A/N: Get ready, this is the big one!
Minerva McGonagall's Home in the Scottish Highlands
The weekend went by slowly as the two witches passed the time together reading and going for long walks. Despite the uncertainty in the air, they found peace being together and looked forward to the day they could show Hermione around the beautiful terrain that surrounded Minerva McGonagall's ancestral home. It was one of those moments that seemed too good to last.
On Sunday evening, Amelia mentioned the threat on the Ministry again.
"I'm sorry to have to bring this up again, but we should probably have a plan in place. If something were to happen at work."
"Ok, what did you have in mind?" Minerva asked.
"Well, what if I went to my flat in London and sent you a Patronus? I just…I don't know if I'm being followed, if there's any sort of paper trail anyone could be aware of. The Death Eaters likely have spies in the ministry, that I know. It's a terrible sort of thing, but that's the only reason they've been able to control the legislature for so long."
Minerva nodded. "Yes, that seems reasonable for you to go there. I don't think we can really predict what they'll do, other than promising to fight like hell when the time comes. What about all of the Hogwarts students at the Ministry?" Minerva had a pained look of worry on her face.
"I'm the one responsible for the program and their wellbeing. I don't know, honestly. All of the fire evacuation and lockdown drills don't exactly help us prepare for a threat on the Ministry. It's not easy to make it in or out of the building, but I know how to get to the apparition points."
"You're fully capable of this, Amelia. Of whatever is to come, I can assure you we are as prepared as we can possibly be. We will protect the students and, of course, Hermione."
Amelia simply nodded back at her partner, too afraid she might burst into tears if she said anything else. She had been regaining her confidence over the weekend, but all that was lost thinking about how naïve the Ministry of Magic was at actually preparing for the worst. She could only hope there wouldn't be many casualties. What a fool she was to place her trust in such homophobic incompetents.
Wednesday, July 3, 1996 Ministry of Magic
Monday and Tuesday were rather uneventful as the Hogwarts students took part in some group lectures and traveled throughout London to a few satellite offices of the Ministry of Magic.
On Wednesday Amelia Bones was scheduled to meet with Hermione Granger to discuss her long-term project for the summer. Rather than meet in the Wizengamot Chambers, they were at a conference room style area on the same floor so as to protect them from being an easy target at the DMLE.
"I'd like to do a project on equality initiatives in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as it pertains to the welfare of different magical beings," Hermione explained.
"Yes, that sounds like a good direction for your work. I'm afraid we have a long way to go in terms of laws, jurisdictions and equality for magical beings other than humans. Honestly, we have a long way to go for humans too if you ask me," Amelia rolled her eyes a bit when thinking of the laws her colleagues were upholding and standing by.
"I'm glad you agree. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I started a group at school called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.). Maybe I would be able to use it as a starting point for this project?"
"I would say so, please, tell me more!" Amelia was excited to hear about her daughter's extracurricular pursuits and activism.
Hermione dove into an explanation of why she started S.P.E.W. and the two of them started taking notes for how she could turn it into her summer project. Mid-sentence, a loud popping noise sounded and shouting could be heard in the distance. The building started to rumble and noises started getting closer. They were the only ones in the immediate vicinity and Amelia didn't want them to end up being sitting ducks.
Amelia muttered something under her breath, grabbed her bag and sternly told Hermione, "I don't know what this is, but we better move. Come on!"
They both got up and started walking at a brisk pace in the direction of the stairs that would take them to the lower levels and the apparition point. Office workers looked at each other with nervous glances but weren't quite sure what to do. No alarm had been sounded, and for all they knew there was just a loud rainstorm and thunder outside.
All of the sudden what sounded like fireworks could be heard, closer than ever and Amelia swore she saw Death Eater robes billowing in the distance behind her.
She started sprinting, shooting up a signal with her wand as an SOS and Hermione followed behind her trying to keep up with the pace. Those who could had already gotten to the stairs and others started hiding under desks and seeking cover wherever they could.
By the time they got to the stairs it was too late. A tall Death Eater who Amelia recognized but whose name she couldn't place appeared with his wand pointed at her.
"Amelia Bones as I live and breathe. How good of you to make my acquaintance once again. Ah, and who is this may I ask? Your own spawn, perhaps?" He drawled, asking his last question in a voice laced with contempt.
"Leave her alone!" Amelia shouted, disarming him momentarily with a well-timed stinging hex before he started shooting spells at her again.
"Don't you worry your pretty head. I don't want the girl. You're the one I'm after. When I'm through with you there won't be a Wizengamot anymore, Madam Bones!" He then started sending curses flying without abandon at the pair, intent on badly injuring, if not outright killing, Amelia.
She shielded herself and Hermione from the worst of the attacks, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before others would show up or he would use an unforgivable curse on one or the both of them.
Hermione knew Madam Bones was a strong dueler so she focused on getting to safety. She spotted a door open to an empty office near them and waited for a chance to draw them near it. If they couldn't get out, they could at least make themselves hard to find.
As his attention was fully occupied by Amelia as they dueled, Hermione knew she had the advantage with timing, if not for power. Just as Amelia was knocked off her feet by a powerful stunning spell, Hermione disarmed the Death Eater and helped her mentor get back on her feet. She didn't look too badly injured after the duel and was at least stable enough to keep moving.
"Follow me!" Hermione shouted as the two made their way over some rubble to the office left ajar. Whoever had been there had left quickly and the two set about barricading the door from intruders to figure out their next move. The Death Eaters only seemed to really be after her and the other members of the Wizengamot. People were scared, but it didn't seem like anyone was going to die outside the small, musty office.
Once they caught their breath, Hermione asked, "Now what?" Her heart was beating a mile a minute. The Death Eater clearly seemed to know that Amelia has a daughter and Hermione had already figured out that there was a high probability Madam Bones was indeed her other parent.
Amelia looked calm and collected at first glance, but her eyes revealed the true turmoil of the situation.
"We need to figure out how we can get to the apparition point now that the stairs aren't an option. We're outnumbered. There's no way we have the advantage with magic. I'd say we start thinking about a muggle plan of escape."
Hermione was looking around the room for any potential hiding spots or weapons when she spotted a very muggle plan of escape.
"What about the air vents?"
"Pardon?"
"Doesn't the building have air vents like any other large building in London? Like the muggle government buildings? That opening looks huge. I think we'd be able to fit through it and crawl through towards somewhere else in the building."
Amelia glanced up at the air vent Hermione was referring to. The entrance was placed right above a file cabinet and looked just the right height and size for climbing up and shimmying through its metal walls.
"You're a genius, let's do it!" Amelia beamed. Gods, what would she do without Hermione?
They helped each other climb up on top of the file cabinet and Hermione used a spell similar to muggle screwdrivers to open up the panel that served as the entrance to the air vent.
With much trepidation, Hermione crawled through and offered a hand to help Amelia in. There it was again. That spark. That magic coursing through her veins that seemed to recognize Amelia, eagerly asking for her to hold onto the hand of her other mother. It was as if her magic had guided her to Amelia and would now take them to safety.
They both wore their satchels around them and didn't have too much trouble carrying them. It was best not to leave their bags in the office in the event they were being followed. Hermione had already partially closed the vent behind those thoughts aside, they made their way towards a large intersection that funneled out in different direction. They picked the path through which light was visible and carried on. Sounds could still be heard outside, but the sounds were muffled, and Hermione just pretended she was back in elementary school crawling through plastic tubs at the children fun center her parents took her to on special occasions and friends' birthday parties.
Without warning, a large drop-off appeared, and Hermione stopped abruptly, panting nervously as she very nearly lost her shoe and, with it, the rest of her. Amelia grabbed her midsection and pulled her back in time. Again, she ignored the obvious connection she felt towards Amelia and the contentedness her magic felt when finally locating its origin.
They made their way back again to the central node and decided to adjust course.
"I don't know where we are. What was I thinking?" Hermione felt discouraged.
"You're doing great. We're safe here, at least for now." Amelia reached for Hermione's hand. "We're going to get through this. We're going to the apparition point and getting out of here."
"Can I ask you, about what he said earlier? About you having a daughter? I already know Professor McGonagall is my mum, but I think you are too. My other parent, that is. She said father, but I think I understand what she meant" Hermione asked, hoping that in the semi-darkness she could be braver than she really felt.
Amelia gave Hermione's hand a squeeze. "Well, I can't lie to you, can I? Yes, you are mine. You're both of ours. You've seen the laws by now, you know why we couldn't raise you. If anything, she would be your father. I'm the one...I'm the one who carried and gave birth to you," Amelia offered by way of apology.
"I know. I'm not mad at you, I don't blame you. I just want to be around you. Don't you feel that spark of the magic between us."
"I do, love, I do. The last time I felt that was the day I thought I'd lose you forever. And here we are now, in an air vent in the Ministry, somehow brought together because I told Minerva to send you here for the summer program. But how'd you figure it out? Surely you would have been searching for a biological father?"
"It made the most logical sense once I read the laws, really. I…may have made a visited to the Restricted Section of the library to figure that out, though. There was a chance I had a second mother, which was why Professor McGonagall…Minerva…and you had to give me up when I was an infant."
"How are you so understanding?" Amelia whispered.
Hermione drew her mother close, awkwardly squatting on the cold, metal walls that wouldn't permit them to stand up. Not realizing she had closed her eyes, Amelia opened them and looked at Hermione before pulling her in for a warm embrace.
Amelia opened her arms and let her emotions wash over her, finally holding her daughter for the first time in years. Amelia rubbed her daughter's head affectionately, "My Hermione," she whispered.
Once they broke the embrace, Amelia shifted positions and led the way with her wand out emitting a faint light.
It took a few more tries but they made their way slowly to the lower level of the Ministry in the air vents. Carefully, Amelia used the same spell Hermione used initially to pull open the grate and help the both of them through it. As eager as Amelia was to look at her daughter and tell her more, she knew the danger wasn't over. She heard the terrible squeaking noise of her shoes on the shiny tile floor as they ran in the flow of people rushing to the apparition points. From the corner of her eye, Amelia saw Montgomery Feldspar and some of the other department heads directing the other Hogwarts students, children, really, to the apparition points that would get them out of the war zone unfolding in the halls of the Ministry of Magic.
"There she is!" one of the Death Eaters, likely a woman, cackled. She fired off a curse right at Hermione and it hit her square in the chest, knocking the breath out of her. Hermione stumbled and fell to the floor, but it wasn't long before Amelia cast a featherweight spell on her to half carry her to safety. She saw one of her colleagues had already shot a spell back at the woman and the Death Eater lay dazed on the floor.
Amelia couldn't tell the extent of Hermione's injuries, but it didn't look good. She hoped she was just bruised and not seriously injured. Finally, it was their turn to side-along apparate and Amelia wasted no time getting to her London flat. Once there, she shot out a Patronus calling for Minerva, hoping she would be able to assess their condition should one of them need to go to Saint Mungos. Amelia lay Hermione gingerly on the sofa and the girl lost consciousness, falling into a deep sleep brought about by the terrors of the day and the curse that had hit her.
Amelia looked in the direction of the door, counting the minutes before Minerva would arrive.