Beta love to the lovely CarbConnoisseur
It took Dorea almost a week to calm down enough to be able to allow Albus back in the house. During that week, Poppy got back to them with her contact from the DOM, an Unspeakable by the name of Isobelle McMillan. Neither Draco nor Hermione were looking forward to this appointment. While they were both clearly healthier, steady access to food combined with nutrition potions meant they were less emaciated, they were still a long way off from well.
"It's lovely tae meet ye baith!" A short blonde woman with a demeanour that could only be described as bouncy greeted them, striding out of the floo with Madam Pomphrey and into the dining room. "I'm Healer McMillan, and I gaither frae Poppy you've hid a few issues." Hermione couldn't have held in the snort if she tried. The Healer looked back faintly amused. "Aye, well I imagine that's summit o' an understatement given the look o' ye."
"You could say that," Draco murmured.
"Well, I'll be hae'n a look if it's awright wi ye? It's no that I dinna trust Poppy, but I like tae be sure."
"Of course. What exactly is it you're checking?"
"Perhaps we could discuss it ben 'er?"
"Pardon?" Draco asked, his face scrunched as he tried to make sense of the instruction.
The woman snorted. "I apologise," she said with exaggerated enunciation. "My accent slips when I'm….not concentrating on it. Would you be so kind as to relocate next door so we may have some privacy?"
Hermione huffed out a laugh and decided then and there she liked this strange little Scottish woman. "Of course, Healer McMillan," she replied with the same exaggeration. The Healer grinned back at her as she followed her from the room. Poppy rolled her eyes behind her Master's back.
"Now, I'll be castin' the same diagnostic as Poppy if that's a'right wi ye and then we'll tak it frae there?" Draco nodded sharply, not entirely sure what to do with this geriatric witch who had all the exuberance of a toddler. "Wonderful, if ye dinna mind setting yoursel' doon here, lass, we'll begin wi' you."
Hermione nodded, automatically tensing when the Healer raised her wand. She could sense Draco hovering behind her but didn't dare move. The Healer's face went through a myriad of emotions as she read the diagnostics in front of her. "Well, you'll be pleased tae ken that the malnutrition is better than it wiz. You're no gettin' enough sleep though, are ye lass?"
Hermione shook her head. "No," she sighed. "The nerve potions combined with nightmares…." she trailed off.
"Aye, I canna quite imagine what you've seen that you shouldna hae hid tae. Has onyone suggestit a Mind Healer? We've a newly qualified yin whae's making a gid name for hersel' if yer interestit."
"I…I probably should," Hermione admitted quietly. "But…It's not that easy."
"Because o' the confidentiality issue?" the Healer asked shrewdly. Hermione nodded. "Well this yins perfect then. She's bound by oor contracts becis we like tae keep yin oan staff. Sometimes experiments go wrong, ye ken?"
"Oh," Hermione replied softly.
"I'll set ye summit up. Her name's Andromeda. Andromeda Tonks." Hermione blinked back at her, stunned. "Oh, ye ken her already? Dinna bother denyin' it lass. I can tell by the look oan yer face."
"I used to," Hermione whispered.
The Healer's face softened. "She's a gid yin, Healer Tonks. I'm sure you'll be reacquaintit soon enough. Now, sit yersel doon young man. Let's be seeing ye."
Draco moved to sit near Hermione, still not sure what to make of this woman.
"Aye, same story. Although ye'll be needin' that extra couple o' weeks with nerve potions that the lass doesna. It's healin' well but it's no there yit. Did they add in that fourth potion Poppy recommendit?"
"Yes," he muttered.
"Good. Now, this is a lot easier if ye'd consent to be lying doon ye ken?"
Hermione looked at Draco who was watching the Healer warily. "I want to know what you plan on doing," he stated firmly.
"Today? I thought we'd see aboot daein summit about that reproductive damage. If that all goes well, we'll look at the heart nixt week when yer less fragile."
He nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the witch before moving to stand behind the sofa, taking one of Hermione's hands in his. His wand held steady and trained on the Healer.
"It's likely tae hurt Mr. Mafloy," she said softly. "Ye canna be firin' off curses at me if she screams ye ken? Poppy will have a diagnostic up. She can explain if ye need her tae. Now lower yer wand before I git someone else tae come in here tae sit wi' Miss Potter."
Draco flinched, looking torn. He turned to Madam Pomphrey. "You'll explain?"
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy," she soothed, waving her wand and showing him the chart. "This shows Miss Potter's organs as they stand. You can see how some of it looks thicker in parts. That's the scar tissue. Healer McMillan is attempting to remove some of it and regenerate the tissue."
"What's that?"
"That's where the fallopian tube was severed. I imagine from that curse on Miss Potter's abdomen. Healer McMillan will be attempting to reattach it."
"How badly is it going to hurt?"
The Healer looked sympathetic. "Probably raither a lot Miss Potter, and we canna gie ye a pain potion until efterwards. It can skew the results. We can numb the area slightly, bit I'm afraid it'll only just tak the edge off. Dae ye still want tae dae this?"
Taking a deep breath Hermione nodded, watching as both Madam Pomphrey and the Healer cast numbing charms.
The pain was indescribable and all Hermione really wanted to do was claw out her own insides so it would stop. The only saving grace was that it had nothing on Bella's crucio and she had survived that. Still, she knew she had to be hurting Draco given how tightly she was gripping his hand, but it was all she could do to focus on not screaming and terrifying the rest of the house. It stopped as abruptly as it started, although she had no idea how long it had been.
"All done now, lass," the healer's voice said softly. "I…I canna promise ye anythin' but I managed tae reattach the tube and remove a fair bit o the scarin'. I'll need tae check ye in a month or so tae see how it's holdin' up an' if theres onythin' that's hidin' behint the ither damange. We'll hae a better idea then. In the meantime, take it easy, aye? Nothing strenuous, plenty o' rest, and try an fatten yersel up a wee bit."
"Thank you," Hermione whispered, struggling to sit up.
The Healer nodded. "Yer more'an welcome. Now then, set yer arse doon Mr. Malfoy. I believe yer up next. Jist bide where ye are Miss Potter. He can use yer legs as a pillow but I dinna want ye on yer feet jist yit."
Hermione nodded, watching as Draco gingerly settled himself with his head on her lap, relaxing fractionally as she carded her fingers through his hair.
"Same as your lass, laddie. It'll likely hurt an we canna do nought but numb ye a wee bit jist now."
He nodded, his face a blank mask.
Like Hermione, he immediately tensed when the pain hit, clenching his hands into fists at his sides, but he didn't make a sound. He let out a gasp once the pain stopped, almost melting into the sofa.
"Merlin that fucking hurt!"
"Aye, I imagine it did, lad. But yer done noo. Same instructions as yer lass. Tak it easy, aye? Stay aff yer feet fur today and dinna be goin far for aboot the nixt week or so. I'll be back tae check ye both nixt week. If yer well enough, I'll consider lookin ower yer hearts."
"Thank you Healer McMillan," Hermione said softly, feeling the exhaustion hit her all at once.
"Yer welcome lass. Perhaps consider some dreamless sleep every other night for the nixt week? The neve potions should definitely be startin' tae calm doon."
"We'll give it a go."
"Wonderful. We'll see you next week then. I'll pass on Healer McMIllan's instructions to Dorea on our way out," Poppy said pointedly.
Hermione rolled her eyes but said nothing, giving in to the tiredness as the woman left the room.
Three days after the Healers visit, Dorea decided that Hermion and Draco could attend the Order meeting, if only because she thought she had no chance of confining them to a bed for another week like she wanted to.
Albus looked apprehensive on arriving, but she had decided the only way to handle him was to ignore him, a tactic many of the other Order members seemed to be employing as well. Augusta Longbottom, however, was particularly blatant in her disdain.
"Augusta began training us–Harry, Ron, Neville, and I in the summer between fifth and sixth year. Luna and Ginny dropped in whenever Mrs. Weasley would allow it. Remus helped, but he was often away. Tonks helped too, but her heart wasn't in it for reasons that aren't important," Hermione began, her eyes landing on the formidable Longbottom Matriarch. "You…you saved my life. You are the reason Harry and Ron lived as long as they did. You are absolutely the reason Neville and Ginny were able to protect the younger years from the Carrows when they went back to school. I…I cannot even begin to explain how much we owe you."
"You owe me nothing," Augusta replied, her usually stern mask slipping to reveal suspiciously glassy eyes.
"But we do. You and your lessons are the only reason we made it here. Before…before we were fighting like children. Against everyone's advice, you taught us how to actually duel and Gods we needed it. You were also the reason we kept improving. I wrote to you weekly during sixth year. You gave pointers. You stepped up training during the holidays and you…you didn't pretend the war wasn't happening to us like everyone else. We were kept out of Order meetings despite always being in the middle of things because of Harry, and you seemed to be the only one who really registered how dangerous that was, so you helped us."
Augusta nodded sharply, but she looked devastated. "I should not have had to."
"No," Hermione acknowledged. "But it didn't change the fact that reality meant we needed to be prepared."
"Sixth year was…not fun," Draco voiced softly, his eyes darting to Hermione who squeezed his hand and took up the narrative when he opened his mouth to speak again and nothing came out.
"For me, beyond worrying about Draco and Severus, sixth year was actually relatively stable, compared to other years anyway. For Draco….Lucius Malfoy was caught at the Ministry the previous year. As punishment for his failures, Draco was forcibly marked and tasked with something by Volemort. He was not expected to succeed. Dumbledore knew. We went to him and asked for help and he….he refused."
The atmosphere in the room turned frigid immediately. "Are you sure, Hermione?" Minerva asked gently.
"Yes.'' Hermione swallowed hard, wrapping her free arm around her abdomen. It struck Minerva viscerally just how young she was. "Dumbledore found one of the horcruxes, a ring. He put it on but it was cursed. They…they prey on your biggest fears, show you things you only see in your nightmares, and have a way of getting under your skin. I believe this one promised him he could see his sister again, while simultaneously telling him he was responsible for her death. So he was dying. Severus had managed to contain the curse to his hand, but he predicted he had a year at most."
Severus looked startled as Hermione smiled gently at him. "You…you came up with a plan, or more accurately Dumbledore demanded you follow through with his plan. Draco had been tasked with murdering him." Ignoring the gasps in the room she continued. "Narcissa approached Severus and made an unbreakable vow to ensure he would help Draco and finish things if Draco couldn't. She knew it was meant to be a death sentence, so protected him in the only way she could. Dumbledore decided that regardless, Severus would be the one to kill him, that it would cement his place in Voldemort's ranks. But beyond that, he wasn't willing to help us. He thought Draco needed to remain where he was despite knowing about our relationship and Draco's reluctance. It was…Fuck," she cursed, swiping a hand down her face to remove the tears. "I really thought he was going to die that year. He was…ill and shutting me out because he thought it was the only way to protect me and…you…you did nothing! Again! He was fucking sixteen and you let him…" she trailed off, her hand pressed over her mouth as if it could stop the sobs that were threatening. She felt Draco pull her into him, his arms wrapping around her, enclosing her in the only place she truly felt safe.
The entire room sat in silence, their faces pale as they processed yet another blow to their confidence in the supposed leader of the light. Dumbledore watched them warily, wondering what exactly it would take to win them back over. He wasn't stupid. He knew he was losing their trust thanks to that bloody girl and her overly emotional displays. Couldn't she see the logic in not removing the heir of one of the most prominent wizarding families? The boy would have been a liability, for one. Oh, he might seem like he loved her now, but he was the Heir to the Malfoy line. Muggleborns were all well and good as mistresses, but not as wives. He knew how this worked. He was just surprised everyone else was taken in by him. Only the fact that he had signed the parchment and seemed to be open to giving them information for just now stilled his hand. The boy would go back to what he knew. He was sure of it.
"What happened next, lass?" Moody's shaken voice interrupted the silence.
"I…we fixed the vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement and the Death Eaters stormed the school. Thankfully, Order members were patrolling the halls so we had backup when we were fighting. Dumbledore had taken Harry to retrieve a horcrux. He'd spent the year telling him things about Voldemort's life. I'm still not fucking sure what the point was. The things he told him could have been condensed into a bloody week and he could have spent time fucking training him instead or you know….helping him find the fucking horcruxes before he died." Hermione shook her head violently, attempting to get herself back under control. "They went to a cave where Voldemort had hidden his horcrux. In order to remove it from the protections placed on it, he had to drink the Draught of Despair, which left him weakened. Once they were back, Dumbldore immobilised Harry underneath his invisibility cloak. Severus killed Dumbledore and Severus, Draco, and the Death Eaters left the school," Hermione continued faintly, refusing to let go of Draco.
"And who knew about the plan?"
"Me," Hermione whispered. "Just me. And only because he had no other choice."
"None of the Order?" Moody pressed.
Hmerione shook her head, trying to ignore Severus' devastated face. She'd seen that look in the aftermath, as it dawned on him that he really had just killed Albus Dumbledore and no one knew why. "None. They…they all thought he was a traitor. He..the things they said about him and Draco.
And….Harry…Harry was so, so fucking angry. And he'd been given that bastarding mission and told not to tell anyone but Ron and I so we'd all agreed to not go back to school. Draco and Severus were still trying to pass on information and it was just so fucking hard to get anyone to listen when they all questioned how I knew. I…Gods I've spent hours wondering how many we could have saved if only he'd let people in on the plan. Because that information was valuable and no one wanted to listen to it because they thought they were traitors."
The entire Order sat in silence for several moments. Many faces around the room showed blatant disbelief. Severus looked blank, a stark contrast to the rapidly building fury on Minerva's face.
"How could you?" she whispered, turning to face Albus properly. "How in the name of Godric could you justify that?"
"I do not know. However, I imagine that there were concerns about too many people knowing the plan."
"But no one knew you manipulative old bastard!" Hermione screeched. "And people died!"
"And how many more would have died if Severus had been outed as a spy, Miss Potter?"
"I don't fucking know, but I do know if people had fucking trusted them then many wouldn't have!"
"And you would have had no information without him."
"We had no fucking information with him! No one would fucking listen! I had to sit through three separate lectures from Tonks, Remus, and Bill fucking Weasely about how I needed to let go now because Draco had shown his true fucking colours! And it didn't matter what I fucking said. There was an actual fucking meeting where the entire Order discussed me seeing a bloody Mind Healer because apparently I was fucking delusional! They were seriously worried! They had me fucking checked for potions and curses. They were discussing whether or not they could trust me because I was clearly still in touch with at least one Death Eater. It was only that I hadn't yet put Harry in direct danger that stilled their hands. But they barely took their eyes off of me and they definitely went to ridiculous lengths to keep me separated from Harry once we were in the same goddamned house."
"You never told me that," Draco interrupted her rant.
Hermione shrugged awkwardly. "They…they brought in your Aunt Andy and she convinced them I was sane and not a danger to the Order."
"They seriously made you see a Mind Healer?"
"Yes. Yes they did. It was…well it wasn't fun and she took some fucking convincing, but I got there in the end. She sent Severus something in code, pretending to be me. The response was enough to put her at ease. We still couldn't convince enough people it wasn't an elaborate trap, though Remus tried for a while. He trusted Andy if nothing else."
"Didn't someone notice that the information you had correlated with things happening?" Madam Bones asked.
"I…I don't know. You have to understand we were only at the Burrow for two months before we went on the run. After Dumbledore's death it was chaos, I suppose. Harry's trace broke that summer too. The mission to remove him from his Aunt and Uncle's house cost George an ear and Moody his life. There had been no clear next steps discussed, despite Dumbledore having planned his death for a year. Everyone was…scrambling to get things together. Severus was made Headmaster. Voldemort took the Ministry. Death Eaters were replacing teachers and using horrific methods of discipline that Severus almost killed himself trying to mitigate with no fucking help. Because for all Minerva, Filius, Pomona, and many others were still there, none of them fucking trusted him. He said Remus had managed to almost convince Minerva that I was telling the truth about his actions, but the moment the Carrows took over discipline everyone fell back into believing he really was a traitor. By that point Harry, Ron, and I had already gone."
There were several beats of shocked silence. Many of the Order appeared to be working themselves up to explosions.
Before any of them could voice their thoughts, a short man with blonde hair appeared in the room, greeting them cheerfully. "Hello all. What have I missed?"
The effect was instantaneous. Hermione and Draco moved fluidly, one stunning and the other binding. Sirius, James, and Remus jumped off their seats, all of them stalking towards the stunned form of their friend.
"Check his arm…just in case…just in case we've got the timeline wrong," Hermione pleaded.
"I'll do it," James growled. "Loosen your ropes."
Obligingly, Draco vanished the ropes, summoning Peter's wand instead. James took a deep breath in. His eyes closed momentarily as if praying before he slowly pushed the sleeve of Peter's shirt up. There on his pale skin, the Dark mark lept out at them. Minerva barely suppressed her sob as the three remaining Marauders let out a simultaneous howl of rage.
Hermione stood, stalking towards him before anyone could stop her, her wand pointing at Peter's head.
"That was for Harry," she said as she stared down at the face of the man who had contributed to ruining her brother's life. It wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough, but she admitted to herself that she was terrified that if she did anything else she wouldn't be able to stop.
"What did you just do?" Dorcas whispered, her eyes wide.
"I….I cast a charm we found once in the Black library. The dementors will affect him more than most. He'll be tortured by all the shitty decisions he made and forced into feeling undending remorse for them. I added in Harry's memory of his death for good measure." Her eyes turned back towards Peter. "I hope he never knows a moment's peace. I hope it drives him fucking mad. I'd really like to fucking murder him….slowly, but this will have to do."
"I think…I think I'll take him in now," Amelia said faintly
"He's a rat animagus," Hermione reminded the witch. "He'll need specific wards."
Amelia nodded, levitating Peter through the floo with a look of disgust.
"Still think everyone is here because they believe in the cause?" Marlene McKinnon spat at Albus, her face twisted into a look of disgusted horror.
"I could not have known…" he began faintly.
"Which is why there should have been security measures in place!" Gideon roared.
"Perhaps I was…too trusting," Albus allowed.
Everyone looked at him in disbelief. "It's not good enough," a pale-faced Lily said softly. "This…this is our lives and…I can't help but wonder if you care."
"Of course I care, Miss Evans!"
"Do you?" Sirius asked, his face a blank mask that made Hermione want to recoil. It was not a look she associated with Sirius, not since she'd first seen him anyway.
"Mr. Black! Of course I do," he repeated emphatically.
"Then why did it take a teenage witch to enforce safety precautions?" the man Hermione now knew was Edgar Bones asked wearily.
"As I said, perhaps I was too trusting."
"No," Minerva said. "No, you do not get to use that as an excuse. You are not young and naive, Albus! You sit at the head of that table and make decisions that could and do affect people's lives! And you just….you just don't! I won't allow you to unilaterally make decisions any more. You have just proven that, like everyone else, you are not infallible. Perhaps we needed a reminder; perhaps you did. I do not know. But it's here and I will not ignore it. Missions, decisions, planned action–it will all be discussed. You will listen when Hermione and Draco speak. They clearly know more about this war than you."
"Hear hear," Moody murmured softly with similar mumblings around the table.
Albus wondered when it had all gone so wrong. Directly opposite him, three shell shocked teenage boys were wondering the same thing.