she was feeling because he had been through many such ordeals during the first war. Sirius remembered a night twenty-seven years ago, when he had been questioned about Lily and James' deaths. He knew she would be hurting, and he wished that there was something he could do to take the pain away.
Once Hermione was in her room, she shut the door and sat down on her bed. With trembling fingers, she began to open the package. As the brown paper began to fall away, she saw several wizarding photos.
The first was of the house, the same old two-story, brick house that Hermione had grown up in. All of the windows had been shattered, and the right half of the house was crumbling into a misshapen pile of bricks. There were scorch marks from a fire covering the remnants of the home. The movement in the picture was ghastly. Hermione could see pieces of the house falling to the ground, as the stars twinkled eerily in the night sky.
Feeling shaken, she placed the picture on the bed next to her and looked at the next. It was a closer shot of the front porch. Hermione gasped as she saw dark, red blood merged with sparkling fragments of glass in the moonlight.
Quickly moving to the next photo, she swiped at her face to remove the silent tears that had begun to fall. How many more can there possibly be? How many more of these damned pictures do I have to look at?
Another picture was taken from a distance, showing the house, a stark silhouette against the woods that lay in the background.
The following few were of the rooms of the house. Hermione noted the marks on the walls, the furniture, and the floor. They had been made by errant dark curses. Many of the rooms had been burned, while others were only left in a broken state of disarray. It pained Hermione to see her childhood home like this.
Hermione almost choked when looked at the last picture. It was the body of Hector Octavian, lying amidst the trees of the small forest. He was bleeding from the chest and covered in burns. She wouldn't have recognized him, had it not been for the news she had received earlier from Remus. Trying not to vomit at the horrific sight, Hermione quickly turned the picture upside down.
In her days as an Auror, Hermione had seen many such things, some even more violent and bloody than what she had just viewed. She had seen those other happenings firsthand, as well, but nothing could make her so heartsick as the sight that had just been before her eyes.
In quite a few ways, the situation seemed familiar. It fit the pattern of several attacks she had witnessed in her career, but it reminded her most of the night she had received her injury, the night Orion Kent's house had been torn to the ground and he and his family tortured.
Hermione didn't even try to sleep until three, but even then, her mind wouldn't allow her to rest. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the desecrated house, the blood mixed with broken glass, and the body lying in the forest.
There was something else bothering her, she realized. Something was wrong in the photos; they seemed to deviate from all the other incidents, but Hermione couldn't quite place the difference. The answer seemed to torment her. It lingered at the back of her mind, just out of reach.
Finally, a couple of hours later, Hermione drifted into a light sleep filled with terrible images. She dreamed that she was walking in the house and the yard, watching helplessly as the devastation took place. Memories of the night Sirius had "died" haunted her, and lastly, she dreamed of the night three years ago that had changed her life.
Hermione's mind, even in sleep, was trying to bring the evasive answer to light, but it merely remained an elusive shadow.
Thanks for reading another chapter. Please review!
Rane2920072: I still can't say anything about the spy, but the next few chapters will be full of mystery. I'm beginning to learn Spanish, so I don't know much yet. I thought it would be fun to include some of the language and culture in the story, though, and my beta reader has been a great help. I will be trying to update more often now that the plot had begun to move at a faster pace. I really appreciate all of the reviews you have left.
prin69: Thanks for taking time to review six chapters. I'm glad you liked my story, and I hope you'll enjoy upcoming chapters, as well.
The Gryffindor Drummer: I like the new pen name. Thank you for continuing to review.
RainynDawn: Wow, it was like you read my mind about Sirius, Hermione, and the dress. I'm glad you like Unspeakable. Thanks for reviewing. I've read about half of All My Yesterdays, and so far, it's very good.
Helkardowen: Thank you for the review. You will be able to find out more about the traitor soon, so keep reading. I also like the idea of Sirius helping Fred and George, so he might be making a few more suggestions throughout the story.
vixen519: Change of scenery is always interesting in a fan fiction, and it was very fun for me to write about Spain. The truth serum is significant in the story, and its purpose will be explained in the next chapter. It was great to hear from you again.
JTBJAB: Sirius had to return quickly for his scene with Hermione. lol. Thanks for reviewing again. I do plan to write more quickly because I have more time on my hands now, so the next chapter should be up soon.
acdecnerd: Thanks for the review. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story, too.