An exhausted looking Sirius met Susan off the train, so tired in fact it took him a full thirty seconds to realise that Hermione wasn't with her. He was dressed in muggle clothes, unseasonal sunglasses holding loose hair back from his face, ripped jeans tucked into boots, a thick hoodie and leather jacket the only concession made to the cold December weather.
"Where's 'Mione?" He demanded, looking around them wildly.
"Where's Harry?" Susan challenged, glaring up at him.
Her uncle stared at her for a long moment before his lips thinned and he nodded once. He shrunk her trunk and stuffed it into his jacket pocket.
"C'mon," He muttered, one hand on her shoulder guiding from the platform. Several people called out to Lord Black, attempting to talk to him. Sirius flipped his sunglasses down and kept walking. He really could be a diva sometimes, Susan mused.
He led her to a muggle coffee shop, not far from Kings Cross station. It was busy inside, but Susan had been in enough of these growing up to feel comfortable around this many Muggles. Sirius had been determined that Harry know his mother's heritage and Susan had often gone with them. For a moment she entertained the idea of bringing the Weasley twins or Luna Lovegood here and smiled a little. Hermione would find it hilarious. Her smile faded slowly.
The barista seemed slightly surprised by Sirius's order for two spiced chai latte's but not surprised enough to not try flirting with him. Susan was too irritated to do her usual trick of calling him "Dad" to make people leave them alone.
They settled in a remote corner of the coffee shop, up against the steamed up windows.
"Shall we try this again?" Sirius asked evenly. Susan just narrowed her eyes at him. "Where's Hermione?"
Susan sighed and reminded herself that she wasn't really angry at him.
"Umbridge banned her from leaving the castle."
"WHAT!"
It says something about London coffee shops that no one looked around at Sirius' outburst and Susan took a long drink of her latte.
"She realised 'Mione's technically an orphan and because she's got it out for her, says she can't leave the castle without check-ups being necessary." She smiled. "For Hermione's own wellbeing of course."
Sirius dropped his head into his hand and swore lowly.
"And now Hermione's alone in the castle with her. Fucking perfect."
"Not entirely alone." Susan murmured. "Draco stayed behind to look after her."
Sirius jerked his head up to look at her and she could see he'd gone entirely pale.
"You forgot you were supposed to pick up Draco too, didn't you?" She accused. He nodded mutely.
"Why the hell am I in charge of so many children?" Sirius breathed, horrified. "I'm irresponsible, I once let Hermione get hypothermia, I forget how many children I'm supposed to be bringing home…"
"Buy me a piece of that chocolate cake," Susan indicated the display case with a nod, "And I won't tell Aunt Amy."
Sirius went without another word.
"You are awfully Slytherin sometimes." He mumbled, dropping back into his seat and sliding the cake plate towards her. Susan grinned.
"I've got to be. Harry's so clueless sometimes. If we're going to hold an alliance between Black, Bones, and Potter in the Wizengamot, we need to ensure that we hold all the cards. Harry's powerful, Hermione is too and she's smart. I'm sneaky." Sirius started to look like he was regretting his life choices, his eyes widening in concern. "Now we've got the Malfoy heir as well, we'll be able to sway a lot of their allies over to our side as well. And we know where Potter goes, Longbottom usually follows. I've spent a lot of time cultivating ties with Abbot too so they're probably a given as well."
"You mean Hannah?" Sirius demanded. "The girl whose house you used to go to for sleepovers?"
Susan rolled her eyes.
"Why'd Draco stay behind?" He asked eventually. She stabbed at the hand that was reaching for her cake with her fork. "Ouch"
"'Mione told me she was staying behind at Hogwarts yesterday after we realised Harry was gone. Minerva told her," Sirius' eyes narrowed. "So I went to Draco. He agreed we couldn't leave her there alone so he said he would stay behind and keep an eye out for her."
Sirius got a funny look on his face.
"He's certainly changed his tune since this summer," He muttered. "I was half worried the kid would make a break straight for Lucius."
"Hermione's made sure to keep an eye on him." She explained, shrugging. "Drove Harry half-mad, but poor Draco's had no one to talk to at Hogwarts apart from her. I'm not sure he actually likes her but that boy's Slytherin all the way through. He knows Hermione's someone he wants on his side and he's not willing to risk something happening to her."
"House loyalty." Sirius shook his head ruefully. "With Lucius the poor kid probably had it drilled into him young. That and I bet he knows that Black is all he has going for him at the moment." Susan frowned at him and he continued. "Currently he's the most likely Malfoy heir. But if Lucius gets married and has another child, that might change. And as Lucius is only…" he squinted. "Seven years older than me, it's certainly possible."
"Do you think he'll get married again?" She asked, curious. Sirius wrinkled his nose.
"Maybe. He'd have to find a witch dumb enough to marry into his family. He's already been divorced once, for a wizard that's a sign of great shame, particularly as it wasn't him who called for the divorce. If it'd been the other way round, people would take it as a sign that Narcissa had failed in her duties as his wife." Susan opened her mouth, outraged and he smiled slightly. "Archaic, I know. But as she called it off, the blame clearly lies with him. It's why he's kept the whole thing under wraps. I'm still waiting for the Prophet to get hold of it, then we'll be in real trouble." He took a sip of his drink and wrinkled his nose when he realised it was cold. "Urgh. But he's got the Dark Mark so…"
Susan frowned at him.
"What does that have to do with it?"
He leaned against his hand, smiling grimly.
"The Dark Mark takes its toll on the wearer. It's dark, Susie. And that can impact on things like fertility. Why do you think Draco is an only child?"
She digested that and pretended not to see when Sirius drew a heating rune in the cinnamon sprinkles on top of his drink with the end of his spoon.
"But wasn't that to do with them being purebloods?" She asked.
Sirius snorted.
"Nope. Great lengths have been gone to ensure that the Black lines remains…" He flushed slightly. "Fertile." Susan gaped at him and he laughed. "Susie, I had a brother! Andromeda has two sisters. I know you know how rare that is! The only reason that Tonks doesn't have a whole bunch of siblings is that Andy hated being pregnant." And, if Susan remembered correctly, most children under the age of three. "Usually there's no problem for the Blacks. But Lucius was marked before he married Narcissa." He scowled. "I remembered him bragging about it at his wedding. Moron."
Susan paused and looked at him hard, trying to work out where the air of melancholy had come from. She thought back to the lessons on the contraceptive charm that Amy had given them last summer and remembered, just faintly, the similar look of sadness that her aunt had had.
Her mood plummeted.
"Speaking of siblings," She started strongly. "I want to talk to you about Hermione."
Sirius eyed her warily.
"What about her?"
"Why won't you make her adoption public?"
Her uncle froze.
"Susan…" He started warily.
"No!" She snapped. "I don't understand. She wouldn't be stuck at Hogwarts right now if you just let people know she was your daughter! She wouldn't have had those horrible things written about her if people knew she was under the protection of your House. If people knew she was the future Lady Black then…"
"Then people would wonder why the hell I adopted her!" Sirius hissed, angrily. "Believe me, Susie, it infuriates me just as much as it does you, but I just can't. There are things going on here that you don't know about and that I cannot tell you about. Hermione's adoption was primarily to protect her. It wasn't even my idea!" Sirius paused and winced. "I didn't mean it like that," He murmured, looking at her judgemental expression sadly. "Hermione is as much my daughter as you are,"
"I'm your niece." Susan corrected icily.
Sirius flinched.
"Yes, you are. But I also helped raise you. And I would give my life for you, just like I would for Hermione or Harry. I love the three of you as if you were my blood."
Susan relented slightly and took the hand he was holding out.
"But…" He continued, sounding exhausted. "I'm not wrong. Hermione's adoption was designed to get her out of a bad situation and also to ensure that she was protected from...outside influence. We wanted to make sure that if she ever needed it, she had the weight of a House behind her. Two in fact. But we can't announce the adoption without people wondering why the hell I adopted a girl I barely knew and why the fuck I did it with Minerva McGonagall and not Amelia."
Susan's mind whirled.
"There's something about Hermione, isn't there?" She watched his expression become guarded. "Something important that if everyone knew about they'd want to control." She gasped. "Something you haven't told Dumbledore!"
He reared back.
"How the hell…"
"Minerva could have gotten Dumbledore to let Hermione go for the holidays if he'd known there was a good reason to keep Hermione away from Umbridge. But he doesn't know, does he?" She frowned. "You don't trust Dumbledore?" She questioned.
Sirius snorted.
"No, sweetheart, I don't. C'mon, enough questions. We need to get home."
"Oh yeah," Susan asked as they left the coffee shop. "What happened to Harry and the Weasleys?"
Sirius just sighed.
Hermione hadn't expected the castle to be quiet so empty. She'd known that everyone was signing up to go home for Christmas, but she hadn't realised that meant everyone. Hogwarts seemed deserted and Crookshanks shadowed her steps as she wandered down the empty corridors and slowly made her way up to the Gryffindor Common room. It was still early and she had several hours before lunch. Hopefully, she could spend this Christmas in her room. Surely Umbridge couldn't force her to leave the tower.
She almost tripped over the figure sitting at the base of the Fat Lady's portrait. Draco glowered up at her and then yelped when Crookshanks took a swipe at his ankles. He leaped to his feet and roughly straightened his robes.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, frowning up at him. "I thought you were going to see your mum for the holidays?"
Draco sniffed.
"I decided it would be best for me to remain here for the holidays. Severus agreed to change my holiday plans."
A thought occurred to Hermione and she sighed heavily.
"Susan talked you into this," She grumbled. "Didn't she?"
"We agreed leaving you here would not be for the best." He hitched his bag higher on his shoulder. "Are you going to let me in?"
"What?" Hermione scowled. "Into the tower?" She glanced at the Fat Lady who sniffed imperiously. "Is that allowed?"
"There's no one else in the Tower dear," The portrait grimaced. "Although this is the height of impropriety."
Draco opened his mouth to say something that would no doubt be scathing so Hermione blurted out the password and hauled him into the Common Room.
"It's very...Gryffindor." Draco complained although this was the worst insult he could muster. Hermione rolled her eyes and threw herself down into the nearest armchair.
"Graceful as always," Draco sat down much more delicately, carefully sitting his bag next to his feet.
"What do you want?" Hermione grumbled.
The blonde sighed heavily and stared at the fire.
"I want to make sure you're prepared to protect me." She lifted her head and stared at him. "You are, for some insane reason, the next Black Heir. A position you stole not only from Potter but also myself. And you have no idea what that means because you're a…" He paused and pursed his lips. "You weren't brought up in this world."
Hermione had a feeling that might have been the most diplomatic thing that Draco had ever said.
"Dad said he was going to teach me about it but…" She waved a hand indicating the general world around them. Draco looked incredibly frustrated.
"You turn seventeen in months, Granger!" He snapped. "And you have no idea what that means!"
She toed off her shoes and twisted in the armchair until she'd folded her legs under her and was mostly facing Draco.
"And you want to teach me?" She asked doubtfully.
He nodded.
"I need to know you can look after me."
"Why?" Hermione frowned at him. Draco looked unusually concerned and he was making a great effort not to look at her. "You know that I'll keep an eye out for you.."
He reached down into his bag and pulled out three very large leather-bound tomes.
"Your enemies won't always come at you with a wand. Sometimes it'll be in the way they shake your hand or the way they don't invite you to parties. I cannot afford for you to be an antisocial recluse!" He offered her the first book and Hermione took it, reading the title.
"A genealogy book?" She opened it and flipped through the first pages which seemed to be the Abbott family tree going back almost 600 years. "Why…"
"Two reasons," Draco moved so he was standing over her and adopted a lecturing tone and Hermione glared at him. "Firstly to ensure you don't marry anyone too close although...you're a Black so your standards are a bit lower than everyone else's."
"You're a Black too," Hermione reminded him. Draco shuddered.
"Don't remind me. Secondly, if you don't know the history of a family you cannot understand their motivations and their actions. Flip forward to Black."
Hermione did so and frowned at the tangled mess of her adopted family. Draco turned the page until they were looking at the most recent section, from the late 1800's to present.
"You're not on here." Hermione realised, pointing to where Narcissa's line just seemed to end.
"I'm a Malfoy. So I wasn't included on this page." Draco scowled. "And the divorce hasn't been made public yet. The publishers will update it when they find out about it." Hermione looked up at him and noted the sad look on his face.
"Draco…" She started but he cut across her forcefully.
"Every family in this book holds a seat on the Wizengamot. There are a few independent seats, traditionally held by certain Ministry departments and revered positions, like Order of Merlin First Class or Guild Heads. But otherwise, all of the power in this country lies within this book."
Hermione stared at him.
"But how does anything ever change?" She demanded, shocked. "How do people get into the Wizengamot to change things if it's just the same families over and over again?"
"They don't." Draco snorted, amused by her surprise.
"Well, what if the person who holds a seat is an inbred entitled moron?" She demanded. Draco twitched. "No offense."
"The seat is always held by the Head of a House. Lord Black, for example. Lady Bones."
"Are any of the teachers on it?" She began to flip through the book, taking note of the surnames. She recognised an alarming number. Apparently, she went to school with half of the political leaders of the next generation.
Draco snorted.
"Professor McGonagall forfeited her seat a long time ago. The Ross family only very rarely take up the position."
"Ross?" She questioned, frowning up at him.
Draco wrinkled his nose.
"Traditionally the House is known as Ross, coming from the north of Scotland and then," He squinted trying to remember, "From France or Germany, I think. 12th Century certainly. Professor McGonagall was given the surname of her Muggle father, and so technically the name of the House or Clan changed with her. However, most of the pureblood Houses will only refer to it as Clan Ross because they feel the line ended with her mother."
Hermione felt astonished and she flipped through the book until she came to the section dedicated to her other adopted family. The Ross line seemed to be astonishingly straight forward, unlike the rest of the book. From what she could see they had mainly married witches and wizards who weren't listed in the rest of book. Up until Isabel Ross who had married someone called Robert McGonagall. Underneath that was listed Minerva's birth and the names of two brothers, both of whom had death dates listed. What interested Hermione the most was the small double line that went from Minerva to a man named Elphinstone Urquart.
"She was married," She realised looking up at him. "She never said."
"Why would she?" Draco demanded irritably. Hermione realised that no one had ever told him her who her adoptive mother was.
"No reason," She murmured.
Eventually, they went to lunch after Hermione reached her limit on wizarding politics. How important could it be that Susan's great-grandfather had had his Order of Merlin (third class) rescinded anyway?
The great hall looked different. There was only one large table laid for lunch, and most of the staff were already seated and eating. Hermione exchanged a worried look with Draco and made her way towards the two empty seats which separated Minerva from Professor Snape. There were only three other students present, a group of seventh year Ravenclaws who were heavily ensconced in reading, absentmindedly eating sandwiches over the thick books they were perusing. Madam Pince looked ready to explode.
Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall didn't look at either of them as they sat down, so Hermione took her seat with no small amount of nervousness. She noticed that everyone was eating extremely quickly and when she met Professor Flitwick's gaze he motioned for her to do the same. Exchanging a worried look with Draco, Hermione began to do the same, loading her plate with sandwiches and fruit.
It was some ten minutes later she realised what was going on. Professor Umbridge's appearance in the hall was heralded by the way every professor hunched their shoulders slightly and the loud argument about arithmancy that the seventh years had gotten into stumbled into silence.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" Umbridge called brightly. Flitwick winced. "And how is everyone today!"
There was a tense moment of silence before Dumbledore, possibly proving he was the bravest wizard at the table, chimed in smoothly.
"Very well, Madam Umbridge," His blue eyes twinkled. "And how are you finding the first day of the holidays?"
Hermione exchanged a dark look with Draco, who nodded and stood.
"Excuse us," He said politely.
Umbridge, sufficiently distracted by Dumbledore, barely noticed them.
"Did you put a sandwich in your pocket," Draco asked, apparently disgusted. Hermione glanced at him as they approached the main staircase. For a moment she was drawn back to her first year when she'd sat on these same steps talking with the Twins about the fate of Voldemort. It seemed like another life.
"Yes," Hermione said unrepentantly. She brushed some of the fluff off of it and fixed him with a challenging stare as he glared at her. "Why?"
"Disgusting." Lip curled, Draco led her towards the spiral staircase which would take them towards the dungeons. "We need to visit Severus."
"Watfff?" He glowered at her and she swallowed. "What? Why?"
"I need permission to not go to meals. That was entirely too much like being back at home," He added in a whisper Hermione was sure she wasn't meant to hear.
Bemused, Hermione followed him into the dungeons. It was cold down there and she tried to keep her shivering to a minimum. The door to Professor Snape's office was locked but Draco leaned against the wall and seemed content to wait.
"Why do you call him Severus?" Hermione asked, shoving her hands deep into her pockets.
"He's my godfather," Draco murmured, blonde hair falling in his eyes. "I've known him for a long time."
She frowned.
"Does he know about the divorce?"
"My father told him," Draco admitted, "I think he was surprised to see me in September. I suspect he thought I would have been sent to Durmstrang."
"Why didn't you go there?" Hermione hadn't been privy to the discussion about Draco that had gone on between her parents and Narcissa that summer.
"They thought I'd be safer here." He made a disgusted noise that cut itself short as a whirl of black robes swished around the corner. For all that Hermione knew Snape had been in Sirius' year at Hogwarts, he didn't look it. But that might have been her father's prejudice speaking through her.
"Draco,"The potions professor seemed surprised to see him. Even more surprised when he spotted Hermione lurking in the shadows. "Granger. What do you want?"
"Professor," Draco started immediately, sending Hermione a warning look that she resented. "Can we speak to you for a moment?"
Snape looked at the pair of them judgmentally.
"Very well. In my office and make it quick. I'm busy." Draco didn't look surprised at the acerbic attitude so Hermione realised that Snape was just always like this.
"We need permission to not attend meals over the holidays," Draco stated, once the professor had seated himself.
Whatever Snape had been expecting, it wasn't that. He blinked at them.
"For yourself and," The slight edge of disgust that his voice had held ever since he'd found out Sirius' was Harry's father wrapped itself around her name, "Miss Granger?"
"Yes, sir." Draco was holding his hands behind his back so only Hermione could see how his fingers spasmed.
"Why?" The word was drawled as Snape leaned back in his desk chair.
Draco didn't say anything for a long moment, caught between Hermione's confused gaze and Snape's piercing look.
"It is not safe for Granger to be that close to Umbridge."
Snape blinked.
"Professor Umbridge…"
Draco reached back and hauled Hermione forwards, prying her right hand away from her side so Snape could see the faint scar on the back. The potions professor leaned forward and looked at it with a furrowed brow.
"What is that?"
Hermione wrenched her hand out of the grip and shoved it into her pocket, glowering at the pair of them.
"Don't you fucking dare, Draco!" She snarled.
"Language, Miss Granger!"
"Professor Umbridge uses blood quills," Draco didn't meet Hermione's eyes, instead staring at his godfather. Hermione snarled furiously as Snape looked at her consideringly.
"Why have you not gone to Professor McGonagall with these allegations?"
Hermione hated the way he said that. Allegations. Although there wasn't proof enough. It was too much like the social workers she known as a little girl. Allegations against a grown up as though your word wasn't enough.
"Because Professor McGonagall is in Gryffindor," Draco answered smoothly.
Snape paused.
"And she would do something rash," He finished for them, nodding slightly. "Draco please wait outside,"
Draco went without meeting Hermione's furious gaze.
"Miss Granger, please sit down."
She sat down in front of his desk, keeping her eyes resolutely fixed on the jar of something that was sitting on the tabletop.
"Why are you not home with your parents?"
Of all the questions she was expecting, that wasn't one of them. She glanced up at him.
"Cemeteries aren't the best place to spend Christmas." She spat, viciously hoping the words would hurt him.
He blinked at her, apparently surprised.
"You're an orphan?"
"It's in my file," She told him disparagingly.
"Where do you normally spend the holidays?"
"With Harry," She folded her arms defensively. "Only I couldn't tell Umbridge I was going there, could I?"
Snape let out a long breath.
"And why is a boy who once asked me to have you expelled for breaking his nose, trying to protect you?"
There wasn't a completely honest answer to that question that Hermione could give so she said,
"We're friends," Which she reasoned was mostly true. "I'd do the same for him."
"The loyalty of a Gryffindor, once earned, is a hard thing to lose." Snape mused. It didn't seem like he was talking to her. "Very well. I will give permission for you two to eat in the kitchens, with the provision that you continue to look out for Mr. Malfoy. I will also try to keep you away from Umbridge," Unlike Minerva, he didn't bother to give Umbridge her honorific. "I will not inform Professor McGonagall of this arrangement."
Hermione swallowed her pride.
"I...Can Draco...Malfoy," She corrected when he looked at her sharply. "Can he stay in Gryffindor Tower for the break?"
Snape sniffed hautighly.
"What you get up to in the holidays is no concern of mine." Which Hermione figured was as close to permission as she was likely to get.
Sirius had retreated to his study and locked the door when the Weasley's got back from St Mungos. Susan and Harry had been passing the time in front of the fire, Susan doing her best to distract her cousin from one of the most harrowing ordeals of his life. She suspected it wasn't working. The only person who could reach him when he's like this was Hermione.
There's a thunder of footsteps as someone speeds up towards the drawing room and she has a sinking feeling she knows who.
"He's going to be okay!" Fred announced as he threw himself through the doorway, George tumbling after him. "They said he'd be fine!"
"Oh thank Merlin!" Harry sighed, burying his head in his hands.
Fred is staring at Susan with an unreadable look on his face.
"Why is Hermione still at Hogwarts?" He asks her and Susan felt her jaw drop.
"Why didn't she come back on the train with you?" George added and Susan had no idea how Hermione handled it when the pair of them stare at her.
"How did you know?" She asked quietly.
For a moment there is a brief flicker of something in their eyes before they shrug in unison.
"Sirius told us," One of them said and she frowned.
"No," She insisted. "He didn't."
"Why didn't she come back on the train?" The other demanded, glowering at her.
"Because Umbridge said she couldn't leave the castle," Susan decided to let it go for now. Getting it out of Hermione would be much easier. "She's spending Christmas at Hogwarts."
"Why didn't she tell us?"
"She didn't know how to," Both of them grimace at that, as though they could imagine that being likely. They probably could, Susan realised. The three of them had an almost unnatural way of communicating. She paused and then filed that thought away for further study. "Draco stayed behind to look after her."
Fred, it had to be Fred, bared his teeth.
"We're trusting him to look after 'Mione?"
Bizarrely it was Harry who waved that off.
"He's family." He whispered exhaustedly. "I trust him."
"I feel so fucking helpless sometimes," Sirius murmured.
Remus snorted from his armchair.
"Tell me about it," The werewolf complained.
For a moment Sirius had the irrational urge to lash out at his second oldest friend, to start a fight he knew he would lose.
"James and Lily trusted me with him," He murmured. "Amelia trusted me with Susan, Narcissa with Draco, Minerva with Hermione. But I keep failing them."
Remus snapped his book shut and stormed his way over to Sirius' desk. He looked down at him through moon yellowed eyes and scowled.
"Fuck you, Sirius." He snapped. "They aren't just your fucking kids."
Sirius felt his lip curl just enough to expose his teeth. This close to the full moon, it was just asking for Moony to lose his temper.
"You think we don't all feel like shit over this?" Remus insisted, leaning over Sirius and digging the tips of his fingers into his shoulders. "Two stuck at Hogwarts, one with You-Know-Who in his head and another who has somehow grown up preparing for a war she should never have had to face. You think I don't want to take my kids away from here and just run for it?"
Sirius growled at him, rising out of his chair until he was an eye level with Remus.
"And why the fuck can't we, Siri?" The werewolf demanded. "I swear I would kill anyone who stopped us."
"Because we just can't." Sirius snarled back. He's thought about it. Sweet merciful Nimue had he thought about it. The Black's had the resources to do it. To just take their family and run and hide, stay as secret and safe as Narcissa is. He's been thinking about doing that for a long time since it was just him, Remus and Harry. The answer hasn't changed since then. "We can't just leave them."
Them being everyone else. As much as Sirius wants to be selfish to turn his back on this fight, it just isn't in his nature. Or Amelia's. And no matter what Moony's wolfish instincts might think about it, it's not in Remus' nature either.
"Sirius Black?"
Both men jerked, turning to look down at Sirius' desk.
"Did your desk just talk to you'?" Remus asked out of the corner of his mouth, fists still clenched in Sirius' t-shirt.
"I think so...Oh, shit. 'Mione!" Sirius lunged for the drawer and just hung in the air for a moment until Remus let go of him. Opening it, he riffled through the drawer until his fingers met the cool metal frame of a mirror. Drawing it out, he tapped the surface once and it rippled and cleared to show the worried brown eyes of his daughter.
"Dad?" She frowned. "Remus?"
Sirius realised Remus was still scowling with yellow eyes and whirled away to let the werewolf compose himself.
"Hello, sweetheart!" He crowed happily. "Are you okay? Susan told me what happened."
"Didn't you know?" Hermione asked and Sirius could see the quiet hurt she was barely hiding.
"No, I didn't. Minnie didn't see fit to tell me. Are you okay?"
Hermione shrugged. Behind her, Sirius could see the familiar worn warmth of the Gryffindor Common Room, and very faintly in the background, the blonde hair of Draco Malfoy who was reading a book.
"I'm all right." She said, which wasn't really an answer. Sirius knew all right. It was what he'd say to James when James asked how his summer's at Grimmauld Place were. "Draco's good too. Snape said we could eat in the kitchen so we don't have to see Umbridge much."
Sirius felt Remus move behind him and held the mirror slightly further away so he could be seen.
"Hi, pup," Remus murmured, "We've missed you."
"Missed you too." Hermione smiled. It wasn't a particularly pretty smile, but then a lot of what Hermione did wasn't particularly pretty. She hadn't been blessed with Susan's easy beauty, but at least she'd lost the awful savageness she'd had when Harry had brought her home for the first time. "How's everyone?"
"They're okay. Mr. Weasley is going to be fine…"
"What happened to Mr. Weasley?" Hermione demanded, and Sirius froze.
"You don't know. Right. Mr. Weasley was attacked by a giant snake at the Ministry."
Hermione seemed to digest that. Behind her, Draco, who'd looked up sharply at the mention of a snake, seemed rather shaken.
"But he's going to be fine?"
"Yeah, the healers let us know this morning."
"And everyone else?"
Sirius smiled knowingly and felt Remus' huff of amusement against his shoulder.
"The Twins are…" He paused and debated lying. At dinner, while the rest of the Weasley family had been exhausted with relief, the Twins had been a maelstrom of anger. "They're pissed off."
Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Unsurprising." She admitted, but her smile softened slightly. Sirius and Remus narrowed their eyes.
"Do we need to have a talk about the Twins and you, sweetheart?" Hermione's eyes went wide and she started stammering. "Because if my daughter is dating someone…!"
"We're not dating!" She said shrilly. Behind her, Draco snorted in derision and Hermione threw a pillow at him. "We're not!" She snapped at the Slytherin.
"Uh huh," Sirius said doubtfully. "And do they…"
"How's Harry?" Hermione demanded forcefully.
Sirius sighed heavily.
"He's not great." He admitted. Which was an understatement. "A bit shaken up, but we're looking after him. I'll see if Minerva can take your presents back to Hogwarts with her. There's a meeting coming up."
"Draco's too?" Hermione insisted. Draco stared at her in disbelief. She didn't seem to notice.
"Sure, sweetheart." He grinned. "Now, about the Twins…"
"No!" Hermione snapped and Remus started snickering.
"I was just going to say that I could lend them this mirror," Sirius pouted innocently. "But if you don't want that…"
Hermione looked like she wanted to punch something and Sirius grinned.
"That would be fine." She bit out, looking irritated.
"Okay, I've got to go. Amy's home soon. But I'll tell everyone you say hi, okay?"
Her irritation faded slightly.
"Okay. Night Dad." She paused for a moment. "Night Uncle Remus."
"Goodnight Lord Black," Draco called.
"Night darling," Sirius answered, "Night Draco."
The Order meeting was busy, nearly everyone in attendance. Amelia was there by the grace of her husband alone, who had started coming to the Ministry each night and liberating her from her office. Remus was sitting with them and sternly ignoring Tonks who's sat a few chairs away. Something was going to have to be done about that.
"If everyone is here," Dumbledore was holding court from the head of the kitchen table, looking stern. "I think we should make a start. Firstly, does anyone have any reports to make?"
Several people do. Amelia leaned against her husband as she listens and feels his arm wrap around her waist. The protection of the Department of Mysteries was continuing, but with extra precautions. No one wanted a repeat of what happened to Arthur. That was the other thing. What with everything, Harry had to tell Dumbledore about seeing Arthur at the Department of Mysteries and that opened up a can of worms that Sirius had been trying to hide for years. It means that Dumbledore's attention is right where they don't want it. Thankfully he seems too afraid of Harry to go anywhere near him at the moment. Sirius has been continuing his Occlumency lessons.
Amelia delivered her report of the actions of several known Death Eaters but doesn't say everything that she knows. Her department has uncovered the start of something huge and she knew that as soon as it is made public the target on her back is going to increase significantly. She hadn't told Sirius but at least there's been no more rebellion in her department. Even the most doubtful Aurors can see that something very wrong is going on. They've not found proof of You-Know-Who's existence yet, not significant proof yet, but they're getting closer.
"How is the situation at Hogwarts?" Hestia Jones asked, leaning back to allow a cup of tea to be placed down in front of her. "Thanks, Molly."
At her question, every Hogwarts professor flinched.
"Less than ideal," Dumbledore started and Minerva hissed. "Madam Umbridge continues to find the reality of Hogwarts not to her liking."
At that Flitwick scowled.
"She started asking if I was registered at the Goblin liaison office." He snapped. Even Snape looked unhappy.
"She stopped Hermione going home for the holidays," Sirius complained loudly.
Dumbledore sighed.
"There was nothing I could have done in that situation. Miss Granger is a ward of the school and as such must remain there. I couldn't very well give Umbridge this address, now could I?"
Sirius scowled.
"If you'd maybe given us some warning, we could have gone and stayed at the Bones' place and that would have been fine."
"You wouldn't be safe there." Dumbledore insisted warningly and Amelia felt Sirius's fingers tighten slightly in his anger. "I understand that Miss Granger is a dear friend of Mr. Pott.."
"Black," Sirius warned.
"But it is a lot of trouble to go to for one girl."
Sirius was seething, Amelia could feel him growling quietly, his chest vibrating against her back. Next to her, Remus looked down at the table, clenching his hands into fists.
"She's been avoiding Umbridge," Minerva said quietly and Amelia glanced at her. The older witch seemed extremely unhappy. "I've not seen her at meals in days."
"I gave both her and Mr. Malfoy permission to eat in the kitchens for the remainder of the holidays," Snape said, calmly examining his fingernails. Both Sirius and Remus froze.
Dumbledore seemed rather taken aback. He almost gaped at the dark haired man, who looked exceptionally bored.
"Why, Severus?"
"Because she was afraid." Snape drawled. "And because Mr. Malfoy asked me to."
Amelia grabbed Remus' hand under the table and held onto it, even as Sirius' grip on her waist became slightly painful. The werewolf shot her a grateful look with amber eyes.
"Ah yes. I was not expecting to see Mr. Malfoy at Hogwarts for the holidays. Have you had any further luck attempting to learn the location of Narcissa Malfoy?"
Snape had told the Order that Narcissa Malfoy was missing in mid-August when Lucius Malfoy had recruited him to try and locate her. Surprisingly he hadn't mentioned the divorce which was either because Lucius hadn't told him or because Snape was trying to do the same thing that Sirius and Narcissa were. Protect Draco. The moment Dumbledore learned of the divorce they'd be in trouble. They had been planning to announce it over Christmas, under the guise of Narcissa writing to Sirius asking for a safe haven for her son. As Draco hadn't come back for Christmas, it hadn't been necessary. The only two people that could facilitate a magical divorce were the heads of each household. Sirius and Lucius. Amelia was starting to lose track of the number of secrets they were keeping from Dumbledore.
"No. The boy has no idea where his mother is."
"I'm surprised to see he's developed a relationship with Miss Granger," Dumbledore murmured. Across the table, Molly's eyes narrowed slightly at the word "relationship". Amelia scowled. That woman had already planned out Hermione's damn wedding, regardless of what the girl had to say on the matter.
Severus merely shrugged.
After the meet had drawn to a close, Sirius moved away to talk to Minerva, so Amelia approach Snape herself. It would probably result in less bloodshed.
"Thank you for looking after Hermione," Amelia murmured.
Snape stiffened and glanced at her suspiciously.
"She has been keeping an eye out for Draco," He muttered in return. "For which I am grateful.
"A word," Sirius insisted.
Minerva glanced at him and winced.
"Sirius," She started. He led her from the kitchen and into the drawing room upstairs, ignoring the flurry of movement from the upper landing as he did so. The kids could eavesdrop later. "The next time," he started once the door had closed behind them, "Something like this happens to my daughter, you had better see fit to tell me."
Minerva sighed heavily.
"I am sorry, Sirius. But the mail and the floo are being watched at Hogwarts. I tried to have her sent home with you to some other location, but she knows about Remus." Minerva looked at him piteously. "If she'd conducted a surprise visit and found him in residence, you can imagine what she'd do."
Sirius could. He didn't want to but he could.
"You had better be making sure that my daughter is safe in that school." He snapped. "If I find out Umbridge has harmed one hair on her head, I will tear that castle apart myself."
Susan slipped into the Twins room at Grimmauld Place, making sure to shut the door behind her.
"Here," She offered the closest one, George probably, the wrapped book. He took it, frowning heavily.
"Uh..thanks?"
She sighed heavily.
"That's from Hermione." Instantly she had their full attention, the other one abandoning the cauldron they'd been stirring. "She wanted me to give it to you when you were alone."
George waited for Susan's footsteps to reach the stairs and start heading up before he ripped the wrapping paper off. A book fell into his lap, a small note affixed to the front.
Fred and George,
I've had this for months now. But I didn't want to give it to you until I was sure about it. There's so much going on right now, and I don't even know how you'll feel about this but...You two needed to know.
Love,
Hermione.
He passed the note to Fred wordlessly and opened the book, scanning through the pages.
"What is it?" Fred asked.
George frowned.
"It's a book on soul bonding."
The Christmas Dinner they'd had in the kitchens had been delicious and Hermione had collapsed into an armchair, completely content to stay there until tomorrow morning, or Draco demanded she move, whichever came first.
She only looked over sleepily when the portrait opened, certain it was one of the House Elves.
The pair of bright amber eyes made her sit bolt upright.
"Remus?" She mumbled. The portrait closed and in the quiet light of the fire, Hermione made out the shabby and lean figure of Remus Lupin, smiling sheepishly. "Remus!"
Draco jolted awake as she threw herself out of the armchair and towards her...there wasn't really a word for what Remus was. Parent, she supposed.
He caught her in a tight hug, before setting her gently down and smiling at Draco.
"Professor Lupin," The blonde bit out.
Remus rolled his eyes.
"Here," He held out a large bag. "From your mother,"Draco was moving in an instant, snatching the bag away and returning to the fire. "I'm going to take Hermione for a walk, is that okay?"
Draco waved them away without looking up from the letter he'd found.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione demanded in a hushed whisper as they walked away from Gryffindor tower. "How did you get here?"
"Please," Remus grinned at her. "I literally wrote the map on this place. You think a Marauder can't get back into Hogwarts?" He snorted. "Sirius wanted to be here, but it would be a bit obvious if he was missing from dinner."
"And no one will notice if you're missing?" Hermione asked doubtfully.
"Hah. Molly won't, at least." He led her down the corridors and through a disused classroom, which had a side door Hermione had never seen before. It opened stiffly onto a short set of steps leading up to sort of balcony, which was lined with crenellations. It was entirely covered with a thick blanket of pristine white snow.
"The Marauders used to sneak up here when we wanted to hide for a bit," Remus told her, wandering over to the edge. Hermione looked about. They were still on the seventh floor, the must be at the very top of the main building. Behind her, the slope of the roof came down to meet the balcony and she realised it was possible to get all over the top of the castle from here. "Wasn't always this cold though."
"How is everyone at home?" Hermione asked, bundling her jumper slightly tighter around her.
Remus fished a receipt out of his pocket and muttered a charm under his breath, causing the paper to burst into bright flames which radiated more heat than the small floating fire should have been able to.
"Everyone is well." He murmured, looking tired. "Amelia is busy trying to get the Minister to approve new security measures for the Ministry, in light of what happened to Arthur. Regardless of where he was, a giant bloody snake should not have been in the building. Of course, that means Sirius is missing her and doing his best to cheer up Harry. The Weasley's have had a horrible scare and they're still waiting for Arthur to get out of St Mungo's. Susan is worried about everyone. Your brother is scared out of his bloody mind." Hermione frowned.
"What exactly happened? No one's told me."
"Your brother had a vision," Remus admitted unhappily. "We always knew that he had a connection with the...other side. That's why we had him learning Occlumency. We were hoping that it wouldn't be a problem. Of course, we didn't account for dreams. He saw Arthur get injured and raised the alarm as quickly as he could. Dumbledore sent him home with the Weasley's before Umbridge noticed something was up."
"Wait, Dumbledore knows?" Hermione asked, alarmed. Remus scowled, twisting the scars on his face.
"Yeah. We're dealing with it, Hermione. Don't worry." He caught sight of her expression. "Don't worry about it more. That's our job."
They stood in silence for a long moment, watching the small fire.
"So," Remus started, a smirk crossing his face. "Your Twins are in a funny mood right now."
"Are they?" Hermione gritted her teeth and glowered at the distant shapes of the Quidditch pitch. "That's nice."
Remus chuckled.
"I know it's none of my business,"
"It's really not," She insisted.
"But if you ever need to talk about this with someone who won't start being…" His eyes rolled. "Dramatic, then I'm available. You're not the first witch to be placed in this position, after all."
For a moment her jaw clenched with stubbornness before her natural curiosity won her over.
"How common is it?" She blurted.
Remus leaned against the crenellations, apart unconcerned when the snow melted through his coat.
"It's not common," He said at last. "Wizards...I remember when Lily found out about...it. She was shocked. Apparently, it was something that muggles believed in quite strongly. She hadn't realised relationships between more than two people were possible, never mind marriages. And it's not for a lot of people. Some people are just one person at a time and that's fine." Hermione frowned, studying his face. There was something lurking in his eyes, something sad… "But anyway. There two basic types. A relationship where everyone is in a relationship with everyone else or a relationship where one person is in a relationship with two different people." He gave her a quick look and she nodded to show she was paying attention. "Relationships like that require a lot of work and a lot of communication. Both partners must be equal and everyone must be aware of what's going on. Where boundaries lie for example."
"Won't they get jealous?"
He laughed loudly and it caused a small avalanche on the roof behind them.
"Yes. They can. That's why it's important to ensure that there's no miscommunication going on. You cannot take one important step with one partner without including the other."
Hermione suddenly thought of that moment during the summer, when Fred had kissed her cheek and George had given him a black eye.
"They've got to be equal," She said quietly. Remus nodded approvingly.
"Mmhmm. Trust me on this, relationships which aren't equal can turn nasty fast." He met her gaze and smiled slightly. "Speaking from experience here," he admitted. She stared at him, shocked.
"Who were they?"
He snorted.
"Oh no, there is some things you don't need to know about your father,"
Hermione grinned quietly.
"Do you mean Sirius or you?" She asked innocently.
There was a long moment of silence as Remus just stared at her before he reached forward and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you," He breathed.
Hermione laughed quietly.
"It was something Amelia said," She murmured when he drew back. "She said, the advantage to having four parents is that there's always someone there to listen to you,"
"She was right," Remus admitted, bemused. He paused for a moment, a wry smile twisting his face. "Why do I always find myself living vicariously through Sirius?"
"Because he's more interesting?" Hermione offered innocently as she reached up to push the loose strands of hair out of her face.
"Why you little…" Remus froze next to her and when he next spoke the words were laced with latent fury and menace. "What the fuck is that, Hermione?"
Hermione followed his gaze to the hand she'd lifted to her face. The cold of the outside had caused her skin to flush and her scar, normally mostly invisible, stood out clearly.
"Oh, shit." She breathed.
Christmas dinner at Grimmauld Place, which had been awkward enough to begin with, ground to a halt when the front door slammed open with a bang.
"FREAK! HALF-BREED. STAIN ON MY HOUSE…" The portrait let out a shriek and fell silent and Sirius bolted from the room.
"Stay here," Amelia ordered Molly. "Look after the kids."
Molly drew her wand and, ignoring the barrage of questions, took up guard in front of the door. Confident they would be safe, Amelia charged up the stairs to find a furious werewolf being pinned to the staircase by her husband.
"Help!" Sirius gasped out.
She paused to assess the situation. Remus hadn't turned, he was still very much human, but with the full moon only a night away his strength was too much for Sirius alone to subdue.
"Remus," She yelled, lifting her wand. "What happened?"
He snarled at the obvious threat and shoved Sirius backward into the wall.
"Immobulus," Amelia shouted, chains springing up to ensnare the other man. For a moment she thought it'd worked and then Remus shrugged them off like so much confetti. Something cracked behind her but she ignored it and Sirius threw himself forwards again, knocking his best friend's head into the banister. Amelia waited for the retaliation, but it never came as Remus stilled under Sirius' hands, head forced up against the ornately carved wood. He was staring at something with lupine intensity.
"Did you know?" He demanded.
Confused, Amelia looked over her shoulder and spotted the Twins who must have apparated in the chaos. Both looked pale and shocked but, she noted with some approval, both held their wands steady and trained on the werewolf.
"Know what?" One asked.
Remus snarled.
"About the blood quill!" He roared and they both froze.
Sirius, sensing that the danger had passed, took a small step back and grabbed Remus' jaw, forcing him to look at him.
"What," He demanded insistently, "Are you talking about?"
The Black-Bones family convened. Sirius, Remus and Amelia holding court in the upstairs drawing room from three large green armchairs. Each uniquely furious. Harry, Susan, and the Twins were squeezed onto a sofa, both Weasley's looking confused as to why they were there. Harry hadn't the heart to tell them it was Sirius' way of giving them approval.
"When you said Draco had stayed behind to look after Hermione," Sirius said slowly, eyes narrowed at his niece, "You didn't mention it was because Hermione was in actual danger from a teacher."
To her credit, Susan didn't falter, instead lifting her chin proudly. For a moment she looked just like her aunt.
"Hermione didn't want us to tell you." She informed them haughtily. "We had it under control."
"Your sister is scarred," Remus, who seemed to be balancing on a knife-edge of control, snapped out. "That is you having it under control?"
"She only did it to protect me!" Harry blurted and then froze as all three of his parents turned to him.
"What," Amelia demanded.
Harry took in a deep breath.
"The first set of detentions, it was because she shouted at Umbridge. She called her an "inbred toad"," For the briefest second Harry saw Sirius' grim expression tick up into a smile before it was quickly quelled. "But the second time, I lost my temper and…" He took in a deep breath, "Tried to curse her." He said that very quickly. "And Hermione took the blame to protect me."
There was silence for a moment, broken only by the crackling of the fire.
"I'm sorry," Harry said quietly, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him. He felt like he was going to be sick and he swallowed his dry throat in an attempt to quell his nausea. "I'm so sorry,"
None of the adults said anything and then Amelia got to her feet and kicked out at the armchair, causing one leg to snap off and everyone to flinch it is crashed to the floor.
"This is it!" She roared, furious. Harry had never seen his adopted mother so angry, she seemed to radiate it, the air around her heated with the force of her ire. "This is fucking it, Sirius Black!"
Sirius was staring at the floor, jaw clenched, hand curled into claws against his thighs. Harry could see his knuckles turning white.
"I've had it with this. I'm pulling them." Amelia whirled to face them. "There is no way, I am letting you go back to that school. No way. I'm done with having my children placed in danger. I'm done with having my children hurt."
Remus nodded, looking resolute.
"I'll write a letter to Madam Maxine. She'll take them in and if she won't I'll homeschool them myself."
"What about Hermione?" Susan demanded, looking her aunt straight in her eyes. "You can't pull her from Hogwarts."
Amelia snorted.
"No. But Minerva can." She grinned, a fierce white smile which looked no less furious. "The transfer of a muggleborn student from one school to another is overseen by their Head of House. Not the Headmaster. If we get her accepted to Beauxbatons, Minerva just has to sign the forms. Her position as a school ward is handed over Madam Maxim."
Sirius, sitting in his armchair still, said nothing and Harry felt his heart sink.
"What I don't understand," Susan chimed in quietly. "Is why you won't protect Hermione?"
Everyone flinched and Harry watched Susan absorb that soberly.
"Because I will not see this go on any longer." Susan insisted and Harry was soberly reminded of the fierce, almost dangerous loyalty of Hufflepuffs. "I will see Hermione adopted as a ward of my House before I let another thing happen to her,"
"You can't do that," Amelia pointed out, sounding almost bemused. "You're not head of this House."
"Not yet," Susan agreed. "But you can. So why won't you?" She glowered at the three adults and Sirius still didn't lift his gaze. "Why do you refuse to draw attention to her? Why won't you put the full weight of your Houses behind her and why on earth and those two idiots even here right now?" She demanded, pointing at the Twins. "What is about those three? Because there is something incredibly weird about this. Did you know they know where she is without being told? That they always know when she's hurt or where to find her? That they almost blew up a teacher for hurting her?" She was standing now, shouting at their parents and Amelia leaned against the mantel, sighing heavily.
"You two almost blew up a teacher?" Remus asked, frowning at the twins. Fred and George just shrugged, unrepentant.
"If you don't tell her," Sirius said carefully, finally looking up to stare at the twins with those grey eyes, "She's going to keep digging until she finds out."
Fred and George exchanged a long look with each other, communicating in that way that only Hermione seemed able to understand.
"Fine," Fred murmured. He lifted one hand and removed the bracelet that Harry had never seen him without since they'd gotten them for Christmas in first year. The twisting pattern of his bondmark faded into view and Susan stepped closer to peer at it, shoving his sleeve up his arm to see how far up it went.
"You too?" She demanded of George, who nodded silently. "This is why you adopted her," Susan realised, turning back to stare at her adopted uncle. "You said it wasn't your choice."
Sirius looked exhausted.
"Minerva came to me when she realised that Hermione's orphanage wasn't a good place for her to be living. She needed another signature to adopt her. As I already knew about the bond, and she already knew about Harry, it seemed like a good fit. We didn't want to draw attention to Hermione, so we didn't release the adoption papers and we haven't told Dumbledore." He sighed. "Do you know what he'd do if he realised he had access to a soul bond?"
Harry had never actually thought about it. Everyone said soul bonds were powerful, but no one ever really expanded on it. For the most part, it just seemed to cause Hermione bother.
"You're trying to protect her." Susan frowned. "And you don't want people looking too closely at the adoption which caused her to become heir to two houses." She turned to look at the Twins. "And you two still put her through all that last year?"
Fred groaned and buried his head in his hands.
"What is wrong with you?" Draco paused and then said, "At the moment specifically. I don't have time to listen to the full list."
Hermione glared at him as she paced around the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Shut up." She grumbled. "What's wrong is that Remus is going to do something incredibly stupid. Probably." She scowled. "I have no idea. He left so suddenly, and if he tells dad then I'm going to be in a lot of trouble."
Draco pinched his nose and sighed heavily. He was leaning against the wall, blond hair unusually mussed.
"Why would you be in trouble?" He asked. "Even I know that this wasn't your fault."
"I'm not supposed to draw attention to myself," She scowled. "There's enough trouble going on, this is the last thing we need to worry about."
Her cousin let out a long groan. She was going to get him killed before the Dark Lord even had a chance. Bloody Gryffindors.
The next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix wasn't until the 30th of December when Arthur Weasley was finally home from the hospital and able to give a full report of his experience. I, along with everyone else, assumed that would be the most dramatic thing to happen that night. We assumed wrong.
Dumbledore had finished assigning the next guard rotations on the Department of Mysteries when he asked if there was any further business to be discussed.
Amelia Bones was well known for her level head in times of strife, it was one of the defining features of her career in magical law enforcement. She was not a woman who panicked easily. But the quiet look of fury she was fixing on Dumbledore caused a shiver to go down my spine. This could very well end in bloodshed.
"I have an issue I'd like addressed." She smiled and several people moved away from her. Behind her Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat with their arms folded, eyes narrowed as they stared at Headmaster. "It's about the safety measures around Hogwarts?"
"Yes?" Dumbledore smiled at her, looking as harmless as always. I always found that to be the worst of disguises.
"What is the point of having Order members stationed around the castle when term starts up again if the students are just going to be tortured by staff members?" She delivered the line sweetly even as the Order member recoiled from her.
"I beg your pardon," Dumbledore started.
"Blood quills," Amelia's smile had vanished and she glared at him. "Banned by the Ministry because of sheer cruelty involved in using one. Quills that Dolores Umbridge has permission to use on students."
There was silence for a long moment as that was absorbed. Augusta Longbottom began to swell, her face turning red even while Molly's drained of blood. Minerva went white and her hands began to shake as she stared at Amelia in horror. Dumbledore himself looked unusually shaken and he said nothing.
"Tell me this isn't true!" Augusta demanded, rounding on Dumbledore. "Albus…"
"It's true."
The room turned to look at the rarely heard voice. Snape had been leaning against the kitchen counter, safely away from the bright light over the kitchen table. He looked disinterested in the proceedings.
"I've seen the scars myself," He looked up and locked eyes with Minerva. "On Miss Granger."
Molly shrieked as Sirius' glass shattered in front of him. He didn't look away from Dumbledore. Minerva's jaw dropped and she swallowed several times before she seemed able to speak.
"What?" She rasped. I am of an age with Minerva but normally she seemed so much younger than her age. Now she looked every day of her seventy-five years. "Hermione?" She got to her feet shakily. "You promised me," She hissed at Dumbledore. "You promised me that she wouldn't hurt any of the students. You promised!"
"Minerva…" Dumbledore started but she was already turning away, stumbling out of the kitchen. She stopped at the door and turned to Sirius.
"I didn't know," She insisted. "I swear, Sirius, I didn't know."
Sirius' jaw clenched.
"It is your job," He snarled, still glowering at Dumbledore, "To look after her when I can't. And you failed."
Minerva nodded once and whirled out of the kitchen, heading up the stairs and towards the front door.
"I'm withdrawing my children from Hogwarts," Amelia announced, drawing the rooms attention back to her. "I'll send them to Durmstrang with the Gregorovitch sympathisers before I let them go back to her."
"Me too." Augusta Longbottom nodded resolutely. "I won't have Neville subjected to such barbary."
"Surely, you can do something," Molly, who'd always been a staunch supporter of Dumbledore seemed to be looking for some assurance. "You can fire her, stop this from happening again," "
"Happening again?" Hestia Jones roared. "It should never have happened in the first place!"
Dumbledore got to his feet, waving everyone to silence.
"Hogwarts remains the safest place for your children to be," He started and Amelia immediately shook her head.
"No. No way. You do not get to say that after the last four years of chaos. I'm taking them."
"You are of course welcome to remove Miss Bones from Hogwarts if that is what you wish,"
"I'm taking Harry too." She snarled, leaning forward over the table.
Dumbledore frowned.
"At that, I must protest. The safest place for Harry is Hogwarts and I will not allow you to remove him to another school where he might be placed in danger."
An uneasy silence began to settle around the table.
"He is my son," Amelia said slowly. "You will not presume to tell me what I can do to keep him safe."
"Hogwarts is the safest place for Potter as long as the Headmaster is still there," Elphias Doge pointed out, glaring at Amelia. "You-Know-Who wouldn't dare attack…"
"Shut up!" Amelia roared and the elderly wizard shrunk back into his seat. "Be honest Dumbledore. This isn't about keeping Harry safe. If it was you wouldn't have an issue with any of this. No, this is about keeping my son where you can see him,"
"Harry is not your son." Dumbledore murmured. "If it wasn't for Lily Evans he wouldn't be half as safe as he is today."
Amelia's eyes narrowed.
"I'm taking him." She insisted.
"I will not allow you to remove Harry from Hogwarts!" Dumbledore didn't raise his voice, but he looked stern.
"Just you stop me…"
"Madam Bones, I am afraid this is one issue in which the Ministry will actually agree with me. Harry Potter is safer at Hogwarts and I will do whatever it takes to ensure that he remains there."
"Are you threatening me?" Amelia demanded.
"Harry's safety is a bigger concern than you or Sirius realise. No one cares more than the Order about it and…"
"No one?" Amelia yelled, and several Order members winced. "We are his parents,"
"No!" Dumbledore insisted, "You are the people who hid his existence from the very group trying to look after him. If you remove him from Hogwarts he will be in constant danger. The ministry will demand an overview of his life, to ensure that he is looked after for the safety of all."
Sirius finally stood.
"And that's it, isn't it?" He spat and I have never seen Sirius look so much like his father. For all that he was dressed in muggle garb and for all that he was slightly more slender than Amelia's rather muscular form, Sirius looked as dangerous as the Black family reputation suggested. "That's what it comes down to. This stupid Prophecy that we're guarding in the Ministry that claims that Harry is going to save us all. My son is not your Chosen One!" He slammed his hands down on the table, leaning forward to glare. "My son is fifteen years old and he is scared for his life. You blackmail us with the Ministry, that's fine. He'll stay at Hogwarts. But that is the last concession my family will make for you." He glanced around at the rest of the table. "Get the fuck out of my house. I'm done with this bullshit. Your secrecy and tricks lost me my two best friends. It will not lose me my children. I'm done with this Order. I'll deal with Voldemort by myself,"
"Sirius…" Dumbledore warned.
"I'm revoking your permission to be here in fifteen minutes," Sirius insisted. "You've all got until then to leave, Molly your family can stay. I won't make you move Arthur in this state."
"The same goes for me and the DMLE. Your insight into department cases ends here." Amelia added. "Shacklebolt…"
The tall, black Auror who'd been silent for the entire meeting nodded.
"Order received, ma'am." He and Tonks both moved to stand with her, Tonks looking nervous but resolute.
Dumbledore stared at the family, apparently taken aback.
"Sirius, you cannot be serious," No one laughed, "These are our Headquarters…"
"No," Sirius snapped. "This is my house." He smirked. "Ten minutes." He prompted and then left the room, followed by Remus, Amelia, and the two Aurors. As the doors swung shut, the room erupted in chaos.
You have to understand that the idea that Dumbledore didn't know best was completely foreign. He had the complete trust and faith of the Order, that he would do something about this. That he would oust Umbridge from Hogwarts. You also have to understand how scared people were of Lord Voldemort. At this point, with no real insight into his plans, the Order has its entire hopes pinned on a fifteen-year-old Prophecy. If that was what Albus believed would work, then that was what we were going to focus on.
Although I left with the rest of the Order, under the weight of Sirius' malevolent gaze, I realise now that I must have harbored some serious doubts. If I hadn't, I would have handed Dumbledore the next best weapon in our arsenal. A soul bond between three of the most powerful wizards of the generation.
But I didn't.
Hermione's morning etiquette lesson with Draco was cut short. This was probably for the best because if Draco hadn't figured out that she was charming the biscuits to fly every time his back was turned, he was bound to soon.
The portrait opened and standing in the doorway, looking thoroughly shaken, was Minerva.
"Miss Granger," She started, wringing her hands in front of her. "May I speak to you in my office please?"
Concerned, Hermione nodded silently and followed her adoptive mother through the castle, leaving a disgruntled Slytherin and twelve floating shortbread fingers behind her.
"Hermione," Minerva finally said. She'd taken a long time in making tea on the fire, retrieving Christmas cake from a tin on the mantle and shuffling papers to make room for the mugs. "I…"
"Remus told you, didn't he?" Hermione wasn't stupid. Remus had almost certainly told Sirius and then they'd probably had a stupid family meeting, which was ridiculous over something Hermione was handling.
Minerva faltered.
"Yes. Or rather. Amelia brought up the issue at last night's Order meeting."
Hermione felt herself begin to flush with shame.
"So everyone knows?" She asked, curling in on herself.
Minerva's lips pursed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked gently. "It's my job…"
"Why didn't you tell me about the bond?" Hermione demanded, "It was something I needed to know and you hid it from me!"
"Ah," Minerva removed her glasses and started polishing them on the corner of her sleeve. "I didn't know that Filius had lied to you until last Christmas, understand. And by that point you were so overwhelmed, I wasn't sure what knowing the truth would have done. But, you're right. It was wrong to keep the truth from the three of you." She paused and frowned. "Have you notified Fred and George?"
Hermione flushed.
"They should know by now," She muttered. She assumed they did. The bond was stretched so thin because of the distance between London and Hogwarts she really wasn't sure how they were feeling at the moment. She'd gotten a few bursts of relief and joy over the holidays but with the Twins that could mean anything from a sudden piece of good news to a completed prank.
"I will do my best to ensure that Umbridge stays as far away from you as possible," Minerva announced, looking incredibly resolved. "If you need anything at all, you can come to me. There's no need to bother Severus." She frowned and added. "I'm surprised he helped you to begin with."
"You're not going to do anything to Umbridge?" Hermione asked warily.
Minerva's eyes narrowed.
"There is a limit to what I can do," She admitted. "I spent most of last night trying to think of a way to get her removed from the castle. But if I move against that…" Her jaw spasmed. "Her, I run the risk of being ousted from the castle myself. I refuse to leave the students and you unprotected. Of course," She put her glasses back on and looked at her daughter significantly. "If certain forces were to continue to make her life a misery, I'm sure I could convince the other teachers to turn a blind eye."
"Ah," said Hermione, biting her lip. "You noticed that?"
"Hermione, you unleashed dungbombs so pungent I'm considering telling the twins to send the patent to your step-mother for use in Auror riot gear." She rolled her eyes. "I'm well aware of what you three are doing. As long as no student gets hurt, I've no problem with allowing it to continue."
Hermione couldn't resist snickering quietly.
"I am so very sorry that this happened, however," Minerva murmured, looking very serious. "This should never have happened and I can only ask that you forgive me."
Hermione nodded.
"It's fine," She said shortly. "Minnie, Draco showed me your family tree and…"
"Hem, hem,"
Both witches startled as the door to Minerva's office rattled and then opened. Umbridge smiled sickly at them from the doorway.
"Ah, Minerva. I was just looking for you. And Miss Granger. What are you doing here?"
Hermione sunk her fingernails into her hand.
"I was just asking Professor McGonagall about some homework," She muttered.
"Ah yes. You are a rather lackluster student," Umbridge looked at her pityingly.
"Time for you to go, Miss Granger," Minerva murmured before turning back to Umbridge. "How can I help you, Delores?"
"We're staying at Hogwarts. Aren't we?" Harry asked his father. Sirius was slumped in an armchair, a brandy glass balanced precariously on one knee. He only very rarely saw Sirius drink alcohol. He knew he went out to get drunk with Remus occasionally, but he never ever saw his father intoxicated. Sirius was very careful about it.
"Yeah, you are, pup." He heaved a great sigh. "Dumbledore threatened to bring down the Ministry on our heads and you just know they'd find something about the House of Black that would make us unfit to raise you," His lip curled. "And to be honest I expected something like this to happen. At least at Hogwarts, you can all look out for each other." He was staring into the fireplace, looking morose. "I'm sorry that you've had to deal with this, Harry."
Harry shrugged.
"I'd rather they focused on me than Hermione." He admitted and Sirius' eyebrow ticked up. "I've known about this for a long time. Hermione hasn't. When they find out about the bond,"
"We'll all be in for it," Sirius took a long drink. "Yeah, I know."
The rest of the holidays passed peaceably. The Twins were definitely nervous about something, they'd been sending a lot of letters and working quietly in corners over bundles of parchment. Susan had settled for watching them suspiciously.
Grimmauld had been quiet since Sirius had banished the Order, only them and the Weasley's still in residence. Even Molly and Sirius had been quiet, the older witch tiptoeing around the irate wizard as though she was afraid he would explode. Harry had redoubled his efforts with Occlumency but was still having bad dreams. And Susan, well she was just keeping her eyes and ears open.
Nerves.
That was the only thing that George was getting through the bond and it was making him twitchy. He and his brother had spent the train journey pacing up and down the carriages after Susan had banished them from their compartment.
Of course, it might just have been his nerves he was feeling and he was projecting them onto the bond. That was possible.
Maybe she hadn't meant it.
She'd just sent them a book which turned their entire bloody lives upside down and…
He passed Fred walking the other direction and exchanged an exhausted look with his brother.
He needed to calm down. This was Hermione. She didn't do anything without thinking about it for at least three months beforehand and why were they still on this train? It seemed like they'd been traveling forever.
The Express finally pulled into Hogsmeade and the Twins dragged Harry and Susan into the first carriage up to the castle.
"Why are we in such a rush?" Harry demanded, flattening his hair. Susan handed him a comb from her bag and he crowed in relief. "Stupid weather."
"We need to talk to Hermione," Fred blurted and George sighed.
"And," He finished for him, "We know she won't talk to us until she's spoken to you to make sure you're okay after Christmas."
"It is actually unnerving how well you know her," Susan complained.
"She's their other half," An ethereal voice chimed in.
Fred and George screamed.
"How long have you been sitting there?" Fred demanded of Luna. She was sitting in what they had previously thought was an unoccupied shadowy corner of the carriage, reading the Quibbler upside down.
"Hi, Luna!" Harry squeaked, turning bright red.
Luna looked up and fixed Harry with a blank look that caused him to go white.
"Harry." She said stiffly, going back to her magazine.
Fred exchange a bemused look with his brother. At least they weren't the only ones with girl problems.
George always knew where Hermione was. If the bond was an invisible string that leads from his middle finger to hers, he could feel when it relaxed as they got closer.
"This is officially bizarre," Susan complained as he looked up and down the corridor before opening the hidden passage where they'd hidden their workroom. His sense of nerves doubled as he ushered everyone inside and looked over their heads to see Hermione.
She looked fine and that was a great relief. He'd been worried about Umbridge and he really wished he'd never read Oliver Twist.
"Hey, Hermione."
"Oh finally." There was a wet thump as Draco Malfoy threw down the towel he'd been using to tidy some spilled potion. "I am sick of this," Throwing up his hands he stormed out of the room.
"Charming," Susan murmured, before turning to her cousin. "Hey, 'Mione. We're all okay. Harry's fine now. I know about the weird soul thing and Harry and I are going right now. Bye." She grabbed her other cousin by the arm and hauled him out the room, Harry looking helplessly behind him.
"Ah," Fred said, as awkward as George felt. "Well. Didn't think they'd just leave like that."
"Yeah," George managed.
"Hi," Hermione managed. She put down her wand carefully and shoved her hands in her pockets, hunching her shoulders. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn. "Er. How's your Dad?"
"He's fine." George stepped closer to her, ruffling at his hair. "I'm sorry you've been all alone for Christmas."
She shrugged.
"It's okay." She had to be smiling like a lunatic so she did her best to stop. "Are you two okay?"
Fred nodded.
"Yeah. Your dad's not be pleased with us at the moment. Found out about the Umbridge thing."
"Ah," She managed. "It wasn't your fault though."
"Fuck this is awkward." George declared. "Right. You sent us that book for Christmas. Why?"
Shocked by his directness, it took her a moment to answer.
"You had a right to know," Hermione admitted. They'd both come around the main table now and were standing near her, not close enough to touch but enough to make her even more nervous. "It would have been wrong to keep it from you?" She offered.
Fred winced slightly.
"Is that the only reason?" He pressed.
Hermione felt her bravery falter.
"You two know how I feel," She breathed, staring at the floor. "I mean, you can actually feel it."
"Yeah, we can," George admitted. "But it doesn't mean anything unless you say it does."
For a long moment, there was silence in that tiny room, quiet apart from their breathing and the faint bubbling of the potion she'd left to boil.
Hermione took a deep breath and looked up.
"I like you two," She murmured, voice soft but still clear. She felt hope and joy rise on either side of her. "And I wouldn't mind seeing where this went,"
"You wouldn't mind?" Fred teased, stepping in closer to her.
"Oh, shut it," She complained, internally thankful that he'd broken the tension. She felt George move up next to her and the moment's hesitation before his arm wrapped around her waist. "Slowly though," She warned, looking between the two of them. "I'm not ready for all of this," She waved one hand and Fred caught it with a smile, lacing their fingers together.
"Sure. Anything." He promised. George rested his head on her shoulder and Fred leaned forward. "Just don't punch me," He begged, still smiling as he leaned forward and kissed her.
A/N
I've got exams next week. Which I am grossly underprepared for. So I wrote this instead. Phfffff.
Hope you like it. I seem to have gotten overly interested in politics and side characters sooo. Yeah
Thanks