Chapter 5

Degrees of Separation

It has been several days since they had sent Kreacher to retrieve Mundungus Fletcher. Hermione couldn't rid her mind Kreacher telling his tale of what happened to Regulus Black. She couldn't stop feeling his grief.

"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of the house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the other purebloods who treat them like animals... It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't," she said icily, feeling both angered and slightly vindicated at the "Dark Lord" making such a mistake.

As Kreacher continued with his recollection, she went to retrieve the decoy locket from the bag. The view of a cave flashed before her as she took it into her hand. She was sailing across the lake Kreacher had mentioned and she could see the basin in the distance. The witch shook the images from her head, not wanting to get caught up in her own imagination of how things might have looked. She returned to listening to Kreacher's recollection.

"Kreacher, we'd like you to have this," Harry nodded to Hermione after spotting the locket. "This belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you did."

Hermione knelt down so that she was at eye level with the house-elf. The usual disgust in his eyes when he looked at her was replaced with marvel at the locket she was holding. She gently pressed the locket into Kreacher's hand.

She was transported back into the cave as her palm accidentally brushed against Kreacher's. She was no longer gliding on the black surface but in front of the basin which had previously seemed so far away. A cry of pain caused her to look up. "Master Regulus!" she sobbed. "Please stop, Master!" The slight man she had seen in pictures upstairs was gripping the basin tight and gasping for air. She could feel the tears streaming down her face and the pounding of her heart. Suddenly a hand reached up from the surface and grabbed Regulus. She let out a wail that shook her entire body. Her hands wrapped tightly around the locket that Regulus commanded her to destroy. With one final look at the dark haired man, she dropped to her knees and felt the familiar sensation of Disapparition pulling at her.

"Hermione!" she heard Harry call, clearly alarmed.

Instinctively she threw her arms around the house-elf. Kreacher did not recoil at her touch. He did not scream. He did not call her bad names. She pulled away from him. She did not realize she had been crying until the small creature wiped a tear from her eye. She recognized the aching in his eyes.

"Find Mundungus Fletcher," Kreacher whispered as he nodded with determination.

The boys had been baffled by the exchange. That was the first time a house-elf hadn't basically tried to rip its own skin off after touching her. When they asked why she was crying she just said that she understood how Kreacher felt. Not being able to save someone she loved. Ron accepted the answer but Harry seemed skeptical, but did not push her for any more answers.

Which was a good thing because she did not have them. She knew elf magic was different, but she did not believe sharing memories like that were in their repertoire of abilities. She considered Legilimency, but she was not trying to enter Kreacher's mind and she highly doubted he would voluntarily show her anything. Whatever transpired she was sure that Kreacher had felt it too and would ask him when he returned.

"Severus Snape?"

The hiss broke her away from her thoughts as she heard another voice call, "It was not I who killed you, Albus." Not losing her sense of caution, she drew her wand as Ron leapt to his feet from his seat in the drawing room. Harry was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs with his wand at the ready. From the darkness came Remus who offered up several personal pieces of information to prove his identity. They all took turns embracing their old Professor before moving into the kitchen where he produced butterbeers - the best thing any of them had tasted in days - and he provided an update to the three isolated teens. It was a relief to learn were that there were no new causalities.

What was not a relief was the news that Remus had brought in the version of the Daily Prophet. The paper had identified Harry and herself as Dumbledore's murderers because they had been witnessed fleeing from the Tower. There was also now a requirement for all school aged children to attend Hogwarts. Except for the Muggle-borns who would no doubt be filtered out. What more was to be expected when there was a Muggle-Born Register where Ministry Authorities would be investigated to determine how they "obtained" their magic. Hermione felt her stomach turn in loops. In that moment she was so grateful to herself for altering her parents' memories and sending them away.

The witch had only been vaguely listening to the conversation around her until something caught her attention. "What about Tonks?" she asked in response to their former professor's offer to join them.

"What about her?" he questioned.

"Well, you're married. How does she feel about you going away with us?" Remus assured her that Tonks would be safely tucked away. But Tonks should not have needed to be with her parents. "Remus... is everything all right... you know... between you and -"

"Everything is fine, thank you." Lupin said pointedly. He had never taken that tone with her and she didn't like it. She looked him over once more and noticed how tense he appeared to be. "Tonks is going to have a baby," he finally admitted. Remus grimaced at their congratulations and asked again if they would accept his offer to join their mission.

"Harry, I'm sure James would have wanted me to stick with you," Remus offered.

"I'm pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you weren't sticking with your own kid, actually."

Hermione watched as Lupin and Harry exchanged words, she could see the grief that plagued Remus and it seem to flood the air around her.

"You have only ever seen me amongst the Order, or under Dumbledore's protection at Hogwarts! You don't know how most of the Wizarding world sees creatures like me! Don't you see what I've done? Even her own family is disgusted by our marriage, what parents want their only daughter to marry a werewolf? And the child! The child... My kind doesn't usually breed! It will be like me, I am convinced of it - how can I forgive myself, when I knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!"

His grief overwhelmed her. "Remus! Don't you say that - how could any child be ashamed of you?"

"Oh, I don't know, I'd be pretty ashamed of him. If this new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad, what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father is in the Order? My father died trying to protect our mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid and go on an adventure with us?"

"How - how dare you?"said Lupin.

"Remus..." Hermione started and immediately stopped because her voice had cracked. All of the men turned their attention to her. This was the first time either Ron or Harry had seen her cry more than a tear since Dumbledore's death.

"Hermione-" he started but she silenced him with a shake of her head.

She felt his grief. She understood his feelings. She did. They way she felt Kreacher's grief. It compounded her own. "We only have so many choices to make." The statement hung in the air for a moment as she tried to collect herself. They all watched her intently. "We don't choose who we fall in love with. If we did... neither of us would be in the positions we're in."

Remus nodded. He had not gotten all the details, but he was aware somewhat of what had transpired between she and Draco.

"And some of us are forced into choices." She thought of the night of Dumbledore's death. Of chasing after Draco. "We only have so much say in what happens to us. We choose how to react. And we live with it." Her pendant felt heavy on her neck. "And it is the cruelest thing in the world to take away the ability to choose from someone you love. To make the choice for them." She recalled the slow movement of time as she waited for Draco that night. "You and I made choices. We chose to be with our partners regardless of anything else. And we dealt with the 'anything else'. But now you have a choice I didn't have. I have no choice but to be without Draco. And the way I've felt, the way I feel every single moment I'm without him... I can promise you this is not the choice you want to make." She could see Draco Disapparating in front of her that night. "Choose to be as close as you can for as long as you can. This is war, Remus, and for some of us separation is inevitable. Don't bring it on before it is time."

She was there. He stared at the anomaly in the numbering system and knew that she was somewhere in there. He had spent days posted outside with no indication of any movement. No indication that there was anything more between number eleven and number thirteen that were clearly visible to every passerby on the street. But he knew she was in there.

Draco tried to take a watch shift every day. Whenever Voldemort didn't need him. Whenever he wasn't forced to leave due to exhaustion. And there were several times when he ignored the exhaustion.

Security had increased at Grimmauld Place as September approached. He had fantasized a plan where he would communicate with Hermione, take out whatever Death Eater was on watch with him, and then run with her. Even now with half a dozen on watch with every shift Draco was convinced his plan could work. They could get away. He knew that she was somewhere behind bricks and protection spells. Things he knew he could fight through.

But that was not all that separated them. He knew that he couldn't compromise her. He knew that she had a plan of some sort. Just like he did. And he believed that they both wanted the same ending. An ending that he couldn't jeopardize by reaching out too soon.

He pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. Within seconds another Death Eater strolled up to take Draco's place on his watch shift. It was time for Draco to go back to Hogwarts.

The train ride felt longer than it had in the past. His house mates were brimming with questions and snotty remarks. He feigned sleep to escape them. The air in the castle was thick. Everything seemed darker. Snape was doing a very good job at creating an atmosphere of intimidation.

Draco went to the Room of Requirement after dinner. He was supposed to meet Snape in the Headmaster's office after curfew and didn't want to spend that time participating in a forum about the Dark Lord and his plans.

The room seemed to be untouched. He went to the spot where he had left the note for Hermione. He passed her giant chair and the memory of her in it and took a seat on the sofa they had shared.

"I've been waiting," she said accusingly with a smile playing at her lips.

"I apologize, I was being interrogated by Blaise. He can be as unrelenting as you are." He kissed her softly. "Besides, a few minutes is nothing compared to how long you've kept me waiting."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "When have I ever kept you waiting, Draco?"

"I was always waiting for you, Hermione."

Eventually it was time for Draco to meet with his new headmaster. He entered the room to see Snape staring at a portrait. The older man turned quickly at the sound of Draco's entrance. "Good evening, Headmaster."

"Draco..." Severus said in a low voice, "she made contact."

SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Ron and Harry cry out a "no".

Remus had agreed to stay with Tonks, but had also said that he would not be stopped from checking in and helping with supply runs. Today he came bearing a copy of the Daily Prophet featuring a giant picture of Professor Snape on the front page.

"At least now we know where he is," Remus said slumping into a chair. "There were Death Eaters everywhere as the Hogwarts Express departed. I'm surprised they have any left to keep watch of you all here. It's still believed that Ron's sick, but people are everywhere looking for you two." He pointed at Harry and Hermione.

"Oh!" A thought occurred to Hermione. She ran upstairs and came back down carrying a portrait.

"What's that for?" Ron asked.

"It's a portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black," she responded.

"Brilliant, Hermione!" Remus commended.

"Sorry, we still don't understand," Harry pressed.

"The headmaster's office," Hermione and Remus said in unison. Remus continued, "He can flit between the portrait here and the one at Hogwarts."

Hermione shoved the portrait into her enchanted handbag. "Now all he'll be able to see is the inside of my bag."

Remus chatted for a while longer before heading home to Tonks. The three had decided that with Tonks being pregnant they could not include him in their plan. They would not risk him or his blossoming family.

After his departure, the trio decided that their plan would be put into action tomorrow.

That meant Hermione needed to be right.

After the all retired to their rooms, Hermione summoned the portrait from the bag. "Good evening, Headmaster Black." She took a deep breath. "Would you please tell Headmaster Snape that... the Insufferable Know-It-All is here."