Chapter 5
Hermione walked with Regulus down an empty road in the middle of nowhere.
It was the longest 3h bus ride in her life, not that she has been on many, but this was one decidedly the most memorable one. Getting Regulus Arcturus Black to get on the public muggle transport was difficult enough, keeping him on it for 3h was exhausting. The moment they got off it, they both felt much better. Regulus did because he could finally get away from the muggles, and Hermione did because it was over.
During the ride, there were moments where she began to question whether the boy who sat next to her was really intimidating to her the first time they met, or was she just in shock from the time travel? It was amazing how exposing one bus ride could be. The pureblood boy felt much more familiar to her now, the talk they had the other day already brought them closer, but now Regulus began to feel almost like an old friend.
Regulus looked around to see the pair of them were surrounded by nothing but pure countryside. He turned around to notice a vast number of trees hidden behind a thick wall. Hermione lead them down the road following the wall that later converted into a grand gate that run even further back.
From the start, he assumed Hermione was from a rich family but now, Regulus had a feeling she was much more well off than she let on.
After few minutes of walking, they reached a massive golden gate.
Regulus looked up to see dragon sculptures on the top of the pillars on each side of the gate and one on its top.
"Dragons?" He asked with a risen eyebrow.
"Morgana was King Arthur's sister; she was King Uther's daughter and therefore a Pendragon. They had a dragon in their crest, and so do we." Hermione replied as they walked through the unguarded gate. They walked down the path laid with small white stones, trees on both sides of the path hid what existed behind them.
"Apple trees" She said when she noticed him try to look over the thick stone fence.
"What?" He turned to her.
"On the right over there, they are apple trees. Great aunt Amelia loves garden more than she loved Klaus and I." Hermione pointed to where he was looking just a second ago.
"What's on the other side?" He asked nonchalantly, as they walked.
"Just a park, and you could enter it from the courtyard we are walking towards". She said. "We have a beautiful flower garden with a stream that goes into the grounds hidden behind the house."
They got to another, smaller gate that was well locked and Hermione opened it with a hair pin.
"That's a useful trick" Regulus gave her a look.
"Don't tell me you never had to sneak out unnoticed? And don't give me that look Regulus I know for a fact that even purebloods do it this way" She said in a 'as a matter of fact' tone.
"Well, I was never locked up in my life. My parents never payed me much attention so I could do whatever I wanted. Not that that was ideal, living in such dark and dangerous house as 12 Grimmauld Place.
Nobody cared where I went as much as they did for Sirius, so as a child I explored, and some of my adventures gave me nightmares for months, the others kept me awake at nights.
Once Kreacher found me paralyzed in fear in the attic, I think I accidentally opened a chest with a boggart in it. He told my parents but they said it was character building. I was four years old"
"I can relate to that. Druids are pretty alike in the way they bring up children. My aunt would lock me up in out dungeons whenever I did something she did not approve of or if I didn't study hard enough.
She used to say it would encourage me to become a better version of myself if I stayed down there for couple of days. She tried it with Klaus but he was more comfortable down there than in any other parts of the manor."
"He sounds like a strange kid" Regulus said.
"He was when he was younger. In my time, he's a 19-year-old drunk with a few marbles missing" Hermione sighted.
Walking further down the path Regulus noticed a piece of the house became more visible. Behind the trees in front of them as the path went up straight and turned right leading to a massive round courtyard with eight shiny muggle cars parked on the sides as if on display.
In the middle, there was beautiful fountain with gold fish swimming in it. At the other end, there was a massive gothic mansion that made him pause and stare.
"It's very old, it was built 800 years ago by my ancestors, our house elves keep it in a presentable condition" Hermione said with a smile when she noticed his reaction.
They walked up to the main entrance door. Hermione knocked and they waited. After few seconds the door opened and a nicely dressed young house elf looked up at them.
"Can I help you?" He asked politely. Their elves wore a charm that makes them look like humans to any non-magical guests. After all, they had more muggle than magical visitors.
Greenfell family house elves were a bit different as they shared some druidic magic by being tied to the Greenfell family. Giving them clothes did not free them at all, in fact they were always free, but they had nowhere else to go, not to mention they never wanted to leave. They were treated well and thought of as a part of the family. Having this comparison, made it difficult for Hermione to accept how terribly the elves were treated by Wizards.
"Hermione Greenfell and Regulus Black. I wish to speak to Claudius Greenfell, my grandfather" Hermione said in a commanding voice but with a smile. The house elf looked at both of them with suspicion in his eyes, but nevertheless he let them in and led them through the ground floor of the house.
"Wait here please, I shall go and find Master Claudius" He said, leaving them seated in the drawing room the closest from the entrance, where Claudius received guests.
"Thank you Kiwi" Hermione said automatically, surprising the elf before he disappeared from their sight.
Regulus turned to Hermione.
"I do not know much at all about muggles and their ways of life, but all this feels very wizardly to me" He told her with amusement evident in his eyes.
"Well, we're not your regular muggles. Don't worry there are many charms in place to conceal anything suspicious to any muggle visitors we might receive." Hermione assured.
"Are you really okay with this? Going to Hogwarts labelled as a muggleborn witch when you are so much more? Living among muggles and welcoming them into your home?" Regulus sneered after a minute of silence between them. Hermione fought to resist the urge, to roll her eyes at his silly prejudice.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with muggles Regulus." She replied in a dull tone.
"Besides, I must break the curse first before we have any hopes for announcing ourselves to the wizarding world remember? And even then, we can't reveal our true nature for the exact same reason your family isn't very loud about your druidic origins." She added. "And, we still have business in the muggle world since we have been a part of it for hundreds of years.
So, in the end we will stay 'muggleborn' to your society whether we break the curse or not" She concluded looking him in the eyes.
"But there is a lot of wrong with muggles" Regulus said with passion in his eyes. "Mixing muggle and wizarding blood is an abomination enough, what real magic can they do with watered down blood? Not to mention muggleborns are a huge risk to us."
Hermione wanted to say she has loads of muggles in her family tree but with druidic marital rituals, the magic and in their case a talent, was passed between the two parties. That's how married Druids got stronger as they shared the magical ability of their partner, making them each other's equal. This practice, along many others, made druids more powerful than wizards.
Family like the Blacks, who stopped practicing many hundred years ago, would not inherit druidic traits now, but there was still druid blood in them. In effect, a union between a druid and a muggle did not weaken the druid. Hermione had no doubt a child born out of a wizard and a muggle would be just as strong as any pureblood child.
"Isn't inbreeding more harmful?" She asked annoyed. Regulus's parents were cousins, inbreeding was very common amongst purebloods. "Must be convenient having only a handful of witches to choose from, or is that already decided upon your birth?"
"You sound awfully bitter about it for someone who's family practices aren't very far off of those that my family is so accustomed to"
Hermione and Regulus ended up sitting much closer than they originally did, their opinions were raised high, and one tried to bring the other down by glaring intensely. It must have been quite entertaining to watch from the side as a small chuckle came from behind them.
"My apologies for intruding on this glaring match you two have going on, but I thought it would be awfully rude of me to just stand here and carry on watching" A voice interrupted. Hermione and Regulus turned to see Claudius Greenfell standing in from of them. They both quickly stood up. Hermione wondered how much of their conversation he managed to overhear.
"Claudius Greenfell, to what do I owe the honour? And most importantly, who" He asked measuring them up as he went over to the other sofa and sat down. He gestured with his hand for them to sit down as well. Kiwi came back with a tea set and began to set it up on the table between the guests and the head of the house.
"Regulus Black, sir. It is a pleasure to meet you"
"Regulus Arcturus Black. A pureblood and a Slytherin. Your family are firm believers in blood supremacy, you are aware of my blood status I hope?" He chuckled.
"I know of your blood, sir. Hermione informed me of her family's circumstances." Regulus replied. Claudius was scanning him from head to toe.
"Then I hope I can count on your secrecy on that matter? Given your family's own heritage I should think it only makes sense we take each other's secrets to our graves" Claudius smiled. Regulus clearly didn't expect him to know that particular detail, since he himself only found out the day before.
"Naturally sir" He gulped.
"Good" Claudius settled his eyes on Hermione.
"Hermione Greenfell, your granddaughter. I time travelled here from the future and I need your help" She said trying to hide how worried she was feeling. What if Claudius decided not to help her? What would she do then?
"Yes, Kiwi did mention my granddaughter turned up at the door." Claudius said with a strange expression on his face. It gave nothing away about what he was thinking.
He took a thorough look at two teenagers sitting on a sofa in front of him.
"Kiwi, take the tea away and bring some butterbeer. Wizards have come to visit us today" He said with a barely visible smirk.
"There is no need sir, we like the tea" Regulus said quickly, making Claudius chuckle.
"Very well" Said the oldest Greenfell in the room, and reached for a flask.
"I knew pouring Blishen's Firewhisky in your tea was a long-time habit of yours, but I never thought you have been doing it for this long" Hermione said with some annoyance in her voice, making Claudius stop and look up at her with a gleam in his eyes.
"And exactly when do you come from, granddaughter mine?" He asked.
"1994 but don't tell my parents. They're not even married yet. Knowing when your child will be born can be a burden." She said looking at her hands.
"Of course." Claudius nodded "Normally I would ask for some proof one look at you is enough… you look just like your father. But with your mother's hair." He added. "How long do you plan on staying?"
"Until we work out how to send me back. We still aren't sure how I got here in the first place." Hermione replied, half surprised at how easy her grandfather was taking all this in. "I was hoping maybe you would be able to help?" Her voice betrayed how hopeful she was feeling.
"I will provide you with everything you will need until you return to your own time, but I'm afraid time travel isn't something I looked into yet. You can of course use our… resources, for any research you may wish to carry out, and I will do my best to help as soon as I have some free time." Claudius stood up. Hermione and Regulus followed.
"It was a pleasure to meet you both. I must now leave for London and will return in a couple of days. Kiwi will show you to your room and will inform the rest of the family of your arrival. Make yourself home"
"Thank you grandfather" Hermione smiled.
"Good day to you both" Claudius said, leaving them in the drawing room. Hermione turned to Regulus who looked astonished and slightly dazed from the encounter.
"Typical Claudius, it's always pure business with him whether it's the future or the past." Hermione commented. "Still think Druids are amazing? Wait till you meet the rest of the family"
"He's definitely not what I expected." Regulus blinked looking at where the older druid was standing just a second ago.
"He seems quite muggle, doesn't he?" Hermione asked turning to face him. "Don't be fooled. He's one of the wisest people I know. He always knows more than he lets on."
"Maybe he knows something more about my family too" He said, hoping that in time he could find out more about his family's own history.
"Wouldn't put it past him"
"I can't wait to meet the rest of your charming family but it is time for me to return home" He suddenly said, changing his whole demeanour.
"In a rush to go back on that muggle bus already?" Hermione watched as Regulus' face paled slightly and she had to hold back small laugh.
"I forgot about that" He said in a small voice. Hoping back on the muggle bus, was not something he was looking forward to.
"I hate to rob you off all the fun but it is already quite late for going back to London by a bus, so why don't you use our fireplace?" She smirked.
"You have a floo network?" Looked at her with big eyes.
"Of course we do. We don't use it very often and we travel only through private networks so it can't be traced back, but I suppose we can open it up for the summer. Muggle buses aren't the most efficient way for us to travel when we need to meet"
Regulus left after Hermione thanked him for accompanying her. They promised to meet in few days at his house, to go through the Black library.
Kiwi then took Hermione to her room, which was one of the spare bedrooms. It was the same room she occupied in the future so it felt very familiar, yet the lack of her own decoration made it feel a little colder despite the brightness and warmth that resided in the halls and corridors around the house.
Feeling tired from all the different emotions she felt that day, Hermione took a bath and went to bed. She was glad to find out it was just as comfortable as the one in the future. Soon her eyes closed, and she knew no more…
There was nobody around the next morning but the house felt more alive than Hermione remembered it from the future. She asked Kiwi to get her some clothes, both muggle and wizarding robes. She then made her way to the main library, and went into the sections she always avoided, hoping to find something useful about the time travel.
After going through several books, she gave up. Dark magic books her family kept around were too bestial and conflicted with her beliefs. She was stuck in the past but it didn't mean she had to abandon her ideals. Hermione decided to cease her search for the day and left the library.
Once she left, Hermione realised it was already late. Kiwi came to informing her of the dinner being ready so Hermione made her way down to the dining room.
Upon entering Hermione registered there was already five people sitting down at the grand table and talking with energy. They stopped once they noticed her enter.
"Hello, I'm Hermione" She said feeling strange, looking at her family from the past. A young man she recognised as her father stood up and with a big smile invited her to sit down next to him. Hermione slowly made her way to the space and sat down minding her manners. Her great aunt Amelia was watching.
"Kiwi told us who you are, it is lovely to meet you" Said the young beautiful woman who sat on the other side of her father. Hermione recognised her as her future mother. They were engaged to be married in several months.
"I'm so happy to see you" Hermione said looking at her entire family with a longing look.
Her great aunt Amelia sat at the end of the table like the matriarch she was. Claudius looked after the family business as the head of the family, while Amelia had the real authority over the inner family matters.
On the other side of the table, directly opposite her mother and father sat her uncle and aunt. Hermione did some quick math in her head and worked out they would have been married for over two years now. Suddenly she realised. Klaus was born in November 1974! He would have been about seven months now.
Hermione was surprised how easily they took in her sudden appearance. She felt pure happiness at the joyful reactions of her family when she revealed she was a witch. They ate and talked for a long time. Hermione spent the best week of her life in the company of her family. She moved her library appointment with Regulus to a later date.
Despite Niklaus being so small, her aunt and uncle spent a lot of time with her parents. All five of them went swimming in the stream, went fishing, they made a bonfire, went for a drive, went shopping, played cricket and badminton and rode horses together. It was the most relaxing time Hermione had in years. She was glad she had an opportunity to spend some time with her parents and she could only wish Klaus had a chance to do the same.
Finally, the Tuesday has come and Hermione was on her way to 12 Grimmauld Place to meet with Regulus. She was let in by Kreacher and greeted by Walburga who was on her way out with Orion. Regulus came down the stairs to fetch her and took her to the library he has not left in the past three days as Orion has mentioned.
Regulus still looked handsome, but it was the first-time Hermione saw looking him so messy. The state of his shirt was nowhere near as neat as it usually was, and his hair was out of place.
When Hermione entered the library, she saw it was in a similar state to her pureblood friend, with many books opened and scattered around everywhere; the floor and all reading tables as well as the sofas near the fire place. Hermione was grateful he left the two remaining armchairs free of books, parchments and papers with notes.
He sure has been busy… She thought.
As disorderly as the sight before her was, she had to admit it was quite attractive to the eye. She couldn't help but giggle at the impossible difference between his usual flawless and orderly state and, this.
The more time she spent with him the more she got to see the other side of Regulus.
Since the day she met him, he made it seem as if he was untouchable, as if it was a sin if a single hair on his head was out of place. In comparison, the inhumanly impeccable and upright image of him she created in her head, and what was in front of her eyes, seemed ridiculous.
He noticed her giggle and it made him smirk.
"I know my looks are irresistible but get a hold of yourself Hermione. Why don't you take a look at what I have managed to find so far, and I will quickly visit my room and fix the hair that makes you giggle like a silly girl" He said acting all snobbish, but it only made her grin wider.
Regulus left the room and Hermione focused all her attention on the books that surrounded her. She grabbed the notes Regulus left on the sofa and sat down to read through them.
After about ten minutes she was interrupted by someone she did not expect to see that day.
"We're good, the tyrant and the hag went out, and I heard Regulus go to his room. We can take a long look without them knowing..." Hermione heard a voice and looked up from the parchments she was reading to see three boys enter the library. They stopped surprised when they saw her.
One of them looked very much like Regulus, the other just like Harry and the third couldn't have been anyone other than her Professor Lupin.
Sirius, James and Remus…
"Who are you?" Sirius asked with a smirk. "Has my younger brother been sneaking girls in without me noticing? What a sneaky snake"
"He didn't sneak me in, I walked in through the front door." She rolled her eyes. "We are studying together if you must know" She revealed not trusting them enough to reveal anything to the three boys that made McGonagall's life hell. Before Harry, Ron and her that is.
"Are you a Slytherin? I don't think I've seen you around" James asked looking at her curiously.
"What are you talking about Potter? I'm a third-year Gryffindor. You must have seen me many times in the common room" She insisted and watched the confusion form on their faces.
"But then, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked. "My bigoted brother has no friends in his own house, not to mention ours."
"Especially girls! They all run at the sight of him" Remus added with a laugh.
"I wasn't aware you guys were so interested in Regulus. I always thought you were too busy making Professor McGonagall lose all of her hair to notice anything else that goes on around you. I must admit I am surprised you found your way to a library, even if it's your own Sirius." She said with a smirk making James and Remus laugh. Sirius was grinning at her.
"How did my brother managed to befriend you is beyond me" Older Black said looking at her with excitement "but if you ever need…"
"Back off you filthy blood traitor, she's too smart for you" Came a patronising drawl from behind them.
The three boys turned to see Regulus leaning against the door frame and sneering at them. Hermione noticed he looked just as immaculate and arrogant as she would expect any pureblood boy to look. From his bearing and the hostile look in his eyes, he even looked intimidating and a bit dangerous, and if she didn't interact with him as much as she had, she would have been startled. But the sudden change was quite unnerving. Slytherins always made her shiver with their flexible act.
"Hello brother" Sirius said with some annoyance in his voice but mirth in his eyes. "Oh how I wish you were smarter than to blindly believe all the pure blood crap our parents are feeding you."
"And how I wish you had more sense in you than to directly oppose them. For the sake of the appearances at least! Sirius! Believe what you will, but when you go out there and do as you please with no care, the rest of us must still live in this society and abide by its rules, what makes you better than the rest of us?" Regulus seethed at his older brother whom he was now facing. James and Remus backed away, sensing Sirius wouldn't want them to get involved in something that was purely between him and his younger brother.
"The rules of this society as you called it, are a total farce! Why the lot of you insist on following despite the sheer absurdity of it, is complete shambles! I pray you wake up one day and realise how naive you have been brother, but until then there is nothing I can do for you" Sirius said and left the library not looking back. Hermione could tell he was clearly upset to have argued with his brother.
James and Remus whispered goodbyes to Hermione and went after their friend leaving Regulus and Hermione alone.
Regulus stood with his eyes cast on the floor, and not moving for a few moments. He then ran his hands up his face with resignation and walked up to the armchair. He sat down and sighted closing his eyes.
Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for the two brothers. They clearly loved each other dearly, but the family politics could not have divided them any further. Ever since she went to Hogwarts her view of purebloods was shaped by what Ron said about them and the nasty way Draco treated her. It was only recently that she began to notice that Malfoy's behaviour towards her originated more from the anger he held for Harry for refusing his friendship in favour of a Weasley. And the fact that she had better grades than him, despite Draco being a top student himself.
There was no denying that Malfoys were strong blood supremacists, but her blood wasn't the main reason that made her Draco's target like Hermione believed previously. After she started to pay more attention, she noticed Draco didn't really bother any other muggle born students. This discovery made her pity Draco, hate towards the three of them was all he had, but she could see that all he wanted was a friend.
Regulus reminded her very much of Draco. He lost his older brother, who no doubt was his only friend, to boys he saw as blood traitors. She looked at him again and for the first time thought about how lonely he must have been.
She looked at all the books scattered around and wondered how many times they replaced his brother after Sirius had gone to Hogwarts. Loneliness was something she could definitely relate to. She could sympathise with both Regulus and Draco as her own childhood wasn't the warmest after she lost her parents.
As much of a colourful company as Klaus was at times, he was 5 years older than her and not exactly sane. The muggle school she used to go to, wasn't exactly the friendliest place for her either. Seeing what goes on behind the closed door, behind the curtain of fake perfection, really altered the way Hermione viewed purebloods.
"I'm sorry you had to see that" Regulus said in a husky voice. She looked up and saw he was looking at her looking like a hurt puppy. Not that she would tell him that.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure one day I will convince you that all the watered-down blood business isn't so bad. For example, it comes with less burden of keeping it pure, and its own title. You'll make up with Sirius in no time" She told him in a serious tone, but when she ended with a grin he laughed bitterly.
"It will take a lot more than that to convince me Hermione, but I appreciate the thought" He replied. "Now let's get back to the current issue at hand, that's bigger than Sirius and his idiocy, shall we."
They spent the rest of the day, and then the rest of the week looking through every book that even mentioned time travel but they didn't find anything that one or both of them didn't know before. It seemed that overall not much was known about the time travel.
Hermione decided that, there was no rush in figuring it all out and went home to spend more time with her family. She told Regulus to do the same. He had a lot of summer pureblood functions to attend himself and even more instead of his brother, who refused to 'be a part of the charade', pulling on their mother's nerves.
In effect, they haven't met for nearly three weeks, having exchanged only two letters between them.
Then one day Regulus appeared at the doorstep of the Greenfell Mansion looking gloomy. Hermione took him to the secluded part of the garden, out of her family's sight. She had a feeling something was up but she never expected him to break down. He told her of Sirius running away and his parents disowning him.
Hermione was glad he came to her, especially knowing there was no one else he could have gone to. Despite their different views on blood purity, they became friends during the few summer weeks they spent together.
They laughed and argued, fought and apologised. After Sirius ran away, Hermione and Regulus spent even more time together, talking about various topics they both found interest in. Hermione was surprised to learn that Regulus was quite passionate about Kreacher being treated right. It was common for purebloods to mistreat their house elves but Regulus seemed to treasure Kreacher like family, he was quite taken with how well Hermione's family treated their elves.
Regulus ended up spending quite a lot of time at the Greenfell Manor, which meant meeting Hermione's entire family.
It was a bit awkward at first but soon enough Regulus found himself enjoying all the long afternoons they spent playing cricket in the garden, the fishing, family dinners. Once even Hermione's dad managed to convince him to a drive in a muggle car and although Regulus never admitted it to Hermione, he enjoyed the ride. But he didn't have to tell her anything because the grin on her dad's face when they returned said it all.
Soon the summer ended and they found themselves busy with preparation for returning to Hogwarts. It took up a lot of time to be fitted for new robes, buying new books, parchment, quill and all the other stuff they needed for their fourth year. In consequence, they ended up not seeing each other for the last two weeks of August, but both were counting down the days until they saw each other again.