AN: Sorry for the two day delay. It's a reflection of my covid brain that I forgot to send a number of chapters to my beta reader so things got behind. Shouldn't happen again and thanks so much for your patience. I had fun with this chapter but be warned there is some gore in it. Enjoy. Special thank you to my alpha reader: LaDeeDaa and beta reader: astrangefan who keep me going.
Cokeworth
Draco said his goodbyes to her in the early morning as he pulled her close and let his hands wander her body before draping her thigh over his and sliding into her as they were both barely awake. The memory of their lazy lovemaking made her smile as she remembered it, pulling her trainers on and adding a few things to her beaded handbag.
When he'd fully awakened, Draco had gone with Theo to the library to read up on Fiendfyre. She knew he didn't want a drawn out, melodramatic goodbye and she appreciated that.
Padma had signed off on her magic assuring Harry that she was back at one hundred percent, and her anaemia was no longer an issue. She felt good, excited to be back in the field, and ready to finish this.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"Almost," she said, double checking she had everything. When she was satisfied, she pulled the ties on the bag to close it.
They made their way to the headmistress' office where they would Floo to the Auror office in Nottingham before renting a car to Cokeworth. Hermione had double checked that Harry had actually received his Muggle licence, and he had done so without a confundus to the driving instructor. She'd never bothered to get one given that she was as likely to drive a car as she was to walk to Jupiter. Harry, though, insisted it was always a good idea to have another, less traceable getaway. He wasn't wrong.
"Let's go," she said, bag in hand, wand slipped into the special pocket of her denims.
It was only when they got to the car rental kiosk that Hermione had second thoughts about allowing herself to be hurtled down the motorway with Harry Potter behind the wheel.
"Err, Harry, you have driven since the test, right?" she asked, picking at her nails as the nice Muggle girl behind the counter clacked away at the computer keyboard in front of her.
"Yes, Hermione," Harry said with an amused laugh. "I've driven many times. Please relax."
After a few more minutes of clicking keys, they were led to a cute little Saab and Harry got behind the wheel while Hermione got into the passenger seat and immediately clicked her seatbelt into place.
It was a small thing. As a child, she'd been in a car hundreds of times. She and her parents would drive to the sea once a month, and in the summers, they toured the entire countryside. But as she'd become more and more involved in the Wizarding world, those trips became fewer. She couldn't even remember the last time she was in a car. Like most of the things from her Muggle life - save the conveniences like pens and spiral bound notebooks - it felt odd now. She wondered when that happened.
Pushing the thought from her head, she held onto the belt across her chest as Harry backed out of the space and turned to exit the parking lot. He was actually rather adept at driving, and little by little she loosened her iron grip on the belt and relaxed into her seat.
Harry fiddled around with the radio until they found a station playing something vaguely familiar. It occurred to her that she and Harry, while young adults in the new millennium, knew absolutely nothing about modern Muggle pop-culture. Their cultural touchstones were at least ten years out of date.
The thought didn't make her sad, though. She didn't feel like she was missing anything. She had another, rich culture - one that she'd done an amazing job of stepping into at age eleven. Moreover, this feeling of existing in both cultures was something she and Harry shared. It had always been something that brought them closer. Harry knew what a phone was. He knew why she used pencils and not quills. He understood why she was sometimes willing to dampen the magic in her apartment to watch a Muggle film. He could sing the lyrics of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds with the windows rolled down on a bright spring day and feel called back to a more innocent time. Harry, even with his horrible upbringing, could share that with her without a million questions or odd looks.
She gazed out the open window as Harry drove them through the Midlands of England, headed north toward Manchester. She pulled the clip from her hair and let the wind whip it around her face in a way that made her feel twelve again. She knew it would be an absolute nightmare to tame it back into the clip later, but she didn't care.
She thought about Draco and how he might react to being driven in a car by Harry. She laughed to herself as she envisioned the alarmed and affronted look on his face at the mere suggestion.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked, his own grin on his face. He looked younger, freer behind the wheel.
"Just thinking about what it would have been like if we had to convince Draco to get in this car," Hermione said with a chuckle.
Harry snorted. "Not even you have the charm to have gotten him in, I don't think. I remember taking Parvati for a ride the first time."
"First time," Hermione asked, "Do you mean to tell me that you've been taking your girlfriend on joyrides at regular intervals?"
Harry laughed, "I wouldn't say regular but I'll rent a car from time to time. Sometimes I like to drive to the coast, just look at the sea for a while and come back. I used to dream…" he shook his head. "It's stupid."
"No, it's not," Hermione chastised. "Finish what you were saying."
"Well, I know you think it's silly that I bothered with a Muggle licence. While it's true that I think it's valuable to have an untraceable form of transportation, the real reason I did it was that for eleven years - living in that cupboard under the stairs - I used to dream about when I could drive away. I'd leave the Dursleys and everything behind. I'd drive to the sea…"
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said, reaching out to pat his thigh. "I'm sorry I made fun…"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Forget about it. Come on. Anyway, I don't do it often, but when Parvati and I started to get serious, I wanted to do something special - a picnic at the beach. I even made all the food by myself."
"No help from Kreacher?" Hermione asked, impressed.
"Nope," Harry said with a proud smile. "Parvati wasn't much of a fan of the car though. She indulges me from time to time, but the reality is that from the moment she straps into the seat to the moment I stop the car, she has her nails dug into the seat cushions waiting for it all to end."
Hermione laughed. "I feel the same way about flying. I get it. The difference is, at least in a car you have some measure of protection."
"Eh, flying isn't so scary once you get used to it."
"I'll take your word for it, Harry," Hermione said.
"Speaking of Parvati," she continued, "when are you going to make an honest woman of her?" she teased.
Harry blushed. "Well, actually…"
Hermione's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. "You are going to ask her to marry you?" she almost squealed. Hermione Granger rarely ever squealed.
"If I can ever finish this bloody case," Harry said. "I've been planning it for months, actually. The original plan was to take her somewhere over Easter Holiday, but obviously that didn't happen."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione suddenly felt quite guilty.
He brushed her off. "No, it's fine. When all of this is over, I'll take her to Paris. I'll ask her at the top of the Eiffel Tower - or something equally cliche." Hermione grinned. "She's actually quite used to the hell that is being in a relationship with an Auror. It's one of the things I love most about her."
Hermione nodded. "It helps that she has her own career. You both are busy people, and you need partners who understand that."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I miss her when she's gone, but I also feel so proud of her. She's built that business from the ground. I'm amazed by her every day."
Hermione grinned brightly at her best friend. She loved how in love he was. "We just have to find the right one for Ron," she said, thinking of her other best friend who she knew really wanted to settle down but never seemed to be able to find the one. They were still young, at least.
"He's dating someone," Harry said. "He's cagey about it."
"Yeah, he told me he's been seeing someone casually. I'll believe it when I meet her," she joked.
They continued to drive in comfortable silence, Nineties Alternative Rock music flowing from the radio, wind whipping around their hair as they made their way closer to Cokeworth.
"You know," Hermione finally said, "I hadn't given it a lot of thought until right at this moment, but Cokeworth is where your mum is from."
Harry gripped the wheel just a little tighter and nodded. "I know," he said. "It's strange to think about - my grandparents are buried there. After ridding myself of the Dursleys, I didn't really think about that side of the family much."
"Understandable," Hermione replied. "Though, if I remember correctly, didn't Snape's memories indicate your grandparents were rather proud to have a witch for a daughter?"
"Yes," Harry said. "So much was going on at the time, I didn't have a chance to think about it. I've been thinking about it over and over since yesterday, though. They never got to know me either."
"Would you like to go see their graves?" Hermione asked.
His hands tightened on the wheel again and he swallowed. "Harry, it's okay if you don't want to. No judgement."
"I haven't decided yet," Harry admitted.
"Well, if you do want to go. I'm happy to accompany you," she said, patting his leg again.
To say Cokeworth was depressing was putting it nicely. An industrial town on the river in the seventies and eighties, Thatcherism had hit the town hard and what used to be rows and rows of working-class houses with small but neat gardens was now a rundown, dirty, overgrown mess.
There were definitely two sides of town, though. Spinner's End was in the less desirable part. Harry's mum had grown up across the river where the industry bosses had resided. That part of town was a bit nicer even now, and it was also where their motel was located.
It was a small but clean little motel on the side of the road. Hermione had already made reservations, though it seemed obvious none were necessary. The man behind the counter looked a bit shocked to see them when they arrived - as if he didn't get a great deal of business in the middle of the week. He directed them to the map that outlined a few nearby restaurants, handed them the key, and went back to his paper.
Harry and Hermione settled into the room and made their plans for the day. Lunch, cemetery to set up wards, then lookout duty.
By the time they made it to the cemetery, Hermione greatly regretted the oily fish and chips she and Harry had selected and was feeling like a nap. They quickly located Eileen Snape's (nee Prince) plot and set about erecting wards. Since there was no body for the Rakovs to exhume, most of the wards were less about keeping them out and more about alerting Harry and Hermione if they were breached. They set a large perimeter around the modest burial site.
Eileen Snape
September 5, 1930 - January 15, 1978
Severus Snape
January 9, 1960 - May 2, 1998
"His mother died only days after his eighteenth birthday," Hermione noted with a frown.
"Let's hope for his sake, his father had already passed," Harry noted. Hermione nodded. She remembered that Harry had told him that Snape's memories revealed that his father - a Muggle - was an abusive drunk.
When they finished their warding, Harry turned to her and with an apprehensive look said, "I think I'd like to find my mum's parents."
Hermione nodded. "I have a plot map, let me find them."
She pulled the map of plots she'd procured from the main office and scanned it. "Evans…Evans…" her finger travelled across the paper seeking out Harry's grandparents.
"Here!" she cried. "Thomas and Rose Evans. This way." She took Harry's hand and let him west through the line of graves back toward the gravel road that wove a path through the cemetery. Turning north they walked up a hill and turned west again making their way over several lines of plots.
Hermione kept scanning the stones as they approached the area where the Evans' plots should have been.
"Here," Harry said, stopping dead in his tracks, his hand dropping from Hermione's. She stopped too, walking back to where he'd stood in front of a large headstone - much bigger than was afforded Eileen Snape.
Thomas Evans
May 30, 1929 - July 3, 1980
Rose Evans
March 6, 1931 - July 3, 1980
"Car accident," Harry breathed. "Petunia mentioned - only once. When I tried to ask questions, she locked me in my room."
Hermione snaked her arm around Harry's middle and pulled him close. She stayed silent and listened.
"I wonder how my mother dealt with the news. They were still young, and she was very pregnant with me by then."
Hermione nodded. "I can't imagine," she said. "I'll bet having you really helped her grieve."
Harry smiled sadly. "Anyway, sometimes I forget that this whole side of my family exists."
Hermione just nodded again. Using her wand, she cast the spell to leave a wreath of flowers just as she had on his parents' graves all those years ago.
"Come on," Harry said. "Let's go."
It was two whole days of nothing. Hermione and Harry had played every single game two people could possibly play together, alone, in a cemetery. They did I-Spy, they did the alphabet game - then they modified the alphabet game with subjects. Hermione was still bragging about coming up with 'Xanthinuria' when they played the game with 'illnesses' and she was stuck with the letter 'X'.
After the first day, Hermione and Harry had decided to alter their appearances before entering the cemetery. They didn't want the groundskeepers to wonder about the two people lurking in the cemetery for hours at a time.
Hermione transfigured her wild mane of hair into a sleek, blond bob stopping at her shoulders. Harry could have passed for a Weasley with the red curls that donned his crown and the freckles he'd added to his cheeks.
Early the third day the Caterwauling Charm was tripped. Hermione's heart stuttered in her chest. She and Harry looked at each other for a moment before carefully moving into action. It could have been a stranger. There was no way to key in the wards to the Rakovs without knowing their exact magical signature.
Turning toward the plot where Severus Snape was supposed to be, they both gasped as they saw Viktor Rakov approaching with purpose, wand in hand.
Harry pulled himself up to his full height and unsheathed his wand. Hermione did the same. "Follow my lead," he instructed and she nodded her agreement. With a deep breath, she prepared herself for battle.
From behind a tree, Harry shot a stunning curse at Viktor. It missed.
"Shite," Harry cursed. They'd given themselves away and hadn't even slowed the other man down.
Hermione braced herself for attack and instantly dodged a red stunner aimed at them from the large, lumbering Viktor Rakov. He yelled something in Bulgarian and shot another hex their way. It missed.
"Rakov!" Harry called. "It's over. You won't get what you need."
"Potter," the Bulgarian literally spat after he said the name. "It vill be a great honour to kill you."
Bombarta. Miss.
Stinginghex. Hit. Hermione gasped in pain as the curse hit her in the side, but she pushed through.
Harry cast a protego shield around them as they surged forward together as if they'd been partners for ages. "We can take him out," he said confidently. Hermione nodded, following Harry behind the shield. The pain at her side was a distant memory as adrenaline coursed through her veins.
Viktor blasted the shield with a confrigo strong enough to throw them both back. Without Harry's shield, they'd have been in bits on the ground. They scrambled up again, immediately taking defensive stances.
"Harry, flank!" Hermione cried, knowing Harry would know that she meant for them to come at him from either side, but Viktor would not know what she meant. Harry nodded quickly and they each moved in opposite directions blasting off curse after curse to a dodging Viktor Rakov.
Diffindo. Miss.
Confrigo. Miss.
Alarte Ascendo. Hit! Viktor rose abruptly into the air and slammed back down on the ground, hard. The wind was knocked out of him, and Harry and Hermione took advantage of the upper hand.
"Incarcerous!" Harry cried as ropes flew out of his wand, knotting around Viktor's hands, tying them together then wrapping around his torso to hold him in place.
"No!" a guttural cry came from behind Hermione as she tried to pin Viktor to the ground while Harry took his wand. Harry wrenched it from the clamped fingers of the cursing Death Eater, shoving it into his back pocket.
Before she knew what was happening, Hermione was shoved back on the ground, hard. She coughed as the air left her lungs, the wind knocked entirely out of her.
Alexi.
The large man climbed on top of her, his knees pressing into her chest. She couldn't breathe. She thought her lungs would explode. He felt as if he weighed four-hundred pounds.
"Crucio!" Alexi screamed. "Mudblood cunt!"
Hermione's vision blurred as she was hit with the too familiar curse. Her body jolted and she gasped for breath - breath she couldn't take because there was a grown man kneeling on her lungs. The pain seared through her, and her mouth opened to scream but nothing came out - she had no breath to make sound.
Harry immediately pushed Alexi off of her, his rage filled, sweaty face set. "Incarcerous!" But he missed. The ropes lay useless on the ground by Alexi's feet.
Alexi sneered, his wand raised. He pointed it at Hermione, right between her eyes, "Avada…"
"Diffindo!" Hermione cried, slashing her wand in the air across his torso. The Killing Curse on his lips interrupted by his own shock as he looked down. She'd sliced directly through his trunk, his intestines beginning to spill out onto the ground in front of him. In slow motion she watched as his knees hit the ground first, then he fell back, lying twitching on the ground.
Harry was at her side in an instant. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" she cried. "Check the other!"
Harry scrambled over to Viktor who was still trying to escape his binds. Hermione felt her hands shaking. It had been close. She'd nearly been killed. She acted fast enough, but if she hadn't… She watched as the light left Alexi's eyes and she shook harder, both the shock of the situation and the effects of the crucio making it harder and harder for her to control the tremors.
Dead.
Shaking her head, she got up. She had to move forward. She had to help Harry. There was a sharp pain in her side where the stinging hex had hit her, but she pushed through it. "Harry, where is Dobromir?"
She knew he didn't know. He didn't know any more than she did, but she didn't want to be caught unawares again.
"I've got to get him into custody," Harry said, quickly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine!" she said, "Where is the third…" but before she could even finish her question the third Rakov brother appeared from behind a tall statue several feet away.
"Impedimenta"' Dobromir shouted and both Hermione and Harry felt as if they'd been stuck in glue. Their movements slowed; their limbs heavy. They watched in horror as Dobromir grabbed his brother Viktor around the middle and disapparated from the cemetery. It happened so fast they couldn't even react.
After a few seconds the curse lifted and Harry and Hermione fell on the ground struggling to catch their breath.
"Fuck," Harry spat.
"Exactly," Hermione agreed. She looked over at Alexi's dead body and her heart raced and her fingers twitched with anxiety again.
Dead.
"We have to report this," he indicated to the dead Death Eater on the ground next to them. "They already know I'm hunting the Rakovs. I can keep you out of it…"
Hermione nodded absently. "Set a disillusionment charm on yourself," Harry said, taking charge of the scene. "You look like you've been battling trolls. The hotel is just up the street. Walk there and get cleaned up. I'll call in the local Aurors to work the scene."
"Harry," she began to protest. "I can stay."
"No," Harry insisted. "It will lead to more questions than we can answer right now. I'll take care of it."
Hermione nodded and did as he instructed.
Hermione had never killed anyone before - unless you counted horcruxes. She knew it was kill or be killed in that cemetery. She knew that she had to stop Alexi. But knowing she had to do something and processing it were two different things.
She sniffed into her cup of tea as she waited for Harry to return to the motel. She'd packed them both up after her shower and waited. The waiting made her think, and the thinking made her hands shake and her stomach hurt. She felt just on the edge of hysterical.
I had to kill him. He was going to kill me.
She swallowed. She closed her eyes, but when she closed her eyes she saw Alexi, insides spilling out of his soft belly, eyes staring back at her in shock. She opened her eyes.
He was going to kill me.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Harry bursting through the door looking exhausted. "Are you okay?" he asked. "One of them got a piece of you, didn't they?"
"Stinging hex," she said with a shrug. "I'll be fine."
"The Aurors took over the scene. I was able to get some useful information from them about the dissaperation. Dobromir took them back to Scotland."
"That's a long way to apparate," Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah, let's hope they both get splinched and drop dead," Harry spat.
Hermione flinched. "Hermione…" Harry said, his voice much softer as he came over to sit across from her at the table in their room. "You had to kill him. He'd almost cast the Killing Curse." He knew why she was upset. He knew why she was shaking, as Harry always knew her so well.
Hermione nodded, but she couldn't quite get her voice to work. Her eyes filled with tears again.
"Oh, Hermione," Harry said, getting up and pulling her out of the chair and into his arms. "I know you can't hear this right now, but I'm glad you killed that bastard. If he'd killed you…" she felt her friend shudder as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.
"Do the Aurors need you to stay?" she asked.
"No," Harry replied. "I name dropped Kingsley, and they have listed it as open and shut. Harry Potter attacked by rogue, escaped Death Eaters. It isn't a hard story to believe."
Hermione scoffed. "I can think of about 50 holes in it from here."
"Yes, but you aren't an Auror from the Manchester office," Harry said with a subtle quirk of the lips. "Thank Godrick for small mercies."
"So, we can go back to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Harry said. "I've found us a Floo. We can Floo back to Nottingham, and then into the Headmistress' Office from there."
"Okay," Hermione replied. "But you are going to lose your deposit on that car."