AN: Just a head's up—Hermione is into Ron at first, as she is in canon, but that doesn't last very long.
Chapter Three: Fleur is Another Kind of Flower
Severus rolled his neck and took a sip of elderflower wine, the taste sweet and dry in his mouth. The meeting with the Granger girl had gone better than he had expected; the girl was a promising Occlumens, not surprising considering how much time she spent using her mind. Her mental defences had been strong, though he had stopped his mental probe before he could hurt her.
He had told the girl to keep things secret under the pretext that he would be sharing Dumbledore's confidences, which had been true, but the real reason why he was teaching her Occlumency was so she could keep their association secret. Soon, he would need everyone to be assured of his loyalty to the Dark Lord and it wouldn't do to have word of his assistance to the Muggle-born best friend of Harry Potter get out. He hoped that when the time came, the girl would be too betrayed by his actions to speak of their previous association.
He had been infuriated to discover that the Order had left the girl unprotected, but it was not surprising, considering the girl had no protections on her home against strange owl post. He had sent her a letter through a rented owl from Diagon Alley with his handwriting disguised by writing with his left hand, in case the Order was watching, but it turned out his preparations were unnecessary.
The Order wouldn't have been losing numbers so easily if they had the means to protect everyone, though people should have known to protect themselves at this point in the war. The fact that the girl showed the initiative to move her parents demonstrated she understood the severity of the situation.
Severus had surprised himself when he agreed to help; he was tired of standing by while people died. Dumbledore had increasingly insisted on not acting on intelligence they could not explain away as having been obtained by means other than spying, convinced that Severus needed to be trusted by the Dark Lord now more than ever. Severus wondered if Dumbledore was becoming callous to the idea of death because of his impending demise.
The whole meeting with the girl had taken an hour, and now he was back at Spinner's End with the delightful presence of Wormtail. Severus' face darkened. It was a curious situation; he didn't know who was being watched here—him or Wormtail. Putting two enemies together in the same house had been a stroke of genius on the part of the Dark Lord to keep them both on their toes. Dumbledore insisted this move was further proof that the Dark Lord did not trust him.
Severus sighed. He had not felt the freedom of anonymity that the Muggle world provided in a long time. It was ironic the Muggle background he so despised as a child would be his only escape as an adult. It was the only place where people treated him with the same courtesy everyone else received, where he was nobody special, where he had been able to meet people who didn't know his complicated history. He had been able to make the occasional friendly acquaintance, even form the odd dalliance with Muggle women, if only briefly… It had been freeing to tie his hair back and bare his arms, pretend the Dark Mark was just a normal tattoo, to feel as if he could be seen as human and it wouldn't be the end of the world.
"Where did you go?" asked Wormtail, disturbing Severus' train of thought. He slunk into the sitting room and was quivering in his usual slimy manner.
"None of your business," Severus replied crisply.
"The Dark Lord will not be pleased to know this—"
"Ah yes, I'm sure he will be delighted I kept you close while I tended to my every need. Tell me now, would you like an itemised list of my dirty laundry next? The schedule for my toilet trips perhaps?"
Pettigrew drew himself up. "No need to be rude—"
Severus sneered. "Then don't be rude. I was tending to personal business. I'm sure you know what personal means."
Wormtail's face twisted into a knowing leer, and he left the room, likely to paw through the kitchen. Severus shuddered to think what he was imagining in his depraved mind.
Death would be too good an end for the rat. If Wormtail's status as the one who brought about the return of the Dark Lord hadn't offered him so much protection, Severus would have laced his food with one of his long-acting poisons already...the one that caused a living paralysis while the victim felt as if their insides were being liquified by flames seemed like a good option, or perhaps some good old-fashioned arsenic. Nothing wrong with the tried-and-true classics.
In just over a month he was to return to school, to swap being watched round the clock to watching over others. He sobered quickly. He could do this. He could avoid committing murder, just as he could commit murder, for the greater good. What was the matter of a little damage to his soul in the name of the greater good anyway?
Hermione got out of the car and took her trunk from her father. It had taken her a week to convince her parents to let her go to the Burrow, and it had been two weeks since she recovered from the shock of receiving an "E" on her Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL.
"I'll be fine. I couldn't be safer anywhere than at the Burrow. Please think about what I said about the safe houses," she said to her father as she hugged him goodbye.
"We've said this before—if you're not leaving, we're not leaving. If you're not going into hiding then we aren't either," her father replied stubbornly, arms wrapping around his only daughter.
"I wish you didn't have to leave," her mother said. "I know you have a special assignment that you must use magic for over the summer—but...did it have to be so soon?"
"I'll see you at Christmas," Hermione reassured her mother. "And I'll ring from the village as often as I can. The calls will be so long it'll be like I haven't left at all," she said, fighting down the urge to cry.
Professor Snape had cast wards around her house but had warned her they would not stop Death Eaters from attacking if the Death Eaters figured out where the Grangers lived—any stronger wards would hamper the ability of the Grangers to live as Muggles, as strong magic interfered with electrical appliances. Snape had said they were most likely safe for the time being, and would let her know immediately if he heard of any plans regarding her parents.
Her parents left her, and Hermione dragged her trunk along before knocking at the door of the Burrow.
"Hermione, dear!" Mrs Weasley beamed as she engulfed her in a hug.
"Who's there?" She heard the voice of Ron, and saw the tall red-headed boy run to the doorway. She wrapped her arms around him, and she couldn't help but smile shyly as he squeezed her back.
"I hear Hermione!" She spun around, and nearly knocked Harry over on his feet to hug him when he ran down the stairs to greet her.
"It's so good to see you two!" She smiled so broadly it hurt; she had missed her best friends.
"Is that Hermione?" a moderately French-accented voice asked. She looked on in shock as Fleur Delacour emerged from the kitchen of the Burrow, and drew up to the door to give her air kisses on her cheeks. "It is good to see you!"
"Yeah…" Ron said in a daze, not taking his eyes off Fleur. Hermione could not look at the scene. She had forgotten how much Ron had been affected by the part-Veela during the Triwizard Tournament, and time had not made it bother her any less. If anything, she felt more bothered, especially as Harry did not seem as affected by Fleur's presence.
"Why did it take you so long to come this summer?" Mrs Weasley asked, pointedly ignoring Fleur.
"My parents wanted to spend more time with me before I grew up and moved out," Hermione said, lying with a smile.
"T'ch! My boys have all grown up and they all visit regularly, though I do understand," Mrs Weasley bustled them into the kitchen, where there was a tantalising spread of food waiting for them.
"Eat up! I'm sure you're starving after such a long trip by car," Mrs Weasley said, setting out plates of roast chicken, carrots, and potatoes. A large fragrant berry crumble sat in the middle of the table.
"Did I hear people arrive?"
Hermione spun around in her chair and saw Ginny as she emerged from the stairs. Ginny gave Hermione a friendly squeeze before taking the seat beside her.
"We need to talk after lunch," Harry whispered into Hermione's ear. This action was noticed by Ron and Ginny, who both looked like they were trying very hard to pretend they hadn't noticed. Harry and Ron dug into their meals with relish, as if they hadn't eaten for days, while the rest of them proceeded at a much more measured pace.
Hermione enjoyed the meal with only mild guilt for the amount of gravy she drowned her food in, trying not to think of how bland and healthy her parents' cooking had been.
After the meal, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stole up to Ron's room with an apologetic look at Ginny, who was left alone in the kitchen with her mother and Fleur. It had not taken the entire meal for Hermione to pick up on the underlying tension between the three women.
They shut the door, and Harry turned to face Hermione with a serious expression.
"We have so much to tell you," he said in a low voice. Hermione perked up. Snape had told her to keep an eye on Harry over the summer, and she had been concerned herself. The three settled on Harry and Ron's bed.
Harry twisted on the bed to face Hermione. "Did you know that Dumbledore brought me here?"
"No."
"He brought me here, and he's telling me things now! Right before I was brought here Dumbledore took me to meet an old man to persuade him to come back to teach at Hogwarts—Slughorn was his name—and he said he's going to give me private lessons!" Harry said, looking both excited and apprehensive.
"Oh! That's wonderful—why do you think he's going to do that?" Hermione asked, though she had a good idea why Dumbledore would give Harry private lessons already.
"It's because of what happened at the Ministry," Harry said, sharing a look with Ron. "Because of the prophecy that says I'm the Chosen One."
"But the prophecy was smashed," Hermione said.
"That glass ball that smashed wasn't the only record of the prophecy. I heard the whole thing in Dumbledore's office, he was the one the prophecy was made to, so he could tell me."
Hermione briefly felt a twist of anger at Harry's words; had their fight in the Department of Mysteries been a complete waste, since Dumbledore had known about the prophecy the entire time? But then she thought of the fact that people knew the Death Eaters were back, and pushed the thought out of her mind.
"—from what it said," Harry took a deep breath, "it looks like I'm the one who's got to finish off Voldemort...at least, it said neither of us could live while the other survives."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said sympathetically. "Are you scared?"
"Not as much as I was," said Harry. "When I first heard it, I was...but now, it seems as though I always knew I'd have to face him in the end…"
"Yeah... makes sense though, doesn't it? After all we've been through these years...Dumbledore must be planning on preparing him!" Ron said.
"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed. "I wonder what he'll teach you, Harry? Really advanced defensive magic, probably...powerful counter-curses...anti-jinxes...maybe some healing spells...and evasive enchantments generally," concluded Hermione. She thought it sounded similar to what Snape was planning on teaching her, and felt bad for Ron, who was left out.
They chatted about their OWL results and what they had done that summer, and the boys caught Hermione up on why Fleur was staying at the Burrow—she was engaged to Bill and wanted to get to know his family. It was admirable but Hermione wished they weren't all staying at the Burrow at the same time.
They briefly talked about Tonks and how sad she looked recently. Hermione guessed she was feeling guilty about Sirius. Harry visibly tensed at this, so Hermione changed the topic quickly. She had felt bad enough about the Department of Mysteries and she had thought it was a trap to begin with; she couldn't think of how awful Harry felt about Sirius.
"Do you have any plans for your birthday?" Hermione asked Harry.
"No, but Mrs Weasley will make me dinner and bake me a cake, I reckon," Harry said, throwing and catching a Snitch in his hand.
"I think we should do something different for your sixteenth birthday."
Harry sat up straighter. "What is there to do around here?"
"Well, we've never been to the Muggle town nearby, only the village here…" Ron piped up.
"Do they have a cinema?" Hermione asked in excitement. Harry perked up as well.
"Is that the Muggle moving picture things? I've never been," Ron said.
"You've never been to see a film?" Hermione asked. Somehow she was not surprised.
"No."
"I've watched films on TVs before but I've never been to a theatre either...the Dursleys never took me," Harry said.
Hermione's heart hurt for Harry.
"We've got to watch a film for your birthday. It'll be your birthday gift from me," she said, happy and also secretly relieved there was one day when the plan wasn't going to be playing Quidditch.
"What if they don't allow us to go?" Ron asked.
"They're going to let us go. I'll talk to Tonks...she can come with us. It'll be good for her. I'll make sure they let us go," Hermione said, determined.
In the end, it didn't take much persuading for them to convince the adults to let them go to the nearby Muggle town as they promised they would have Tonks with them at all times, and Tonks agreed without a struggle.
Hermione wanted to watch The English Patient or The Hunchback of Notre Dame but was outvoted by Harry and Ron, who both wanted to watch Mission Impossible. Tonks said it was the birthday boy's choice. They had wanted to bring Ginny along, but Hermione didn't know how she could bring along Ginny without inviting the rest of the Burrow—especially Fleur—so she said it was an event just for the three of them.
She bought them all generous servings of nachos and fizzy drinks, and then they settled into the darkened theatre.
Two hours later, they emerged blinking blearily in the bright summer afternoon sun. Ron had finished off both Harry and Hermione's nachos, and judging by the slack-jawed expressions on both his and Harry's faces during the film, they had enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Tonks was much more sceptical of the whole thing and muttered something about asking Kingsley about the security details, though her mood seemed much better than before.
She did not voice it, but Hermione thought whatever actual spying was like was probably less glamorous and more tedious than what was shown in the film.
Ron had greatly enjoyed the film but was confused about many aspects of the Muggle world the film portrayed. As they walked back to the Burrow, Hermione and Harry tried to explain the various Muggle things that were confusing Ron. They explained the Channel Tunnel, what computers were, how it was unlikely camera eyeglasses actually existed, and if Muggle technological security was that advanced in the heist scene then it probably couldn't be so easily circumvented, though they all agreed it was cool to watch Tom Cruise be suspended from the ceiling.
"Do Muggles have magic too?" he asked at one point. "That's not possible though, because they're Muggles, but how did they blow up the car like that?"
"They used a car bomb," Hermione patiently explained. "It's an explosive object Muggles control to blow cars up." When Ron asked her how Muggles made things explode she badly tried to explain chemical reactions and atoms and shrapnel to Ron, before realising it was probably a very similar process to blowing up potions ingredients.
"Blimey, that's how a car bomb works?" asked Ron, visibly disturbed.
"Did you not know this?" asked Hermione.
"No. Put that article I read last month in The Prophet in perspective, I s'pose—no wonder people are getting worried about Muggles in addition to the Death Eaters and Dementors," he said. "D'you think the Muggles would bomb us if they knew about us?"
"I highly doubt that would happen if they didn't feel threatened by us, and even if they did, they'd need a pretty good reason to do so," Hermione said crisply, disturbed at Ron's suggestion.
Still, the film had been a good experience, and even Harry had forgotten about his worries for a while, which made it all worth it.
Severus' upper lip curled. He sat half-hidden in the shadows in the corner of the drawing room at 12 Grimmauld Place, arms crossed in front of him. The Order meeting was dragging on, and nothing was being accomplished. People were giving their reports: Minerva gave updates on protective measures within the castle as a part of her first meeting as a participant, Lupin gave updates on his lack of success with the werewolves, Doge gave updates on what his Wizengamot friends were thinking, and Hestia deferred to Tonks to make the Auror's office report.
"The atmosphere at the Ministry is not good. I think more Death Eaters are joining the DMLE; in the past two weeks, we had two recruits for the Hit Wizards who are unmarked but I swear they're Death Eaters," Tonks reported.
Severus frowned; he had not heard of any new Death Eaters. Both Dumbledore and the Dark Lord were pressuring him to provide more useful intelligence to the Dark Lord—Dumbledore so the Dark Lord would trust Severus more, and the Dark Lord because he felt frustrated at not knowing what Dumbledore was doing now that he had withdrawn from the Ministry.
"Albus, I know you have said that secrecy is our utmost concern in this fight, but surely you see the need for more recruitment at the Ministry?" It was Shacklebolt speaking.
"No, Kingsley. Now more than ever, when we cannot be certain of the loyalty of Ministry workers, we cannot be expanding our numbers—too many lives and secrets are at stake. I cannot risk it," Dumbledore said. "This is final," he added, with a note of warning in his voice.
Shacklebolt made a barely perceptible grimace and dropped the subject.
Severus agreed with Shacklebolt; from his own report, the Death Eaters now outnumbered the Order two to one while rapidly gaining more members, but Dumbledore thought it was a danger to attempt expansion of the Order, and instead focused his energies on parlaying with non-human creatures and whatever he was doing with Potter.
Severus thought it was a huge waste of time—they could not promise the werewolves what they wanted, which was either freedom or Wolfsbane; they could not give the giants any more territory, and the goblins wanted rights which would see any wizard granting them thrown out of public office. The vampires were happy to keep to themselves, and fairies were barely intelligent enough to make a difference. And that was not counting his thoughts on Potter.
In his report he stressed the growing influence of the Dark Lord at the Ministry—he did not know how they were doing it when the Aurors in the Order had confirmed it was not the Imperius curse. The entire Ministry was on guard for the Imperius, as people had learned something from the first war, but he knew Yaxley was doing something to gain influence at the Ministry, and it was working, even if it was subtle. The mood at the Ministry was changing, according to reports, though nobody could figure out why or how.
The Dark Lord was keeping very quiet about Yaxley's methods. After the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries, he was playing all his cards close to the chest, and no other Death Eaters knew what was going on. It was frustrating.
The meeting adjourned after Arthur's report, and people began to slowly trickle out of the room. Severus timed his exit so Dumbledore could not catch him; he was not in the mood to deal with the old man.
"Severus." Kingsley nodded at him as he passed by.
"Kingsley." Severus nodded back. He paused for a moment.
"You don't have to recruit for the Order of the Phoenix to fight this war," Severus said. He looked into Kingsley's eyes, determined the other man had gotten his message, then left, robes snapping behind him.
Hermione's breath caught as Ron dove into another save. They had been playing Quidditch almost every day as there wasn't much to do, with Ron and Ginny on one team and her and Harry on another.
She felt as if Ron had been noticing her during the summer, in the way he occasionally looked at her a second longer than usual, and couldn't help but feel a little excited and anxious about it all. Ginny had taken to sending her knowing looks and Harry was oblivious as he always was.
It was all quite pleasant until Fleur walked into a room. Then it seemed like everything Hermione had ever done—all her intelligence and care and loyalty—ceased to matter because Hermione Granger stopped existing as soon as Fleur Delacour walked into a room. At least to Ron. Every time it happened, it hurt, and reminded her of the time she had overheard her aunt say to her mother "at least the girl is smart, even if she isn't much to look at.''
Like this very moment. Fleur had arrived in the yard, carrying a pitcher of ice-cold pumpkin juice and a tray of glasses, and Ron's attention was instantly drawn in her direction. Hermione buried the instinctive swell of insecurity and hurt that rose from deep within her mind, using Occlumency to lock the feelings away. She had been practising using her magic to lock away certain emotions the entire time at the Burrow, and it was incredible how well it worked, and how well it helped her be more in control of her feelings and be pleasant to people around her.
She couldn't help but feel a thrill of satisfaction when Harry's Quaffle hit Ron square in the face.
"Oi! Watch where you throw that thing!" Ron yelped. Harry grinned, and Hermione and Ginny shared smirks at Ron's comeuppance. Then they all descended from the air for a drink.
Later, lying in the fresh-mown lawn with the others, Hermione thought it had been an incredibly pleasant summer, despite all that had happened, the bad news, and danger lurking just outside of their bubble at the Burrow.
Thank you everyone for the feedback, it makes me happy to hear what you all think! I am really glad people have been intrigued and liked the characterisations so far, and hope you all enjoyed this chapter!