Tie Your Heart at Night to Mine, Love
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"They did what?" Hermione questioned as she got to the bottom of the stairs. A couple of feathers were floating through the air, left behind by the carrier of the news Harry had just announced.
Hermione eyed the parchment from a distance – it sat on the kitchen's table before Ginny, yet Ron had slanted so close towards it, it was a wonder he hadn't lost his seat and fell on top of his sister. The youngest redhead just rolled her eyes and huffed.
Harry acknowledged Hermione's arrival by rubbing the back of his neck, his chin dipping down as he mumbled his response. "Named me an honorary member of the Wizard's Council."
"But that's—"
"Fucking insane?" he suggested, his eyebrows pulled together in a frown.
"—wonderful."
"Wonderful?" Harry asked, "Hermione, I know nothing about politics, or–or magical law, except for the cases when I violated it. I don't even know what an honorary member does."
"Well, not much. But it's a start. And you don't really believe we'd have you fend for yourself amongst the snakes, do you?"
As if endorsing her words, a barn owl flew in through the Burrow's kitchen window, perching itself quite elegantly at the back of a chair. Harry offered it bits of a cinnamon roll and released it from its correspondence. Unlike the first owl, it left no part of it behind.
"Who sent it?" asked Ginny as Harry scanned the contents of the letter.
"The Order," was all he said, and Hermione couldn't be blamed for the smirk that formed in her lips.
Ginny had stayed at the Burrow, to cover for them in case her mom showed up. They had yet to tell Molly Weasley that two of her children, and two of her adopted ones, were to move to Grimmauld Place. They had, however, considered telling her about the meeting – an idea discouraged by a quick encounter with Mr. Weasley, during which he may or may not have hinted that it was too early to mention the Order of the Phoenix around her. The older wizard had added almost as an afterthought that Harry might have left some of his things in Grimmauld Place, and might need some help getting them, at which point his gaze traveled along herself and Ron.
The meeting had been scheduled to 7 p.m., but the participants started arriving way before that. Outside of the Trio, Neville and Luna were the firsts, followed closely by Tonks, who managed not only to trip over the umbrella stand but drag along the closest thing within reach, in a failed attempt to steady herself.
As it happened, the closest thing within reach was nothing other than the curtains covering Walburga Black's painting.
"FILTH! SCUM! How dare you bring your dirtied heritage into my noble—"
"Nice to see you, too, aunt." greeted Tonks as she got back on her feet. She set her robes straight, ignoring the string of obscenities being shouted at her, and reached for her wand. With a flick of her wrist, the portrayed woman was silenced, which only caused her lips to move at a furious pace, and her face to acquire a rather unflattering tone of red. Tonks turned her back on the painting, her hair now a fiery crimson, and entered the dining room, "Wotcher, guys."
A very short, very… mauve wizard arrived next, whose hat was about the size of his own head. He lost a quarter of his stature by removing it as he was greeted by Luna, who was standing the closest to the doorway. "Mr. Diggle, I'm delighted to see you."
"Miss Lovegood! Glad to see you're well," said the tiny wizard. He appraised her odd-looking earrings – which Neville had told Hermione were made of Sopophorous beanpods, more fit for potions than jewelry in her opinion – before he asked, "Still wishing to be a magizoologist, I take it?"
"Oh, yes," she replied, "I look forward to studying the Umgubular Slashkilter's behavior. They're such fascinating creatures, it's a pity they're so misunderstood."
The blond witch tilted her head to the side and stared unblinkingly at Diggle, awaiting his reaction. Hermione smothered her own laughter as best she could, unwilling to offend neither her friend nor the wizard, who was now fiddling with his hat's brim. "Er…yes, a pity indeed."
He had given Luna the right answer in the end for she beamed at him. He replied the sentiment with what could be lousily interpreted as a smile, though his eyes were wider than usual and his gaze darted from side to side until he finally found Harry.
The next person to arrive was quite unexpected, but more so was Hermione's own reaction to them. Her stomach made a flip inside of her, and her voice resembled a squeal as she cried, "Lee!"
The boy had a little trouble to maintain his balance as she flung herself at him, locking him in an embrace.
"I must have done something really smashing to get a hug from Hermione Granger," he said, and she let go of him and nudged him in mock reproach, "What? Is it over already?"
Hermione was glad he had taken it lightly – it made it easier to conceal the reason for her burst of warmth. She had not seen or heard from him after the battle, and she had thought…. She had honestly thought….
Ron placed a hand on her shoulder and Hermione let out a nervous laugh.
Harry hugged Lee as well, in a less dramatic though not less emotional way. It was then that the remaining members of the Order arrived: Professor McGonagall, Mr. Weasley, Auror Shacklebolt – and Professor Lupin.
He saw her – standing by the dining room table, as her group of friends surrounded Lee Jordan. He had wanted to talk to her more than anything, but that would have to wait. He greeted them with a nod, and took a seat, content that the one she chose to take was almost directly opposed to his.
"Let's begin, shall we?" said Minerva as the party got seated. She held a rolled parchment in her hands, and stood from her place at the head of the table, "Many of you already know, I imagine, that a Wizard's Council has been established. The Council claims it'll only exist for as long as necessary to perform a full ministerial investigation and rid the Ministry of Voldemort supporters. Some of us were invited to participate in it," and she looked over her reading glasses at Kingsley and Harry as she spoke, then back at the parchment in her hand before resuming, "however, so were some of our greatest enemies. That horrible, toad-like woman being one of them."
"Umbridge? How could they invite her?" Harry questioned, "even if she wasn't working with Voldemort, and I doubt that very much, they share the same ideals. I saw her, locking away muggle-borns and accusing them of stealing wands. Hermione and I were there."
There was a collective rising of eyebrows at that, and Hermione cleared her throat, her head held down. "Disguised, under the effect of Polyjuice Potion. We can explain that later."
Kingsley brought the discussion back to its original course, "Umbridge has managed to fall through the cracks for now. We need to use whatever influence we have to prevent it from going further."
A general agreement followed the Auror's words, yet those words had a numbing effect on Remus. He lowered his gaze to the table, staring at no wood markings in particular as his friend words spread like a mass in his throat. He had no influence. And he couldn't stand to undermine others'. He had known that, from the very first time he learned about the Council.
"About that," he began, "I believe it would be best if I left the Order. I'm the weakest link, the werewolf, the one they'll point fingers at. I was useful before, rallying werewolves to our cause, but I'm a hindrance to the Order now."
He raised his head and faced Minerva, yet the verdict didn't come from her.
"That's absolute nonsense!"
Remus closed his eyes, but not before he caught the glimpse of a smile in his former teacher's face. He let out a sigh, "Hermione—"
"It is! I have no idea what role you were given in the old Order, but we are the Order now, all of us. The nature of the fight might have changed, and not all of us are invited to play their political game, but we fought that war, we all matter. We mustn't give up. We can't afford to lose after we won."
"We do agree wizzat, 'ermione." Fleur was standing in the doorway, Bill just a step behind, both smiling at the girl.
"Sorry we're late, everyone," muttered the Weasley as they took their seats.
"See?" Hermione asked, an almost smug smile on her lips as she continued, "You're forbidden to leave us."
The rest of the meeting passed on a blur, and both Minerva and Dedalus left right after it was over, while the others were led by Harry into the study. They dispersed around the room in either smaller or larger groups, and the study sprung up with chatter and fire. Remus stood at a corner with Kingsley, but couldn't keep his eyes from darting towards Hermione. Neville had engaged her in conversation, probably the only one from the group he could talk about Herbology. Hermione would reply his remarks, correctly as usual, but without her characteristic enthusiasm. She would meet Remus' gaze and bite her lip, before being dragged back to the subject.
Remus never noticed he and Kingsley had been silent for the past ten minutes, or that he'd been staring at the young witch for so long, until he realized Luna was standing beside him, her big eyes gazing up at him.
"Hello, Professor. How do you feel?"
"Hello, Luna. I'm quite alright, thank you, and you?"
"I am very well, but I'm not so certain about you." She leaned in, cupping a hand around her mouth before adding, "You seem to have attracted a Ruoma. They are usually harmless but are quite vicious to people suffering for love. You might want to be careful."
Her gaze wandered off, and Remus couldn't whether it had stopped at Hermione then or if he had imagined it. "Thanks, Luna. I shall get rid of it."
She stared back at him and smiled, then hopped her way to Arthur and Tonks.
Thunderous laughter resonated through the room and everyone, Remus included, turned to the source. Kingsley raised his hand in a dismissive gesture, "I'm sorry."
After the conversation resumed throughout the room, Shacklebolt addressed him in a lower tone, "I must go, Remus, but I leave you in the best of hands. I believe your girl cares for you a great deal more than you imagine."
His stomach churned. "What makes you say that?"
"You don't protect someone from their own stupidity unless you do," Shacklebolt answered and disapparated on the spot, leaving Remus to mask his irritation. Kingsley's bluntness was quite an unnerving trait, given that the Auror seemed to know precisely when to show it.
Remus left for the dining room, to take his cloak and disapparate as well. He turned back at the scent of her. She had stopped at the end of the table, her hand on the threshold, and she never looked more beautiful.
"Will I see you?" Hermione blurted, and winced before continuing, "At the memorial, I mean. I had hoped we could talk?"
He gave enough pause to torture her, but his smile betrayed him first, "I'll be there."
A/N: And the Order's back! ;)
This is the longest chapter yet (and I had to cut some parts I wouldn't have time to finish – no Remione scenes, though, I promise). I hope you liked it, and please review and let me know what you think!
Peppermint toads to…
My reviewers: Jesseknocks, rosesnblueberries, Argella Storm, SiSSIRi, and SereniteRose.
To imaginationcelebration, Dead Bad Wolf, mollie009, and elljayde for adding the story to their favorites.
And to Captain Kathryn Janeway98, kayqueue, NinjaTurtles909, WitchSorceress49, tegfhorn, , sincerelyki, Dead Bad Wolf, mollie009, Tanjamusen and MagicBrownie for following the story.
You guys really keep me going! :)
P.S.: The Rouma is a mythical creature originated entirely from my own delusions. I made its name up by reversing the French word for love (amour) :)