A/N: Thank you all so much for your response to the last chapter. It was nice to peel back the curtain on Bellatrix. Now to learn a bit about the Potters. You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. Huge thank you to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter twenty-three and be on the lookout for chapter twenty-four soon!
Try as she might, Hermione knew that she wasn't going to be able to get her mum's assertion that Tom Riddle didn't murder the Potters out of her head. She'd always accepted that version of events because it was what Sirius had solemnly told her, but she was quickly discovering that Sirius often saw the world through colored lenses. Just because Harry believed it did not mean that Hermione could accept anything less than the truth.
So, she went to one of her favorite places in the whole world to do a bit of digging — the library.
Bundled up in her coat with a thermos of hot chocolate, Hermione made the long walk to the library the following morning to review the microfiche of the old archived newspaper clippings. She knew her way around well enough to not need any assistance and she quickly found a multitude of articles about the Potters and their murder.
To her surprise, it had not started with James and Lily, but rather with James's parents, Charlus and Dorea. Hermione had certainly never heard a lick about Harry's grandparents but she was more than a little surprised by what she found. It seemed that Charlus had been independently wealthy after creating a hair tonic that claimed to do it all — make curly hair straight, make straight hair curly, even grow back hair that you'd lost! He was a bit of a snake oil salesman, if Hermione was honest, and it seemed that the regulators were in agreement.
After nearly two decades of fabulous financial returns, Charlus Potter was investigated for the claims his product made. It seemed that his business was going to be hit with some impressive fines that would all but ruin the company and the Potters' fortune, but Charlus wised up before it came to fruition. He closed the company himself and decided to go into politics.
And that's where Tom Riddle had come into the picture. Charlus needed help getting votes in his district and it was alleged that he'd gone to Riddle to help buy him enough votes. Riddle had come through in spades, allowing Charlus to win his district by a staggering eighty percent margin over the incumbent. It was enough to raise a few eyebrows and an investigation was launched into the discrepancies.
At this point, the details went a bit fuzzy, but Hermione was smart enough to read between the lines and make the connections. It was clear that Charlus attempted to cut all ties with Riddle and there was no financial ties between the two men. Hermione figured that Potter thought he'd be able to get by without paying Tom Riddle for services rendered. What was Tom Riddle going to do? Report the crime to the police and ensure his own participation in the crime?
Hermione could not believe that Charlus thought he was going to get away with it. Had he been blind to the reach that Tom Riddle had? Had he thought that Riddle would not commit any act to get what was owed to him?
Neither Riddle nor Potter faced any charges. It seemed that the only person who could be traced to any crime was Potter's campaign manager — a Basil Pettigrew. Seeing that name made Hermione's blood run cold.
It was some time after that she found the newspaper articles about James and Lily's murders. An intruder had used a key to get in the middle of the night, leaving the new parents dead. No suspects were originally revealed, but later Sirius Black was named due to his possession of a spare key. Just like her mum had told her, Sirius sat in a jail cell for about five months before he was released and the ultimate suspect was revealed to be Peter Pettigrew, the son of Basil.
He had evaded capture to this day.
Once again, it did not take a world class detective to read between the lies. Hermione figured that Riddle had probably given Pettigrew the idea of how he could get revenge on the Potters for what they had done to his own father. And, if he hadn't, Hermione would bet money that Tom had assisted in helping Pettigrew escape.
Hermione sat back in her chair, feeling her heart pound against her chest. While she knew that Riddle hadn't been the actual person to murder the Potters, she could not sit here and pretend like he hadn't had a hand in it. He seemed to be quite skilled at getting people around him to do things that benefited him without actually having to tell them what to do. He just used leverage to get them to make the decision that he wanted them to.
Just like he was doing to her.
At the same time, she knew that she could no longer allow the opinions of Harry or Sirius or Ron to color her decisions. She had come to accept that they were never going to give her the grace and understanding to become her own person, with her own thoughts and feelings. They would only accept her if she acted exactly like they wanted her to. It hurt very much to know that she needed to close that chapter of her life, but it was also incredibly freeing.
What Harry thought of Tom Riddle could really hold no bearing on her decision of whether to accept Riddle's offer or not. It couldn't matter to her anymore, not after the way that she had been treated since she returned to live with her parents.
Sitting back in her chair, she ran a hand over her face. Meanly, she wondered what Harry would have to say if he learned that his grandfather was perhaps not the best person in the world either, willing to cheat and lie and steal to get what he wanted, too. Would he deny it? Would Sirius have some sort of soothing words for why what Charlus had done wasn't the same as being a criminal?
Even if they did, it felt good to know that not everything was as black and white as Sirius tried to make it out to be.
Nibbling on her lower lip, Hermione knew that she wasn't going to learn anything else in the library, having parsed through hundreds of newspaper articles in one morning. She wasn't going to be making any sorts of decisions today and so she packed up her bag, throwing it over her shoulder, before stepping out into the chill once more. Walking down the steps at the front of the library, she was surprised to see her Uncle's car waiting on the street level.
Narrowing her eyes, Hermione purposefully walked towards his car, knocking on the window to grab Rabastan's attention. "What are you doing here?" she asked once he'd rolled down the window. "Did Dad send you to spy on me? He never believes I'm going to be where I say I am."
Rabastan gave her a grim look. "You remember how you owe me a favor, kiddo?" he asked, his green eyes boring into her face.
"Well, yeah," Hermione said, feeling her cheeks warm in embarrassment.
"I've come to collect on it," he said. "Come on, get in the car. We'll talk on the way."
Hermione did not need to be told twice and scurried around to the passenger side and slipped in. She'd barely gotten her seatbelt on before Rabastan was peeling down the street.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked, surprised that she wasn't feeling an ounce of nerves at the prospect. She knew that she was going to help Rabastan, within reason, but she also trusted that he wasn't going to ask her to do more than she could handle.
"Your Mum's dumb fucking cousin was in the neighborhood today," Rabastan said, his knuckles going white on the steering wheel.
"Sirius?" Hermione asked. "What was he doing there?"
Rabastan was quiet for a beat or two. "Turns out the local football stadium was robbed last night after the under 23s match," he said. "A lot of money was taken and people are pretty upset."
Hermione felt her pulse speed up when she realized that it had actually happened. That all of Theo's watching and planning had finally come through and there were already consequences for them. She worried about what could have happened to her boyfriend.
"Sirius picked up Theo. He's absolutely convinced that the kid did it," Rabastan continued. "He roughed him up a bit and he's taken him down to the station for questioning about the robbery."
Hermione felt her nostrils flaring in annoyance. "That's not acceptable," she said fiercely. "He's not allowed to rough up any suspect, let alone someone who is still technically a minor. Is Alfie with him?"
"Alfie's away on business and that's part of why we've got to hurry," Rabastan continued to explain. "I don't think that Theo will break but we also can't let him rot the weekend away in a jail cell until he can be seen by a magistrate on Monday. They've got no evidence to charge him, but they don't need much more than a suspicion to keep him over the weekend."
"Have you called Slughorn?" Hermione demanded, nervously playing with the strands of her hair. She couldn't stand the thought of Theo being all alone in jail even if it was for one night! They needed to do absolutely everything that they could to get him out of there. But, she also knew that Sirius was like a dog with a bone — he was unlikely to give him up so easily.
"Trying to track him down, but he's on holiday," Rabastan said, his driving getting increasingly erratic the closer that they got to the station. It seemed that he understood just as well how critical the timing was.
"How about Adrian?" Hermione wondered. "He's not licensed yet, but he's taken all of the relevant classes. Surely, he could act as Theo's counsel if we can't get Slughorn down here."
Rabastan nodded. "That's a good idea. I will call him as soon as we get there. Pucey is better than nothing," he agreed.
But, Hermione was a bit confused. "I don't understand what you need me for. I haven't taken a single law class and I'm not a lawyer," she said, gnawing away at her lower lip. "I can try to talk some sense into Sirius, but he's more likely to listen to Mum than to me at this point. He thinks I'm a stupid little girl."
Her uncle turned to face her just as they pulled in front of the station. "You could alibi him," he said, completely unwavering.
She swallowed, thinking it over. If she gave Theo an alibi that would mean lying...not only to her former guardian, but to the police as well. It could have very serious consequences for her if it was proven that her statement was a lie. She could face charges herself. Her stomach twisted in knots as she thought of helpless Theo, all alone in there. Lying to cover for him wasn't by the books, but Sirius roughing him up hadn't been either. He must have thought that the ends justified the means, but...could she convince herself of that, too?
Determined, Hermione turned to face her Uncle. "I'll take care of it," she insisted, still unsure of what she was going to do. Not waiting for a response, she got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her before walking purposefully up towards the station.
Stopping off at the receptionist desk, she demanded to speak to Sirius. "I need to speak with Detective Black," she said, forcefully. When the receptionist made noises about not letting her in, Hermione sneered. "Come on, you know me. Sirius was my guardian for over a decade. I think the least that you could do is let me speak to him before he makes a horrible mistake."
Apparently, Hermione's conviction was enough to make the receptionist hesitate before calling for Sirius over the page system. She did not have to wait long before Sirius was walking into the lobby, irritated.
Sirius took one look at her and pressed his hands to his hips — a posture designed to highlight his badge and his gun. A posture that was meant to be intimidating to her. But it didn't work on Hermione. Not anymore anyway. Not once she'd realized that Sirius couldn't even live up to his own high expectations.
"What are you doing here, Hermione?" he asked, annoyance bleeding into his tone.
Good, she thought. Hopefully that meant that he wasn't getting anywhere with Theo. "I understand that you have my boyfriend here," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, wanting Sirius to know that she wasn't going to be pushed around. She was a Lestrange, for fucks sake!
"Boyfriend?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah, Theo Nott. Heard that you hauled him off this morning," she said, refusing to back down at this point.
Sirius scoffed. "You would be dating him. Very on brand for you, Hermione, now that you've embraced your family to the fullest," he countered. "Just like your Mum — you could never aspire to find a good man."
"I won't listen to you talk about my Father that way," she snapped, irritated. While she still did not approve of her parents' chosen "profession", she wasn't about to let Sirius disparage him to her face. It wasn't as if her father didn't love her mum and vice versa. It was more than most people could say. "Or Theo for that matter."
"Whatever, Hermione," he said with a sneer. "There isn't anything for you to do here. So, why don't you run along and wait for Riddle to send in his lawyer."
Hermione had to bite her cheek to stop from smirking. If Riddle had his way, she would be his lawyer. "I very much doubt that I can't do anything here," she said. "I understand that you are attempting to question a minor without a parent or guardian present. Wouldn't want to get any evidence thrown out for improper technique."
"So you agree that there is evidence?" he asked, his lips quirked up, pleased, like she'd given away some sort of secret.
She laughed. "No, just trying to help you cover your ass, Sirius," she argued back. "What are you even questioning him on?"
"Don't you know? Your boyfriend and some of his buddies were involved in a robbery last night. The haul was large enough that it almost guarantees a very hefty jail sentence. So maybe you should quit this relationship while you're ahead. I tried to keep you out of prison visiting rooms as much as I could, but I can't protect you from yourself. Not anymore," he said with a smirk, knowing that he was twisting the knife.
Hermione's blood was boiling at the completely casual way he said that he talked about keeping her away from her parents. Or that he tried to make it out like he'd been doing some huge favor for her. "Theo's not going to jail," she said, all false confidence.
"Oh yeah? And how's that?" Sirius asked.
"Because I know that he couldn't have possibly committed a robbery last night," Hermione said, her decision made up. If Sirius was going to be this way, then she would lie for Theo a thousand times. She loved him. "He was with me."
Sirius's face was contorted in rage at hearing that. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting anyone to alibi Theo, which meant that Theo likely hadn't given an accounting of his own whereabouts. "You're his alibi?"
"Yeah," Hermione said, her jaw tilted up high in the air.
"When?" he demanded.
"He was with me all night. Theo came over to my house after school and we spent all evening together. We went our separate ways in the morning. I went to the library to study and Theo apparently went on to be accosted by a power hungry cop," she explained disdainfully.
"You expect me to believe that he was with you all night?" Sirius said, throwing his arms up in frustration. He traded his weight back and forth between his two feet, obviously bubbling full of unspent energy.
"That's right," Hermione said with a fake smile plastered on her face.
"What were you doing?" he demanded, harsher this time.
Hermione laughed in his face. "Come on, Sirius, don't make me spell it out for you," she teased, enjoying getting to be the one who was twisting the knife this time. "We spent the whole time holed up in my room." Still he didn't seem to get it. "We were fucking," she added with a grin.
"And you expect me to believe that your parents were okay with that?" he asked.
"I think they don't like to think about it," Hermione said, shrugging her shoulders casually. "But Theo and I tend to take advantage of their particular working hours."
She could see the gears working in Sirius's head, not wanting to accept what she was telling him, but still believing her to be an honest girl at her core. She supposed that was nice.
"Go ahead and ask Theo if you don't believe me," she added, hoping that he wouldn't call her bluff. She had no idea if Theo would agree, knowing that he would be mistrustful of Sirius.
Finally, though, Sirius sneered at her once again, making no secret that he was looking down on her. "You were destined for a much better life than this, Hermione. If only you'd been able to hold out a little bit longer," he said, regretfully. "But it seems like you'll just be another Lestrange afterall."
She wanted to argue with him, to remind him that his complete abandonment had spurred this, but then she reminded herself that she rejected his line of reasoning. Maybe she was destined for a better life than what Sirius could have given her. And she wasn't going to be ashamed of being a Lestrange any longer.
"Whatever. Just go get my boyfriend so we can leave," Hermione commanded, imperious and unbothered.
And for once, Sirius did as she told him, disappearing back into the labyrinth of the police station.