A/N: I'm so happy the previous chapter was well-received!
Thank you so much to my ever patient Beta, lozipozivanillabean. Enjoy!
xxxiv.
be the light in the dark of this danger – part i
(A Safe Place to Land by Sara Bareilles)
January 1, 1979
"Peter still hasn't come home?" Anya asked as she joined Hermione on the couch in their living room.
"I'm afraid not, Mum," the brunette said. She smiled at the worried frown which appeared on Anya's face. "He'll be all right. Peter said Moody's become much more rigorous now that the new recruits are being sent on various field missions."
Her mother sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder if I did the right thing by supporting him to become an Auror," she murmured under her breath. "With everything that is happening in the Wizarding World… well…" She left her words dangling as she worriedly glanced at the television, this time showing news about increasing attacks in the Muggle world once more.
Hermione swallowed down her trepidation and clutched her mother's hand for comfort. "Peter can take care of himself," she reassured. "Besides, this has been a childhood dream of his since forever. I'm sure he wouldn't even listen to you if you suddenly demanded he should quit being an Auror."
"That is quite true," Anya said, followed by a soft, sad laugh. "Peter used to follow my requests all the time. I wonder when he started to become mighty stubborn."
"It's the Selwyn blood, Mum," Hermione joked.
Her mother gave her a warm smile. "Definitely the Selwyn blood," she said with an over exaggerated sigh. "I might have brought two of the most stubborn children into this world."
"I listen to you all the time!" the younger witch protested.
"Please, sweetheart. All that cajoling for you to stop spending your summers studying away, always fell onto deaf ears." Hermione sheepishly smiled, prompting Anya to laugh again. "It's all right, darling. I don't want you to change at all."
Hermione warmly smiled when Anya placed a tender kiss on top of her curly hair. "Well then, I think I'm going to call it a night," her mother announced, a sad smile once again blooming on her face. "This might be the first New Year where we haven't eaten dinner together as a family. My children really are growing up so fast. Next thing I know, you will both be married with the love of your lives and you will leave your poor Mum alone."
"You know that's not going to happen," the younger witch pointed out. "If you must know, Mum, Peter and I are quite fond of you."
Anya expelled a lovely laugh and hugged her goodnight.
Once Anya had disappeared in her own room, Hermione settled comfortably on the couch and changed the channel on her television. Despite the disturbing breaking news, she thought it wouldn't hurt to at least pretend for the day that things weren't becoming more dangerous in the outside world.
She stayed for a few more hours, trying to see if Peter would finally come home. But, after finishing a cheesy, Christmas movie with her brother still nowhere to be seen, Hermione decided to call it a night.
After making sure that Anya's wards were still holding up, Hermione ventured inside her room.
As she settled some of her things on top of her desk, the brunette froze. Something was wrong. Someone was there inside her room, boring holes into the back of her head and causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.
Silently, Hermione pulled out her wand from her back pocket. And then, twirling around as fast as she could, she exclaimed a booming 'Expelliarmus' towards the intruder.
Instead of a wand flying into her arms, her spell backfired and knocked her wand out of her hand. Blood rushed to her ears, already mentally coming up with an escape plan. But then, before she could execute a half-arsed plan, a resounding snap reverberated around her walls and illuminated the lamps in her room.
A soft shriek escaped from her lips when eyes the size of tennis-balls unblinkingly stared back at her. "How did you —" Her words died down as soon as she recognised the house-elf standing before her. He may have been younger and a little saner too, but this was definitely the Black house-elf who had tormented the Golden Trio when they'd stayed in Grimmauld Place while on the run from Voldemort. "Kreacher?"
His eyes widened a bit as he straightened himself. "Master Regulus sends Kreacher to Miss," he croaked. "Master Regulus said Miss is a friend."
"Regulus?" she echoed. "Why'd he sent you to me?"
Kreacher snapped his fingers once more. A small, ornate black box appeared in front of Hermione's feet. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to bring this to Miss," he continued. "Master Regulus said Miss will know what to do."
There was a folded parchment on top of the box. Hermione grabbed the letter and opened it to read the words the Slytherin had written.
This houses the diary. I've placed decent wards, but I'm sure you'd want to place more of your complicated spells around it. I sent over Kreacher because I know owling it to you would be too risky.
R.A.B.
Her heart thudded wildly inside her chest as she warily glanced at the box. "Thank you," she breathed out to the house-elf, who was still curiously peering at the brunette.
"Kreacher will leave now, Miss," he said for his goodbye.
"Wait!"
The house-elf paused mid-snap and glanced questioningly at Hermione.
"Did Voldemort—" She flinched when Kreacher darkly hissed, his face crumpling in a mixture of raw fear and anger. "Did he borrow you from your Master already, Kreacher?"
"The Dark Lord wishes to bring Kreacher tonight, Miss," he suspiciously said. "How does Miss know about the Dark Lord's plan?"
Hermione thickly swallowed. "Never mind that," she said. "I just— be careful, Kreacher, all right?"
He looked genuinely surprised at her warning. Wordlessly, he bobbed his head and snapped once more, this time disappearing completely from her room.
Once he was gone, Hermione warily eyed the warded box. Although it was undoubted that she trusted Regulus, she still had to make sure that what was truly housed inside the box was Riddle's Diary.
Removing Regulus's wards was easy and by the time she'd opened the black box, the suffocating feeling of dark magic enveloped her whole room. She thickly swallowed and glared at the ominous black book, remembering how the soul inside almost killed Ginny Weasley.
Not wanting to bask under its residual dark magic any longer, Hermione shut the black box tight and proceeded to place her usual, complicated warding spells. Hermione then hid it inside the secret compartment in her trunk, together with the Diadem and the Cup.
Adrenaline hummed in her blood as she finally realised she already had three horcruxes in her possession. If what Kreacher said was true, she and Regulus would be able to steal Slytherin's locket soon as well.
Sleep was completely forgotten as Hermione sat on the edge of her bed, waiting.
January 3, 1979
Kreacher came back last night. He was… he wasn't well. I don't know what Voldemort did to him. I tried to ask him but he always bursts into tears. All he told me was about a cave and thirst – unquenchable thirst.
What do you want me to do next?
R.A.B.
Her hand shook as she read Regulus's words again and again. Although she had been anticipating this for days already, the fact that it had finally happened made her terrified. Hermione never really knew what had transpired at the cave between Harry and Dumbledore. She knew about the basinful of cursed water and the Inferi, but besides that, Harry was too shaken to recount the exact details.
This horcrux was perhaps the one Hermione dreaded to steal the most, because if Dumbledore had tried and come away weakened, then how would two, seventeen-year olds be able to get away unscathed?
Hermione couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad would happen once they arrived at the cave. There was this niggling voice in the back of her head, telling her again and again that this was a bad idea. Perhaps, perhaps it was finally time to tell Dumbledore – the horcrux hunt, Hermione Granger, everything. But there was also another voice inside her head, one that strangely sounded like Harry, saying that telling Dumbledore right now was a bad idea also. He might forbid her from hunting the horcruxes and Hermione couldn't accept that. She wanted to be the one to gather them all, to see for herself that all of Voldemort's weaknesses were gathered together - just so she could destroy them piece by piece, relishing in the thought that finally, finally the dark bastard was mortal once more.
She took a deep, shuddering breath, then grabbed a spare piece of parchment and a quill from her desk.
Tell Kreacher to duplicate the locket.
We're going to the cave tonight. Your house-elf will bring us there. Be prepared.
H.P.
"Toffee," she called. The beautiful, tawny owl fluttered on top of Hermione's table and stuck out her leg. "Take this to Regulus Black." She then tied the parchment around Toffee's awaiting leg. She stroked her feathers before Toffee opened her wings and flew out of her window.
"Hermione, sweetheart?" her mother called from the other side of her door.
"Mum?" she called, rising out from her chair.
Anya opened her door and stepped inside. "Studying again, love?" she teased, her painted lips stretched into a small smile.
Hermione plastered a fake smile on her face. "You know me, Mum," she replied. She paused and blinked at the simple, black Muggle dress her mother was wearing. "Going somewhere?"
"There's a New Year's party over at the Mayor's office," Anya explained, smoothing down the invisible creases from her flowy skirt. "I've already cooked dinner and stored it in the refrigerator. You can just heat it up in the microwave if you get hungry. This party may take a long time and I might not be able to come back before dinner."
"All right," Hermione bit her bottom lip, the thought that she'd sneak off to meet Regulus and steal Slytherin's locket in an elusive cave dawning heavily on her shoulders. Hermione quickly shrank the distance between her and the woman she had come to unconditionally love and wrapped her arms around Anya's waist. "I love you, Mum."
Anya softly chuckled and patted her back. "I love you too, sweetheart," she said, fondly brushing her curls away. "Oh, I've made enough in case Peter finally comes home. Tell him he must eat first before going to sleep, okay?"
"Okay," the younger witch echoed as she completely pulled away from Anya. "Have fun."
Her mother smiled and bid her goodbye.
Hermione glanced at her wall clock and noted it was only three in the afternoon. She hoped that Regulus would reply immediately so they could steal it tonight. If they waited for a few more days, Hermione was fearful they would never have the opportunity to steal it in the future.
She spent the remaining time trying to distract herself by doing some advance reading for her lessons on the next school term. But the words swam before her eyes, refusing to stay still and let her focus enough to keep her sanity in check.
By five in the afternoon, Hermione had given up and had tried to take a nap. If they were going to venture into a very dangerous mission tonight, she might as well get as much rest as she could.
Predictably, the nap was fitful. Hermione managed to slip into unconsciousness but dreamt of Dark Marks and Killing Curses, of Inferi crawling out from the water and grasping onto her legs and arms, pulling her deeper into the black water until she couldn't breathe anymore.
Hermione was instantly roused from her sleep when she heard incessant tapping on her window. A quick look at her wall clock told her she had slept for almost an hour. Outside, the sun was already setting, painting the sky with various shades of red, orange, and yellow.
Mercury hooted unhappily when Hermione finally stood up from her bed and let him in. Instantly, all sleep seemed to leave Hermione when she untied the parchment around his leg. Instead of leaving, Mercury patiently waited for Hermione as he landed on her wooden desk.
Kreacher has already duplicated the locket.
Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at nine this evening. I'd rather we do this earlier, but leaving this house is tricky, especially if you're living with a paranoid witch.
Don't be late.
R.A.B.
Hermione took a deep, shaky breath and penned her reply. She tied the parchment around Mercury and watched as the greater sooty owl took flight until he was but a dot on the horizon.
With a few more hours to spare, Hermione mechanically changed out of her house clothes and donned practical denim jeans and a thick, woolly turquoise jumper.
'Eat,' she firmly told herself. 'I need to eat.'
She walked out of her room and grabbed the food Anya had prepared from the refrigerator. While she waited for the microwave to heat her food, Hermione started to furiously pace, wearing down the cheery rug on their kitchen floor.
Different scenarios conjured in her head and she tried to come up with corresponding actions to such manufactured events. The main goal was to get the horcrux alive. The last time Regulus had ventured into the cave, he was unable to leave and had managed to join the Inferi buried under the black lake. Hermione would be damned if Regulus died on her watch given all the information she knew.
She only snapped out of her tumultuous thoughts when the smell of burnt food reached her nose. "Blast," she muttered, immediately yanking the microwave door open. Smoke rushed out, prompting Hermione to cough in disappointment. She pulled out her wand and dispelled the smoke away, until the burnt lasagne was visible.
Hermione levitated her dinner out of the microwave onto the kitchen table and sighed. She could just scrap the burnt pieces away if she wanted to eat something.
"I'm not even hungry, bloody hell," she grumbled to herself, her stomach already in knots due to the inevitable mission later that night. But years and years of running away with Harry had made her learn the importance of getting enough nourishment before a huge mission. No matter how nauseous she felt, she just had to cram a few bites of food inside her mouth, to help with the energy she would most definitely need later that night.
As she finally settled on her chair, Hermione unblinkingly stared at the lasagne, waiting until her stomach stopped churning restlessly.
-ooo-
"Bloody fucking hell, mates, I think I'm going to die." Sirius whined as he threw his arms over Peter and James's shoulders, distributing his weight evenly against the blokes until his best friends were dragging him out of the cramped Ministry lift.
"Geroff me, Pads," James grumbled under his breath, his hazel eyes already slipping closed due to exhaustion.
The shaggy-haired Auror sighed and pulled himself away from James. Instead of letting go of Peter completely, he threw his other arm around him. "Carry me home, Wormy?" he softly asked, hope blooming in his bright, silver eyes.
Peter scowled and tried to push him away. "Why don't you ask James to carry you, since you're living under the same roof?" he complained. Everything in him felt sore and heavy, like his muscles were made with heavy stones. Peter was knackered to the bone and he couldn't stop himself from imagining his very soft mattress at home, with the fluffiest pillows and softest comforter. His stomach kept on protesting, demanding to be fed, but sleep was steadily winning. Peter thought he'd rather sleep his tiredness away before wolfing down any meal.
"Fancy some dinner first, lads?" James asked, followed by a wide yawn that seemed to obscure his whole face.
Peter snorted, wondering if he'd been sleep-deprived for days - he'd been imagining a lot of things lately. "Pass," he said. "I think I'm going to go home instead."
"Is Hermione home?"
"Yes."
"Can I come with you?"
"No."
"Come now, Wormy, I'm too tired to do anything untoward to your sister," James whined, clutching onto Peter's arm and trying to shake him with the remaining energy he had. "It's been days since I saw Whiskers and I miss her so much."
Sirius latched onto Peter's arm. "Can I come too?" he giddily asked. "I miss Hermione too."
"Merlin, no," Peter said, laughingly pulling his arm away. "Look at you, dolts. You can barely keep upright! Just go home and sleep the remaining day away. And you—" He pinned James with a dark glare. "I still haven't forgiven you for inviting us over your house for Christmas dinner with a bloody ulterior motive in mind."
James's cheeks coloured in annoyance. "And I told you I didn't know my parents thought it was a dinner to discuss a possible marriage," he ground out, glaring lightly at Sirius who started snickering. "I just bloody told them how I truly felt…" He trailed off, his cheeks turning ruddier with embarrassment. "Pureblood traditions are bloody shite. I don't know why we're even sticking to such rules." He fluffed his hair and deeply frowned. "It's not as if the prospect of marriage with Hermione's so far-fetched anyway…" He trailed off as a glassy look appeared in his hazel eyes.
"She hasn't graduated yet!" Peter hotly cried. "Don't you dare get any ideas, Prongs."
The bespectacled wizard rolled his eyes. "Blimey, all right," he petulantly spat.
"Wormy here doesn't want his sister to get married first, Jamesy-boy," Sirius said as he patted James's shoulder for comfort. "He ought to ask Mary first, before he gives Hermione away to you."
"That's not true!" Peter cried, cheeks turning a brilliant shade of red.
He scowled when James and Sirius expelled identical snorts. "He's still hopeless, after all these years," Sirius sighed.
"Very hopeless," James echoed.
"Shut up," Peter grumbled.
The trio finally stumbled into the bustling Atrium, when Sirius suddenly skidded to a halt.
"Fuuuuuck, please don't tell me it's the third of Januray today," he pleaded.
Peter blinked at him in surprise. "Well… it is," he said.
Sirius muttered a soft 'fuck' once more. "I was supposed to fetch Moony from his mission with the Order today!" he complained. "Why was I given this stupid task? Remus can take care of himself."
"It's Moody's punishment for pranking him with his morning coffee, I bet," James pointed out, snickering under his breath.
"Bloody git needs to loosen up," Sirius petulantly grumbled. "I'm so tired. Why can't I take a break for once?"
"There, there Pads," Peter said, sympathetically patting him on his shoulder. "I'm sure after you've fetched Remus, you can crash on your very comfortable bed, tuck yourself under your soft comforter, and relax for a few days."
"You fucking git," the shaggy-haired Auror said as he shoved the smirking Peter away. He lightly glared when James chuckled at his expense too. "I'm going to leave now before I hex you both."
"We'll get as much sleep as we can for you, Paddie mate," James cajoled, laughingly shying away when Sirius sent a Stinging Hex at his feet.
"Bloody wanker!" Sirius disappeared in one of the fireplaces after flipping a rude hand gesture in their direction.
"Well, I'll be off then," James said, thumping Peter on the shoulder. "Tell Hermione I miss her, yeah?" The bespectacled wizard then disappeared in a blazing flash of emerald fire.
Peter yawned tiredly as he threw the Floo powder into the fireplace. He stepped into the emerald fire, mentioned his home address, and closed his eyes. He waited for the sensation of travelling by Floo to subside before opening his eyes.
He walked out of their fireplace and brushed soot off his shoulders, only to pause upon smelling something burning. He at first looked at his cloak, wondering if he'd managed to burn himself while travelling through the Floo. Upon seeing that his cloak was fire-free, he frowned.
"Mum? Hermione?" he called.
He heard soft shuffling from the kitchen before Hermione emerged, surprise in her blue eyes. "You're finally home!" she cried.
Peter glanced at the fork she was clutching, a half-burnt mouthful of lasagne hanging precariously on its tines. "Something smells burnt," he pointed out.
She lightly blushed and sheepishly lifted the fork. "I managed to burn this, but it's still edible," she said. "Have you eaten?"
The wizard tiredly shook his head and shrugged his cloak off. Hermione eyed his discarded cloak disapprovingly as she always nagged him to place his clothes inside the laundry basket when he returned home. But Peter was really tired – bone-deep tired, in fact – and everything was starting to turn fuzzy for him.
"Mum's away for an office party," Hermione said, "but she told me I have to insist on feeding you before you sleep."
"Please," Peter moaned, "I just want to sleep."
"Just a few bites, Peter Pettigrew," the brunette firmly said with a hard stare.
Too tired to fight with his sister, Peter slumped forward. "Bloody Merlin, fine," he grumbled. "I might as well just finish my mission report for Moody before going to sleep. Merlin knows what that git might do if I'm an hour late with my report again."
He shivered at the memory of a mean Stinging hex from the infamous Auror. He truly respected the Senior Auror, and James and Sirius had pointed out that they thought Moody liked him the best amongst the three of them, but he was still a terrifying bloke.
"Do you have" – he paused as a wide yawn tore away from his lips – "have any spare parchment? I've already used up all of my supplies."
Hermione eyed him amusedly. "There's some on my desk," she answered. "Come out and eat, Petey."
"Yes, yes, Merlin," he grumbled, already striding towards her bedroom. But then, he paused and glanced at his sister once more. "James said he misses you."
He rolled his eyes when a silly smile appeared on her face, the peaks of her cheeks staining red. "Oh," she shyly said. "Okay."
"Ugh, gross," Peter gagged, ignoring her indignant glare and went inside her bedroom.
He eyed Hermione's bed greedily, wondering if it would be all right if he could just lay there for just a few minutes… 'Definitely not, Peter Pettigrew,' a huffy voice that sounded eerily like Hermione exclaimed in his mind.
"Better get this over and done with," he sighed as he sauntered towards Hermione's desk. He snorted at her opened Arithmancy book; no doubt his swotty sister had been devouring her textbooks during the school break. He still hadn't seen her colour-coded schedule, but he'd bet everything he loved in this world, it would be mighty difficult to adhere to. Unless, of course, you were as barmy as Hermione Pettigrew.
He scanned her desk for any spare parchment, spying half-finished essays and crumpled paper on her desk. Hermione was usually quite tidy with her things. The state of her haphazard desk was very uncharacteristic of her. His sister usually became this untidy when her mind was deeply bothered by a lot of things.
Brief worry flittered in his mind, wondering what had troubled Hermione this time. Lately, she always had this weird look on her face, as if she was grieving over something Peter couldn't understand. He had asked her what had been bothering her over the past few weeks, but he was always swept away with Auror missions and whatnot, before she could answer him. Added to this, were his growing responsibilities for the Order. Since he, Sirius, and James were full-time Ministry employees, they were rarely at Headquarters. Despite this, Dumbledore had given them the task of keeping an eye on shady Ministry officials - those who were rumoured to be in cahoots with the Dark Lord.
All in all, it had been a tiring month and Peter knew everything was starting to take a toll on his sanity. His only beacon was Mary, but his witch was also too busy with her Healer training to make time for him. He missed her terribly and he really wanted to see her today, but Mary had owled her apology, saying she was going to be in the middle of an eight-hour long demonstration on curing some obscure ailment she didn't bother to tell him about.
'Adulthood is bloody lame,' he internally said, finally grasping onto a piece of spare parchment he spied crammed inside one of Hermione's textbooks. He also grabbed an expensive quill from her desk and an inkwell, since he was too tired to venture inside his own bedroom to get his.
Peter was about to leave, when his Auror-trained eyes caught something that made him pause.
Buried underneath her Arithmancy textbooks were various scraps of parchment, with hastily scratched words scrawled messily across the yellowing paper. Normally, he would have ignored such things because he knew they were private letters. He had already learned from experience before, when he'd accidentally read one of James's letters for Hermione, and had been scarred for life. Since then, he'd made it a point to ignore whatever letters Hermione had displayed on her desk.
But his gut feeling told him to look closely, despite the invasion of privacy. He glanced down and saw familiar initials scrawled on Hermione's letters, but he wasn't quite sure if his exhaustion was merely imagining things. The handwriting was definitely not James's, so he wondered who Hermione was corresponding with nowadays.
Peter surreptitiously shot a look at her bedroom door and counted a few seconds before returning to the letters. After making sure that Hermione wouldn't suddenly barge inside and curse him for snooping around, Peter hastily grasped the piles of parchment and glanced at the scrawled initials underneath more clearly.
R.A.B. were how the letters were signed. Anyone would normally wonder who the hell R.A.B. was, but he'd been best friends with Sirius Black for years. He'd seen how his younger brother signed his letters, maybe to hide the fact that he was still secretly corresponding with his disinherited brother. Granted, the letters Sirius received from the mysterious R.A.B. were nowhere near pleasant, but the fact that the new Black heir was corresponding with his older brother meant there was still some level of concern from the cold Slytherin for Sirius.
Peter's heart thudded wildly inside his ribcage, now wondering why in Merlin's rotting teeth Hermione was corresponding with Regulus Black? The bloke was already highly suspected as a Death Eater. Sirius and James had managed to interrogate one Ministry employee in cahoots with the Dark Lord by forcing him to drink Veritaserum. Peter had proceeded to ask if the employee knew anyone who had been recently Branded – Regulus Black's name was mentioned. Peter still clearly remembered that day - how Sirius had almost ransacked the entire Leaky Cauldron with various, incomprehensible slurs towards his younger brother. James had managed to calm down the hysterical Sirius by shooting a well-aimed Stupefy and had dragged Sirius's arse back home.
"Fuck," Peter muttered. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."
Was Hermione deeply entangled with Voldemort too? That simple thought didn't make any sense, because his sister seemed like the Champion of the poor and downtrodden. He knew she was brilliant, disbelievingly brilliant, and her thirst for knowledge was unparalleled. Perhaps she had started getting curious about the Dark Arts and had reached out to Regulus? They'd been awfully chummy in the past after all.
Shakily, his eyes skimmed through the different letters. His vision swam with words like 'horcrux', 'cave', 'locket', and 'Kreacher'. There was even one mention of 'Voldemort' but the letters did not offer any hint as to where Hermione's allegiance truly lay.
His eyes latched onto one of the letters, with Regulus telling Hermione to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron at nine that evening. No date was on the letter, so Peter wasn't sure if they were to meet today or if this had already happened. A brief glance at Hermione's wall clock showed him it was already seven-thirty in the evening.
Crumpling the letters in his hand, Peter's eyes turned determined. He needed to get answers and Merlin help him, he'd be damned if Hermione lied to him.
-ooo-
Hermione curiously glanced at her bedroom door, wondering what was taking Peter so long. Her spare parchment was plainly placed on top of her desk after all, so she could easily grab onto a piece whenever she needed to.
A small, amused smile appeared on her face, guessing that her ridiculous brother might have fallen asleep on her bed.
Deciding to check up on him, she rose from her chair and was about to saunter towards her bedroom, when the door banged open and Peter stomped outside, a livid expression on his face.
Hermione shrank away in worry, wondering what had caused such a dark look on her brother's face. "Peter?" she called out, cautiously glancing around him to find any clues as to why he was suddenly in a sour mood.
And then, crumpled tightly in his hand, she saw scraps of parchment. Dread instantly bloomed in Hermione's heart and she felt sick. Perhaps, forcing herself to eat dinner had been a bad idea in the end.
"Peter…" she started slowly, trying to appease her brother.
The wizard stomped towards Hermione and slammed the pieces of parchment on top of the table. "Why the bloody hell are you exchanging letters with Regulus Black?" he demanded. "And don't give me crap about him being your study partner because the content of your letters do not tackle anything academic."
Ire flared in Hermione's eyes. "You read the letters?" she snarled. "Ever heard of privacy, Peter?"
His face crumpled, raw fear flittering on his face. "Hermione," he beseeched, "you shouldn't— he's— I've heard things about him, Hermione. Things I don't want to believe because he's Sirius's fucking brother. But… but we're in a war, and he's been associating himself with the wrong sort of people for years. You shouldn't—" He paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't want you to get hurt, so please, please, please Hermione, stop associating with him."
Tears prickled in the brunette's eyes. "I can't," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Peter."
He looked deeply disturbed by the expression on her face. "You're not…" He thickly swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing sharply in his throat. "You're not… with Voldemort…"
"No!" she cried almost immediately, knowing full well what he was trying to insinuate. "No, Peter. I'm not. Please believe me."
"Then what—" He paused and browsed through the crumpled pieces of parchment until he had pulled out one letter. "This letter – he mentions a locket and a cave. A horcrux. What does that mean? What are you doing with Regulus Black?"
A few tears escaped from her eyes as she looked away. "Drop it, Peter," she begged. "Please. I– I'm not associating with Dark Magic. But… with Regulus…" She pinned him with a firm stare despite her swimming eyes. "I have to do this."
Mentally, Hermione cursed herself for being careless. Normally, she'd burned Regulus's letters away after receiving them just to make sure no one would discover she was corresponding with him. But for the past few days, her mind was too distracted by her impending horcrux mission, one that might most probably cost Regulus's life. And hers. She'd forgotten about burning them in the end.
Peter turned sickly green. "You're still supposed to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron today, aren't you?" he said.
Hermione nodded her head thrice.
Her brother tightly closed his eyes and started massaging the bridge of his nose. "Please tell me you're not going to do something dangerous with Regulus Black, of all fucking people, Hermione."
She really, truly, desperately wanted to assure him that she'd be all right after everything. Lying would be easy to Peter, knowing it would be her only chance to still keep him in the dark.
But a part of Hermione knew that no amount of lying could convince Peter. He'd already thought she was dabbling in Dark Magic. If she was going to die tonight, because Merlin there was a huge possibility, then she'd rather she died knowing that Peter didn't think of her as some crazy witch who fell in love with the Dark Arts.
So, instead of answering him with words, her face crumpled and she was unable to meet his eyes. Her long silence was already telling, and Peter knew that too, for he expelled a long list of expletives and closed the remaining distance between them.
Peter grabbed onto her wrist and tightly held it until she was forced to look into his eyes. There was unfiltered terror on Peter's face, as if he truly knew that whatever mission she was going on with Regulus Black later, there was a huge possibility she wouldn't be coming back.
"You're still going to go, even if I try to stop you, aren't you?"
More tears slipped down from her eyes. "Yes," she croaked.
Peter's blue eyes turned steely - all the terror he'd shown her suddenly shrunk behind unbelievable determination.
"Then bloody fucking hell, Hermione, I'm coming with you."
A/N: Oh wow, look at that, a cliffhanger! I've been spoiling you lot with my everyday updates, so it'll be mighty fun to tease y'all a little hehe.
Also, good news! I only have the epilogue left to write before this whole fic is done! I still have a few chapters in need of an edit, and surely my Beta's been lovely and working really hard. But yeah, I just need to finish my bloody surgery report then I can finally write the epilogue. Yay productive me! Oh, and just so you know, this fic will officially have 57 chapters in total, including the prologue and epilogue. So yeppppp, we're still far from the end.
See you tomorrow and oh boy, buckle up, lads.
With love,
WickedlyAwesomeMe
P.S. Follow me on tumblr (kimmy-writes)!