"Filthy little mudblood, poking around in my vault! How did you get past the goblins? How did you do it? MUDBLOOD!"
Bellatrix's breath was hot and sour in Hermione's face, her eyes wild and hair splayed out around her. A chill ran through the young girl's body as she struggled to get away from the piercing gaze. Tears ran down her face, though she was only barely aware of them. She was much too focused on the way her heart clenched in her chest, the anxiety making her stomach ill. The Malfoy mansion was dark, lit only by a few small candles, but Hermione tried to train her eyes away from her torturer to the opulent ceiling. She wasn't successful for long. The cursed blade seared against her skin as Bellatrix made another long cut.
"Too scared to look me in the eyes, mudblood? I'll kill you, you stupid bitch. I'll kill you and make your friends listen."
Hermione closed her eyes, anticipating what was next, but the cruciatus curse never came. Once it was clear she would not be experiencing the mind-numbing pain that accompanied it, she wrenched her eyes open. Now, instead of Bellatrix above her, it was Ron, smiling sweetly. She whipped her head around, taking in the grass and shady trees now surrounding her. She looked up, unable to keep the horror from her face as Ron leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Forever, Hermione. This is forever."
The quick change in scene was too much, and Hermione suddenly felt sick. Stomach rolling, she screwed her eyes shut again and rolled over, trying to keep herself from being sick.
"Hermione. Hermione. Hermione!"
She opened her eyes again and this time found herself on her small twin bed in Ginny's room, brow slick with sweat, a pair of redheads staring at her curiously. She took a few experimental deep breaths, her hand unconsciously going to her forearm, where her blood status was etched in what seemed to be a permanent manner into her flesh. She rubbed the scar there and tried to ground herself.
"Hermione." This was Ron's voice. She could tell, now, that this was the voice that had woken her up. "Are you okay?"
She nodded blankly, looking around to take in more of the scene around her. There was no light coming in through the window, no voices carrying through the house. It must be late, or early, depending on your vantage point. Ron and Ginny's eyes were both bloodshot, and as Hermione slowly started to sit up in her bed, she watched Ron's eyes squint with concern.
"I'm... I'm alright, I think," she muttered. "Bad dream."
"I'll say," Ginny replied, stifling a yawn with her hand. "I'm shocked mum and dad didn't hear you screaming."
"I was screaming?" she asked, voice small. Ron had sat on the bed by her knees, and he took her hand in his own now. She clutched at it.
"Like you were being murdered," Ginny said flatly. She looked from Hermione to her brother, the gears in her head clearly turning. After a moment of silence, she sighed. "Right, I guess I'll be sleeping in your room for the rest of the night, Ron."
Ron looked at her like he had been confunded, and while Hermione would have usually laughed at the expression, she was still too shaken from her dream. Ginny just stared back at him.
"Merlin, you are as daft as you look. You stay here with Hermione, I'm going to go slip in with Harry. Let's just not get caught by mum, alright? I'm sure she'd be researching chastity spells the minute she found out."
Ron nodded, then turned to look at Hermione, his face now creased with concern. Ginny slipped out of the room, her practiced feet missing every squeaky board on her way out. The doorknob shut with a quiet click, and then Ron and Hermione were alone.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ron asked, reaching out to brush her hair, slick with the sweat of her forehead, out of her face.
Hermione nodded and bit her lip, then she scooted over toward the wall, leaving enough room for Ron to fit in the bed. She tugged at the blankets and he stood up to help her pull them down. He crawled into the small bed and pulled her to his chest, and she let herself be cradled by him. His lips found the top of her head and she sighed. This was better than being alone, but she wished she had the energy to spell the cramped mattress into something bigger.
"You haven't had one this bad in a while," he whispered, his hand running up and down her arm in a comforting sort of way. Hermione shook her head.
"No," she said truthfully, "I have, they just haven't woken anyone up in a while." She sighed, readjusting her position slightly so she could peer backwards a bit at him. "Honestly, I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet. Can we just sleep? We've got a long day tomorrow I'm sure."
In a rare display of wisdom, Ron nodded, and Hermione could feel the movement in her hair. He moved his hand to grip around her waist and she took a deep breath, settling in. His breath quickly changed, becoming slow and deep within minutes, but Hermione's mind still reeled with the dream she had just encountered. She felt an unpleasant tingle all over, like her body was replaying a pale ghost of the cruciatus curse, and the discomfort made her want to flip and wrestle in her sheets, though she couldn't do that with Ron still holding her body tightly to his own. So, she stayed still, counting Ron's breaths until she finally drifted into a restless sleep once more.
Luckily, the four teens managed to avoid the wrath of Mrs. Weasley with a little foresight from Ginny in the morning. She snuck back into her own room just after dawn and prodded Ron awake. Hermione, who's sleep had been shallow at best, woke at the slight creak of the door, but Ron was startled and nearly fell out of the small bed.
"Get back up to your room, mum and dad'll be awake soon."
He groaned and managed to get his feet under him. Hermione kept her eyes closed, hoping to stave off some concern by pretending to be asleep still.
"Thanks, Gin," Ron muttered, shuffling out of the room and back up the stairs, not nearly as quiet as his sister had been the night before.
Hermione could feel Ginny's eyes on the back of her head, but she kept her breathing even, and eventually heard the boxsprings of the other girl's mattress squeak as Ginny got back into her own bed.
The morning passed slowly for Hermione, still flitting in and out of sleep until she heard the familiar call of Mrs. Weasley informing her children that breakfast was ready. She and Ginny both got out of bed and dressed quickly before heading downstairs to join the family for breakfast.
Harry, Ron and Percy were all already at the table, eating and talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about their plans for helping at Hogwarts. It was just four days after Percy had announced that Kingsley wanted their help with the Hogwarts rebuild. The days had passed relatively quickly in the excitement of the news. They knew very little about what to expect once they arrived back at Hogwarts, only that nothing had been done after the initial clean-up after the battle to allow for the memorial to take place.
"Big day it is, the start of the rebuild!" Mr. Weasley was saying to Harry as they both worked on their breakfasts. Harry nodded, his mouth full of food, and Ginny took her place next to him at the table. Hermione sat across from her, next to Ron, and started loading up her plate. Ron grinned and put an arm across her shoulder, which Hermione leaned in to before beginning to eat.
"Wish I could be there myself, but it seems with the threat of You-Know-Who gone you'd think the counterfeit defensive spells would disappear but," Mr. Weasley continued to the group, "folks are still scared silly that it's not really over. Can't blame them, really. Still doesn't seem quite real, does it?"
The table nodded solemnly, and Percy sniffed.
"Luckily, we know it's very much real. Now you all know how to access the Hogwarts apparition points, correct? I have to be off soon and I won't be able to help you get there the first time."
Ron laughed and nodded. "We're not likely to forget where Hagrid's hut was, are we, Perce?"
Percy gave a small smile. "No, I suppose not, well I'll see you when you arrive then."
With that, he stood from the table, sent his plate to the sink with his wand, and left out the kitchen towards the door.
"Hermione, dear," Mrs. Weasley said after her son left the room. She had finally joined the family at the table and was sipping her cup of tea. "Was your bed quite comfortable last night? I know how cramped those old things can get."
Hermione nearly choked on her toast and she had to reach for a glass of water to help get the bite down her throat.
"Erm, yes, Mrs. Weasley. Quite comfortable," she said, pointedly not looking at Ron beside her, who's ears had gone bright red. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason, dear," Mrs. Weasley replied with a wink. She leaned over and patted Hermione's cheek. "Just wanted to make sure."
Suddenly, everyone at the table was very interested in the food in front of them. Hermione and Ginny both seemed to have lost their appetites, however, and just pushed the food around as the boys began shoving food into their mouths at a speed Hermione thought was previously unseen. Soon, their plates were cleared and they muttered goodbyes to Molly and Arthur as they set off for the garden.
"Oh, that was so embarrassing!" Hermione complained as soon as she thought they were out of earshot of the house. Her cheeks were pink from the confrontation. "I'll never be able to look your mother in the eye again."
"At least she didn't hex us," Harry said quietly, his eyes trained forward as if he could leave the embarrassing moment behind with enough concentration.
"I almost would have preferred that."
"Oh, come off it you two," Ginny said, laughing and taking Harry's hand in her own. "That was great. Now we know that mum is well aware that we're all adults making our own choices! That was probably the best result we could have hoped for."
"You're not an adult, Gin," Ron said. He placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back, placing a bit of pressure there to lead her. She narrowed her eyes and reached back, taking his hand in hers instead.
"I'm as good as, Ron, thanks," Ginny said, glaring at her brother. "Anyway, I think that was a confirmation that they won't be making a big fuss about that in the future."
Hermione just shook her head, grateful that they were finally outside the home's wards.
"Alright, see you all at Hagrid's," she said. Then she turned on her heel and disappeared.
Despite having apparated and disapparated many times over the course of the last year, the feeling of being shoved into a very small tube still made her a bit nauseous at the end. The long distance between the Weasley residence and the Hogwarts grounds didn't help, either, so when she finally arrived back on solid ground, she stumbled a bit. It was strange, seeing the familiar garden patch relatively intact, sitting next to the place Hagrid's hut had once been.
Three consecutive pops alerted her to the presence of her friends, and once they were all there they started up towards the castle. They made it to the Great Hall relatively quickly, no one really bothering with conversation as they crossed the grounds and entered the main part of the castle. Once they were inside, all four were shocked into silence.
Hermione hadn't been so naive to imagine the pain of the battle would have subsided. No, she knew that being back in this space would rummage up the memories, still fresh in her mind. Still, the addition of last night's terror made her fear all the more palpable. The crumbling walls, the broken tables, the place where Fred and Tonks and Lupin had lay. It felt like the air had been sucked violently out of her chest. She attempted a deep breath, but could only accomplish a shallow one. And another. And another.
Ginny looked back, concerned when she heard Hermione's shallow breathing. She began to reach out her hand, but a booming voice stopped the movement.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Ginny! Ye made it!"
They all looked toward the source of the voice and smiles broke out across Harry and Ron's faces as Hagrid made his way towards them.
"I dunno if I can tell yeh how good it is to see you lot!" He said, going to bring them all into a group hug. Hermione took the moment to calm down her breathing, and by the time he let go she could take slow, even breaths again.
"Now," Hagrid said, looking over their heads and across the hall. "I see Professor McGonagall comin' over here. She's lettin' me give you all a special assignment, off the books of course." He gave them an over-exaggerated wink. "But I'll let her greet ya before I explain it."
Sure enough, Professor McGonagall was at their group in a few seconds. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger," she said, and though her words carried her normal formal intonation, there was a fondness in her tone that made Hermione's heart lighten immediately. "I am grateful to see you four here."
They all gave her a large grin, though Hermione was sure Harry's was the biggest. "We're grateful to see you too, Professor," he said.
"You may call me Minerva now, Potter, Godric knows you deserve it," she replied with a small smile of her own. "I'm unsure how much Hagrid has told you-"
"Nearly nothing," Hagrid cut in.
"Right. Well, he has a special task for you all that I am, under no circumstances, to know is happening." She had a glint of mischief in her eyes, which just fed Hermione's curiosity about their task. "But, I wanted to say hello and make sure you were all comfortable here. Well, as comfortable as the circumstances may allow."
Hermione nodded, but before anyone else could say anything Ginny jumped in.
"We're quite comfortable, Professor, but I'm glad you came by. I was wondering," she gave her a sweet smile, "when I'd be receiving my letter confirming that I'd be receiving the quidditch captain position this year."
Professor McGonagall looked at her for a beat, then fell into a laugh. It was disarming, almost, to see the usually-composed witch be caught so off guard.
"Yes, Ms. Weasley, I guess I should have anticipated you would be wanting that soon. I must apologize for the delay. Of course, this year we have many extenuating circumstances to consider. Professor Flitwick has been promoted to Deputy Headmaster as I have been given the Headmistress position, as I'm sure you all have heard." They nodded. "Well, even with his help finding new professors has been quite a challenge. We've had to throw all of our resources at that. We managed to find permanent placements for the Muggle Studies and Transfiguration positions, but we are having a hard time with Defence Against the Dark Arts yet again. Seems no one is quite sure that the curse on the position has truly passed. It looks like we'll be getting a temporary substitute from Ilvermony in the States but, of course, their usual professor is looking to take a sabbatical next term, so we'll be back at square one again." She sighed, shaking her head. "Regardless, that has taken up much of mine and Filius's time so we've yet to send out letters. You can expect yours towards the end of July, Ms. Weasley."
"So I will be getting the captain position then?" Ginny asked
Professor McGonagall looked at her warily. "Ms. Weasley, did you ever doubt that?"
"No." She smiled, satisfied with the response.
"Well then you have your answer," Professor McGonagall said. She looked up at Hagrid. "I'll leave you to it, please do remind them to be careful, will you?"
Hagrid nodded and Professor McGonagall walked back the way she came.
"Alrigh' you lot," Hagrid said. "I have one importan' question- Harry, do ya still have that map?"
It turned out quite a few people were upset about the Carrow's decision to seal up all of the hidden entrances around Hogwarts. While no professor would outright admit knowledge of their existence, they all seemed to agree that Hogwarts quirks were all part of the founders' intentions and should be left as designed, with the exception, perhaps, of Slytherin's chamber, which a number of experienced witches and wizards were working on either sealing up or destroying. So, Hagrid explained, it only made sense that the group with the best tool to find the entrances would be the ones sent to fix them.
"McGonagall was righ', though. We dunno what those Carrow people did to seal them up. Might be some nasty stuff waitin' for ya, so be safe about it."
With that, Hagrid was off to help move some of the crumbling stones in the hall, and the four teenagers were off to the first secret passageway.
Hagrid was right to warn them, it seemed. The Carrows, for all their faults, knew what they were doing when they sealed them up. The group started at the statue of the one-eyed witch, thinking that the small passage couldn't give them too much trouble. However, when Harry tapped the hump with his wand and whispered "Dissendium," the statue took its staff and attempted to knock Harry over the head. He avoided a concussion with a quick shield spell from Ron, but when the statue was unsuccessful it walked off its post and began chasing Harry down the corridor. The other three chased after them, and after a few failed attempts Hermione managed to cast an Immobulus charm strong enough to stop it.
It was lunch before they figured out what was wrong with the statue- a strong charm that caused it to attack back if a spell was cast in its presence- and they didn't have time to fix the issue before they had to head back to the Great Hall for lunch. It was a tiring morning, and they were starting to see just how difficult the task was going to be.
When they arrived in the Great Hall, they were greeted with plates and plates of food spread about the house tables. It was like a feast day, and while Hermione felt a pang of nostalgia at the sight of it, she also had a sinking feeling about the origin of the meal.
"Do you think they're still using house elves?" She whispered to Ron as they took a seat at the Gryffindor table, more out of habit than anything else. She could see a few Gryffindors she recognized sitting at the Slytherin table and fleetingly wondered if they were doing so out of spite.
"Yeah, I reckon. Wouldn't want to send them off into the streets would they?"
"Oh, that makes me so mad," Hermione said, taking some food off the plates in front of her. "They could at least pay them."
"Hermione, we've been over this before. They don't want to be paid."
"And we've been over this before, Ronald, they don't know any better!" she snapped. Then, she took a deep breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be cross. Today has been harder than I thought it would be."
Ron nodded, looking down at his own food, but didn't reply. She wasn't sure if it was out of anger or self-preservation, but regardless she let it go, not wanting to incite another fight. The foursome gobbled down some food, moving back to the third floor after lunch to continue their fight with the one-eyed witch.
After quite a bit of spellwork, and a few conjured books from the library, Hermione was finally able to figure out a way to break the charm on the witch, returning her to her post. They tried the spell to open the passageway again, and this time the hump slid open, only to produce a thick, black and foul-smelling sludge that sprayed in the air and coated all four of them. They gagged and quickly tried to vanish the offending substance off of each other to no avail.
"Looks like they took a page out of the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes handbook," Harry said darkly, swiping at the goo on his face. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the twins' products that they bastardized."
"Honestly you might be right," Ginny spat bitterly. "They were always confiscating the few products we dared bring in, and I'm pretty sure the death eaters ransacked the shop once Fred and George-" her voice cracked a bit at the mention of Fred, but she carried on, "-went into hiding."
"Blimey, wish George was here. He'd probably have some idea if they'd stolen some of their in-process products or whatever," Ron said.
Hermione paused her attempts at finding a spell to remove the sludge. "Actually, Ron, that's sort of brilliant. We should ask George to come tomorrow and help."
Ron gave her a look, then exchanged glances with Ginny and Harry.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Hermione," he said gently.
"Why not?"
"Well," Ginny said. "He's still not well, we shouldn't be pushing him."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at her. "Not well? You're acting as if he's addled. He's grieving, not sick. And we keep acting as if he's died, too!"
Ginny and Ron both winced, and Harry coughed uncomfortably. Hermione sighed.
"Maybe that was unfair," she admitted. "But I don't think asking him to help would hurt. I'll do it after dinner if you're all too afraid."
The other three exchanged another look that Hermione ignored, pretending to try to wipe the goo off her robes, but no one argued.
The sludge, they found out, was only washable the muggle way. When they realized it was impossible to charm it away, they each nipped into a nearby bathroom to scrub what they could off their clothes and bodies. Hermione assumed it was the Carrow's way of making sure whoever was trying to sneak out of the castle was caught, and the others agreed that had to be the case. They worked on the passage slowly after that, disarming at least a dozen booby traps before the sun went down on the horizon.
By the time they were back at the Burrow for dinner, they were sticky, smelly, and thoroughly discouraged by their lack of real progress on their task. They each washed up quickly, showering the remainder of the sludge away, then came down to join the family dinner. Charlie was visiting from Romania to consult with Hagrid about the animals in the Forbidden Forest, so dinner seemed more lively than normal, with new stories being shared about the new species of dragon Charlie was trying to help breed back home. Hermione was extra grateful for him, as the excitement of his visit took the attention wholly off the discussion from that morning.
Once dinner was over and the boys and Ginny retreated to the living room to hear more about Charlie's latest adventures, Hermione hung around again to help Mrs. Weasley clean up.
"If you give me George's plate, I'll take it up to him," she told Mrs. Weasley softly, flicking her wand to make the washed plates dry and fly to their place in the cupboard. Mrs. Weasley looked up from the plate she was arranging, fixing Hermione with a questioning look.
"Take it up to him?" she asked simply.
Hermione nodded in acknowledgment. "I know he wouldn't take the plates at first, but... I don't know, something tells me he'll oblige me tonight if I bring it up."
She didn't feel like explaining the complexities of their last two conversations and his note, but Hermione did wager that he would let her in if she sought him out tonight. Mrs. Weasley studied her again, then relented, handing her the plate.
"If he doesn't answer just bring it back down here. I've already placed the warming charm on it."
"Alright, Mrs. Weasley."
Hermione made her way up the stairs, plate in hand, and stopped in front of the twins' old bedroom. She couldn't hear much through the thick, wood door that stood in her way, but that didn't surprise her much. She rapped on the door three times and waited. When no response came, she tried again, this time saying, "George, it's Hermione. I've got your dinner here, thought I'd save you the midnight trip."
She waited a beat, and when she didn't hear any movement from the other side of the door she sighed. Maybe she had been wrong. She turned away, making her way slowly down the hall when she heard the door squeak behind her. She turned back around to find George's head poking out of the doorframe, his eyes still tired.
"What is it?" he asked, looking at the plate in her hand.
"Roast and vegetables," she replied simply, holding the plate out to him. "It was quite delicious."
George looked at the plate then looked at her face. She could see the way his head was whirring just by his eyes, distant and calculating. Finally, he opened the door a bit more and retreated back into the room.
Hermione took this as an invitation. She took the few steps back across the hall and pushed open the door of his room, cautiously stepping inside and closing the door behind her.
It was cleaner than she had anticipated, if not a bit stale in smell. She noted the beds, one neatly-made and the other crumpled with use. Not much else in the room had been touched it seemed.
George had thrown himself into the chair at the small desk between the beds, his back towards her. Hermione made a quick judgment call and sat at the head of the disheveled bed, placing the plate on the desk in front of him.
"Thanks," he muttered. He stared out the window in front of him and Hermione watched him for a second before sighing.
"You're welcome, but I must admit I'm not just here to charitably give you dinner."
He turned to look at her and smirked, "You're not, huh?"
"No, though I don't mind bringing it up if it'll get you to stop masquerading as an inferi."
"An inferi? You couldn't think of a better comparison?"
"Well, no, I had a number of better ones but they're all muggle references and you wouldn't understand."
Hermione shrugged and George let the ghost of a smile grace his lips again.
"So, what is it you've come to ask me, Hermione? Are you going to beg me to... I don't know... join a study group with you or something?"
Hermione snorted indelicately. "Not likely. No, I'm not sure if you were aware, but we started the Hogwarts rebuild today and... well, we've been tasked with fixing what the Carrows did to the secret passageways. We think they might have stolen and modified some of your products to booby trap them and, well, we thought you might be of some help if you were up to it."
"Oh," George's face fell a bit and he stared down at his plate. "I dunno, Hermione. I dunno if I'm... able... to go back just yet."
"Alright," she responded, pretending to be thoroughly nonplussed by this response. "Well, the offer stands if you get bored of... I dunno, whatever it is you're doing during the day at your old flat."
He turned to look at her again, a curious look in his eyes. "How'd you figure?"
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, George."
She stood and made for the door, then turned back to look at him one last time before exiting. She found his eyes on her.
"I know you're not ready yet, and you should take your time, but they do all miss you terribly." George nodded, almost unnoticeably. "Would you like me to bring you dinner tomorrow as well?"
His eyes held hers steadily and she resisted the urge to look away under his careful analysis. After a beat, he nodded again, the movement curt and intentional this time.
"Right, well. Goodnight, George."
"Goodnight, Hermione."
With that, she headed back down to the living room and took a place next to Ron on the floor. She leaned her head against his shoulder, tuning in to their conversation.
"Any luck?" he whispered in her ear during a lull, and Hermione shook her head in response. "Ah, well, couldn't expect much better I guess. You want to head to bed soon?"
Hermione nodded this time, stifling a yawn in his shoulder. She was so exhausted, she hoped she would be granted a dreamless sleep that night.