Summer, 1980
"Qui est cet homme?" Three year-old Fleur Delacour asked her godmother curiously.
"Ladies do not point, ma petite," Hermione said gently to her goddaughter in fluent French. The tiny blond witch immediately lowered her hand, but waited patiently for an answer. "That man is Orion Black, my father-in-law."
"And who is this dainty creature?" Orion Black asked gravely, also in French, watching his young daughter-in-law speaking to a small girl. He had grown fond of his oldest son's wife, despite her rather odd proclivities such as spearheading rebellion groups and whatnot, which was why he had come to her home today with his youngest son, Regulus.
"This is Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour, and my goddaughter," Hermione informed her father-in-law, with an encouraging smile for her goddaughter.
Fleur made her very best curtsey, and Orion bowed and took her small hand, treating her like a great lady—like her godmother Hermione. The child was immediately taken with the gruff, older man and proceeded to climb onto the settee next to him and ask him a million questions. Hermione smiled at the picture the two of them made and turned to Regulus.
"Is everything ready?" Regulus asked quietly, his dark head bent slightly toward hers.
After the destruction of Voldemort, everyone had worried about Hermione's mental health. Sirius had been ridiculously over-protective of her, afraid that the smallest thing might make her spiral into depression. For her part, once Hermione knew that Sirius didn't blame her, didn't think that she should have somehow known and preemptively stopped it from happening, she was on the road to recovery. The news that James and Lily, and Lucius and Narcissa were expecting was accepted with calm grace. Her family worried about her despite her apparent health, and finally Orion gave her a project that had occupied her every waking moment until today. He had bitterly complained about the fact that his son and his niece's husband were forever branded like cattle. No decent, upstanding wizard should be permanently scarred like that. It went on and on. Anytime Hermione and Sirius visited Grimmauld Place, they were treated to the latest verse of Orion Black's favorite tune. Rather quickly, Hermione determined that she must find a way to remove the Dark Mark from all of her milites. It was fading slowly, as Voldeomort was truly dead, but it would never be completely gone and Hermione knew that Lucius, Regulus and Severus hated the fact that they had them anyway.
"Yes," she answered her brother-in-law simply, a calm smile on her face. "I have everything ready and we have prepared the smaller ballroom."
"Excellent. Lucius and Severus should be here soon," Regulus said with a slight smile. For him, that was the equivalent of Sirius' broad, happy grin.
In no time at all, the smaller ballroom of Hermione and Sirius' townhouse was filled with her milites. To prove themselves to one another and to Hermione, all of them had taken their outer robes and their shirts off so that one could see the marks of the lioness on their chests. They had never been gathered all in one place before, all of them known to one another. Not even on the day of their mass assault against Voldemort. It was almost like a milites reunion, if one discounted the fact that they were all half-naked. Hermione had house elves circulate amongst them with light refreshments while she used Lucius as her guinea pig. She held his forearm in her left hand and traced the fading Mark with her right, her brow furrowed in concentration. She could feel the magic, the connection of several charms linked and twisted in a particularly nasty and foul way.
Hmmm. What if you treated it like a sweater?
I'm sorry?
A hand-knit sweater can be unraveled, or picked apart, can it not? What if you picked apart certain of the charms? It would unravel, yes?
You may have something there. It appears as though he designed this to be as painful and as awful as possible. It looks as though it might have nasty booby traps built in, just as we had suspected. However, if I do pick apart a couple of the individual charms…yes, it just might work.
Well, who better to try it on than Lucy?
Eurgh.
Hermione concentrated with a single minded focus. She drew several tiny runes on Lucius' arm with the tip of her finger. They glowed briefly and she delicately used them to pick apart one of the individual charms that made up the Dark Mark, as though they were magical lock picks, or more properly 'charm picks'. It wasn't an important piece, so Voldemort hadn't bothered to booby trap it because it was linked to other, rigged charms. Finally, the charm unraveled itself, causing a break between crucial links that made up the Dark Mark. If she could destroy this other minor charm, there would be nothing holding it in place and it would disappear off of his arm forever. Hermione worked quickly, once she knew she understood what was involved. Soon, she was staring at the pale, unblemished skin of Lucius Malfoy's forearm. She blinked and then looked up at him. He'd been watching her intently, his silver eyes focused on her face the entire time she'd worked.
"Thank you," he said feelingly, his eyes flashing a tumult of emotions briefly before he locked down and regained control of himself.
"Excellent work, girl!" Orion said gruffly, eyeing his nephew-in-law's smooth, unmarred skin. "You next, Regulus!"
"No, Mr. Black, Regulus has to go last," Hermione chided him gently. "We've talked about this, I know you remember."
"Hmph."
"Father, you know that Hermione's logic is sound," Regulus said firmly. Orion glowered at everyone and then turned his attention back to Fleur who was trying to gain it.
"Hermione Canopia Po-Black! What on earth is going on in here?" Dorea Black stood in the doorway of the smaller ballroom, her extremely pregnant daughter-in-law in tow. The two women gaped at the assembled half-naked men in Hermione's house.
"Hello, Mum," Hermione said calmly. "I'm removing the Dark Mark from all of my milites. Gentlemen, this is Dorea Potter, my mother, and Lily Potter, my sister-in-law."
All of the gentleman bowed politely toward their domina's mother and sister-in-law. Dorea Potter's eye twitched slightly. She distinctly recalled an odd conversation she had had with Professor MacGonagall after the defeat of Voldemort. The professor had gone on and on about how Hermione was the mastermind known as the domina in some circles and as the Lioness in others. The professor had been ranting on about how she must have begun recruiting while she was still in school because rumors had begun then. Dorea had smiled and nodded at what she had hoped were the pertinent points, but now that she was faced with an entire room filled with young men that she knew her daughter had gone to school with, well, it made her wonder about everything that Minerva had said.
"Mother, why don't you and Lily visit with Orion. He's growing impatient with the slow process," Hermione said dryly. Lily moved toward her friend, while Hermione motioned to Rabastan LeStrange to come forward. She took his arm in her hand and began frowning at it thoughtfully.
"Hermione? Won't Sirius be awfully upset about you being in a room of practically naked men?" Lily asked nervously. Before, Sirius had been overprotective of Hermione. After…that day, he'd become almost impossible. Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes at Lily.
"Don't be ridiculous, Lily," Hermione said soothingly. "I'm also in a room with my father-in-law, my brother-in-law, my mother, my goddaughter, my blood-brother and you. Who on earth would dare to impugn my honor with all of you present? Besides, all my milites are men of honor. The paw prints won't take if they're not. They would never dream of taking liberties with my person. I am a married woman, after all."
Every man in the room seemed to stand a little bit straighter upon hearing Hermione's staunch support of her milites. Men of honor. They hadn't felt like that for some time, and today's removal of the Dark Mark would help them all gain back a little of that. The woman standing in the center of the room had become legendary to them even before she destroyed Voldemort. She and her lieutenants had offered all of them a second chance, a way to escape their private hells. Each man felt he owed her a life-debt, and further, that she had rescued their family's honor as well, which to many of them was the more valuable of the two. They all waited patiently, and conversed amongst themselves, discussing their families' attempts to recoup after the war. Somewhere in the house a door flew open and struck the wall making a large bang noise. All of the milites turned to the ballroom doors in surprise.
"Hermione? Where are you love?" Sirius called as he pulled off his Auror robes and tossed them over his arm. He loosed his shirt a bit and stuffed his tie in his pocket.
"Mother said that she and Lily were going to visit," James offered as he shrugged out of his work uniform. "Maybe they're in the parlor?"
"In here, Sirius," they heard Hermione call from the smaller ballroom. They pushed open the large doors and stopped uncertainly in the door way.
"Er, Hermione?" James said after a moment. Hermione glanced at him.
"Hullo, Jamie. Are you looking for Lily? She's over there with Sirius' father," Hermione said cheerfully. "Now, forgive me, but this next bit takes a lot of concentration."
Both men watched as she very carefully set about taking the Dark Mark off of man whose arm she was holding. Sirius and James nodded politely to the people that they knew, privately surprised at some of the men who had been forced to join Voldemort's Death Eaters to protect their family. It might be easy to assume that every single member of that group had done so willingly and had participated in murder and carnage with a rapacious glee, but such assumptions ignored several key facets of any large organization. To run, and run well, money is required to fund any organization of any size—even a non-profit organization needs money. Sirius and James recognized that many of the men in this room were from the wealthier Pureblood families. Voldemort had used his brute squads to threaten these mens' families thus 'encouraging' their cooperation. In some cases, the families themselves required obedience. Lucius Malfoy had followed his father's orders, Regulus had followed his parents' orders (or so he thought at the time), Rabastan LeStrange had followed his brother, and Head of House's orders. Loyalty, Duty and Honor had forced the young men in this room to become part of something that they would have much rather not had anything to do with, but today would help to heal that. James and Sirius considered all of this within a space of minutes, and rather than scream and yell at Hermione, they moved toward Orion and Dorea who were talking quietly.
"Good afternoon, father," Sirius said politely. He bowed to Mrs. Potter and Lily, and gave a bow and a wink to Fleur who giggled. "Ladies, a pleasure to see you."
"Sirius," Orion said gruffly. Fleur was sitting next to Sirius' imposing father, cuddling shamelessly into his side while he snuck her candy out of his pocket. The sight made Sirius' heart ache for a moment, and he glanced to Mrs. Potter, who was watching him with knowing eyes.
"It will happen when it happens," she said softly as she kissed his cheek. "Give her time."
"Lily, you know the healers told you take it easy," James was muttering at his wife, a scowl on his face. "I don't really think gallivanting across Britain was what they had in mind."
"Oh, don't be silly, James," Lily scoffed. "We flooed in to my parents' for tea, Petunia was there with her baby, Dudley. Then we flooed here to see Hermione and talk to her about our family dinner this Sunday."
"I still don't like it," James muttered. "What if something had happened."
"Nothing will happen, Jamie," Hermione soothed from where she was working on another of her miles. "Ha-er…the baby will be fine."
"A fine thing that is," James groused working up to his favorite complaint. "All I ever get is 'the baby' this and 'the baby' that, but for Malfoy over there you've gone and given him the sex, the name and probably which wand is his."
"Now, there's no need to be jealous of poor Draco," Hermione said flatly. "Lucius and I have theorized that because Lily is…what did you say the other day? Oh, part of a recovered bloodline or something, anyway, that that means that she'll infuse some, er, vitality in the vine, so to speak."
"Vitality in the vine?" James echoed in surprise. Lily blushed and Dorea chuckled.
"It means you ought to have a litter of young wizards and witches, all strong in their magic," Orion explained in his gruff voice. "Sounds reasonable to me. M'family used to raise hippogriffs, and the old journals are always going on about infusing new blood to revitalize the breeding stock."
"Hippogriffs?" Sirius asked curiously, a certain gleam in his eye.
"Sirius, later," Hermione said firmly. "So really, Lucius, you need to find a 'muggleborn' witch once Draco begins school and arrange a match with her parents. The Malfoy line is in desperate need of some revitalization. Regulus, too, should look for a similar girl, or at least a half-blood."
"What's this about hippogriffs, though?" Sirius asked his father quietly, and thus began a fascinating conversation that intrigued Sirius on a multitude of levels, and had the happy coincidence of making Orion Black feel important and needed.
"You believe that Draco will be an only child?" Lucius asked Hermione quietly later that afternoon after every one of her milites had been freed, his expression grave. She sighed and looked up into his silvery eyes.
"I have Seen him as an only child," she murmured, "but that was before, when Voldemort was in power. It is entirely possible that that would have affected your ability, and Narcissa's willingness to have children. She loves you and she will love Draco unconditionally, but I doubt she'd be willing to give more children over to Voldemort."
"My ability?" Lucius questioned her with a frown. Hermione blushed lightly and bit her lip.
"The Dark Mark had several nasty charms linked to it. One of them affected your ability to father children. I don't believe that's why Voldemort used it, but that is one of the side-effects of prolonged exposure." Hermione explained carefully while simultaneously concentrating on a charming landscape painting on her parlor wall.
"Will I be…permanently affected?" He asked quietly, his face pale and set. Hermione lifted a shoulder helplessly and let it fall.
"I hope not," she said softly. "If you and Narcissa agree, it's possible to go to St. Mungo's and see if they can repair the damage."
"I will speak to her about it," he said finally, his voice barely audible.
"Of course. Please give her my regards," Hermione said politely. Narcissa was from a very old family, with rather hidebound customs, and she had been raised to believe that ladies of a certain delicate condition did not parade themselves in public once they drew close to their confinement. In addition to that, she was terrified that she might lose the baby, despite Hermione's reassurances that her son would be fine.
"I will," Lucius promised her. He paused slightly and shifted uncomfortably. "She told me that she had asked you to be our son's godmother…and that you said yes. Thank you, for that."
"No, it is Narcissa whom I should thank. She did not pity me, and she offered me a kindness when really it wasn't necessary for her to do so. I will always remember and appreciate that," Hermione stated firmly. Lucius, wisely, remained silent because truly, there was nothing he could say.
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HG/HP/HB
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"Now, Daddy," Hermione said soothingly. Charlus glared at his daughter over his copy of the Daily Prophet. "I am not planning a coup of the Wizengamot-,"
"Hmph!" Charlus Potter grouched to himself. He was still hurt that his daughter had managed to completely pull the wool over his eyes. What hurt even more was that Dorea had suspected something about the Ladies' Aide Society and he'd lost a hundred galleons in a bet with his wife.
"—this week," Hermione continued blithely and sipped at her tea. He glared at her.
"Hermione," Charlus began darkly and Hermione sighed heavily.
"Daddy," Hermione said coolly. "You and then James will hold a seat on the Wizengamot. Sirius will hold the Black family spots after Orion and eventually Alphard and Cygnus. I don't belong to any guilds, so it's unlikely that I'd be able to hold one of the guild votes. However, I believe that Minister of Magic Hermione Black has a certain ring to it."
"It does," Dorea said with a fond smile for her daughter. She, for her part, had been quite proud of Hermione's actions in the recent wizarding war. She also knew that her husband was mostly hurt that Hermione had done most of it right under his nose. It was, Dorea noted with a sense of pride, quite Slytherin of her. Hermione sent her mother a grateful smile.
"I plan on studying wizarding law to see what changes need to be made," Hermione continued on, giving her father a stern look. "Lily suggested that I try to attend Oxford or Cambridge, but really that would be almost worthless to me. I want to change the wizarding world, and I need to study wizarding law to do that properly."
"Well, poppet, Lily might not have been completely out of bounds," Charlus Potter said thoughtfully. Hermione looked sharply at her father.
"What do you mean, Daddy?" Hermione asked. Charlus smirked slightly.
"The governor assigned to the city of Oxford by William the Bastard was one Robert D'Oyly," Charlus said smoothly, and Hermione hid a smile. The Potters came from old, old blood and considered many of those families that had invaded their shores during the Battle of Hastings to be upstarts at best. "His youngest daughter married one Gregorius Peverell, the son of one of the commanders. Both children had attended the newly formed Hogwarts, and wanted to continue their studies. At that time, what would eventually become the colleges of the University of Oxford were being founded in their nascent forms. There were some surviving Druidic colleges in Scotland, Cornwall and Wales, but they refused to admit their invaders to their ranks, and I don't really blame them. The College of Merlin was founded with the hope that the newly come witches and wizards would be able to find a place in their new home. Their specific focus was study of the wizengamot and its laws, and it has remained their focus in the centuries since."
"Are you telling me that there's a magical college at the University of Oxford?" Hermione demanded.
"That's precisely what I'm telling you," Charlus said firmly. "Further, as one of the founding families of the College of Merlin, you will have an automatic place."
"Then again, as a descendent of Gloswinda Gryffindor, you could also attend one of the surviving Druidic colleges. I will tell you, however, that their focus has always been a pursuit of knowledge. They do not really focus on the law, at all, because it does not contribute to the gathering of knowledge, or the creation of new magics. Their feeling is that it rather constricts it," Dorea offered gently, a small smile on her lips. Hermione sat there, her mouth slightly open.
"I'll have to speak to Sirius, of course," Hermione said quietly, her brow furrowed.
"That would be best," Charlus allowed. "Make sure to tell him that the College of Merlin allows married students to live off campus. That should make him a little less hesitant."
"Very well," Hermione said slowly, her mind racing with the possibilities. "Now, if I studied, and did well, how would I go about becoming a judge of the Wizengamot?"
"You would have to begin at the beginning," Dorea said with a slight smile. "As a clerk of the court. You will be able to gain quite a bit of information that way."
"That's quite true," Hermione said thoughtfully, a wicked smile on her lips as she contemplated the sorts of things a clerk for the Wizengamot might discover.
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HG/HP/HB
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Harry Potter was adorable as a baby, Hermione Black decided. Her mental roommate heartily agreed, as she had never seen Harry as a baby, or even a picture. She held her nephew in her arms, and felt the intense love of Old Hermione for her very best friend sweep through her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she immediately felt Sirius' arms slid around her, steadying her.
"Not having a vision about the lad already, are you?" Sirius asked worriedly, his eyes on hers. She shook her head because she couldn't trust her throat to work properly at the moment. "No? Good. He doesn't need to be the sort that people have visions of, that's for sure. You just be nice and boring, Harry my boy."
"Not too boring though, son," James said firmly from across the room. "You're allowed to prank the pants off of Slytherin. Maybe get a few detentions. Just to keep up the family honor."
"James, really!" Lily huffed from her bed. Hermione gave a low throaty chuckle that never failed to make Sirius' blood rise.
"Unfortunately, my dear Lily, Jamie's actually quite correct. The Potter men have been earning detentions and plaguing their fellow classmates for generations. My great-great grandfather is the earliest we have records for, but I bet it goes back further," Hermione said with a pointed stare at her brother. "I would wager that it goes all the way back to Ignotus."
"My Own!" Jamie looked scandalized. "Why else should a person have such a thing if they aren't going to use it to its fullest extent?"
"Do I even want to know?" Lily asked Sirius. He shook his head and grinned at her.
"Just remember, Harry shouldn't come into that until his fifth year," Hermione reminded her brother firmly. James gave a long-suffering sigh.
"Fine!" He huffed.
"He really is beautiful, Lily," Hermione said softly as she carefully placed the baby back in his mother's arms. Lily smiled luminously at her son. Hermione turned and left the room quickly. Sirius and James looked at one another, but assumed she needed a moment and let her go. She made it to the public apparition wards of St. Mungo's and apparated on the spot.
So where are we off to then?
Your house, I think.
Why would you want to go there?
Well, not to be rude, but I'm trying to figure out why you're still with me.
I should think that would be obvious.
Erm, it is?
We share the same soul, bound to Sirius' soul. We are separate lives of that soul, but it's still ours.
So…there is no little Hermione Granger at your old house right now?
I doubt it. In fact, I'm not even certain any child they have will be magical. It's possible, I suppose. We'd have to research their genealogy and see if they've got any squibs in their line.
Can we check anyway?
Of course dear, but be careful. I think we've almost hit your baby limit for the day.
Almost.
Hermione Black knocked on the Granger's door with no small amount of trepidation. Dr. Granger opened the door, and Hermione felt a flash of recognition and affection from her other half. Old Hermione's mother was eyeing her oddly and Hermione glanced down at herself and realized her mistake. She was dressed for her own home, which was comprised of a silk day gown that one might expect if one were watching some sort of period piece about the last century. Hermione smiled awkwardly and hit upon the best possible solution.
"I'm terribly sorry to bother you," Hermione said politely, "but my car's broken down and I'm going to be late. I'm, er, an actress and the play's set to start soon."
"You're already in costume?" Dr. Granger said in surprise. She had thought for one tiny moment that the beautiful young woman on her doorstep might actually be from the past. She certainly looked and sounded it. Then she gave a little mental laugh and dismissed the thought.
"Well…yes," Hermione said uncertainly. "I, er, the costume they have for me is dreadful, so my mother had this made and I thought if they saw it, they might let me wear it instead."
"Is that real silk?" Dr. Granger asked curiously, eyeing the beautiful gown. It was obviously handmade. Quality like that didn't come off the rack.
"Of course," Hermione said in surprise, confused that anyone would assume otherwise.
"Come in, dear, let's find you a phone," Dr. Granger said thoughtfully. Hermione quietly followed her into the house. Dr. Granger stopped in the living room to scoop up a happy baby that had been playing in a play pen. She noticed Hermione's curious look and smiled proudly. "This is our little darling, born last September."
"He's a beautiful little boy," she said quietly, but Dr. Granger saw the flash of pain in the young woman's eyes and guessed more than Hermione realized.
"Come along Sebastian, let's find this nice young lady a telephone," Dr. Granger said firmly and led Hermione to the kitchen.
"Sebastian? From Twelfth Night?" Hermione asked curiously. Dr. Granger stopped and looked completely surprised.
"Why yes, how did you know?" Dr. Granger replied. Hermione gave a small smile.
"My mother named me Hermione, after A Winter's Tale," Hermione confided. Dr. Granger now looked completely floored.
"That was to be Sebastian's name…if he had been a girl, I mean," she explained. She handed the receiver of the phone to Hermione who dialed a fake number and pretended to talk to her theater company.
"Thank you so much for your time and kindness," Hermione said politely. She looked at Sebastian and cocked her head slightly, and then handed Dr. Granger a thick vellum calling card. "If you ever have need of me, please don't hesitate to call."
"If I ever have need of you?" Dr. Granger said in surprise. Hermione smiled, showing her perfect teeth, and nodded.
"If anything…odd…happens, or if you begin to have concerns about Sebastian that you can't share with his pediatrician, let me know," Hermione said firmly. Dr. Granger was now looking at her as though she might be insane.
"Er, yes," Dr. Granger said slowly as she edged away, her body turning slightly so that she was between her child and Hermione.
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HG/HP/HB
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Fleur Delacour loved visiting her marraine. She didn't get to do so often, it was usually every month or so, but she cherished her visits. This particular visit was going to be extra wonderful because there was going to be a birthday party. There was another little girl, everyone called her Dora, and it was to be her party. Fleur sat patiently while Hermione brushed her hair and helped her to dress. Uncle Sirius, her marraine's husband came in and said that they were both beautiful, but if they didn't leave now they would be late. Then Uncle Sirius spent some time laughing and teasing her marraine about wolves and this girl Dora. When they arrived at the party, Fleur was very impressed. It was everything a party should be, she decided. There were balloons and games. Uncle Alphard and Uncle Orion were both there; Fleur recognized them from family dinners that she had had at Hermione and Sirius' house. She liked both men, so she ran to them and hugged them. A pretty lady with curly black hair introduced herself as Mrs. Tonks in flawless French, and she introduced Fleur to Dora, the birthday girl who seemed sort of sad. Fleur thought that it was terrible to be sad on your birthday so she tried to cheer up the older girl.
"It's your birthday, why are you sad? There are games, and there will be cake," Fleur said with a serious little frown. Dora sighed heavily.
"Remus said he can't come," the little girl said sadly. Fleur cocked her head.
"He is your best friend?" Fleur asked curiously. Dora shook her head.
"No, he's my betrothed," Dora explained, "but I don't think he likes me very much."
"Why not?" Fleur asked.
"Because he's really, really old, and he thinks that I'm just a dumb baby," Dora said sadly.
"Remus does not think that you're a dumb baby," Hermione said firmly as she sat down next to the two little girls. "He really did have something important that he had to do today. He felt badly because he knew that you would most likely be upset."
"He doesn't like me very much, though," Dora insisted. Hermione sighed and hugged the little girl tightly for a moment.
"Right now, you're a little girl, and that's all he can see. Someday, he'll become your friend, and he'll be able see your heart," Hermione soothed the little girl.
"When?" Dora demanded, her chin jutting out sharply. Hermione thought for a moment. In the other timeline, Remus might have met Dora as a child once or twice, but he really only knew her as an adult Auror.
"When you're a little older," Hermione said helplessly. She pointed toward Mr. and Mrs. Lupin who had come to their future daughter-in-law's birthday party in their son's place. "Oh, look! It's Mr. and Mrs. Lupin!"
Dora jumped up with a squeal of happiness and ran toward the Lupins, who adored her and had always treated her well. They had become almost like another set of parents to Miss Nymphadora Tonks, which was a good thing because someday, they would be. The party proceeded according to plan, and everything was going quite well when they came to opening presents. Hermione almost murdered her husband when Dora opened his present and pulled out a beautiful cloak and hood and a bright, vibrant red. Dora, having never read muggle fairy tales, didn't understand why Uncle Sirius and Uncle James were snickering and why her Aunt Hermione and Aunt Lily looked like they wanted to smack their husbands.
"Oh, I love it!" Dora exclaimed, stroking the thick velvet of her cloak. "Mama, help me?"
Andromeda Tonks helped her daughter put on the cloak and hood, which only made Sirius and James snicker even more. Hermione elbowed her husband sharply and glared at him.
"What?" Sirius asked innocently. "I thought the color would suit her!"
"When Remus sees her in that, he's going to come unglued," Hermione growled at her husband. "We have a hard enough time as it is, getting him to view her as her own person, and as his mate."
"He won't see it," Sirius said smugly. "When he looks at it, it will appear to be dark blue."
"Sirius Orion Black!" Hermione snapped, her face pink with her displeasure.
"What?" Sirius asked in surprise, his grey eyes wide in surprise.
"You, you, you!" Hermione sputtered incoherently.
"I don't know what you've done now, Padfoot, but you're in for it," Remus said mildly from behind Hermione. She whirled about, her eyes wide as they settled on her friend. Her mouth open and closed for several moments and she settled for glaring darkly at her husband, her eyes promising severe retribution. Then she turned her attention to Remus.
"Remus, it's wonderful to see you," Hermione said warmly, giving him a quick hug and a kiss. "Have you said hello to the birthday girl?"
"Not yet, I got here just in time for the floor show," he teased Hermione who flushed pink and shot another dark look in her husband's direction.
"Let's go see her, she was terribly upset earlier," Hermione said calmly. They approached Dora who was playing with Fleur, but the moment she saw Remus she stood and walked toward him.
"Thank you for coming, Remus," she said politely. He nodded and handed her a small package. She opened it eagerly and exclaimed over the gold locket inscribed with an ornate 'L'. She opened the locket, and inside was a picture of Remus on one side and her on the other.
"I might not be able to come to all of your birthdays," he said quietly, and Hermione knew he was thinking about his phasing, although Wolfsbane potion had helped him greatly in that department. "At least this way I can sort of be there when you need me."
"I love it," Dora declared firmly, and insisted that Remus help her put it on. He blushed awkwardly and almost refused until he saw the look in Hermione's eye. He sighed heavily and did as he was told.
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HG/HP/HB
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"Hermione love, come here!" Sirius bellowed from the front entry way of their townhouse. Hermione sighed, put down her application for the College of Merlin, University of Oxford, and walked downstairs to the foyer. Sirius was practically dancing in place, he was so excited.
"Sirius, what on earth has gotten into you?" Hermione asked in surprise. He grinned at her and grabbed her hand.
"Come on, kitten," he said, a wide grin on his face. He pulled her out the door and down to the sidewalk. "Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Well, not as beautiful as you are, of course, but still."
"It's a motorbike," Hermione said faintly, staring at the bike that Hagrid had used to save Harry as a baby and as a teenager.
"Yeah! Isn't it great!" Sirius began to wax lyrical about his motorbike and Hermione listened with half an ear, staring at the vehicle parked outside her home. She started when he said something and turned to glare at him fiercely.
"You are not taking my nephew up in this thing, Sirius! Certainly not until he's old enough to go to Hogwarts," Hermione said firmly, a steely glint in her hazel eyes. He grinned unrepentantly.
"Yes, dear," he said cheekily and kissed her soundly.
"Sirius!" Hermione shrieked, blushing wildly. Ladies did not comport themselves on public streets like this, it just wasn't done. He laughed and dragged her into the house and shut the door, where he proceeded to kiss her much more thoroughly. He was nibbling on her neck and she bit her lip while she thought to herself. "You've got notice-me-not charms on the motorbike, yes?"
"Course, love," Sirius murmured as he tugged her bodice down so that he could give his regards to her magnificent breasts.
"Ooh, and, um, safety charms, too?" She panted in his ear. Sirius pulled back and frowned at his wife.
"Yes, Hermione why do you ask?" Sirius asked her with a frown. Hermione blushed a dark red.
"I wondered if you would take me up on it," she whispered softly. Sirius frowned, thinking, then he grinned wickedly at his pretty wife.
"Oh, really?" he purred at her. "What a naughty, naughty kitten you are."
Within minutes, Sirius had completely divested his wife of her clothes and proceeded to shag her rotten on the floor of their foyer. After a quick shower and new gown, as the previous one had been literally ripped off of her body, Hermione was sitting on Sirius' motorbike with his firm body pressed against her. He started the engine and drove down a blind alley, which allowed him to take the bike into the air. Hermione felt very wicked, as her gown was bunched up to allow her to straddle the bike and the gown had been pulled up to her knees.
They were flying somewhere over the English countryside, but Hermione honestly couldn't have told you where. She turned carefully in Sirius' arms so that she was facing him and smiled shyly. He grinned at her and pulled her closer against him until she could feel something distinctly hard pressing against her. She freed him from his trousers, her small hands encircling him and he groaned in her ear. She'd been thinking ahead and had skipped knickers all together as not working for this scenario. With just a bit of maneuvering she managed to impale herself on him and he whimpered as she wriggled in his lap. Once she found a comfortable position she began to move against him, and Sirius was profoundly grateful that it would be almost impossible to crash this thing because the very last thing he was thinking about was driving properly. No, he was thinking instead that the exhilarating feeling of flying, coupled with the incredible feeling of being inside Hermione was possibly the best feeling ever. He pulled her head down and kissed her passionately, his tongue dancing with hers, his hands pulling her bodice down so that he could fondle her breasts. She moaned in his mouth and he thrust up against her, causing her to moan even louder. It was hours before they returned home, sweaty, mussed and satiated.
Several weeks later, Hermione was humming to herself as she went through her correspondence. She stopped suddenly and dropped her pen on the desk, her fingers gripping the side of the desk in her hands.
"Father, why are all those people staring at us?" Draco asked Lucius quietly. Lucius glanced about and noticed that Draco was correct. "And why did those people bow to Aunt Hermione earlier?"
"Ah, well, that would be one of problems of having a war hero as your godmother," Lucius drawled as they walked together through Diagon Alley. Hermione snorted indelicately next to them.
"And a war hero as a father, don't forget," Hermione added.
"The people who bowed to your Aunt Hermione were some of her milites," Lucius explained calmly. Draco thought about that for a minute and then turned to his godmother.
"Does that happen all the time?" He asked her curiously.
"Not as much anymore," Hermione said with a slight smile. "Most people respect my space because I never go out in public without a milites or two in tow. We learned that after the war, and I believe now they have some sort rotation roster. Is that not so, Lucius?"
"It is," Lucius said coolly.
"Father, here's the jewelry store," Draco pointed out.
They had ordered a matching bracelet set for his mother and his little sister, Carina. Aunt Hermione had come along to make sure that he and Father didn't do anything in poor taste. Draco didn't think that his father was capable of doing anything in poor taste, but Father said it didn't do to argue with Aunt Hermione, especially when Mother supported her, which was almost always. Father also said that a man's lot in life was a difficult one, but one had to soldier on under the burden to the best of one's ability. Mother had smacked him on the arm for that, but Draco had seen her smile.
"What do you think, Hermione?" Lucius asked her, and she looked at the matching bracelets with a smile.
"I think they're beautiful and I know that both of your ladies will love them," Hermione said firmly. Lucius turned to his son.
"What do you think, Draco? Will our ladies be pleased with us?" His father asked gently, a slight smile lingering on his lips. Draco looked critically at the bracelet set.
"I believe so, Father. Carina will only care that it came from you, and that Mother has one that matches," Draco said with a long-suffering sigh that made his Aunt Hermione smile. He quirked a brow at her the way he'd seen his father do, and her smile grew wider.
"I'm sorry, Draco, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that you remind me of my brother and me. It brings back memories," Hermione explained. Then she looked at Lucius and smiled gently. "You'll have to excuse your father as well. He wasn't sure that there would ever be a Carina to spoil rotten, and occasionally he goes overboard. It will be up to us to make sure he doesn't buy her a stable full of unicorn ponies or an island or what have you."
Hermione gasped for air, her heart racing as it normally did when she had a vision. Was that a probable future or a possible future? She knew that Narcissa longed for more children, and she knew that her friend would adore a little girl just as much as she adored her son. Lucius was afraid to hope right now, but she knew that he, too, would welcome another child. So for them, for her friends, she hoped that this was a probable future. She occasionally had flashes of far future, but those were much rarer. Gloswinda Gryffindor had been unusual in her ability to have so many visions of the far future. The only thing she knew about the far future was that one of her nephew Harry's great-great-great-great(you get the idea) granddaughters had inherited the Seer's Gift. She was a beautiful girl, and she attended a Druidic college to hone her skills. Hermione couldn't help but be proud of the girl every time she saw her.
Speaking of children…
Were we?
Well, in a manner of speaking.
I am so confused right now.
I just thought I should tell you, we're not alone in here anymore.
We're not-oh! Really? How do you know?
Ever since…that day…I've sort of kept an eye on…you. Just in case, I mean.
And now we're not alone?
No.
Is it…can you tell yet?
Two. Twins. Aw, come on, no crying! I thought this would make you happy!
I AM happy!
Right. Are we going to tell anyone?
Not just yet. I don't want to have everyone staring at every breath I take. What is it the muggles say?
Muggles say to not get your hopes up until after the first trimester. Miscarriage could occur at any time for a multitude of reasons, the majority being some sort of abnormality in the development of the fetus.
How much longer do I have then?
Two more months and then it will be safe to tell everyone, but I recommend telling Sirius now. They're his, too.
The majority of Aurors may have been surprised to see a flushed Hermione tear through their department, but they didn't say anything. Sirius had just gotten done with training a group of Auror trainees, and he felt particularly sweaty and disgusting, but he ignored all of that when he saw Hermione run down the hall and stop several feet away from him. She was panting from running, and she stopped to catch her breath. Then she turned and looked at him with a fierce joy in her hazel eyes and he knew. He whooped loudly and grabbed her, swinging her in a circle. He kissed her soundly and ignored the shocked noises his trainees were making.
"Hey, Sirius, do you have the—oh, for the love of Merlin! Do you have to defile my sister in the middle of the Auror Department?" James asked digustedly.
"Shut up, Prongs," Sirius said firmly, his wife tucked against his side. James glowered at his friend and then turned to his sister.
"I thought your honor guard didn't let you out of their sight," James groused.
"We don't," Regulus said firmly, as he strode through the Auror Department, ignoring the looks he was getting. "Hermione, dear, you almost gave Rabastan an apoplectic fit. I got the most frantic floo call I've ever received in my life."
"Sorry," Hermione said with a small smile. Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What is rule number one?" Regulus asked in a tired voice.
"My safety is paramount," Hermione recited obediently.
"And rule number two?" Regulus asked her in that same tired voice. Hermione flushed slightly.
"Never go out alone," she said quietly. Then she looked up at Sirius who was watching his brother with amusement. "I'm not though. I've got Sirius."
"I suppose he counts," Regulus said grudgingly.
"I'll say I bloody count," Sirius growled at him. "And I want you to increase your guard on her. Double it."
"Double it?" Regulus said in surprise. Then he looked shrewdly at his brother, who'd just received an exasperated look from Hermione. His eyes widened. "Of course, Sirius. I'll call the other lieutenants right away."
"What? What am I missing?" James demanded.
"Never mind, Jamie," Hermione said.
"No, whenever Regulus gets that look in his eye, there's something up, so what is it?" James insisted.
"Nothing," Sirius lied through his teeth. "My beautiful wife has just come to kidnap me for wild, uninhibited-,"
"Stop!" James shrieked, covering his ears and glaring at his best friend.
"Come along, kitten," Sirius said, looking at her with smoldering eyes. "I'm going to take you straight home, and tuck you into bed."
"I'm not listening to this," James snapped and he stomped out of the office. Hermione smiled. Her brother had grown up quite a bit, but he still couldn't stand to hear the words 'sex' and 'Hermione' in the same sentence.
"Well, that got him out of the room, anyway," Sirius said with a grin. "All right you lot, you're dismissed for the day. I'm going to take my lovely wife home and I'll see you all tomorrow."
"I've got to go talk to Severus and Lucius," Regulus muttered to himself. He paused and looked at the both of them. "Congratulations, by the way."
"Thank you," Hermione said quietly. "Please try to keep it as quiet as possible…just in case."
"Of course, domina," Regulus said, performing a small bow, and left them alone in the training room. Sirius looked with some concern at his wife.
"Are you worried, kitten?" Sirius asked cautiously. Hermione shrugged, and Sirius hugged her tightly. "It will all be okay. The baby will be fine, I'm sure."
"Babies," she whispered. Sirius blinked for a moment.
"What, twins?" He asked. She nodded against his shoulder. "Oh, kitten. I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you or them."
"You can't make promises like that, Sirius," Hermione whispered. Sirius snorted.
"I can," he said arrogantly. He cupped her face in his hands and stared at her. "I promise you, Hermione. I won't let anything happen to you or to our children."
A/N: In case you wondered, Carina is a constellation. It means keel and it was part of a larger constellation called Argos. For others of you who might be wondering, don't assume that any dreams of college are shot. I for one think it would be hysterical for Hermione to go to college and have milites babysitting while she's in class or attending lectures.