Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you can recognise from any books or TV series or movies. I do however take liberties with the plots or mentions provided by JKR or other writers. The only profit I'm getting out of it is improving my English.

Title: Secrets & Keepers – Entropy

Rating/Warnings: R/M [AU; Manipulative Dumbledore (therefore not Dumbledore friendly); profanity; canon typical violence; frank discussion of past child abuse (Harry but not only) and of past child abuse of sexual nature (not Harry); not very detailed descriptions of torture (not Harry); Black family feels; identity crisis; pureblood politics; good Slytherins]

Characters and pairings: Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Bathsheda Babbling. As well as Hermione Granger, Arcturus Black, Larry Lawrence (OC) and Josephine Turner (OC). The rest of characters will appear as the story progresses.

All adults are more or less paternal towards Harry or grandfatherly towards Hermione as well as generally friendly or at the very least civil towards each other once they sort out their differences.

References to past and present relationship of sexual nature between Snape and Babbling. Occasional mentions of one sided Sirius/James, not one sided Sirius/OFC (the woman of many names). Contains mentions of Remus/Tonks, eventual allusions to Larry/Josephine and background Arcturus/Melania. No Harry or Hermione pairings because they have a lot on their plates and won't have time for teenage nonsenses for a longer while (at the very least through PoA timeline).

Spoilers: All seven books with occasional, brief references to ground work for HP & CC main plot as well as Secrets & Keepers – Collision Course and Secrets & Keepers – Supernova.

Summary: Harry & Hermione learn that as weird as everything become in the aftermath of learning devastating news is that the life actually goes on. There's a Dark Lord to destroy, a manipulative Headmaster to overthrow, family bonds and new friendships to establish and old ones to maintain. Direct sequel to S&K - Collision Course and S&K - Supernova.

Chapter summary: Arcturus sorts out the problems with Hermione's parents.

Word count: About 6000.

Author's note: Finally we're leaving 8th August behind after this chapter. Time wise this one takes place before the events of chapter 5 but because it the events of both didn't affect each other I decided to keep the order in which they were written. Not to mention I managed to misplace the complete version of this chapter and my beta got it too late to finish it before posting chapter 5.

Also I love Mrs Granger.

Posted on Tuesdays.

Beta read by Regnbuen (Nitraz).

I hope that You will find this story enjoyable. I would be the most grateful for constructive criticism.


The hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride bicycles. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom. The realization that this is what the child will always need can hit hard.

~Sloan Wilson

Secrets & Keepers – Entropy

Chapter six: The Grangers

Hermione Granger, 8th August 1993, Paris,

She had no idea how Arcturus had managed to arrange the meeting within roughly two hours after breakfast, or how he ensured that no Muggle police were in near vicinity of the place.

He had taken her to a small café that appeared to be located on an island in the middle of the river. He side-along apparated her to a small park and waited for her to get her breathing and stomach under control before he presented her with an invisibility cloak.

"Do I really need it?" she asked sceptically.

"Definitely for the opening," replied Arcturus. "You might remove it later on, but I'm planning to start the conversation as if you weren't there."

So she accepted the offering, put it on, and once under it she grabbed on the edge of Arcturus's left arm. The walk to the café was brief and uneventful.

Curiously, considering the time of the day, the café wasn't heavily crowded and the majority of the people instead of staying indoors occupied the outdoor tables, talking between themselves or reading newspapers between bites of pastries and sips of their coffee.

Mum and Dad, unlike the other people, were seated in a booth in the corner of the cafe. In front of Dad was a large plate filled with pastries and a mug of tea, a breakfast for a hangover she quickly realised. Mum meanwhile only had a cup of what appeared to be cappuccino, and a half-eaten croissant on her plate.

As Arcturus led her towards the table he shook of her arm. He slid into the booth without preamble or acknowledging their presence until he was sitting down. Hermione slid into the seat next to him.

"Mrs Granger, Mr Granger," he said in a calm, conversational tone. "I'm glad that you agreed to the meeting."

"Where is our daughter?" asked Dad harshly.

"At the moment this shouldn't matter as much as that she arrived there safe and unharmed, if majorly upset," replied Arcturus stoically.

"Where is our daughter?" Dad repeated in the same harsh tone.

Arcturus narrowed his eyes at him before he looked around and flagged a waitress. She approached the table swiftly with a big smile.

"One cappuccino please," said Arcturus to her in French as he slid a large note towards her. "And keep the change, my dear."

The waitress smiled at him and promised to come back in a moment.

"Where is our daughter?" Dad repeated once more.

"I already answered that," said Arcturus in a tone that bordered on bored. "And I majorly dislike repeating myself, so until you ask the right question…"

"How is she?" asked Mum in concern.

"Troubled, which considering everything that happened during the summer is understandable if not to be expected," replied Arcturus.

"She's a teenager, of course she sulks, the ungreat…" started Dad with a huff.

"If you don't want me to chuck you into the Seine within the next thirty seconds, you will shut your goddamn mouth and listen," Arcturus interrupted him harshly.

"Are you threatening me?" bristled Dad.

"I just promised to throw you into a river if you don't shut up. What do you think you wretched toper?" asked Arcturus pointedly.

Dad opened his mouth, clearly to argue, but Mum interrupted him and growled, "Shut your mouth, Mark and keep it shut."

Meanwhile the waitress returned with Arcturus's cappuccino and left with a big smile once she placed it on the table.

"Can we see her?" asked Mum hopefully.

"Eventually," answered Arcturus before he took a small sip of his cappuccino. "Delightful," he commented. "As is your daughter," he added as he placed the cup on the table. "She's a delightful young lady, insanely smart and very perceptive."

Dad huffed.

"And far more understanding than some people at this table, I should add," commented Arcturus as his gaze had lingered on Dad.

"She had no right…" started Dad angrily.

"To find your condescending behaviour towards certain kinds of people disturbing?" Arcturus interrupted him. "I beg to differ, especially considering what happened earlier this summer," he added as he splayed his hand on the table.

As soon as whatever magic he had performed reached them, Mum gasped and Dad jerked back with such force that he fell against the back of the booth.

"Mark Granger," hissed Mum angrily.

"You can't use this stuff on us, it's illegal," hissed Dad angrily.

"As is your behaviour towards your daughter," replied Arcturus crisply. "Especially considering how our world views the dubious legality of your ownership of her," he added sourly.

"She's not a possession," objected Mum.

"You think so, but I'm not sure if your husbands shares your views," replied Arcturus simply. "An only child, and one that his parents had late in their lives. They catered to his every whim as long as they could. However nature depends on nurture and you saw enough of your grandparents to notice how they behaved, towards each other and their children and grandchildren. And you, being as spoiled rotten as you had been decided to emulate your dear old grandpa. Thankfully quite early you had proved to be a giant disappointment and you lost whatever favour you had left with him. You straightened your act however, be it out of obligation towards your parents or out of genuine desire to change. But you didn't change your views, did you?"

"Not your business," Dad spat angrily. "And how do you know that?"

"Oh, I beg to differ," replied Arcturus with a shrug. "It was my business all along, Mr Granger. From the very moment your daughter came into this world. She was, is, and will remain, a member of my family circle."

"If she's your family then why didn't you take her yourself you condescending asshole?" snarled Dad.

"Because surrendering her hadn't been my idea, and I learned about it too late to interfere with her mother. Her aunt however felt disturbed by her sister's decision, enough to establish a failsafe of sorts with me or herself acting as your daughter's legal guardians, should you prove to be inadequate guardians," replied Arcturus calmly.

"And we have," whispered Mum.

"I have no reservations towards your conduct, Mrs Granger," said Arcturus simply. "You raised a polite, intelligent and precious young lady and you should be proud. You, however," he added as he looked at Dad, "you repulse me, you worm, especially your latest behaviour and especially towards women. Had it been sorely left up to me that very evening I would have taken your daughter with me and left you with nothing. But your daughter, for some reason believes that even this breach of trust which both of you have committed can be mended."

"She is our daughter, she has no say…" started Dad.

"Shut up," hissed Arcturus over Mum's "Shut up, Mark."

Then Mum stood up and glaring at Dad she said, "Go for a walk, Mark. Now!"

Dad stared at Mum, as did Hermione. Normally Mum was an epitome of politeness and gentleness, but now she looked angrier than Hermione had ever seen her.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" asked Mum lividly. "Get out and stay gone until I come and find you, you jerk."

Dad hesitated for a moment but very slowly he slid out of the booth and stood up. He walked out of the café constantly turning his head over his shoulder while Mum's glare escorted him to the door.

"Pardon me," said Mum quietly as she sat down. "He doesn't always…" she paused.

"Think about consequences of his words or his actions?" supplied Arcturus.

"Act like a condescending bastard, I planned to say," said Mum with a sigh. "I don't wish to trouble you…"

"By all means do," said Arcturus eagerly. "It's affecting him and he's definitely affecting your daughter."

Mum sighed heavily and took a sip of her cappuccino before she replied, "For a couple of years now we've been trying to extend our practice, not that our current one is small. We have a couple of employees, those that work full time and a couple that take an occasional moonlighting shift. What we don't have is enough space for both our patients and employees. About a year back we received an offer from an owner of a townhouse that shares the wall with our practice. She has been making tentative plans to retire to Spain and she's been searching for a property there but because she doesn't have enough money…"

"She needs to sell her London house first to afford the purchase," finished Arcturus. "What's the problem then?"

"Our age," sighed Mum heavily before she reached into her bag and rummaged through it until she pulled a pack of cigarettes. "We're fifty-five, too old for a long term credit with loan instalment that would have allowed us the same living standard. Not unless we sell the house which we don't want to do. It's the only house that Hermione remembers and adapting it into our liking has taken us a lot of time and a lot of money. But it's also an investment for Hermione's future…" she paused and pulled one of the cigarettes out of the pack. Arcturus extended his hand with a lit match. "Thank you," she sighed.

"Then there are the Hogwarts fees," said Arcturus.

"Then there are the Hogwarts fees," agreed Mum. "It doesn't cost us as much as Mayfield would have, but at the very least at Mayfield for that fee she would be provided with everything, from uniforms to books," she paused for a moment to take a puff. "Then there's the problem with the solution that Mark had found to our financial problem. A friend of his from school, and a friend is a term that I'm using quite loosely in connection with that ponce, has a nephew that recently graduated from a dental program. At the moment he's recuperating from the years of hard studying somewhere in the tropics, and while he doesn't have experience, no more than that required of a recent graduate, his family does have money, and Mark decided that he would make a great partner."

"You disagree," stated Arcturus as if it was obvious.

"I've met him, Mr… I'm sorry, I hadn't asked for your name," said Mum apologetically.

"Russ Black," answered Arcturus. "Call me Russ," he added with a quick smile.

"Call me Helen then. Any connection to that escaped fugitive?" asked Mum pensively.

"Not one that I'm aware of," lied Arcturus smoothly. "You were saying?" he asked quickly.

"I've met that doctor," said Mum stiffly, putting heavy accent on the word doctor. "Just like I've met his uncle."

"Private school?" asked Arcturus curiously.

"Eton, just like Mark, barely avoided being expelled from it. A lawyer by trade, not a very good one but a partner in a good firm. Third son of some viscount or something, I was never interested in the class system and I constantly got it wrong," replied Mum sourly. "Has a daughter about Hermione's age, in Mayfield of all places. Some of his other friends have their children in other boarding schools."

"Ah," hummed Arcturus. "And the usual cover isn't good enough or working too well?" he asked.

Mum grimaced before she replied, "Varies on a day to day basis. Then there's the magical aspect of it. Initially he agreed that being with other kids like her would do her good, but through her first year and afterwards he had lots of questions about the proper education or lack of thereof. He started making designs for arranging private tutors, but the idea occurred to him last year, too late to arrange them from the beginning of the summer. Then my mother got sick and luckily he decided to be considerate enough to not drop it on Hermione back then. Then the money issue rolled around and we promised Hermione that we would make up for the lack of a proper summer vacation last year."

"Hence no tutors this summer," nodded Arcturus. "But that's him," he added. "What about you?"

Mum took a long drag of the cigarette before she said slowly, "I just want her to be happy. Sure, in an ideal world I would have wanted to have her back home at the end of the school day or at the very least for weekends." She paused for a moment and took another drag of the cigarette before she continued, "Last year when she wrote us that she wasn't returning home for Christmas while Mark was meeting with that poncy git I took the opportunity to go shopping at the Alley. At first I wanted to find a gift for her, we do have a mailing catalogue at home and I could have used it but I wanted to examine stuff myself."

"Nothing wrong with that," said Arcturus simply.

"I got inside rather quickly and tried my best to not act completely bewildered. I think that I did a relatively good job as I was taken for a visitor from abroad rather than a Muggle," she continued and paused for long enough to smile softly. "While I was looking for a gift for Hermione I stepped into the bookshop. She is easily pleased with those," she added fondly. "But while I was pursuing the books, I encountered a booklet which I think should be included along with that Ministerial orientation one. It was a research project made a while back, I think in sixties, that described statistics concerning Muggleborns. You know, employment rate, wages…"

"Sobering wasn't it?" asked Arcturus with a grimace.

"Only ten percents of Muggleborns maintain regular ties with the Muggle world after graduation from secondary school. Only two percent still do that after the death of their relatives. Five percents pursue Muggle education and only one percent of them reached sixth form," replied Mum grimly. "I haven't shown it to Mark, nor am I planning to, Lord only knows how fast he would have pulled her out of Hogwarts if he saw it," she paused to shake her head. "He convinced himself that Hermione would agree to the idea of tutors, if only to sit her A level exams with other students from her year. And he can be convincing, at the very least he has been convincing until now, for Hermione to agree to that idea."

"What about you?" asked Arcturus pensively.

"I'm not sure she should be doing that, at the very least not on Mark's timetable. She's most certainly smart enough to do it within a year or two from graduating from Hogwarts. But she's who she is and she will do whatever she wants. I will support her even if she would want to become a hermit and live on berries and herbs. Hell, I will even regularly drive up to her reclusion site to supply her with those if that would be what makes her happy."

Hermione smiled softly.

"But that's not a part of the big plan, is it?" asked Arcturus pointedly.

"No," sighed Mum heavily before she stuffed the butt of the cigarette into Dad's cappuccino. "She will finish that school," she said with a sneer, "if she's good at maintaining satisfying grades from her normal exams she will graduate out of it completely. If not, she will only sit her ordinary exams and we will pull her out of that school so she can finish her schooling like it was planned."

"Dear Merlin," groaned Arcturus. "And let me guess, once she finishes sixth form she will take over your practice, later on marry a son of one of his friends and have a couple of kids whose names he already decided."

"He has his heart set on an Aurelius, Octavius and Eurydice," replied Mum sourly.

"What a fucking jerk," snorted Arcturus.

"He wasn't always like that," said Mum with a grimace. "It's his friends, Russ, they keep stepping on his ambitions and he doesn't see that his ambitions aren't hers."

"But you do," said Arcturus. "Why don't you set him straight, Helen?"

"Because…" Mum started. "It's complicated. He can be a jerk but I still love him. Even after…" she grimaced. "But that doesn't mean that…"

"… you aren't afraid of what he would do if you were to put your foot down a little harder," finished Arcturus with a nod.

Mum grimaced.

"Does he abuse you?" asked Arcturus softly.

"Not at all," protested Mum. "What gave you that idea?"

"Not all abuse is physical, Helen," said Arcturus calmly. "Psychological abuse is just as damaging if not worse. Financial abuse is one of its forms."

Mum gnawed on her bottom lip.

"The house was purchased in his name," she said eventually. "As was the car. My parents had money trouble way back when we were looking for the house. It wasn't terribly bad but they ended up with a debt and I was one of the residents on that loan. The practice belongs to both of us but with his specialisation he generates bigger revenue."

"Do you have a joint account?" asked Arcturus.

Mum nodded before she added, "To which we both have the same access, Hermione's saving account however has been put in his name and we both contribute the same amount of money to it. It's not much, not enough for a house, but enough for a new car or a couple of years of rent if she would want to move away after graduation."

"You're a specialist in your own field and even if you were to leave him and start your life anew you wouldn't have problems with establishing a modest household elsewhere," said Arcturus slowly. "No, you aren't afraid of being left with nothing. It's something else. Something…" he paused and frowned before he asked, "May I take your hand?"

"Okay," muttered Mum as she extended her right hand towards him.

Arcturus enveloped Mum's smaller hand in both of his, and for a long time he held on to it. From Mum's slightly bewildered expression, Hermione glanced towards Arcturus, but he didn't have any expression that would have indicated what he was doing or thinking.

"That explains a lot," he said after he finally released Mum's hand from his hold. "Who was it?" he asked curiously.

"My grandfather," said Mum softly. "We all believed that he was into some sort of voodoo stuff, but from what I heard about him he was the gentlest soul one could imagine. At the same time, he was an awfully perceptive individual that knew when he was being lied to, as if he could read other people's thoughts. He favoured natural medicine over pharmaceuticals until his death. None of us had seen him doing any magic and I can't say if he ever received any proper schooling but…"

"He wasn't born in England, was he?" asked Arcturus pensively.

"We didn't even know that much," replied Mum. "He spoke of the Caribbean islands and about New Orleans on occasion, but he and his father had sailed for many years."

"You're fifty-five which would make your mother about seventy-five and him about a hundred if not hundred and twenty if he lived," muttered Arcturus and scratched his chin. "Unfortunately I know why he could have fled from the area. It's a black spot on the American educational system, one last hurrah of the wizards that partook in the American Civil War," he added. "The wizarding Civil Rights Act majorly repeated that what had been stated in the muggle one, with a couple of minor additions. One of them concerned funding small magical state schools, one for each state, and because the wizards fighting for the confederation were some of the biggest racists amongst the bunch, they finally settled on funding two schools in each state."

"Bastards," snorted Mum.

"Oh, it gets worse," continued Arcturus. "In 1872 a bunch of even bigger fucks had decided that they didn't want their former slaves, in their sick minds still their slaves, to receive a formal magical education. So they decided to amend the problem by something that gained the name of Black Fire of the South. Within about three days, a group of them had attacked every single black school in the Southern states, at the worst possible time in the day, during lunch hours, where not only children but also their parents came to school to eat together. And the fire that was used to burn them down wasn't the regular one, it was a dark spell that couldn't be controlled."

"Were they ever caught?" whispered Mum.

"Eventually, but not before every wizard of colour that had some sense had fled from there. Most fled north, some fled west, some fled the fuck away from that country altogether. I presume that your grandfather was one of the refuges," said Arcturus pensively.

"I didn't know that," said Mum softly. "Hell, I don't even know what I am?"

"The name you're asking for is a squib. The proper term describes one as a non-magical person born to at least one magical parent. But that's a very inaccurate description as I've found over the years. Their individual levels of magic vary, but are so low that most often they aren't able to do much besides seeing or sensing magic that Muggles cannot see. Some of them are capable of possessing some magical talents, very limited, but as one of the most detailed work on the subjects describes it, it's not something that they can do consciously," explained Arcturus. "One of the most fascinating examples that I found was a Metamorphmagus, a witch that could transform her appearance in any way she wanted but aside of that couldn't do no magic whatsoever."

"And me?" asked Mum curiously. "Do I have some limited magical talent?"

"Oh yes," said Arcturus briskly. "One of the most fascinating ones that I have ever encountered."

"Aside from the woman of many faces," said Mum with a small smile.

"You're an empath," answered Arcturus. "It explains your chosen specialty and why your daughter is such a thoughtful young woman. Looking for good in people is one of your qualities as much as a fault. It's also the reason why you have gotten yourself into this mess in the first place."

"She was a former patient of mine," said Mum slowly. "Anne Shirley was her name. Came in for some pretty mundane stuff. Perfect teeth, straight and even, not exactly pearly white, but I've seen worse, and hers were within the norm. I sorted her out, we had a small chat and that was the last I saw of her before summer," she paused. "At first I didn't recognise her as she completely changed her hair, but there was something about her that made me keep finding her in the crowd. For some reason she stood out like a sore thumb to me, even if Mark couldn't notice her."

"She stalked you," said Arcturus.

"From a distance at first," continued Mum. "Further away first but gradually she grew bolder. She loitered around my workplace, not at all times, but hardly a day went by when she wasn't there and for long enough for me to notice her."

"Were you worried?" asked Arcturus pensively.

Mum frowned and remained silent for a long moment before she finally said, "I think that I wanted to be worried, but there was something about her that didn't allow me to focus on that thought for too long. It felt more like she was dealing with some inner turmoil and wanted to talk with someone, but was trying to gather her wits about it," she paused for a moment. "At the time we were living in a small townhouse in Reading and planning to adopt…" she paused again and grimaced. "It didn't work out. But one day in the middle of August, I returned home and had this weird feeling that someone had been to the house even if nothing was moved. I checked everything three times, there were no forced locks, nothing went missing or were out of place, but I could feel that someone had been inside it and that it wasn't Mark or any of our parents or friends."

"Weird," muttered Arcturus. "But on a second thought…" he added and hesitated. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"What?" asked Mum curiously.

"There are a couple of spells that test one's awareness of magic. They're so mundane that most people don't bother to use them unless they're fearing that their child is a squib. Yeah, that definitely sounds like her."

"Anne Shirley?" asked Mum.

"Not the name I knew her under," replied Arcturus. "She was a woman of many identities, hazard of the job and her particular upbringing."

"What name did you know her under?" asked Mum curiously.

"Miranda Black," replied Arcturus simply.

"A relative of yours?" asked Mum.

"Of some distance," answered Arcturus with a shrug. "Insanely smart, resourceful and highly paranoid."

"From what I heard about that man, not that I managed to get much out of her sister on the subject, she had every reason to be," replied Mum.

"Well, that's debateable," replied Arcturus with a grimace. "She was a troubled young girl in a very tight spot and what she believed was a noble motive."

"Not something that they both agreed on," said Mum with a grimace. "That's why I asked her if she would like to name Hermione. It felt to me as if she needed some semblance of the control over the situation or she would flee out of that place like a bat out of hell, taking Hermione with her."

"She was definitely ready to do that, I assure you," replied Arcturus grimly.

"Which was why I asked Mum to maintain contact with her," sighed Mum. "The mother didn't want it, she didn't want to as much as look at Hermione, much less hold her. It felt as if she feared that if she'd done so then she would change her mind about giving her up. I know that Mum maintained a regular correspondence that with passing time had stopped. What became of her?" she asked gently.

"What became of many young talented wizards and witches of that generation," replied Arcturus with a heavy sigh. "Shadow and ash. You read Hermione's history books?"

Mum nodded slowly.

"She was an Auror, our equivalent to a policeman. She got killed in the line of duty on 30th July 1980," said Arcturus.

"But…" started Mum softly. "She sent a gift for Hermione's first birthday and that was in September."

"That was me," admitted Arcturus with a sigh. "She left it in my possession and I was quite decent at emulating her handwriting. Not well enough to a trained magical eye, but enough to convince your mother that I was her."

"And then?" asked Mum.

"Then I did what she had asked me to do," replied Arcturus. "Observe but don't interfere unless Hermione will come to you on her own or unless you will find out that I was wrong about them," he added as if he was quoting Miranda.

"Was she?" whispered Mum.

"Not until 7th July this year," replied Arcturus sourly.

"Who are you?" asked Mum. "To Hermione, I mean."

"Miranda was both her aunt and a godmother, a magical guardian and in her last will she left very stern instructions to act as in loco godfather towards your daughter, although considering my age even back then it was praised as in loco godgrandfather," replied Arcturus.

"Why didn't you?" asked Mum slowly. "Why didn't you appear sooner?"

"Because I honour my promises," replied Arcturus simply. "I swore to Miranda that I wouldn't interfere and I didn't, not until her conditions were met. Your daughter had a loving home and a pair of doting grandparents. She lacked nothing that you were capable of giving her. Well, maybe aside from one thing," he paused. "Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

"Have you met her?" asked Mum swiftly. "Well, obviously, you have otherwise we wouldn't be talking about it. But can you imagine how hyper focused she would become on finding out the truth? And we had nothing to give her in that regard. I didn't know Anne Shirley's name until you said it, and her sister…" she grimaced. "I can barely remember the name she gave to us and signed the paperwork with, and I stared at it for hours."

"Not an excuse," Arcturus pointed out.

"Maybe," admitted Mum with a grimace. "Don't think we didn't have any openings, Russ. We did and a couple of them. But if there was one thing which Mark always deferred to me, it was the reveal of it. And I…" she paused, "every single one of them I had in the back of my mind the look on her face, the fear in her eyes or the set of her jaw. That wasn't something that had ever gone away. She was afraid, very afraid."

"And you didn't want your daughter to experience the same kind of fear," said Arcturus slowly.

Mum nodded slowly.

"She's afraid, Helen," added Arcturus softly. "Bloody terrified but not of the truth but of losing herself and that fear is justified."

"I know," sighed Mum. "If he ever summon those people..."

"It will be too late," replied Arcturus. "It might be even too late now," he added grimly. "He's angry and hungover and that isn't exactly a good mixture. But there's one thing which you can do to keep him reined."

"What do you propose?" asked Mum .

"The truth for a change," offered Arcturus. "The whole thing is illegal, we both know that. What you probably aren't aware of, are the ramifications of it in our world. Muggle adoption of magical children is borderline illegal, and if the truth ever came out and you were unable to prove that you didn't hold any ill will…" he paused.

"We meant no ill will," Mum pointed out.

"Perhaps not, but in the eyes of our legal system that won't matter. The paperwork is a sham and every prosecutor with half of a brain would be able to spin the whole thing into a case of kidnapping, if not human trafficking. And Merlin preserve you if that happens. At best, you will lose your daughter and you won't have even memories of her left. At worst, what awaits you is between twenty-five years to a life sentence in Azkaban, our prison, and I would be surprised if you last there more than five years at the most, you especially, Helen," explained Arcturus.

"What do you propose?" whispered Mum.

"Allow me to keep your daughter for the rest of the summer. On 31st August I will ensure that she is safely delivered to the Leaky Cauldron where you will be able to talk with her in private and decide on what happens next, all of you, Hermione included," replied Arcturus.

"Does she know what you're proposing?" asked Mum sceptically.

In response Arcturus glanced over his shoulder before he swiftly pulled the cloak from Hermione's head.

"Hermione!" gasped out Mum.

"Hi Mum," whispered Hermione.

"Oh, sweetheart," whispered Mum. "I'm so sorry."

"So am I," admitted Hermione. "But I can't let Dad…" she couldn't even bring herself to finish.

"You won't have to," said Mum swiftly in a hard voice. "I will sort out that idiot myself and if I won't be able to…" she looked at Arcturus.

"Then my house will always be open to both you and your daughter, and my pointy stick at your disposal," said Arcturus simply. "Just call out Russ and within moments I will be at your side. Now if either of you don't mind I need to use the restroom," he added as he tapped Hermione's arm.

Hermione quickly stood up, allowing him to leave the booth. But once he left she wasn't sure where she should sit down. Next to Mum or in front of her.

"I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way," whispered out Mum.

"You don't even know which way," pointed out Hermione sceptically as she finally sat down in front of Mum.

"I might not be sure but I know only one gossipmonger that was aware of it," replied Mum with a grimace. "Lord only knows why Mark had settled on that house."

"I'm surprised that I hadn't found out sooner," said Hermione with a soft snort. "Not from you, not that that wouldn't have been welcomed," she added sourly.

"I know," sighed Mum. "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," whispered Hermione. "It's not as if you were't looking out for me."

"Well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions," muttered Mum.

"You and the other one too," replied Hermione with a grimace.

"Did you find her?" asked Mum curiously.

"Not yet," replied Hermione. "But I found daddy dearest and wasn't that a surprise of the century."

"It's someone you know," said Mum. "That professor of yours whose books you read to Grandpa when he got sick?"

Oh Merlin, groaned inwardly Hermione.

"No," she replied with a grimace. "Although that actually would have been worse. Eww, thanks for that image, Mum."

"Sorry," said Mum sheepishly. "Professor Dumbledore then?"

"Yuck," Hermione grimaced. "He's over a hundred, a hundred and fifteen I think and Mum was about nineteen when she had me," she explained. "Yuck, yuck, yuck."

"Well out of people that I know that you know personally aside of the Weasleys…"

"It's Snape," Hermione grunted out.

"Oh Lord," groaned Mum.

"Yeah," snorted Hermione. "And you know what's better?" she asked. "Is that at school he was mooning over Harry's mother."

"You appear to know far more than you knew about him at the beginning of the summer," Mum pointed out. "Did you talk with him?"

"No," replied Hermione.

"If not then how did you find out that it was him?" asked Mum curiously.

And somehow it was that easy. So she talked. About Mrs Lambert. About Josephine. About Eleanor Fawley-White and the Beady Bunch. She carefully omitted parts about Sirius, deciding to let Arcturus handle that bomb in due time. She talked about Larry. About Miranda. About the bequests that were left to her, omitting the part about the trustee vault, another thing which Arcturus would be better at explaining. She spoke of the house on 39 Grimmauld Place and how they could both move in there if Dad didn't come around.

She spoke until she was parched and Mum listened like she always did, carefully, curiously, smiling at Hermione's antics in Diagon Alley when she dragged her daddy dearest on a shopping trip. She spoke of de Pagaille and her misadventure in the park in Paris. How she made it to Arcturus's house safely.

"I couldn't imagine you being in safer hands," said Mum finally. "I hate losing you so soon and at this moment of all times."

"I will be fine, Mum," said Hermione earnestly. "I'm always fine. I got it from you and Grandma."

"That you did," agreed Mum. "I'm not sure how fast I will be able to sort out your father. Certainly not for a couple of days, but when I do I will drop by the alley to use the post office. Can you be reached there by mail?"

"By you and her friends she will be," said Arcturus as he appeared by the table. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Helen."

"You too, Russ," replied Mum as she stood up. "You put a couple of important things in perspective. It's time to put a swine where it belongs," she added briskly with a glint in her eyes. "Hermione," she said as she reached out to her.

It was easy to fall into Mum's embrace as if the last couple of weeks hadn't happened. Regardless of not being her biological mother, she was the only mother she knew, and one that she loved.

"I love you, Hermione," Mum whispered into her hair.

"I love you too," Hermione whispered back.

TBC


Next: If what he already learned wasn't bad enough Harry learns that it was only the tip of the iceberg.