A/N: Nothing to report except I did tell you to be prepared. And I am now repeating this statement. Be. Prepared. We're going through to the end of the war, mostly according to canon. You know what that means, so... just be prepared.
Thanks be to all that is Lib McGranger. She puts up with a lot, is all I can say lol
-0-
Ginny caught on the night before the wedding.
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
Hermione froze. She was in the middle of drying the dishes - finding the Muggle ritual an easy way to calm her mind, but now she was on tenterhooks, trying to figure out what to say.
"I thought so," Ginny sighed. She jumped up to sit on the counter and pulled the tea-towel out of Hermione's hands. "Harry snogged me stupid earlier, felt like a goodbye."
Hermione sighed and finally looked up.
"I can't apologise. We have to."
"I know," Ginny sighed. "And I know I can't go too."
"No," Hermione whispered. A thought crossed her mind. "Will you -"
"You know I will look out for her," Ginny sighed, pulling on a loose thread. "As much as I can."
"Thanks," Hermione smiled. "I'll look after them too," she chuckled.
"I know that," Ginny grinned. "Do you need anything?"
"I," she blushed. "Need help picking something to wear tomorrow."
"Hermione!"
"I know," she groaned. "I don't like anything I picked out months ago. It seems so childish but it's a big deal and -"
"She's coming, right?"
"Yeah," Hermione nodded, losing her breath. "She said she was."
"Then she will," Ginny smiled. "Aside from those two assholes they added to the staff, they've left the Professors mostly alone."
"Yeah, but they're dangerous. They're going to be so much worse than anything we've ever faced." She winced. "You've ever faced.
"We'll take care of them," Ginny said resolutely.
Hermione nodded and put the mug down, waving her hand over the rest of the dishes and drying them instantly.
"Let's go."
Ginny dragged her upstairs and they combed through her wardrobe until they found just the right thing. When Molly called up that they should go to bed, Hermione did so with a bright smile on her face and anticipation building slowly to a crescendo.
-0-
The Burrow was full of excitement from the moment she opened her eyes the next morning. The ceremony wasn't due to start for hours but she could already hear Molly panicking downstairs, so she sat on the bed and got lost in her thoughts, waiting until the boys came to find her.
"Hey," Harry muttered as he dropped onto her bed. "Are we ready?"
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "If there's anything else you need, making sure I get it before we go downstairs. I want to make sure it's in my bag before it all starts."
"Hermione, do we have room for -"
Ron paused and winced as he held up the radio.
"Um," Hermione chuckled. "Sure?"
"Never know, do you," he muttered, dropping onto Ginny's bed across from them. Hermione turned the radio over in her hands and slid it into her beaded bag.
"So then we're ready?"
They nodded in unison and Hermione sighed.
"Ginny knows. And we know Molly does too. Do we have a signal? In case something happens?"
"Dunno," Harry groaned. "We'll go after the ceremony, obviously. Ron?"
"I dunno, do I," he scoffed, making Hermione chuckle. He'd come a long way since Christmas, but there was still a lot of room for improvement.
"Guess we'll play it by ear then? When it's time, I'll take you both, yeah? Somewhere only I know?"
They both nodded and then they heard Molly's laboured steps on the stairs.
"Guess this is it then?" Ron said, standing up. "See you later."
"Yep," Harry nodded.
Ron left, getting caught by Molly on the way across the landing. Harry snorted as she got particularly intense.
"I," he looked at her. "Will she be here?"
"She said she would," Hermione shrugged, not beating around the bush.
"Good," he nodded. "Tell her I'm sorry?"
"I will try," Hermione blinked, trying not to cry. "I hadn't planned on telling her necessarily, but even if I do, she won't hear of it, you know that."
"Still," he shrugged.
Hermione nodded and Harry slipped out as Molly's voice faded back down the stairs. She let herself fall back onto the bed and let out a long, deep breath. Whatever happened today would be whatever it would be. But until then, she had thoughts of Minerva to keep her company.
-0-
The air was heavy with summer flowers and there were butterflies flitting between the rows of golden seats inside the big tent. Charlie stood as best man and clapped Bill on the shoulder as Fleur appeared at the entrance to the tent. Fleur looked beautiful and Bill so very handsome as they met under the cloud of golden balloons. She was glad they had waited until afterwards. Ron had not wanted to, saying it was a waste of time, but after Molly had found them out, there was no escaping it. Not that Hermione wanted to.
But it had been an option they would have taken if they had needed to.
Now though, she sat with a disguised Harry, behind the front row, watching the ceremony with interest. Minerva had not arrived in time for the start of the ceremony and Hermione was worried she may not come at all. She did her best to push those fears away while the Official droned on about lighter and happier times. It turned out that Wizarding marriage ceremonies weren't all that different from Muggle ones but she liked the added flourishes that magic brought to it. Just as they were starting the oaths, Hermione felt something change. She sat up and saw Ginny smile at something in the distance before she looked down and nodded to Hermione. Hermione beamed and clutched at her own hands to stop herself from turning around.
Minerva had arrived.
The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur. She applauded when Harry did and stepped aside when the tent opened and the happy couple were presented as husband and wife. She had already turned away, trying to see over the sea of heads but she didn't have Minerva's height and was frustrated by the crush of people moving forward to congratulate the wedding party.
"Let's go over there," Ron muttered, nodding to a table where Luna Lovegood sat with her father.
They talked a little while the party started around them. Hermione listened with one ear as the talk turned serious, but her eyes never stopped scanning the room. Just as Mr Lovegood finished talking, she caught Ginny's grinning face through the crowd. Hermione leaned slightly and saw she was pointing to the other side of the tent.
Following Ginny's finger, she found Minerva standing, talking to Charlie by the tent entrance. Hermione was frozen in place as she took the woman in. Having foregone the usual robes, Minerva wore a dress that showed everyone exactly what Hermione already knew: Minerva McGonagall was achingly beautiful.
"Is that McGonagall? Holy shi -"
Harry slapped Ron's stomach to stop him from finishing his sentence and nudged Hermione with his shoulder.
"Go on," he muttered. "I'll tell him."
She nodded absently, not having the presence of mind to think about who he was telling what to and walked robotically to the other side of the tent. A few people said hello to her and she nodded back, but her eyes were fixed on Minerva's back. The dress was the deepest purple she'd ever seen, almost inky with a shimmer to it that caught the light as she laughed easily with Charlie. The higher-than-usual neckline might not have made sense to anyone else, but Hermione knew why. Instead of making her look dowdy though, it elongated Minerva's lithe form to something akin to a goddess.
She realised that quite by accident they had dressed to compliment each other. The lilac dress robes she'd borrowed from Ginny would look lovely next to such a deep colour and she chuckled even as she neared. She saw the exact moment that Minerva realised she was there. It seemed as though the sense of one another that had developed over the last year, had remained, though they hadn't seen or spoken to each other for months. Hermione heard Charlie ask if Minerva was alright. It seemed Minerva had stopped speaking. She turned slowly and her eyes fell on Hermione. The fire that danced in her eyes was echoed beneath Hermione's skin as she smiled.
"Hi Min," she said, swallowing at how silly that sounded.
"Hello, Hermione."
She desperately wanted to throw herself into Minerva's arms and breathe her in, but they were being watched all around. Though the ceremony was for family and friends, it was getting harder to tell who was trustworthy, so Hermione shook herself and stepped up to join them.
"So," she smiled at Charlie, her arm brushing Minerva's in greeting. "What are we talking about?"
They chatted amicably for a short while until Ginny retrieved Charlie for some photographs outside. As she led her big brother away, she turned and winked at them. Minerva snorted and drained her glass, looking up after she put it on one of the nearby tables.
"Permit me?" she asked, holding out her arm.
"Yes," Hermione sighed happily, wrapping her arm in the crook of Minerva's and letting her guide them out of the tent and into the field beyond.
"Do you know where the edges of the wards are?" Minerva asked, glancing up and down the hedgerow.
"At the fence of the garden," she pointed. "That side, to the back of the tent. I'm not sure about how wide they are though."
"No matter," Minera muttered. "We'll be safe enough here."
"Hi," Hermione sighed and buried her face in that long neck while she wrapped her arms around Minerva's shoulders.
"Oh," Minerva sighed into Hermione's hair as she reciprocated. "I've missed you," she chuckled. "Ever so much more than I thought I would. You look utterly beautiful."
Hermione blushed and leaned back to look down Minerva's body.
"It's lucky Fleur is part Veela," she chuckled. "Or you'd have shown her up."
Minerva rolled her eyes and laughed with Hermione for a while before they fell quiet. A distant fox broke the quiet of the dusk and made Hermione realise that night was falling quicker than she'd imagined.
"How are you?" Hermione asked, looking at her carefully.
"Tired," Minerva admitted. Hermione could already see that. "Angry," she shrugged. "I don't know what he wanted from me. Severus is," she groaned. "Don't make me talk about him."
"How dangerous are the other two?"
"Very," Minerva nodded. "But we will get through it, we always do."
Hermione nodded and smiled tightly. She didn't speak but as Minerva looked into her eyes, she knew she was rumbled.
"Hermione -"
"Minerva," she said quickly. "We need to -"
"What? What are you -"
"Dumbledore left Harry a task to do."
"Hermione -"
"Only he can do it. And he can't do it alone, Min. You know he can't."
"You can't," Minerva hissed. Hermione swallowed at the ferocity in Minerva's eyes. "I forbid it."
"You forbid it?" Hermione almost screeched, her sensibilities roaring into life. "How dare you. You sneak around for The Order for the last year or more, needlessly endangering your life, putting me on edge constantly, and you're forbidding me from doing what I must? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I," Minerva was shaking. "You are not going."
"You cannot stop me," Hermione spat.
"I will."
Her hand twitched and Hermione's eyes widened. She took a step backwards and Minerva suddenly looked terrified and followed her, yanking Hermione into her arms and clinging to her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her lips leaving a warm breath on the side of her neck. "I'm sorry. I -"
"Min," Hermione whispered, tears already gathering in her eyes. "We have to."
Long arms tightened around her and she did her best to hold Minerva just as tightly.
"I can't lose you," Minerva muttered over and over. "Not now. Not now I -"
"I promised," Hermione muttered, finally managing to free her hand and bring it around Minerva's shoulders. She slid it up into Minerva's hair and closed her eyes and how right it felt. "I promised. And after he's dead, we'll see each other again. This way we can both be useful."
"Tell me what you're doing."
"I can't," Hermione sighed, pulling back to look into Minerva's eyes. "You know I can't."
"It is dangerous."
"All of life is dangerous," Hermione counselled gently. "We have," she winced. "A plan, of sorts. We are a long way behind. Molly," she groaned. "Has not helped. Which is her prerogative as Ron's mother but," she shrugged. "We'll be fine."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm not telling you that either."
"Give me something," Minerva pleaded. "Please, love."
Hermione gasped. Tears formed in her eyes as they did in Minerva's. Hermione thought about it for a moment and nodded. She pulled out her beaded bag and summoned her box of ribbon, choosing a strand of deep green and a strand of Gryffindor red. She tucked the rest back into her bag and had Minerva hold them while she took out her wand. She had mastered the Protean spell during her time in Dumbledore's Army so it did not take her long to create the link between them. After the final flourish, took the green one from Minerva and wrapped it around Minerva's left wrist, now permanently empty in reverence for the watch she had lost. It went three times around before Hermione tied it tightly and secured it with a sticking charm.
"It's something," she whispered, taking the other one and wrapping it around her own wrist. Minerva stopped her hands and tied it herself, securing it with a charm.
Hermione's breath caught as Minerva kept hold of her hand and brought it to her lips. She watched, helplessly, as Minerva pressed her lips to the ribbon and lingered there.
"Minerva," she whispered.
"Don't you dare die," Minerva hissed. "Don't you dare."
Hermione opened her mouth to answer when Kingley's deep booming voice echoed across the fields.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
Hermione's eyes bugged and Minerva swore, tightening her hold on Hermione's hand.
"Don't even think about it," Hermione growled, seeing Minerva's hand reaching for her wand. "Min," she said, stopping Minerva from turning on the spot and disappearing with her alongside her. "Minerva?" Minerva looked at Hermione for a moment with only despair in her eyes. "Let go," she said gently, cupping Minerva's cheek. "I'll see you at the end."
Minerva's hand tightened, but then she stepped back, her hair coming out of its intricate design all of its own and crackling with the overwhelming magic in the air. They could hear the people in the tent rushing about and Apparating away, but nothing felt urgent.
"I," Minerva choked. "I -"
"I know," Hermione smiled, tears gathering. "Me too."
Minerva's eyes widened and for a moment it looked like she would say something else when Harry's voice screamed out over the field.
"HERMIONE!"
"Go," Minerva nodded. "Go. I'll find you. After."
Hermione started to turn and closed her eyes against the tears as she heard the pop of Minerva disappearing. She grabbed the boys and nodded to Ginny before disappearing with a pop themselves.
