Chapter 57 – A library visit

As Scorpius knocked on Miss Granger's door, he knew his face was bright red. Their plan was good, he had to admit that, but he was still worried and felt bad. Albus had talked him through the execution more than once, but he still felt like they were doing something wrong. Heck, he knew it was wrong, but Albus wouldn't listen. His best friend wanted to solve their problem alone, and he understood him to a certain degree. They both had enough problems with their parents and school as it was.

When Miss Granger opened her door he curtsied her, like he was taught to do since he was small, and smiled shyly. She looked at him surprised, but took a step back to open some space for him to enter, greeting him softly. Like they had agreed on Scorpius took a step forwards but didn't enter. This hopefully left enough time for Albus, who stood right next to him unseen, to enter the room. Under his family's Cloak of Invisibility he was well hidden and it should be rather easy for him to sneak into the room. They had both agreed that getting out could be the harder part, so Scorpius needed to hear the password later, just in case. They didn't know if it was possible to open the door from the inside without it. Normally it was easy to leave a room, but the teachers quarters were different from the rest of school.

"Good Morning Miss Granger, would you do me the favour of accompanying me to the library. I would be honoured to show you something there I found." There was short insecure halt in his sentences until Scorpius added:

"I also would like to thank you for your thoughtful Christmas present."

Scorpius knew he words were really formal, but he couldn't bring himself to treat her casual just yet. She was a war hero, aunt to his best friend, but a stranger to him. Even their afternoon together, instituted by his father, hadn't changed it.

Scorpius admitted to himself that adored her, she was a strong and caring towards him, something he wished for himself to be one day, but she was still a stranger. As long as he didn't hear anything back from his father, that would change this somehow, he felt like he wasn't allowed to be casual with her. The short conversation with his father over Christmas had kind of dashed his hope, that it would change anytime soon. His father wasn't an open or sharing person when his feelings were involved. He had taught Scorpius to never give others the power to hurt you, and feelings showed your weakness. It wasn't a lesson Scorpius had been good at, but he tried.

Still, there was also her strange behaviour towards her own kids, contrary to how she treated him, she was cold and strained the few times he saw her around them. That included, his feelings towards her were vague, and he couldn't decipher them yet. Yet there was a part of him that longed for the loving mother he had seen on his time travel.

After his question, Hermione nodded and vanished, leaving the door open. He hadn't listened to what she said in greeting, his nerves to riled up. It was the perfect opportunity for Albus to sneak in, and Scorpius sighed with relive when he heard a rustle next to himself that vanished towards the entrance. When Hermione reappeared in the door, she wore a cosy robe and a scarf.

"We can go." She announced and closed the door firmly behind herself.

They walked the whole distance towards the library in silence. Hermione looked ahead and Scorpius watched her from the corner of his eye. He hadn't seen her since the holidays were over and she looked weary and tired. The bags under her eyes were even more pronounced than before Christmas and while her robe looked like it was new, she looked even more haggard.

When they entered the silent library on the first floor, Madame Pince looked up and nodded a greeting at them before returning to her work.

Walls full of books opened into small labyrinthine passages, filled with abandoned study tables. Most light came from small orbs that floated at the high celling, while the stained-glass windows added to a nostalgic feeling, but gave nearly no light. From time to time a book flew by and sorted itself into a shelve higher up, instructed by Madame Pince.

Scorpius took the path to a small passage that turned twice until he stood in front of the wooden bookshelf he had sought. He stretched and took a book of the shelf to hand it to Hermione.

"It's a biography." He hesitated when he saw her frown. "I researched and this was the only one that was mostly unbiased and detailed. It contains every wizard and witch that received an Order of Merlin after the war, including you."

It was the best he had been able to come up with to lure her out too. Maybe it could even help her to reconstruct the last 20 years.

"Do you know my children Scorpius?"

The question surprised the blond boy, but in a pleasant way. It showed him that she wasn't as cold as he had seen her the last months. He could accept, that meeting two teenagers you never saw before and concede them as your children made everything awkward. Deciding to help her to the best of his abilities Scorpius thought about the two Granger-Weasley's.

"I don't know much about Hugo. He only started school this year, but I could ask Albus. Rose is something else. Since she's Albus' cousin, and our year, I sometimes get to talk to her. I even had a crush on her for a long time. She's a bit of a snob." Scorpius blushed, but hemmed and carried on. It was not a secret how he had followed Miss Granger's daughter around with puppy eyes most of the last few years. Albus always said with his bold approach he would be better suited in Gryffindor than Slytherin.

"Just last week I met her on the train. Uhm, so, your daughter entered the carriage Alb and me were in, looking all high and mighty. She doesn't like me very much, so she acts that way around me. Normally she can be really sweet too. It's just the rumours that put her off, I think. My family has a rather harsh background. Anyway, she had already changed into her robes and came to remind us in her usual bossy tone. Her and Albus always bicker when she does it and she turned around haughty, pissed because he didn't follow her command. And there it was, the toilet paper stuck on the backside of her robe, giving her a white little tail swinging with her steps. It took away her whole attitude. I hope her friends told her, because Alb made me shut up when I tried."

Scorpius laughed awkward after he finished his little story and Hermione felt reminded of her own behaviour when she was younger.

Neither of them saw the small Ravenclaw boy sitting not far from them, that watched them with a feeling of betrayal spreading his heart. He clenched his hand around the feather he wrote with and looked down at his parchment, trying to ignore the figures standing not far from him. He couldn't hear them, and Hermione had her back to him, but the happy face of Scorpius Malfoy right next to his mother made him want to lash out. It was an emotional reaction he repressed. Gathering his stuff, he threw it into his bag and hurried from the library. He didn't want to see this.

Not long afterwards, Hermione was back at her room with her newly acquired book, when she noticed that someone had breached her wards. She knew it as soon as she entered her room, after she was back from her stroll to the library with Scorpius. The wards had picked up no ill intend, else they would have kept the intruder out, so Hermione relaxed.

Still, something was tickling at the edge of her consciousness, but she wasn't sure what. It fluttered just out of reach and she felt the frustration build.

Hermione struggled to capture the information that evaded her and felt the frustration spike. She wanted to scream, but let her jaw clench her moth shut. She hated when her mind placed tricks on her like this.

Instead she focused on something else, while she reset her wards to alter her as soon as someone stepped a foot into her room without invitation. She was irritated that she had been lax with her security, but she reminded herself that she wasn't in a warzone anymore.

Regathering her thoughts she pushed the intruder into the back of her mind, unsure if it was even of importance. Until she figured out what made her feel like she was overlooking something, she knew it was best to refocus. Sometimes the realisations came to her in the oddest moments.

Instead Hermione made a plan, on how she could make it up to Rose and Hugo that she hadn't been able to respect their wish to spend Christmas together. She hoped the presents she had decided on were to their liking, but without knowing the kids and just a little help from Hugo the presents had felt impersonal. Thinking back now, she was just happy she had even remembered Christmas at all, as disconnected with this new world as she had felt.

She hadn't heard back from Draco either and worried that she had overstepped some kind of mark. Now that she was mostly thinking clearly again she could only groan about her behaviour towards him.

Ruffling through her letters she caught sign of the one from Ron again she had ignored until now. Knowing she had to stop avoiding everything that made her feel insecure or brought up bad memories she ripped it open. Silently thanking Poppy for helping her come to terms with her feeling she started to look at the letter.

Reading it, her heart sank and she felt dread settle in, but for completely other reasons than she had thought.

Setting it down she started a list. She had to plan out her next move with care, and if there was something she still believed herself to be good at, it was planning.

Found some mistakes? Yep, this is unbetaed. I was ill and at work 12 days without a break and now my cute beta Eva is down with something too.

If you are interested in writing some HP fanfiction, why not join my at AO3 for my Christmas challange:

Www dot archiveofourown dot org/collections/HP_Advent_Calendar_in_Spells/profile