Her head throbbed. That was the first thing she was aware of. It felt like she'd been hit with a bludger. Or what she imagined that felt like. The Twins had never let one close enough to actually hit her. They were close by, she realised. Close enough that with her eyes closed it felt as though she could reach out and take their hands.
She cracked her eyes open. The bright light felt like nails being driven against the inside of her skull and she screwed them shut again.
Panic began to fill her. What had happened? Where was she? Was it...Pettigrew? Again? How could he have gotten into the castle?
What had her father said? Be like your Aunt.
If you find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings, keep as quiet as you can. The longer you can go unnoticed the better.
That was Amelia's favourite dinner time lecture. Sirius had made puppets for it.
She cracked open one eye this time, trying to peer through her lashes. She was slumped in the corner of...a lift?
Take time to use all your senses. What can your surroundings tell you?
She couldn't see much, her head was ringing too much. But she could hear the clanking of the lift as it moved, feel the vibration beneath her. Faint tapping echoed around the space and the sickly scent of perfume filled the air.
Trying again, Hermione opened her other eye, slowly this time, and immediately shut it again when she spotted a blur of pink.
The last thing she remembered was coming out of her History of Magic Exam.
Remember that you always have an advantage. Everyone does. Maybe they think because of your parentage or your gender or your pretty face that you won't put up much of a fight. Use that.
That was the point that Sirius would point to Remus, Amelia and himself in turn, all while the puppet nodded sagely.
A soft voice chimed "Level Nine: Department of Mysteries" and the lift rattled to a stop.
Where was she? How had Umbridge gotten her here? Did anyone even know she was missing?
Her body was lifted limply, and she hung ragdoll limp as Umbridge levitated her out of the lift and into the corridor. She kept her eyes closed, playing along.
Stay calm, don't panic. Don't let them know you're scared.
How many times had Amelia been kidnapped that she had such a well thought out plan for it, Hermione wondered numbly.
There was the sound of a door opening and closing behind them before Hermione was dropped unceremoniously to the floor, her breath leaving her in an audible rush as something in her chest went crack. Her eyes opened wide as she struggled to catch her breath, choking as quietly as she could.
Umbridge didn't look round, too busy knocking loudly on one of the identical doors in front of them.
She didn't have her wand, Hermione realised. But there was something she did have. Something that never left her.
The Bond was thrumming with renewed power, tinged with worry. She had to be in London to be this close to them. They'd noticed she was nearby, they knew something was wrong. Closing her eyes again, Hermione forced herself to go relax and reached for her occlumency training. With Minnie and the stab of worry at that almost caused her to lose focus, they had worked on shutting out the bond. Now…
She found it, anchored at the back of her mind, what had been like garden twine before was now chain-like, solid and heavy and dependable. And instead of blocking them out, Hermione grabbed hold of one, Fred she thought, and pulled as hard as she could.
The Twins had been in the middle of stocking the shop when the Bond had burst into life; sharp, anxious and a lot closer than Hermione should have been.
"Hermione!" They both shouted.
"What's she doing nearby?" George demanded, banishing their potion. His brother shrugged, pulling on his jacket and tossing George's over.
"I dunno, it can't be good though." Fred scowled. "We've got to…" He staggered and gasped grabbing at his chest. "Fuck, Mione!"
"Fred!"
His Twin looked up at him and for the first time in his life, George didn't see his own eyes reflected back at him. These were brown and awfully familiar.
"Fred?" He asked nervously.
"George," The words were heaved out as though they were costing a great effort. "Umbridge took me. Please! Help me..." The brown faded and Fred swayed heavily.
"Madam Umbridge…" A hushed voice was saying as Hermione came back to herself. "I'm not certain you understand what we do here,"
"And I'm not sure," Umbridge threatened sweetly, "If you realise how much freedom the Minister gives you. That could very easily change, Unspeakable."
There was an awkward pause.
"Surely the Aurors would be able to interrogate…"
"The step-daughter of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement?" She sniffed. "They are the next department to come under audit."
"We'll see what we can do," The Unspeakable murmured. "If you'll bring...the subject,"
Umbridge's spell twisted around her again and Hermione felt herself being lifted again. She opened her eyes properly, relieved to see that the intense light sensitivity had faded although everything was still slightly blurry. They were still in the room with the doors, she could get away, she just had to get free first.
"Finite," She whispered, desperate.
Nothing.
Her fucking luck. She spent years trying to stop using magic unprompted and now when she needed it most...nothing. All that work controlling her emotions…
Hermione paused as a memory of gentle warmth and the tickly feeling of a handful of seedlings came to her. Joyful emotions wouldn't work for this, instead, she needed something she had far more of than either of her bondmates.
"Finite" She snarled.
Umbridge's spell shattered like sugar glass, never meant to hold back the sheer power of Hermione's fury. Months of anger and pain and humiliation that she had barely been keeping hold of, exploded outwards in a wash of fire that signed the carpet Hermione landed on. She staggered to her feet as the Unspeakable, an unremarkable-looking man and Umbridge turned to face her, looking shocked.
"What are you…!"
Hermione didn't wait to hear what Umbridge had to say, she grabbed the nearest door and wrenched it open, throwing herself beyond the threshold and into the dark room ahead of her. The door locked automatically behind her, but she didn't wait to see how long that would hold. She scrambled through the darkness, knocking aside furniture until she reached the door at the back. She had to find her way out of here.
Both of them had stumbled as Hermione yanked hard on the Bond, and the wash of her fury and triumph broke over both of them. They had to spend a moment to collect themselves as her presence faded from the bond again.
"We've got to get Bill," Fred decided, changing course for Gringotts.
His brother shook off the dizziness and followed him without question.
It took three more rooms before Hermione had to admit she was lost. Luckily, it seemed as though Umbridge had lost her too, so she slowed her sprint to a fast walk and began to pay more attention to her surroundings, clutching her ribs as the adrenaline began to ebb and the pain returned.
The Department of Mysteries was just weird, she decided.
The next door she tried led her from a dingy office to a white room carpeted in lush green grass that was full of deep pools bordered in rich wildflowers. She stopped to peer into one, trying to see if she could see anything at the bottom. The water was silvery and moved without an obvious current, swirling around itself. And in it…
She saw herself. Older than she was now, far older, face set into harsh cruel lines, eyes dead as her wild hair swirled around her. At her side, looking impossibly beautiful, Susan, poised and perfect, her staunch defender. On her other side, Harry, charming and rakish and heartbroken, in a way his sister knew too well. Behind her, hidden in shadow, Draco, her secret weapon. And at her feet...Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Dumbledore too, the entire wizarding world. Hermione had conquered it all, magic wild with two broken and dead bonds on her arms, because everything would pay for what was taken from her. She would wreath this world in flames and watch it burn with her.
She wrenched her gaze away from the pool, horrified as she clapped both hands to her mouth to hold back the desperate sob that tried to escape.
That was her. That was her if she lost the Twins
She wasn't...she couldn't be capable of that.
Except she was, a dark voice whispered in the back of her head. She could be. For her parents, she'd set a man alight and watched him burn. She'd been a child.
For the Twins she'd…
She loved them, she realised. Deeply truly loved them, in a way she'd never let herself admit before.
"So much for taking things slowly," She muttered, backing away from the pool.
Hermione made it to the next door without looking into another possible future. Because that had to be a possible future. She would never let that come to pass.
Having assured his children that he'd find Hermione, and extracting a promise that none of them would leave the castle that he wasn't certain he entirely believed, Remus had broken the news to Sirius.
He'd reacted...badly.
"Come on, Remus!" He snarled over his shoulder as he bolted for the fireplace.
"We can't just storm the Ministry!" Remus grabbed his shoulder, using lupine strength to hold him in place. "Sirius, think about this! We don't know where she is, or who's taken her."
For a moment Sirius strained at the hold before slumping slightly.
"Send a message to Amelia," Remus continued, hauling the other wizard up into a hug, "See if there's anything she can do from the Department." Sirius trembled in his arms before he nodded once. "Then we've got to go to Diagon,"
That got Sirius' attention and he turned to look at him.
"What's in Diagon?"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"The only two people with a link to Hermione at all times."
"Ah,"
Remus let him go, rolling his eyes.
"You know," Sirius murmured after he'd finished sending an anxious patronus to his wife. "You're being very calm about this."
He looked at him through the fringe Sirius was always begging him to get cut and let just enough of the wolf bleed through.
"So, not calm at all?" Sirius guessed, taking a wary step back.
"Not as such," Remus bit out.
"Where would Umbridge take her?" Bill asked, hurriedly pulling on his cloak while Fleur carefully tucked her hair into a hood.
Both Twins pointed blindly behind them in the same direction.
"But we don't know how far…"
"Or what even is that way!"
They spoke over each other, words a confused jumble that Bill only understood because he'd known them for their entire lives. He held up his hands,
"Alright, calm down. We'll find her. For now, we just keep going that way."
It didn't take Bill very long to realise they were heading for the Ministry of Magic.
The Department of Mysteries was quiet around her as Hermione slipped into yet another dark room. She immediately began to feel dizzy. It was so dark that she couldn't see the floor beneath her as brilliant constellations whirled around her. It was as though she was standing in the centre of the universe, as though she was falling infinitely. If she couldn't feel the floor beneath her feet…
Somehow she made it to the other side, nauseous and stepping blindly over the threshold, not looking where she was going.
She fell down.
Hard.
For her space sprawled on the ground she spotted the door she'd entered by some ten feet above her, set into the wall near the ceiling. The stone underneath her was cold to the touch and she shivered in her school uniform, wishing she'd thought to wear her robes to her exam, instead of her skirt and shirt.
Groaning quietly, she got to her feet. If her ribs hadn't been broken before, they certainly are now. Under her hands bone shifted painfully and she fought the urge to throw up at the shuddering of her own bones. Looking around she took in the large room and her gaze was drawn down the stone steps to the centre. A large stone arch stood on a dias. A ragged curtain fluttered in a breeze that Hermione didn't feel.
Gingerly, she made her way down to it, taking care not to get too close this time. Nothing in this place was safe. It seemed as though she could almost hear...whispers? She was concentrating so hard, she almost missed the sound of another door opening, on the other side of the curtain.
"Please," Hermione begged, "Please don't."
There was the unmistakable clack of kitten heels on stone.
The veil was opaque, so Umbridge couldn't see her yet. Hermione had the element of surprise. But Hermione was also unarmed and in pain.
Slowly she began to make her way up to the veil, as close as she could. If she could just keep it between her and Umbridge…
The veil kept blowing in the breeze and a thread caught against Hermione's cheek. It was icy cold and her skin ached where it had touched.
The footsteps went left, she thought, so Hermione went right, pressing herself against the stones of the arch. She moved around as Umbridge rounded the corner, scanning the benches and facing away from her. And there! Sticking out of her disgustingly pink fluffy handbag was a familiar wooden handle.
Hermione reached out, silently begging anyone who would listen and smiled as the vine wood flew into her hand, silent and warm to the touch.
"Stupify" She snarled, remembering the way the jets of red light had struck her mother. She might have overpowered the spell, maybe her anger threw off her aim a little, maybe she was still pulling on the bond too much. Whatever it was, she missed. And the bench in front of Umbridge exploded into shards of stone.
The witch screamed, pulling up her own wand and Hermione ducked back behind the arch.
Time to go, Fred's voice whispered to her.
"Bombarda Maxima!" Hermione's roared spell hit its target with a bang and she started running before the ceiling could come down on her head. She bolted through the nearest door and stumbled into what looked like an aquarium. Large glass tanks held what looked like jellyfish but she didn't pause to look, rushing for the next door which…
"Colloportus!" Umbridge screamed shrilly.
The door locked in front of her and Hermione didn't waste time trying to unlock it. She turned to face her opponent.
Umbridge was covered in dust and chips of stone, but aside from a collection of cuts on her face, she seemed to have escaped relatively unharmed.
Pity, Hermione thought, one hand pressed firmly to her ribs. Each breath was agony.
"Granger," Umbridge smiled. She looked unhinged, that girlish bow still pinned to her curls. "Come with me now and I won't have to hurt you. This is no place for a little girl."
"You brought me here!" Hermione yelled furiously, fear and anger threatening to choke her. "What do you want from me?"
"To place you under Ministry ownership," Her piggie eyes narrowed. "You and your bondmates belong to the Minister,"
"Leave Draco and Susan out of this," Hermione spat, thoughts whirling.
There had to be another way out of here.
"They are not your bondmates," Hermione felt her stomach lurch as her eyes snapped back to Umbridge's. No. She couldn't know. "There is no way someone like you could be fated to two purebloods." Oh good. She didn't know. "The Unspeakables are going to help me find your disgusting mudblood bondmates and we'll take control of the lot of you. You should get used to the Department of Mysteries, little girl. You won't be leaving here for a long time."
Hermione threw a jinx across the room, one of George's favourites and cursed as Umbridge deflected it.
"Very well," The witch looked delighted.
The room filled with magic as Hermione began throwing every curse she knew across the tanks, trying to get through Umbridge's shield. Reflected spells crashed into glass sides, sending water everywhere that soaked into Hermione's shoes even as one of her Slicing spells finally broke through and caught Umbridge in the shoulder. The older witch screamed and flicked an entire table at Hermione, who threw herself out of the way, landing on her broken ribs and screaming out in pain.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Umbridge crossed quickly over to her, lifting her wand.
"I'm sure the Minister will forgive me," She sighed, as though she was sad to do this. "Crucio".
Hermione screamed.
When Moody had said it was unimaginable pain...he'd been right. Every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire, like acid was poured through her veins. She reached out blindly for the Bond, felt George stumbled under the sudden onslaught of agony as Fred dropped to his knees. Felt their own fear and terror and their all-consuming need to find her. We're coming, they promised.
Umbridge panted as she dropped the spell, leaving Hermione curled on the stone floor, crying silently.
"It's such a shame Pettigrew never finished the job when he killed your filthy parents." She said conversationally.
Hermione managed to weakly turn her head.
"What?" She rasped.
"Oh, I read the arrest report. You almost killed him, you know." Umbridge shook her head. "And then they let a monster like you into Hogwarts. Dumbledore should have handed you over to the Ministry."
Fighting the lingering agony in her fingers, Hermione fumbled for her wand.
"Professor," She murmured. "Do you remember what I did to Pettigrew?"
Umbridge looked down at her and frowned. She'd let herself get far too close.
"Incendio," Hermione breathed as the fire she'd always felt such an affinity with snaked from her wand and found a home in those lurid, awful, pink robes.
Umbridge screamed and just like Pettigrew had so many years before, panicked. She frantically tried to pat out the flames, dropping her own wand in the process. Hermione pulled herself to her feet as the flames spread and grew, those awful robes melting under the inferno. Umbridge reached for her, eyes wide and terrified. Hermione reacted out of sheer fear. She thrust her hands into the flames, feeling her skin burn immediately and shoved.
Hard.
Delores Umbridge staggered backwards as one of those stupid kitten heels caught on her melting robes and she tripped into one of the aquariums.
The flames went out immediately and Hermione stared in petrified horror. Those awful jellyfish, brainlike with long suckering tendrils, swam towards the disturbance and began to wrap themselves around their prey.
Umbridge splashed to the surface, fighting to reach the edge of the tank even as her limbs were snared and entangled.
"Alohamora," Hermione breathed, backing away from the struggling witch. She turned and opened the door. She didn't look back. Not even as Umbridge began to scream for help. Not even as Umbridge stopped.
The door closed behind her with a quiet snick, cutting off the sounds of struggling and splashing.
Hermione dropped to the floor, leaning against the stone wall.
What had she done?
She began to sob quietly, shivering on the cold floor in her wet clothes, holding her burned hands to her broken ribs.
"It was self-defence," Hermione whispered numbly, as though there was anyone to hear her. "I didn't mean to…"
She couldn't go back there. She couldn't find out.
She was a murderer.
She'd killed someone.
Hadn't she?
Umbridge was a grown witch, she'd probably get out of that tank by herself. She'd be through that door any moment.
The silence echoed around her, her heartbeat thundering like drums in her ears.
She had to keep moving forward. She had to get out of here.
Fred and George were going to hate her.
She might have sat there for minutes or hours, Hermione wasn't certain. Her fingers had gone numb and her head felt woozy.
Where was she now?
The room was huge and dark, filled with enormous shelves which stretched out into the distance. Each shelf housed dozens of glowing silvery orbs.
Somehow she got up and began to take one squelching wet step after another. There had to be a way out of here.
Bill Weasley did not like this. He kept that quiet but found himself hating this more and more as the Twins led them unerringly deeper into the deserted Ministry. They'd staggered earlier, screaming out in agony and he hadn't been able to help because they were only feeling a fraction of what Hermione was. Fleur had helped him right them and they continued on, only to shout in surprise moments later as their wands shot jets of flame across the corridor.
He really didn't like that.
Inside the Department of Mysteries, Bill sent a patronus to Amelia Bones as his brothers picked a door at seemingly random and strode resolutely onwards.
Inside they came to a room stacked high with glowing orbs on shelves and they'd both snapped around and sprinted flat out, leaving Bill and Fleur no choice but to take off after them. The group rounded a corner and they collided with a figure.
Except they didn't because the Twins had their arms open before they could have even realised she was there.
Hermione Granger looked awful, bloodied, wet and dirty, a terrible blank look in her eyes. She staggered back a few steps, stared at the Twins dully and then threw herself forward. They caught her again.
"Hey, it's okay," Bill heard quietly. "We've got you,"
"Uh...you lot?" He hissed. "We've gotta get out of here! You okay, Hermione?" He asked her.
She shrugged, taking George's hand, leaning back against Fred.
"What happened to Umbridge?" Bill added, looking around them. He had his wand drawn, and Fleur was several feet ahead of them keeping watch.
"Doesn't matter," Fred answered for her when she said nothing. "Let's go."
Bill felt dread settle like lead in his stomach. He really did not like that.
The hooded figure kept to the rear of their party, letting Bill take the lead with Hermione in the middle between the Twins. They went back the way the Twins had come before the path ahead of them was blocked.
"Well, well…" A masked Death Eater taunted them and Bill squared his shoulders in front of them. Making himself the biggest target, Hermione realised numbly. "What have we here?"
"Family outing," Bill snapped back, "We're heading to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, so if you don't mind, we've got reservations."
A quiet chuckle swept through the assembled ranks of black cloaks, bone-white masks reflecting the pale light from the orbs.
"Where's Black?" One of the snapped, aristocratic accent making the words sharp. His mask hid his blonde hair but Hermione didn't need it to identify him. He sounded just like Draco.
"Which one," Fred taunted.
"Yeah," George complained loudly, "You've got to be more specific."
"That's the Black girl," One of the Death Eater's realised. "Sirius Black's mudblood whelp. Black can't be far behind."
A woman laughed in their ranks.
"The Dark Lord wants her dead. He will be delighted." The man snarled.
"Lucius," Another Death Eater cautioned.
Hermione found her voice, she stepped forward so she was standing by Bill and hiding the Twins from view as they dug in their pockets.
"Uncle Lucius?" She laughed scornfully, remembering her cousin's lessons. If you can make them angry, Draco said, you can make them stupid. "Oh, I'm sorry. My aunt divorced you, didn't she? Blasted off the family tree. She did it herself, you know."
Lucius Malfoy snarled and took a long step forward, raising his wand as the Twins lobbed two projectiles over their heads and straight into the Death Eater ranks. They exploded and the aisle was instantly filled with noxious green smoke.
The Death Eaters began to fling spells blindly as Bill threw up a shield. He followed his girlfriend and brothers up the aisle and hopefully away from danger.
"What were those things?" He demanded as the Twins grabbed Hermione to help her keep up. She was breathing roughly already and let out a pained moan as they took her hands.
"Dungbombs," Fred snapped.
They turned a corner and Fleur fired off a hex at the Death Eater approaching them. It struck the shelf next to him.
"Ha!", He yelled at them. "You missed"
Fleur began to laugh, a loud tinkling giggle that always brought a smile to Bill's face.
"Nah, mate." He assured him. "She didn't."
The Death Eater looked up in time to see a hundred prophecies began to rain down upon him. Three struck him on the head and he went down. Bill didn't stick around to see if he got up again.
They ran on.
"'Mione!" One Twin gasped, "You remember that Troll in first year?"
"Vividly," The girl hissed.
Bill swore to himself. She'd gone an awful shade of gray.
"Think we could do the same with an explosion?"
Hermione's answering cackle raised the hair on Bill's arm. That girl wasn't fucking sane!
The door was just ahead of them, at the far end of the room when the Twins and their girlfriend stopped in place.
"Get behind us," they ordered.
They raised their wands as Bill spotted movement in the shelves.
"Guys," he warned, preparing his own spell.
"Bombarda Maxima," They roared together.
He'd seen curse breakers cast together before, to undo particularly tricky enchantments. But he'd never seen anyone cast like this before. To him, it looked like one spell, cast by three people perfectly in tune with one another. The explosion caused the shelves closest to them to vaporise into shattered splinters of wood and glass. The rest broke apart under the deafening force and collapsed on top of the scattered Death Eaters.
Bill watched numbly as a room full of sacred prophecies was destroyed and the muffled voices of a thousand seers were lost amid the wreckage.
"Overcompensating much?" He managed, weakly. One of the Twins shrugged.
"If you've got it,"
"Why not use it?" The other finished.
"Zat while not hold zhem for long," Fleur murmured.
She was right. Already he could hear movement and voices.
"Let's get going." He grimly led them through the door.
This time they were in a room filled with clocks and the sound of ticking was almost deafening. There was a disturbing bell jar that held an ever cracking egg.
"The Order should be here soon," Bill murmured, leading them forward. "The Aurors too. I sent word to Amelia."
"Wait, Bill." One twin was crouched in front of Hermione, glaring at her. "If you don't let me bandage that, I'm gonna…"
"It doesn't hurt that bad!" She insisted.
Bill doubted that. The girl was parchment white and trembling with each breath.
"'Mione, I swear to Merlin," One snapped as the other lifted her hands out of the way, scowling when she kicked him in the shin. His brother used his wand to bind her ribs in bandages, wincing when she hissed in pain.
"Yeah, we know it hurts." He murmured.
Fleur exchanged a long look with Bill. It felt as though they were intruding on something incredibly private.
"Your hands," They insisted and Bill realised they were blistered and red. It looked as though she'd stuck them in a hearth.
"I can't cast if my hands are wrapped up."
They glared at her but Hermione shook off her bondmates hands, shoved her wet hair out of her face and set her shoulders.
"Let's go," She ordered as they took up their posts on either side of her, both looking mutinous.
They went.
They didn't get much further when the Death Eaters caught up to them. The old courtroom they had passed through earlier was still covered in rubble, the ceiling had collapsed in the middle and large chunks of masonry had piled up.
Bill brought his group to a halt, distantly noting that the Twins had shoved their girlfriend to the centre of their group so that she was protected on all sides as the Death Eaters closed in around them. There was no running away from this, he realised. Several had slashed and bloodied robes from where the shelves had collapsed on them, but it looked like most of them had managed to cast a shield charm in time. Still far too many well-trained wizards for them to take on and win.
At his side, Fleur shrugged off her cloak and began to smile broadly. Several Death Eaters took visible steps forward, but most remained resolute. Guess Voldemort didn't employ weak-willed bastards.
"Give us the girl," One of the Death Eaters called and the Twins laughed.
"You don't want to do this," Bill warned. "The Aurors have been summoned," He deflected the stunner a cloaked figure sent towards him and scowled. "They'll be here soon!"
Fred and George began to laugh, low and dark. Their third joined them, that worrying cackle of hers. The Death Eaters shifted uneasily and one broke rank.
"Enough of this…" He lifted his wand, Bill let his feet slide into a duelling stance, took stock of the room, focused himself and…
...Fleur was fastest and has stunned a Death Eater before they'd even realised the beautiful woman was a threat…
...Bill was drawn into a duel immediately, just trying to keep the Death Eaters at bay, thanking Merlin that Curse Breakers had to learn strong shields…
...His brothers had tugged their third forward the three casting as one…
...Hermione sent a curse past Bill's shoulder that caused the ground under one of the Death Eaters feet to turn to quicksand…
...One of the Twins took a slashing hex to the shoulder. His attacker's shield crumbled under the dual cast stunner that hit him and he flew backwards across the room…
...Two down. Three if you counted the one now up to their knees in liquid stone…
...A door was blasted off its hinges…
...Fleur screamed, an unholy screech as she was forced to throw up a shield, back on the defensive...
A loud snarl echoed around the room as the cavalry arrived in the form of a furious pair of Marauders and Aurors Bones, Tonks and Kingsley. But Bill barely noticed because…
"Crucio" The unforgivable missed Bill by an inch, would have hit him square if Fleur hadn't hauled him backwards. A flash of black curls on the upper levels and Bill spotted Bellatrix Lestrange, flanked by a face he recognised from the wanted posters. Peter Pettigrew.
"You!" Roared the trio, stepping forwards as one.
"No!" Yelled Sirius, throwing hexes as he sprinted down the stairs, only to be caught in a duel with an unmasked Malfoy. "Get her out of here!" He called over his shoulders as Remus Lupin, usually so mild-mannered used his wand to throw a boulders worth of masonry at Malfoy who shattered it before it could hit him but didn't manage to dodge Sirius' next spell which caused thorns to wrap around his arms.
"We'll cover you," Bill yelled, shifting his footing. "Get out of here."
For a second he thought his brothers would argue. Gryffindors weren't known for tactical retreats.
But the Twins nodded, faces grim and serious as they reached for Hermione, who was staring down Pettigrew with a look of utter fury. She didn't look away as they pulled her away, only breaking her concentration when a curse came hurtling towards one of the Twins. She spun around and cast a Protego so strong the spell rebounded straight back to its owner.
"Go!" Bill snapped.
They ran up the steps, dodging spells and flying stone as the Aurors began to pour in from another door and the tide began to turn. He didn't take his eyes off them until they'd passed through the door and out of danger.
Which was why he didn't see Bellatrix and Pettigrew chasing after them.
"C'mon!" Fred was hauling Hermione forward, trying to focus through the chaos. The bond had never felt so alive and so powerful. Was this what Hermione felt all the time?
"What about…" Hermione started.
"Sirius will be fine," George promised her. He kept pace with them, using his wand to blast open doors in front of them, refusing to slow down for even a second. "The Aurors were arriving, but we need to get you out of here,"
They skidded to a halt in the revolving room, but one of the doors had been left open and led out into the corridor.
"Convenient," Fred murmured.
The lift was waiting for them at the end of the long, black tiled passageway and…
"Oh cousin!"
The cackle floated out the open door behind them and the Twins threw themselves forward, using their wands to cast the same speed charms they used on their fireworks. Hermione didn't need to be told, casting cushioning charms on the metal lift as they rocketed in it.
"Door, door, door!" George chanted.
They slammed the gates in the face of Bellatrix who was sauntering up the corridor towards them, grinning broadly while Pettigrew scurried along in her shadows. The lift began to pull upwards and they let out a long breath as she vanished from view below them.
"Don't, 'Mione," Fred murmured, slumped against the wall and trying to catch his breath. Blood was dripping steadily down his arm.
"Don't what?" She snarled.
"Don't say it," George was staring at the closed gates, tapping his wand against his thigh. "You're injured and we're getting out of here."
"I'm fine…"
"You know we felt it," Fred whispered. "When she crucioed you?"
There was an awkward pause and George sighed heavily.
"Next time we see him, we'll hold him down for you while you...I dunno? Slit his throat. But not today, okay?" He glanced over his shoulder at her. She was trembling, bloody and pale. "We are not fucking losing you today, understand?"
The anger that had been coursing through all three of them began to ebb replaced with Hermione's bone-deep fear and horror. Fred reached for her, but the lift pinged to a stop and George hauled the gates open before he could.
The Atrium was sprawled out in front of them, the enormous fountain providing the only sound in the echoing cavernous space.
"We've just gotta make it to the fireplaces," George murmured, lacing his fingers with Hermione's. Fred took her other hand, ignoring the throb of pain he felt from her.
Their footsteps rang out uncomfortably loud on the marble floor as they ran, but not loud enough to drown out the sound of another lift clunking upwards. George sprinted as fast as he could, trailing them behind him.
"Fuck!"
Large golden grates covered each of the fireplaces. There was no way out. Acting on instinct, George pulled them all into an alcove, tucking Hermione in as close as he could just as a loud ping echoed throughout the Atrium.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Bellatrix called.
"What now?" Fred whispered, looking terrified.
"Can we take her?" George murmured.
Caught between them Hermione sighed heavily, unlaced their hands and stepped back out into the Atrium, leaving them behind.
It wasn't often that they thought the same thing but George could read the same thought on Fred's frustrated face.
I am going to kill that girl.
"Cousin!" Bella called delightedly, catching sight of her. "Come to face me properly, have you?"
"I'm not interested in you," Hermione murmured, as Pettigrew stepped forward out of the shadows.
Bella was eerily similar to the vision she'd seen in the pool. Hermione suddenly understood why her fathers had been so worried by her dyed hair.
"Rat," Hermione swore, switching her attention to Pettigrew. He was pale under the scars, hair in uneven clumps.
"Crucio," Bellatrix snapped out, apparently fed up with being ignored.
"Protego!" They cast desperately.
Hermione didn't know how she reacted in time. She hadn't been prepared. The Twins were suddenly there, by her side, as the shimmering silver shield that spanned the width of the Atrium...effortlessly reflected Bella's spell.
For a long moment there was silence broken only by the splash of water in the golden fountain. Bella stared at them, motionless even as Pettigrew began to cast curse after curse at the shield. He screamed in rage as they rebounded around the Atrium, coming dangerously close to being struck by his own jinx.
"What are you two doing?" Hermione hissed, furious.
For once her anger was matched on either side of the Bond even as they kept up the spell, not letting the shield waver for an instant.
"Us?" Fred snarled. He didn't look at her, too focused on their opponents, but she knew he was narrowing his eyes.
"What about you?" George's furious diatribe was cut off as Bellatrix tipped her head to one side, smiling.
"So, little Malfoy isn't your bondmate after all?"
"Blood traitors," Pettigrew paced in front of their shield, looking rabid.
"Weasley's? Honestly, dear cousin," Bella remarked as though they were sitting down to lunch. "But the magic is strong…" She added musingly.
"We need to get out of here," George murmured, stepping closer to Hermione's side. Fred mirrored him.
"You could do so much," Bella continued, striding closer. Hermione fought the urge to back away. "You could be so powerful…" She breathed and Hermione realised how truly mad Bellatrix was. "The Dark Lord could give you so much, little cousin."
"We are not family," Hermione snapped. "Even if Sirius hadn't disowned you,"
"Avada Kedavra!"
It was George who saved her. Their shield only slowed the spell before it shattered and George yanked her out of the way as the bolt of sickly green magic slammed into the tiled wall behind them.
"How dare you?" Bella hissed.
For a moment she thought the mad witch was talking to George. But Bellatrix rounded on Pettigrew whose wand was still raised.
"Mudblood," Pettigrew grumbled disappointedly.
"You tried to kill her!" Bella continued, looking genuinely surprised. "My family!"
"But the Dark Lord…"
"He doesn't realise the power they wield," Bella snapped. "But he will. You on the other hand," She began to fling what looked like stinging hexes at Pettigrew, "You are a worthless, weak, pathetic," He was thrown back and curled into a ball on the floor, "Snivelling rat."
Hermione let the Twins pull her back, further away while Bella was distracted. If they could just get away from her…
Bella cast her final spell almost lazily, not even really looking as she turned away from the cowering murderer.
"Outlived your usefulness really," She murmured, "Avada Kedavra."
And Pettigrew went still.
He'd never seen someone die before, Fred realised. He just…
...Pettigrew wasn't breathing anymore.
He'd just stopped.
"He's dead," Hermione whispered. Her emotions stuttered, like a record that had gotten stuck.
Bella nodded, twirling her wand through her fingers.
"Oh, I'm sorry," She giggled at the shock on their faces. "Did you want to do it?"
They said nothing.
"Now I need to get that Prophecy," Bella paused. "There are Aurors everywhere," She added musingly. If they could just keep her busy, he realised, they might be able to get away. Or at least buy time for the Aurors to get here.
"Prophecy?" Fred managed, confused. "What…"
"Oh, do you have it?" She smiled at them and he shivered. "I need it,"
"Those orbs," Hermione realised, sounding horrified. "They were Prophecies?"
Bella stopped smiling and narrowed her eyes.
"Oh shit," George murmured as Hermione began to laugh hysterically.
"That stuff the Order was on about," She explained to them, "Hiding in the Department of Mysteries, the thing your dad was guarding..." She trailed off, hiccuping to herself.
"The mystery weapon," Fred realised, horrified.
"We shattered it!" George breathed.
"You did what?"
Their collective attention was drawn back to the madwoman in front of them. Bella had lost her reasonable expression and was going an unearthly shade of white. Her eyes had widened and she looked terrified.
Well, terrified and murderous.
"You destroyed it?" She screeched.
"Oh, fuck," Hermione complained.
"Crucio,"
"Bonds forged in fire remember their strength in the heat of battle" is an inaccurate wizarding metaphor about metalworking that goblins like to laugh at. Metal does not get stronger if you heat it up, it melts. But wizards do not often have much in the way of sense.
As silly as it is this saying does apply in some cases, the Trio's bond being one of them. Soul bonds form for all sorts of reasons. Acts of kindness, sacrifice, love. Passion or trust. The Trio's bond formed in battle. It was a short battle to be fair, but it clearly counted. Their bond formed while they forced down fear, horror, and I imagine in Hermione's case, no small amount of anger. It formed because they stood as one and fought together. And it strengthened when stood shoulder to shoulder in battle.
This was bizarre, Hermione realised numbly. That flick of her wand...there...that wasn't her. That was Fred, his penchant for showmanship showing in everything he did.
Their stunning spell was deflected and caused the enamel tiles to explode off the wall. George caught the shards and threw them like daggers at Bellatrix even as Hermione deflected her next spell and Fred threw a vomiting jinx with deadly accuracy.
And that...there...Hermione didn't know the spell she'd just used. George did.
Even three against one, up against a witch as powerful and mad as Bellatrix Lestrange, they should have been in trouble. This was the woman who'd destroyed the Longbottom family, murdered Aurors…
She hurled curses so dark they blistered the air as they rushed towards them and the trio scattered, forced out of the way as the air between crackled with violet lightning. Bella got George in the side and Hermione screamed for him, feeling his pain as if it were her own. Was this what they felt all the time?
"Stupify," Hermione roared, forcing Bella to throw up a hasty shield that her overcharged spell shattered straight through. "Don't touch him!" She snarled, using her wand to throw a flock of vicious enchanted crows that swarmed around Bella. The older witch conjured flames and burned the birds away, but by then Hermione had reached George and tucked herself under his arm, supporting him. There was an awful red patch forming on his bright orange shirt.
"I'm all right," He promised her softly.
"Liar," Hermione swore at him.
Fred joined them and the three prepared to return to the fight, but Bella wasn't paying attention to them. She'd dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
"My Lord," Bella begged and Hermione felt her heart sink. "Please, my lord. The prophecy...it wasn't my fault."
They turned as one to stare at the black-robed figure sweeping through the rubble towards them. Pale face, slit-like nostrils, red burning eyes...Hermione came face to face with the subject of her brother's nightmares.
Lord Voldemort sneered at Bellatrix who had thrown herself at his feet.
"Fool," He hissed.
"My Lord, please...the boy wasn't here! But I've found something… She's so powerful, my lord." Bella waved towards Hermione and the Twins but Voldemort wasn't interested.
"The Prophecy has been destroyed!"
"How did he get in here?" George whispered desperately.
"The Apparition wards must be down," Fred realised, grabbing their hands. "C'mon,"
He turned on the spot, pulling his brother and bondmate with him. As she was pulled along, Hermione swore she saw another figure appear in the Atrium but it was lost in the blur of apparition.
The Anti-Apparition wards were not down, Voldemort was just extremely skilled at circumventing defences. Dumbledore was able to apparate in for what would be recorded as one of the greatest duels of the century because his apparition exemption as Supreme Mugwump had not been revoked yet. Fred just believed the wards were down and punched straight through them. I doubt he even noticed. When the Bond was fully active, there was very little the three of them couldn't do.
It was very expensive to repair the wards, I was delighted to learn. He shattered them completely.
The Aurors and the Minister arrived in time to confirm that Voldemort had indeed returned and the remaining Death Eaters were arrested. The Dark Lord escaped, taking Bellatrix with him.
They'd collapsed in a heap between two half-assembled shelves, bloody, shaking and terrified. Hermione wasn't certain where she ended and they began, they were so tightly wrapped around each other. Slowly though she became aware of the throbbing of Fred's shoulder, the piercing ache of her broken ribs and burnt hands. The creeping chill from George.
"You're…" She shoved at them until she had George splayed out on the ground, Fred hovering over them. "We need…" Her trembling fingers lifted his ruined shirt and she felt her stomach roll at the blistered mass that was her bondmates stomach. Fred started summoning things from the far end of the shop and she sat back to let him clean and bandage the wound, holding George's hand and trembling as she cried silently.
"You next," Fred murmured, pulling her towards him.
Hermione ignored him and forced her swollen fingers to bend so she could pull up the sleeve of his t-shirt to look at the gash on his shoulder. He let her bandage it with her wand before they both took her hands and started applying burn balm.
"We're okay," George promised, wincing as he sat up. "We're okay, 'Mione."
"No, we're not,"
The hammering at the door startled them out of their exhausted doze and all three summoned their wands.
"I'll go," Fred murmured, pushing himself up. He took two steps towards the door and paused to frown at them when they followed him. "We'll all go then," He grumbled.
The windows were still covered with paper, so Fred called out,
"Who's there?"
There was a low growl, which caused all three to jump, before,
"It's Remus,"
Fred scrambled with the locks, ushering the Marauder into the shop.
"Dad?" Hermione whispered, still tucked under George's arm.
Remus seized her without another word, hugging her tightly and only releasing when she let out a pained whimper.
"Are you ok?" He demanded, looking her over. His eyes were glowing amber and there was a long bloody gash across his brow. He didn't seem to have noticed it.
"I'm fine,"
"She's got broken ribs, burned hands, cuts and bruises," George recited dutifully, prompting Hermione to glare at him. "But nothing serious."
Remus sagged for a moment before he took in a deep breath and nodded.
"Right, good, good. You two?"
"George needs to go to St Mungo's," Hermione retaliated. "Bellatrix hit him with something,"
"Hey!"
"You fought Bellatrix?" The werewolf demanded, looking furious. "Hermione!"
"We didn't have a choice, Mr Lupin," Fred murmured, casting an angry look at her. Hermione stared him down. "She caught up to us."
"Dad, she killed Pettigrew." Hermione murmured.
There was a long moment as Remus stared at her, trying to piece through everything he'd just heard. He seemed to come to a decision.
"Right," He shoved his hair out of his eyes, scowling when he smeared blood across his forehead. "You two go to St Mungo's, Hermione we've got to get you back to Hogwarts."
"What?" They demanded.
"Amelia is up to her ears in an investigation, half of the Department of Mysteries was destroyed. We can explain away the Order Members, most of them work for the Ministry, but cub we need to make sure no one can bla…" He stopped and winced. Hermione felt like she'd just been slapped. "We need to get you back to Hogwarts where you're safe." He finished quietly before turning to the Twins. "There will be an Order meeting soon, tonight probably. Bill will tell you when."
"Will you be ok?" George asked her.
"I'll be fine," Hermione lied and they both scowled at her. "Get yourselves healed, okay?"
She kissed them both, ignoring the awkward cough from her father and reluctantly stepped out of their arms.
"Let's go back to school," She breathed.
"Madam Bones," One of the junior Aurors, Abernathy, she thought, beckoned her over. "We've found a body."
None of the Death Eaters had been killed in the attack and, luckily, none of the Order Members either so who…
They hadn't accounted for someone, she realised looking down at the sheet-covered corpse. The person who had started all of this.
"Lift it," She muttered.
The Auror pulled back the sheet and Amelia stared down at the bloated grey face of the High Inquisitor. Her clothes were burnt and melted in places, her skin blackened and burned. Long tendrils were wrapped around her neck, pale and jelly-like.
"What was the cause of death?" She asked, working on controlling the tremor in her hands. Please, she prayed, don't say…
"Asphyxiation," Their crime scene specialist explained, packing vials of samples back into her briefcase. Amelia let out a long breath, hiding her relief. "We're working on getting an answer out of the Unspeakables about what the hell those things are."
The assembled Aurors stared at the few unbroken tanks, uneasily watching the brains float by. The rest of the tanks were shattered, a table lay splintered not far from them, Umbridge's handbag was spilt open on the floor. A fight had clearly taken place here.
Amelia came to a decision. It wasn't a hard choice for her to make.
"She must have confronted the Death Eaters," She announced. "Been pulled into the tank during the struggle."
There was a quiet murmur of agreement from her subordinates. Amelia tried not to focus on the burnt flesh. She tried not to imagine the worst. She tried not to be too proud.
Hermione was smuggled back into Hogwarts by a silent and worried-looking Remus, who kissed her forehead before he passed her over into the soft hands of Poppy Pomfrey. She was brought to the Hospital Wing where her ribs were healed in an instant and Pomfrey quietly pressed a vial of potion into her hands. She drank it without asking what it was. She was asleep almost before she changed into pyjamas.
Hermione was brought back into the castle as members of staff were quietly making their way out. We'd been meeting at the Burrow since Sirius had thrown the Order out, Molly's small kitchen barely fitting the members. Tonight was no exception. I had gotten there early, feeling Minerva's loss strongly that night. Molly had been making stew. I think she thought it would help. The Aurors stumbled in together, the first time we'd seen any of them since Christmas. They gratefully took steaming mugs and collapsed in a pile of leather armour together at one end of the kitchen table. The last group to arrive were the Black's. Sirius swaggered in, looking every inch as mad as his cousin. The only one who'd ever been able to talk him down from a mood like that was Potter and he was long gone. It was that kind of look which had resulted in Severus' fear of werewolves. Remus Lupin was at his shoulder as always, Amelia trailing behind them, looking lost and afraid. Following them were Bill Weasley, Fleur Delacour and the Twins.
Molly's head snapped around at the sight of her children.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded. The Twins hadn't joined the Order yet. I'd suspected that it was a silent show of support for Sirius.
"Come off it, Molly," Sirius snapped. "They faced down Bellatrix tonight, give 'em a break!"
"Ah, Sirius," The quiet voice came from the doorway as our final member stepped into the kitchen. "I had wondered if we'd see you here tonight,"
Dumbledore had arrived.
"I think," Dumbledore started, taking a seat at the head of the table. "That it would be best if we went over what happened tonight."
"Death Eater's stormed the Ministry of Magic," Amelia reported numbly. "I guess they got tired of waiting for the Prophecy to come to them. They were apprehended by the Aurors. The Hall of Prophecies was destroyed in the progress along with several other rooms in the Department of Mysteries."
"Fudge is panicking," Oswald was one of the junior clerks in the Ministry, he looked as though he'd been pulled into work in his pyjamas. "Everyone knows Dumbledore has been telling the truth now. Fudge suddenly looks like he's on the side of the Death Eaters because he's been doing such a fantastic job keeping their return quiet for them. Everyone reckons he'll be gone by the end of the week."
For a long moment, people digested that.
"But," Hestia Jones murmured, "What were you doin' there, Bill? An' you two?" She'd hit the weak point of Amelia's story right on the head, Remus thought to himself. "How did we even know the Death Eaters were attacking tonight?" Bill had sent patronus' to several members of the Order, there was no way to hide that he'd been first on the scene. Or that he'd brought his brothers who weren't even Order members with him.
Sirius growled quietly to himself and several people shivered.
"Perhaps you'd like to explain that, William?" Dumbledore asked Bill intently. He'd steepled his fingers.
Bill looked to the Twins who turned in unison to Sirius.
"Might as well come clean boys," He drawled, glaring at the table. "The Death Eaters know now."
They flinched at that.
"Umbridge kidnapped a student from Hogwarts today," Remus announced, taking over for his useless best friend. "She took her to the Department of Mysteries for...some reason, we don't know what. When the student was noticed as missing an alarm was raised, an alarm Bill answered. The Death Eaters just happened to be there."
"They were looking for Harry Black," Bill added. "Seemed confused that he wasn't there."
"Which student?" Arthur demanded. He already knew, Remus realised. He was staring at the Twins in dread.
"Hermione Granger," Remus murmured.
"Our daughter," Sirius finished. Molly made a slight hissing noise between her teeth that caused Amelia to glare at her. She clearly hadn't gotten used to the idea that Hermione was a Black yet.
"Granger?" Benji Fenwick turned to Dumbledore. "What was she doing there?"
The older wizard sighed heavily.
"I believe Madam Umbridge took her because she wished to understand the nature of the soulbond Granger holds with two other students."
The room exploded into whispers as Molly actually shrieked. Remus was surprised. He'd thought Dumbledore would have told everyone already. But Umbridge had kept it quiet at the Ministry so…
"Because," Dumbledore continued and the room instantly went quiet. Once a teacher, Remus murmured to Sirius. The dog snorted. "Miss Granger's soulmates are under significant protection…"
"Yeah about that…" Sirius straightened in his chair, ignoring the sharp fingernails Remus was sinking into his thigh. "So we lied."
Dumbledore blinked at him.
"My dear…"
"You call me boy, old man and we're going to have a duel right here," Sirius snapped. The kitchen was so quiet Remus could hear the tap dripping in the sinking. The Order seemed to be holding its breath. "We wouldn't come forward with this if Bellatrix didn't already know. No sense hiding something from your allies when your enemy is already informed. Lads, show em."
Fred and George stepped forward, shaking off Bill's restraining grip.
"Susan and Draco aren't Hermione's soulmates," One murmured, stripping off the fingerless gloves they'd been wearing for months now.
"We are,"
The leather gloves dropped onto the table with a slap, like a challenge as they shoved up their sleeves exposing the black marks there. Dumbledore seemed stunned, Arthur just looked resigned. Molly...Molly was going to explode, he realised tiredly.
"WHAT?" She shrieked. Several people winced.
"Mum…" One twin started.
"SOUL BONDED!" She screamed. "MY OWN SONS! DO YOU EVEN REALISE WHAT KIND OF DANGER YOU COULD BE IN? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? WE NEED TO..."
"Because we didn't trust you, mum."
Molly choked and Arthur flinched like he'd been struck.
"What?" She whispered.
The two exchanged heartbroken looks.
"Mum…"
"We didn't want to tell anyone,"
"We just wanted to keep it secret!"
"I am your mother!" She declared, cheeks flushing. "I would have protected…"
"You would have gone straight to him!" One yelled, jabbing a finger at Dumbledore. "Mum, we love you, but you have to see…"
"He turns people into weapons! We knew what he wanted to do to Harry. We had to protect Hermione!"
At that, Molly turned her ire on Sirius.
"You knew!" She hissed and he snorted. "All of you!" She looked between Sirius, Remus and Amelia. "You kept this from me! They are my sons!"
"And she's my daughter," Sirius retorted. "And like all of my children, I value her safety and happiness over anything. So yes, Molly, that meant keeping something like this from you."
"How long?" Arthur murmured.
"Since Hermione's First Year," Remus told him quietly. The older wizard sighed heavily and stared down at the table.
"And Bellatrix knows about this?" Dumbledore spoke at last. He seemed to have gotten over his shock.
"We duelled her in the Atrium." One Twin murmured. His brother was staring down at his hand, rubbing his thumb over the mark, jaw clenched. "We knew Hermione was in trouble and we knew she was close by. We went to get Bill, he knew about the bond already. We went to the Ministry. We didn't know the Death Eaters would be there."
"We got Hermione and got her out of there." The other finished.
There was a lot they weren't saying but that was okay. The Order didn't need to know that they had destroyed an entire room or witnessed the murder of Pettigrew.
"The Dark Lord wants them hunted down," Severus spat, as Molly began to sob. Remus didn't know when he'd slithered in, but Sirius tensed under his hand.
"Then we must do everything we can to protect them," Dumbledore turned back to Sirius. "Please, for the sake of Harry and Hermione, allow me to protect them properly."
"Oh please," Sirius complained as Molly nodded frantically.
"Of course, the boys will do whatever you want, just please…"
Arthur took his wife's hand as the two young men sighed.
"No, mum,"
"We won't."
Remus watched a horrifying realisation occur to Molly. Although she was their mother, the Twin's loyalty lay primarily with Hermione and Hermione was Sirius'. As long as she was a daughter of the Marauders, they were going to side with Sirius. And that was breaking her heart.
This time the silence was broken with an awkward cough as Bill stepped forward.
"Uh… while we're on the subject of big family revelations? Mum, Dad you remember Fleur?" He ruffled his hair. "We're getting married." There was another beat of silence and he waved his hand awkwardly. "Surprise!"
Amelia watched with faint amusement as Sirius stared down his little cousin over Remus' head. He, very deliberately, rested his arms on the werewolf's shoulders and leaned down to whisper in his ear, keeping eye contact the entire time. Possessive prick.
The Order meeting had very quickly dissolved into something much less formal after Bill's announcement.
"Molly will get past this," Arthur murmured quietly. She turned to face him. He seemed to have aged ten years since the announcement.
"Arthur," She sighed heavily. "I am very sorry about this but…"
"I understand," He waved her off. "Thank you for looking after them."
"Don't," They watched the party, people loudly congratulating the happy couple. Fleur was glowing bright enough to light up the room. The Twins had holed up in a corner with Kingsley Shacklebolt. "They're good men, Arthur. They do you proud."
He nodded slowly, taking the compliment as the truce it was intended as.
"I hope they do your family proud too."
She glanced down at him and quirked one eyebrow. Arthur smiled slightly.
"Don't tell Molly,"
Hermione woke with a foggy head and numb feet. The wooziness was no doubt due to the potion she'd drunk, the feet…
Opening one eye she looked down at the blur of black hair and striped pyjamas splayed across her hospital bed.
"...It seems," Susan's voice drifted out from behind the broadsheet copy of the Prophet she was reading. She was sitting in a chair, Draco sprawled out on the next bed along. "...That the defamations of Mr Potter…" She tsked. "They don't get your name right at all, Harry. They also don't mention that they were the ones who were slandering you, to begin with."
"Funny that," Hermione murmured.
Susan dropped the paper and Hermione caught a flash of worried brown eyes before Harry threw himself up and wrapped himself around her.
"...urk..."
"Mr Black!" Pomfrey called sharply. "Miss Granger is still healing!" Harry slackened his grip. Slightly.
"I'm okay," Hermione promised. She managed to shimmy further up the bed so she could see over Harry's head. Susan had flipped the paper up again but Draco was watching her with a small smile. "Draco…your…"
He held up a hand to stop her.
"I already know, Black. The arrests made page three." He shrugged, looking bored. "I'm just glad you weren't arrested with him."
Hermione froze, bile rising up in her throat. How had she forgotten?
"Harry!" She begged. He moved in time and she folded over the side of her bed, throwing up stomach bile and what was left of the sleeping draught. Harry rubbed at her shoulders as she retched, holding back her hair. She shivered desperately, tears streaming from her eyes as Madam Pomfrey banished the mess and offered her a glass of water to wash out her mouth.
"There, there," She helped Hermione lean up against the pillows again. "Let's get you something to settle your stomach." After pausing to glare at Harry who continued to sit on Hermione's knees, she bustled away.
"I was kidding, Granger," Draco drawled. He looked disgusted with her. Hermione didn't blame him.
Hermione was released from the Hospital Wing by ten o'clock and spent the rest of the day with her family. There were no more classes for the rest of the week, not now their exams had finished. She seemed quiet when I saw her in passing. Quiet and pale, always in the company of one of her friends. She never went anywhere alone. Harry Black practically stitched himself to her side.
The school was quiet. The students were scared, the staff unable to offer any comfort. Even the return of Dumbledore didn't do much to lift morale. Sirius Black had refused further help from the Order, the Death Eaters weren't hiding in the shadows anymore and far too much rested on the shoulders of teenagers. I think, even at the time, I knew this was the beginning of a long period of darkness. There was very little joy to be found in the coming years. I count myself very lucky that I managed to live through it. Not everyone did.
Sirius loved his wife deeply. It hadn't always been that way, of course. Their relationship wasn't quite the fairytale of romance that he suspected Remus had been telling their children. Initially, Sirius had approached Amelia to express his thanks for listening to him. If it wasn't for her, he'd have been locked in Azkaban. At the time he'd been a sleep-deprived mess, torn up over grief at the loss of his best friends, the sudden pressure of raising a child and the utter destruction of his relationship with Remus. She'd been the only person he'd been utterly certain was on his side.
And then the attack on Edger and Cecilia had happened. Much of the Bones home had been destroyed and it was only by luck that Susan had been out with her Aunt for the evening. Amelia had turned up on his doorstep at the end of her two weeks of compassionate leave, exhausted, crying and desperately unprepared for the tiny life she was holding in her arms.
It remained the only time Sirius had ever seen her defeated.
They had clung onto each other the best they could. Amelia returned to work, rising quickly through the ranks and Sirius (and eventually Remus), became primary carers for Susan and Harry, until Susan was old enough to go to tutors during the day. They didn't so much start a relationship as wake up in bed together (which hadn't been that unusual, they were single parents with no social lives, things just happened sometimes) and decided to make a go of it. Sirius hadn't even considered marrying her at the time.
This might be why Remus lied to the kids, he realised, frowning at the floor. Your parents fell in love staring across Harry's cradle sounded much better than "They screwed occasionally for a few years and then decided "Why not?"". Merlin knew his kids were traumatised enough.
Why the fuck did he have so many kids, Sirius wondered, utterly mystified. People just kept giving them to him. Twenty years ago the very last thing Sirius wanted was for someone to carry on the Black legacy. Hell, even when Harry had been born and Lily had asked him if he wanted kids someday, he'd assured her he didn't. He was an Auror, he was a drunk, he was a Black. Now… Now he had a daughter who would be the best Lady Black there had been in a thousand years. He had a son he was so incredibly proud of. Never mind that though. Now he had three kids he would die for.
"I don't think she's coming out on her own, Lord Black." Selwyn, Amelia's acutely polite secretary whirled his cloak around his shoulders. "If you wish to retrieve her, I think you may have to go in there yourself."
Chuckling, Sirius did.
"Leave them in the tray," Amelia murmured when he entered her office. She was bent over her work, quill scratching furiously on a roll of parchment. Her fair skin was flecked with ink, giving her the semblance of freckles. Sirius felt a fond smile creep over his face.
"I am far too handsome to be confused with your secretary." He complained.
Amelia jumped and stared at him so wide-eyed her monocle fell out to dangle from its chain against her waistcoat.
"Sirius?" She seemed unusually surprised to see him. A good sign she'd been at work for more than three days. Since the break-in she'd been pulling overtime, trying to build as much of a headstart on the Death Eaters as possible.
"The one and only." He grabbed her coat from the peg on her wall and smiled briefly at the framed cuttings from the Daily Prophet. Their wedding photo took pride and place, surrounded by various articles and headlines that Amelia was proud of. "Time to go home, love."
She threw down the quill with a clatter.
"I've still got…"
"Yeah, I know." He held out her bag. "You can take three pieces of work home with you, but you're going to have to have dinner with your husband first." He paused. "Well, your husband, his werewolf and his hopeless cousin."
"Tonks is still in residence then?"
"Mmhmm. She's not got the message yet." He helped her into her coat and shouldered the bag she'd stuffed full of what was definitely more than three pieces of work. "C'mon Madam Bones."
She laughed quietly but took his hand and let him lead her from the office. The Aurors they met on the way out didn't look surprised to see Sirius there; in fact, many of them smiled indulgently when they spotted their normally stoic leader holding hands with her husband.
They made it out of the department without any problem but because Potter Manor wasn't on the Floo network, they took the ministry floo to the historic Bones residence.
This was their first mistake.
They both had their wands holstered and were more wrapped up in each other than in taking note of their surroundings.
This was their second mistake.
Amelia only taught one module in the Auror Training course. Advanced Dueling. She'd taken it over from Mad-Eye. The first ten seconds of a fight, she told fresh-faced recruits, were the most important ten seconds of your life. Someone will fire first and you had better hope it is you. If you're taken by surprise you'll spend those vital seconds getting your bearings. A good Hit Wizard can get up to eleven spells off in ten seconds. You'd better assume that a Death Eater can do the same.
Thankfully, Death Eaters don't necessarily have good aim. The first cutting hex hit the mantelpiece and Amelia reacted instantly. In one move she shoved her husband to the side, in the other she drew her wand turning to face her opponents.
Masked and cloaked the Death Eaters spanned what had been her mother's favourite sitting room, each armed.
"Can I help you?" Amelia demanded, sliding her feet into a duelling stance, shifting her weight and raising her wand.
In every fight there is a turning point, Amelia would tell her pupils. There is a moment when you know absolutely whether you are going to win or lose. Then your only job is to live long enough to get out there.
Amelia slipped her free hand into her pocket and decisively snapped the tough clay disk she found there in two. That second of distracted focus meant that while she effortlessly stopped the next two spells, the third from a Death Eater who had ducked around to the side, caught her in the leg. As the bones in her calf shattered, Amelia felt her leg crumple under her and she screamed out in agony.
"Amelia!" Sirius who had been holding his own against another three wizards roared out her name before unleashing an incredibly dark hex which caused a Death Eater to start panicking as their robes began to shrink like iron bands around them. He dashed to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist, hauling her upright while she caught her breath.
Amelia sensed the turning point. The floo had been destroyed, the misplaced cutting jinx had shattered the marble fireplace and the entire house had anti-apparition wards around it. There was no getting away from this.
A vicious bolt of lightning threw Sirius away from her and into the wall with a sickening crack. He slumped to the floor, leaving a bloody smear against the wall. The remaining Death Eater, who had been keeping out of initial fighting lifted his wand and Amelia felt what little blood remained in her face drain as they breathed out "Vetus sanguine".
Old blood. A dark spell designed to reopen every cut you'd ever had.
Amelia had a lot of scars. Every single one of them split back open. Forty-five years of paper cuts, gashed knees, grazed palms, knife wounds and old curse injuries. She felt reality slip away from her as the pain overwhelmed her, warm blood gushing over her skin leaving her cold inside.
When she next opened her eyes mere seconds had to have passed. Two of the Death Eaters had Sirius by the collar, dragging him roughly across the room. She watched through unfocused eyes as they threw her husband down. He let out a low moan as his head connected with the hardwood floor.
"Blood traitor," One of the wizards murmured.
"Such a waste," Another agreed. "Still, maybe he can be brought to see sense. Crucio!"
Sirius screamed.
Amelia stared helplessly, willing her exhausted body to do something, feeling her life draining away as her husband, as the love of her life was tortured in front of her.
"Sirius," She breathed.
They ended the spell and Sirius collapsed onto the floor, limp as though all of his muscles had been cut at once. His eyes opened just enough and he stared at her but didn't really seem to be seeing her.
"Crucio!"
"No…" Amelia pleaded.
The Aurors would be here soon. The average Auror response time was seven minutes. At least three had gone by. They'd get here in time. They just had to.
Amelia was getting colder and she just knew that she'd lost too much blood. That she wasn't getting up again. Was this how Edgar had felt when his wife was mutilated in front of him? When he was murdered in his own home? Was the Bones family just cursed? Would this eventually happen to Susie?
Sirius' screams moved beyond vocal as his spine bowed to an inhuman angle, feet scrabbling helplessly against the floor, hands curled into claws.
If only Edgar had remembered the wards...Amelia froze. There was something left she could do.
"Crucio!"
Tears slipping down her cheeks Amelia willed her fingers to move, hoping she actually still had the dexterity left to do this as she sketched out the ward her mother had taught her a long time ago. The ward she swore to never, ever use.
The Bones family has a tradition of being in Hufflepuff. They are loyal to a fault. So loyal, in fact, that it is known to be their greatest strength and their biggest weakness. Their wards reflected that.
"Enough of this," One Death Eater snapped. The torture spell lifted and Sirius slumped again, unconscious. She hoped he was unconscious. She didn't want him to see this. "We have our orders."
"Sang pour la securite," Amelia breathed. The blood under her fingertips ignited and she screamed as the fire seeped into her veins, setting her alight from the inside out. The Death Eaters turned to look at her and the very last thing Amelia heard was the robed figure who'd been crouched over Sirius saying,
"Bella will be happy to know we got the dog. Avada Kad…."
Hermione was shaken awake by cold hands.
"Miss Granger?" Professor Sprout smiled down at her sadly. "Are you awake?"
"Professor?" Hermione sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "What's wrong?"
Sprout looked on the verge of tears but she clasped her trembling hands in front of her.
"If you could get dressed please, Hermione. We need to go and see the Headmaster."
Hermione dressed as quickly as she could and made her way down to the Common Room. The fear curling in her stomach only intensified when she spotted a sleepy Harry and a worryingly silent Susan waiting with the Herbology professor.
"What's happened?" She asked, louder than she'd meant to. It echoed around the empty common room and her brother flinched.
"The Headmaster will explain." Sprout said very quietly as she ushered the three of them out of the common room.
The castle was quiet, it really was quite late. Harry had wrapped his arms around the two girls, but his grip on Hermione's shoulder was painfully tight. Sprout didn't wait for Dumbledore to give them permission, instead opening the door quietly and ushering them inside.
Dumbledore, in his blue tasselled dressing gown, looked exhausted as he sat behind his desk, talking quietly to three wizards in Auror armour. One of them Hermione recognised as Kingsley Shacklebolt, who'd been in the Order of the Phoenix. He turned to look at them and she felt her heart sink.
"Children," Dumbledore started, looking incredibly sad. "I'm afraid there's been some bad news. It seems that Sirius Black and Amelia Bones were attacked by Death Eaters earlier this evening when they returned home."
Susan went white and clamped her lips together as she visibly shook, trying to keep control of her emotions. Harry sagged against Hermione and she shifted so she was holding her brother up.
"Tell us," Susan demanded, voice strong, face expressionless.
Kingsley stepped forward.
"We are going to take you to St Mungo's so the three of you can say…" He stopped abruptly and Hermione realised the normally stoic Auror was on the verge of tears.
"Auror Shacklebolt," Dumbledore broke in gently. "I'm afraid it is impossible for me to allow you to take three children, unaccompanied, from the castle without parental permission."
"I have permission." Shacklebolt turned back to the Headmaster. "Remus Lupin is the Steward for both House Black and House Bones and has claimed guardianship for all three of them."
"Still,"
"But none of that matters," The second Auror broke in, a woman Hermione didn't recognise snapped. "The whole department knows what Madam Bones' orders are for her children. Nothing is going to stand in our way."
"Remus and Auror Tonks are waiting for you at the hospital." Kingsley ushered them towards the fireplace.
Hermione felt tears beginning to track down her cheeks and, as she stumbled out of the large fireplace in St Mungos, she scrubbed them furiously from her face. Kingsley, who'd gone first, helped her to her feet.
"I…" He paused jaw flexing. "I am so sorry. If we had gotten there sooner we might have managed to…"
"What exactly happened?" Susan demanded, striding from the fireplace in a whirl of green flames. Her spine was poker straight, shoulders set, eyes gleaming like brown gemstones in a face that was entirely white except for two spots of pink, high on her cheeks. She looked every inch Lady Bones, the product of six hundred years of careful breeding and family magic.
Harry, looking ashen, hair in disarray, stepped up next to Hermione and slid his hand into hers.
Kingsley started leading them towards the stairs.
"We received a distress call from Madam Bones at half-past eight. The Hit Wizard team scrambled immediately, were on-site within seven minutes. We arrived to find both your parents seriously injured and surrounded by Death Eaters. It appears Amelia may have invoked one of the Bones' family house magics."
Susan froze.
"Oh." She breathed.
Kingsley led them through a set of double doors that were being guarded by two grim-faced Aurors. Shouting immediately filled their ears and Kingsley cursed, jogging the rest of the way down the corridor. Remus was barely being restrained by another two Aurors while a Healer in green robes was shouting back at him firmly.
"Mr Lupin! If you cannot get yourself under control, I will have you thrown out!"
"Let me see them!" Remus roared, eyes flashing yellow.
"You aren't family," The Healer snapped. "Without permission from a family member…"
"He has permission," Harry yelled impetuously.
Remus went limp in the Aurors grasp and stared at the three of them helplessly. He was staring at the three of them through yellow eyes which were wet with tears.
"From who?" The Healers demanded.
Harry straightened.
"From the Ladies Bones and Black," He gestured to each of his sisters. "They're the next blood relatives, aren't they?"
Kingsley, behind them, nodded.
"Right, well then," The healers seemed confused but unwilling to argue further about it. "Still, Mr Lupin,"
"You two go in," Hermione murmured. She wasn't certain she could go through that door yet, wasn't sure she could deal with yet another parent lying unmoving against the cold white linen of St Mungos. Minnie was somewhere in this hospital. "I talk to Remus."
Harry nodded solemnly and took hold of Susan's arm, guiding her in. The Auror's restraining Remus tensed slightly when Hermione got closer and one of them called out,
"Miss, I'm not sure."
"He's my dad," Hermione snapped, glaring at the older wizards. "He's fine. Let him go and we'll be fine."
Carefully they untangled themselves from Remus who fell forward and scooped Hermione up in his arms, hugging her tightly.
"Are you," She could feel him shaking against her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," She buried her head in his shoulder and hugged him back as tightly as she could. "Remus, I don't...I can't go in there!"
He scooped her up and carried her down the corridors away, to a set of wooden chairs. There he carefully dropped her and sat down next to her. He took a deep breath in and centered himself.
"You don't need to go in there," He promised, shoving his shaggy brown hair back from his face. "But I should tell you what's going on. Will that be okay?"
Hermione wavered for a moment and then nodded, determined. She couldn't let Susan shoulder all of this on her own.
"What happened?"
"Siri," Remus looked up, blinking away tears. "Siri, was tortured, they suspect the cruciatus curse. He'd also been electrocuted and by the time the Aurors got there, he'd been bleeding for a while. He's unresponsive." Remus said all of this quietly, eyes fixed on a peeling patch of paint on the opposite wall, as though it was just something he was reading in the paper. "Amy, they hit her with a dark curse and she's suffering from severe blood loss. There is also the lingering effects of what she did to the Death Eaters." He glanced at her. "The Bones family frighten the hell out of me, Hermione. Because they will go to any length for the one they love, and I do mean any. Do you know how often Susan or Amy have thoroughly unnerved me because of something they'd done for the family?" Hermione thought for a moment about her sister and the lengths she'd been prepared to go to for Hermione. She nodded once. "Their wards are incredibly powerful, not because they take power from the land like the Black or Lupin ones do, but because they take their power from the Bones family. They require a sacrifice to work properly. If the Aurors hadn't arrived when they did and broken the ward spell, she wouldn't have made it to St Mungos. It was draining the life out of her. She's…" He shuddered. "They don't know, Hermione. They just don't know if she'll make it."