a/n1: Hello everyone! Finally a new chapter, woohoo! Many thanks for the awesome tattoo idea for Draco to MahallieMacKenzie und loads of betalove to viv-heart. Enjoy the chapter!
Andromeda Tonks née Black had to admit that it had been a few years since she had done some manipulating. The last time she had tried to convince Nymphadora that she shouldn't work in the Order. That hadn't turned out well.
Fortunately Andromeda doubted that Henry Fawley, brother of the famous Wizengamot member Richard Fawley, was prone to juvenile stubbornness.
"It's good to see you again, Andromeda," Henry said while sitting down.
"Likewise," Andromeda replied with a smile and signalled a waitress.
The small muggle café right around the corner from the Leaky Cauldron was quiet at this time of the day and Andromeda was very glad about that. The waitress came over and they asked for tea and scones.
"Now, first of all, I want to express my condolences for the losses you had to endure in the war," Henry said when the waitress had left to get their orders. "But I also want to congratulate you on the birth of your grandchild."
Andromeda smiled. "Thank you, Henry. I trust you and your family are well?"
"Of course, yes," Henry replied while taking out a notebook and a pen. "Luckily we weren't targeted and I transferred both William and Margaret to Beauxbatons after You-Know-Who returned."
"I'm glad to hear that," Andromeda said and thanked the waitress who had put the tea and scones on their table.
"Well, why did you want to speak to me? I guess it isn't about your work as a private healer?" Henry said taking a scone from his plate.
"It is indeed not," Andromeda said with a sigh. "I have a favour to ask." Henry nodded and motioned for her to continue.
"My grandson's godfather is no one else than Harry Potter and thanks to that I met Hermione Granger. She is a lovely young woman and I rather like her," Andromeda began while preparing her tea. "A few years back she was so unfortunate as to make an enemy in Rita Skeeter. I'm sure you saw the article on Wednesday?"
Henry nodded and grimaced. "Awful piece of writing. I have no idea how she managed to get it on the front page."
"I do have an idea, but that's not really important," Andromeda said thinking about all the blackmail material Skeeter surely had. "I wanted to ask you to help us in a campaign to reveal Miss Skeeter's methods and lies. We want her prosecuted and put behind bars."
"What do you have on her?" Henry asked curiosity evident in his eyes and posture.
Andromeda took a sip of her tea. "She is an unregistered Animagus and she is known to illegally use Veritaserum for questioning. She likes to use false information in her articles which sometimes led to the destruction of careers."
Henry nodded taking notes while Andromeda talked.
"Alright, what is your plan of action?"
Draco took a deep breath before ringing the bell at the Tonks' house. He liked Thomas well enough but he was still nervous about going out into the muggle world. Visiting a muggle family was something else entirely, especially with his aunt at his side. Draco took deep breaths trying to calm himself down and clenched his fist tightly at his side. The pain focused his mind and his erratic breaths fell into a more normal pattern.
Finally the door opened and revealed Thomas in trousers and a sweatshirt that seemed way too wide for him.
"What in Merlin's name are you wearing?" Draco asked in utter confusion.
Thomas looked down on himself. "My clothes? They're comfortable."
"You didn't wear that yesterday?" Draco objected remembering the slacks and oxford he had worn the day before.
"Yeah, I came right from school. School uniform sucks to be honest," Thomas said laughing.
Draco still looked extremely confused. "But it looks like you wear the clothes of your older brother or something!"
"That's probably where this style came from," Thomas admitted. "You know what? We'll stop by a clothes shop and you try on some yourself! And when we're back I can show you the music people who wear these trousers mostly listen!"
Draco nodded wide eyed, a bit shocked. Muggles were so strange! If someone showed too big clothes like these people would assume their mother didn't know charms to shrink them. Potter at least had had the decency to only wear stuff like that during holidays. And the Weasleys were a different matter altogether. While shrinking clothes was easy enough, enlarging them didn't really work.
"Wait- you said people sometimes actually wear the stuff of their older siblings without making it smaller for them?" Draco asked curiously walking faster to catch up with Thomas.
"Yeah, if they can't afford new clothes for example. Sometimes they even have to wear too small clothes if they're the oldest sibling," Thomas explained. "Doesn't that happened at- your place?"
"There are sewing charms to make clothes that are too big fit of course. Too small clothes remain a problem," Draco said distractedly. Did Harry have to wear clothes from someone else because his aunt and uncle were poor?
"By the way, better not to mention charms or anything like that while we're out," Thomas said quietly when they turned to the left at the end of the street.
"Yeah, sure, sorry I just got distracted by something," Draco said with a laugh. As if he would forget something like that, he was a Slytherin and a Malfoy after all!
"By the way, did you have a chance to think of something you want to get as a tattoo?" Thomas asked while they were waiting at a red light.
It turned green and Thomas continued to walk, interesting system. "Not really, something happy and colourful probably," Draco answered.
"Understandable," Thomas answered smiling. "I changed my mind on what I want to get actually."
"Oh, why is that?" Draco asked trying to sound casual while a car with blue lights sped past them. Only seeing the flashes of light he had thought of spell fire at first.
"I want to remember Ted and Dora," Thomas answered quietly. "So I thought about getting the Hufflepuff crest, you know?"
Draco looked at Thomas in surprise. "Really? What will you say when someone asks?"
"Mostly the truth I guess, that it's the crest of the house my dead uncle and cousin were in at school. But I will say that they were killed in a terrorist attack," Thomas said.
"And people will believe that?" Draco asked sceptically.
"Yep, there were enough in the last months, although allegedly nobody was killed or died afterwards," Thomas said with a tight smile.
"Alright," Draco said quietly. He wondered how many of those terrorist attacks had been actually the Death Eaters.
A few minutes later they arrived in front of a modern looking store and Thomas flashed him a quick smile before he stepped inside.
Draco followed. The man behind the desk situated in the back of the room stood up and came up to them with a stretched out hand. Pretty similar to magical customs then.
"Hi, my name is George, how can I help you?" the man asked with a smile and Draco noted that he was tattooed up to his face and at least down to his fingertips. George was a large, bald man who seemed to be only made of muscle and colour.
"Hi, I'm Thomas and that's my cousin Draco, we want to get a tattoo," Thomas said with an easy smile while Draco shook George's hand as well.
"Well, that's rather obvious, isn't it?" George asked with a wink and Thomas and Draco chuckled. "Please, sit down! May I offer you something, tea? Coffee?"
They declined and settled down on the couches on the left side of the room. George prepared himself a cup of coffee and Draco was surprised how fast the machine worked.
"Now, I hope you're both eighteen or older, since we don't tattoo minors," George said sitting down across from them.
Draco rose an eyebrow. "Well, I'm not yet eighteen, but I will be in a few weeks and wanted to inform myself a bit."
George nodded. "Alright, that is no problem. You look older to be honest."
"So I have been told," Draco joked and George laughed.
"I had the same problem, especially since I lost my hair pretty early," he said while taking a sip of his coffee. "Now, tell me what you want to get."
"I'll start, since I already know what I want," Thomas said smiling. "I want to honour my late uncle and cousin and get the crest of their school house tattooed. Preferably on my upper arm or shoulder."
"Do you have a picture?" George asked cocking his head.
"Yes, wait a moment," Thomas said starting to rummage through his pant pockets. "There it is!" He produced something that looked suspiciously like a school uniform patch from his pocket. "I took it off of one of my uncle's old uniforms, it still looks the same, right Draco?"
Draco took a closer look and nodded. "It does, they only changed the shape a bit."
"Well, that is a whole lot of details," George said looking at the patch.
"Will that be a problem?" Thomas asked looking a bit afraid.
"Not really, it only means that it will have to be larger than this," George explained calmly. "Especially for the helmet on top and the badger, you don't want them to be just blotches."
"Alright, that's no problem," Thomas said easily.
"Perfect, I think it should be at least about the size of a postcard." George showed it with his hands. "So it would be about 250 pound I think."
Thomas nodded. "That sounds fair. How long would it take to tattoo?"
"Roughly two and a half hours including preparation," George said looking contemplatively. "You're probably asking because of school?"
"Yes, I only have a free afternoon on Fridays," Thomas explained and it was George's turn to nod.
"Right, that shouldn't be a problem. Let me look it up," he said and stood up to fetch a calendar book. "The Friday after the next is free, does that work for you?"
Thomas thought about it and nodded. "Sure, do I have to bring anything besides the money?"
"You can bring something to squish if the pain gets too much, but we have everything else," George said. "Just remember not to drink or take drugs in the previous twenty-four hours and eat enough that day, we can't have you fainting after all."
Thomas laughed and Draco smirked at the mental image. Then George turned to him and asked what he wanted as a tattoo.
"I'm still thinking about it," Draco admitted. "I have an ugly scar on my left forearm that I want covered with something cheerful and beautiful."
"Would you show me the scar? Just so I know how big the tattoo would need to be," George explained with a smile.
Draco rolled up the sleeve of his jumper. The scar left behind by the Mark still looked rather fresh and he wasn't really sure how he should explain it if George asked.
"Wow, that looks painful," George said and leaned closer to get a better look. "Looks like you got a tattoo removed there."
"Yes, it represented something I didn't want to be part of anymore," Draco said quietly focusing on George so he didn't have to look at the scar.
"I understand, who tattooed you so young? Just out of curiosity," George asked.
Draco wondered what he should say. "A friend of the family, former friend to be honest," he finally said.
George took one look at him and luckily didn't ask further questions. Draco wasn't sure whether he could have answered them.
"So, something colourful and cheerful to hide past mistakes…" George looked around contemplatively and final got up to get a folder from another table. "I know it's not very 'manly' but what do you think about some flowers or animals?"
"Maybe you could get a narcissus flower for your mother," Thomas chimed in.
George raised a curious eyebrow and Draco laughed. "Her name is Narcissa, but I would want to have Andromeda there with her."
"Andromeda like the constellation?" George asked curiously.
"Indeed, my family had a thing for star names in the last generations," Draco answered with a smile.
"I might actually have something for you then!" George said with a huge grin and began thumbing through the folder which was filled with sketches and pictures.
He finally found what he was searching, turned the folder around and pushed it to Draco and Thomas. The muggle photograph showed a rose that was coloured like a galaxy.
"I thought maybe instead of a rose a narcissus and the stars of the constellations of your family could be a bit bigger than the rest. That would make them easily discernible. Since it would look strange to just tattoo the flower, without a stem or leaves I thought about a stem with leaves that turn from a sunset to a starry night. What do you think?" George said with glittering eyes and a big smile.
Draco looked back down at the picture and then his arm. "It sounds amazing," he whispered. "There is just a tiny problem, my father doesn't have a star name and while we had our differences, I still want to include him."
"Well, when was your father born?" George asked.
"September 19th 1953," Draco answered easily even though he wondered why.
"So he is a Virgo, which we could easily include in your tattoo," George said with a wink and Draco got big eyes. That was a brilliant idea!
"That sounds amazing!" he said with a huge smile.
"I'm home love!" Wendell Wilkins called when he stepped inside.
"I'm in the living room, would you come to me please?" Monica called back and Wendell frowned. While his wife was hurt it was unusual for her not to come to the door to greet him.
When Wendell stepped into the living room he found Monica sitting on the couch with her ankle lying on a cushion and the phone in her hand. She waved him closer and he stepped up to her to give her a chaste kiss.
"What is it, love?" he asked noticing her notebook lying next to her.
"I just got off the phone with the British embassy," Monica said. "They have indeed found Richard and Helen Granger, who vanished nearly a year ago. I gave them our information and the clerk said that we looked identical to them."
"Will they be able to send us more data?" Wendell asked sitting down on the couch table. "And should we start referring to each other as Helen and Richard?"
"To your first question: yes, and it should be here by Monday. To your second question: I don't know, we could try to and see whether it feels right?"
Wendell nodded. "Sounds like a plan- Helen," he said with a lopsided smile which she returned easily.
"It doesn't feel strange being called Helen, what about you, Richard?" she asked with big eyes.
He felt as if something in his mind shifted. "On the contrary, to be honest, it feels like it should be this way," he said. "Did they say something about Hermione?"
Her eyes suddenly became even bigger. "Richard, I remembered something just now!"
"Tell me, love," he said grasping her left hand in his.
"Hermione…" she trailed off. "It sounds crazy, Richard!"
"If you remembered, I should remember as well, shouldn't I, Helen?" he said liking the way her name felt on his tongue.
"Hermione is a witch," she whispered and he remembered too.
"Richard, are you still awake?" Helen whispered.
"Sure, love, what is it?" he asked sighing and turning around to face her.
"Do you think Hermione will finally find some friends if she is with children like herself?" Helen asked anxiously.
Richard contemplated the question. "I don't know. I sure hope so, I can't see her suffer anymore. She is so intelligent and kind, why can't the other children see it?"
"I don't know," Helen said barely audible.
"Do you believe me?" Helen whispered urgently. "I'm not going crazy, am I?"
"I don't believe so," Richard said with a smile. "I only remember a late night conversation we had shortly before she left for her school, but… The knowledge that she is a witch seems so right, that I don't doubt it."
"I hope the data from the embassy will bring clarity," Helen said with a sigh and Richard nodded
"I wonder how we forgot," he said. "Maybe Hermione bewitched us?"
"Or someone else from her world," Helen said coolly. "They probably didn't want us to endanger them."
"Why would we?" Richard asked perplexed. "Our daughter is one of them after all!"
"Do you think families cared during the witch hunts?" Helen whispered looking pained. "What if they only remember our attitude towards witches and wizards back then? If I only knew that I would be scared and hateful as well."
Richard nodded. "You're right, that rings true."
"As soon as I'm well enough to travel we're going to Great Britain," Helen said with determination.
a/n2: Well, now we know where Hermione got her determination from ;) What did you think of the tattoo idea? Are you excited for the plan against Rita Skeeter? Tell me, I love to hear from you! And since I'm really inspired to write the next chapter now we'll probably see each other soon ;)