A/N - Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter and for the follows and favorites! Tissue warning for this chapter. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 5

Orphans

3 May 1998

Annie and Claire sat on either side of Hermione for breakfast, David next to Claire. All three children were quiet and Kingsley's explanation the night before repeated in a loop in Hermione's mind. After all they had been through, many of the Muggle-born students weren't even going to be able to go home to their parents. She glanced down at Claire who was continually stirring the porridge in front of her. Hermione had been able to coax her into eating a bit of fruit, but she had refused everything else. David and Annie had eaten a bit more, although Madame Pomfrey had restricted their diets for the moment, given they'd had nothing but watery gruel for months now. Some days they hadn't even been given that.

"Miss Granger." Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall. "Might I have a word?"

"Of course," Hermione said, attempting to rise from the table. Claire grabbed her arm, however, and wouldn't let go. Truthfully, Hermione was a bit concerned at how attached all three of them had gotten to her, Claire especially. She supposed it was only natural, given that she was the first person to have shown them any kind of caring for months. But she worried what would happen when it was time for them to leave.

"It's all right," Hermione soothed. "I'll be right back, I promise." David moved closer to Claire and put an arm around her shoulders. Annie moved into Hermione's spot and took Claire's hand. Hermione looked at Harry, Ron and Ginny who all nodded and began talking to the children, trying to distract them.

"I've just gotten word from the Minister," the professor said once they were a few feet from the table. "The Aurors are bringing some of the parents of the Muggle-borns here in just a few minutes."

"But I thought," Hermione paused and took a breath, "I thought they had been Obliviated or killed."

"Not all of them, apparently," Professor McGonagall said.

"Do you know who's coming?" Hermione asked. The professor shook her head.

"No, Kingsley didn't say." Hermione bit her lip in thought.

"I don't think I should tell them until we know for sure."

"I agree," Professor McGonagall said. "When the parents arrive, I will take them to the staffroom and call for the students once I've determined which parents are here." Hermione nodded.

"I'll let the Hufflepuffs know," she said.

"Thank you." Professor McGonagall turned and left the Great Hall to await the parents' arrival. Hermione crossed to the Hufflepuff table and pulled Hannah aside to explain what was happening. When Hermione got back to the Gryffindor table, Ron, Harry and Ginny were all looking at her expectantly.

"I'll tell you later," she said, looking pointedly at the three first years.

She sat down to finish her breakfast and Claire immediately grabbed onto her hand and wouldn't let go. Hermione smiled at her.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else to eat?" she asked. Claire shook her head. Before Hermione could say anything else, there was a commotion outside the Great Hall. She saw Harry, Ron and Ginny draw their wands, even as Ron shifted on the bench to shield Hermione and the first years.

"Ma'am, please, just wait a minute," a male voice said.

"No! Where is she?" a woman's voice screeched. Hermione heard Claire mutter something, but Hermione's attention was fixed on the doorway to the Great Hall. The doors had been blown out during the Battle and had not been fixed yet. "Let me see her!" Claire muttered again and Hermione looked down at her.

"It's all right, Claire," she said thinking the girl was scared. David had turned to stare at Claire, his eyes wide.

"Please!" the woman shouted again.

"Mum," Claire whispered. Hermione glanced at Ron who had heard as well. He looked sadly at Hermione.

"Claire, it's," but Hermione was interrupted by a woman appearing. Her eyes wildly roved over everyone seated in the Great Hall.

"Mum," Claire said again, a bit louder this time.

"Claire!" the woman called. "Claire, where are you?" Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. She hadn't expected any of the first years' parents to have escaped the Death Eaters, as they were most likely to stay with their children while they went through the barrier to get to the train. Hermione figured it had been some of the older students' parents who hadn't accompanied them to the platform.

"Mum!" Claire shouted, standing from the bench. "Mummy!" She began to run and her mother, finally spotting her, dropped to her knees and held out her arms.

"Oh, Claire," the woman said, beginning to sob as Claire jumped into her embrace. They knelt there weeping as an Auror hurried toward them, trying to get them to move away from the Great Hall. Hermione felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down at David.

"Is my mum here too?" he asked. It was all she could do to keep from bursting into tears.

"We're not sure, mate," Ron said and Hermione looked at him gratefully. "Let's let the professors and the Aurors get it sorted, yeah?" David nodded solemnly. Hermione turned to Annie who was crying as well. She pulled the girl into her side, squeezing her tightly.

"It's all right," she said as the Auror finally got Claire and her mother to their feet. He led them away from the doorway and as soon as they were out of sight the Great Hall erupted. Many of the Muggle-borns stood, obviously intent on discovering whether their families were there as well. Some of them even began walking toward the door when Professor McGonagall appeared.

"Please," she called, holding up her hands for quiet. "Please, return to your breakfast."

"Is my mum here?" one girl called.

"How about my da?" another boy asked.

"I will let all of you know what is going on very shortly," the professor said. "Please be patient."

"Patient?" an older student said. "We've been in Azkaban for bloody months!" There was agreement amongst many of the students and grumbling which grew louder after just a few moments. The other professors were moving towards the students and trying to get them to sit down while Professor McGonagall stayed in the doorway to keep anyone from leaving. Breakfast had quickly descended into chaos. Not that Hermione could blame anyone.

"Hey!" Harry shouted as he jumped up on the bench. A few people looked his way, but most ignored him. Hermione drew her wand and cast a Sonorus charm on him.

"Listen!" Harry's voice boomed across the room and a few people screamed while most others drew wands and spun around towards him. "Sorry!" he said holding up his hands. Slowly, the room quieted and everyone looked at Harry.

"I know you all want to see your families," Harry said. "But we've got to give the Aurors and Professor McGonagall a few minutes to get everything settled. Not everyone is here today." There were protests and a few students started to cry. "It's going to take a bit of time to contact everyone," Harry continued. "The Ministry is doing their best, but they're stretched thin right now."

"Why'd they let us out then, if they weren't going to take us home?" a boy demanded.

"Would you have wanted to stay in Azkaban?" Harry countered. The boy grumbled but fell silent.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said. Hermione had almost forgotten she was there. Harry nodded to her and got down from the bench as Hermione cancelled the charm.

"I will return shortly," she told the room at large.

"Nice, Harry," Ron said with a smile. Harry glanced at Annie and David then looked at Hermione. She could read the regret in his expression. He knew he had just given most of the Muggle-born students false hope.

"Everything you said was true," she said, but Harry just shook his head. She couldn't blame him. Ron and Ginny pulled David into conversation about Quidditch and Hermione glanced down at Annie. Her head was hanging down and she was picking at a loose thread on the student robe she'd been given to wear.

"I don't think my mum and dad are here," she said quietly.

"Why not?" Hermione asked. Annie shrugged a shoulder.

"I think those people, those ones that wear the masks, got them." Hermione met Harry's gaze.

"What makes you say that, Annie?" Harry asked.

"When we were in that prison, I heard some of them talking. They came to the prison sometimes," she said looking up at Harry. He nodded. "It was right after we got there and they were talking about killing people. They laughed about how easy it was because they just followed them home from King's Cross. They said Muggles were so stupid they didn't even notice." Annie paused and looked up at Hermione with teary eyes. "Claire and David were asleep so they didn't hear. But I think they killed my mum and dad." Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying.

"We don't know that," she said. Annie just shrugged again and Hermione squeezed her shoulders. "Let's just wait and see what Professor McGonagall has to say."

They had all finished eating, but no one left, waiting for the professor to return. Hermione saw David glance at the entrance to the Great Hall every few seconds. Annie had burrowed into Hermione's side and hadn't spoken another word. The four friends tried to make small talk, but even that fell off after a few minutes. When Professor McGonagall returned, the entire Hall fell silent.

"When I call your name, please come forward," she said. Before she began with the list that was in her hand, she looked around at all the hopeful expressions on the student's faces. "Please remember what Mr. Potter said. Not everyone is here today, but that does not mean that they won't be tomorrow. Magical Law Enforcement is working to locate everyone's family." She looked down at the parchment in her hand and began to call names.

Hermione felt Annie shrink further into her the more names that were called. The hopeful, expectant expression slowly slid off David's face as the professor reached the last name on the list. He heaved a sigh when the Headmistress left the Hall with the small group of students.

"I knew it," he said.

"Don't give up hope yet," Hermione said softly. David just shrugged dejectedly. Hermione looked up at her friends, unsure what to do.

"Let's take them up to Gryffindor Tower," Ginny suggested. "We could play Exploding Snap." David looked at her warily. Ginny chuckled at his expression. "Don't worry, it's fun." Neither child looked like they wanted to go anywhere, but after a bit of coaxing from Hermione, they both got up and dutifully followed the group.

It took a bit of time, but eventually David was laughing as the cards exploded in Ron's face and even Annie cracked a smile.

"Do you have other games like this?" David asked.

"Do you know how to play chess?" Ron replied.

"A little," David said. "My mum's old boyfriend taught me last year."

"Let me find a set then," Ron said as he rose from the floor.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Hermione asked both children.

"I have a sister, but she doesn't live with us," Annie said. "She's married."

"How about you, David?"

"No, it's just me and Mum," he said. "My dad died when I was a baby."

"What about grandparents or aunt and uncles?" Harry asked. David shook his head.

"My mum's parents are dead and she didn't have any brothers or sisters," he said. "I don't know about my dad's side. I never met any of them and my mum's never talked about them." He shrugged. Ron reappeared with a chess set in hand.

"Ready?" he asked David.

"Is it like regular chess?" David asked.

"The rules are, yeah," Ron said. "But the pieces are a bit different." Ron began to set up the board and both David's and Annie's eyes widened when the pieces began to talk and argue amongst each other.

"They talk?" Annie exclaimed.

"They do more than that," Ron said with a grin. "Want to show them, Harry?"

"So you can trounce me as usual?" Harry grumbled good-naturedly.

"Best way to show them, isn't it?" Ron said cheekily.

"Git," Harry said with a glare. Ron just laughed. Both children jumped when one of Ron's pieces took out one of Harry's. But the grin returned to David's face moments later.

"Wicked," he said. Annie glanced up at Hermione in concern.

"I know, it's a bit barbaric, but it doesn't hurt them, I promise." Annie didn't look convinced. Before Hermione could say anything else, the portrait hole opened and Professor McGonagall stepped inside.

"Miss Granger," she greeted. "A word."

"Of course," Hermione said rising from the couch. She left Annie with Ginny and followed the professor outside.

"We've gotten more information about the rest of the families," the headmistress said without preamble. "And it is not good news."

"I was afraid of that," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Everyone that is not here today was either Obliviated or killed," Professor McGonagall said. "Both Annie's parents and David's mother are dead." Hermione couldn't help the tears that gathered. Professor McGonagall sighed deeply, looking close to tears herself. "Has either of them mentioned any other family?"

"Annie has a sister that's married," Hermione replied, wiping at her cheeks. "But David has no other family as far as he knows. His father died when he was a baby and he says his mother never talked about his father's side of the family." The professor nodded.

"I'll inform the Aurors of Annie's sister," she said. "They will likely want to speak to David to see if he has any other information. They've been working with the Muggle Prime Minister on locating family members, but we'll need names or anything else that might help."

"I should speak with them now," the professor said, moving to go back into the Common Room. Hermione put a hand on her arm.

"Can we wait?" Hermione asked. At Professor McGonagall's look, Hermione hurried on. "Just for a little while. We've just gotten them cheered up a bit and Ron is teaching them Wizard's chess. I just," she trailed off and shook her head, getting choked up. The professor put a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"It will not get any easier by putting it off," she said quietly. She gave Hermione's shoulder a squeeze and spoke the password before disappearing into the Common Room.

Hermione glanced toward the portrait hole, but it was only Ron. Professor McGonagall had taken Annie and David with her nearly an hour ago.

"Dad, Bill and Charlie are going to the house to see how it is," Ron informed them as he sat down on the couch next to Hermione. "Mum says as long as it's still standing, we'll go back after lunch."

"What did Dad say to that?" Ginny asked.

"He says they've got to get up some basic wards first and be sure everything is safe inside," Ron replied. "Probably not until after dinner, maybe not even until tomorrow." Ron looked at Harry and Hermione. "You two know that you're coming with us, right?" Harry nodded, but Hermione bit her lip and looked at Ron.

"I want to stay until Annie and David are taken care of," she said.

"Hermione, there are plenty of people that can watch over them," Ron said. Hermione shook her head.

"I don't feel right leaving them alone. They don't have anyone else right now."

"It could take days or weeks to find any of David's relatives, if they even find any at all," Ron protested.

"Let's just wait and see what Dad has to say," Ginny interrupted. "There's no use worrying about it now."

"You're right," Ron agreed. He glanced at Hermione. "They were getting ready to serve lunch. Are you hungry?"

"Not really, but I suppose we should try and eat something." Ron stood and held out a hand to her, pulling her up from the couch and leading her out of the Common Room. Harry and Ginny followed behind. They ran into Neville in the corridor.

"Coming to lunch?" Harry asked.

"No, I've got to go and get my trunk," Neville explained. "Gran and I were just at the house and everything seems to be all right so she wants to go home. I'll be back tomorrow though. Professor Sprout said that they're going to start repairs on the castle, so I volunteered to help."

"We should help too," Ginny said.

"If Mum will let us out of her sight once she's gotten us home," Ron said.

"Have any of you seen Luna?" Neville asked.

"Not since breakfast," Ginny replied. "I think Professor McGonagall gave her and her dad their own rooms."

"Well, if you see her at lunch, can you tell her I'm leaving but I'll be back?"

"Sure, Nev," Harry said. Once Neville had disappeared around the corner, Harry turned to the rest of them. "Why is Neville always looking for Luna?" Ginny and Hermione rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"What?" Harry said, but Ginny simply grabbed his arm and pulled him along behind them.

"There's Claire," Ron said, pointing with his fork towards the doorway. Hermione immediately stood and walked towards the younger girl and her mother.

"This is Hermione, Mum," Claire said.

"Thank you so much for looking after her," Claire's mother said. "I'm Sarah."

"It wasn't a problem," Hermione replied, shaking her hand. "I'm just glad you're together again." Sarah opened her mouth to say something, then looked down at her daughter. She glanced at Hermione again, worry on her face.

"Claire, have you had lunch?" Hermione asked the girl. Claire shook her head. "Why don't you go over and sit with Ron, Harry and Ginny?" Claire tightened her grip on her mother's hand.

"Just for a minute, sweetheart," her mother said. "I'll be right in, I promise." Claire looked at her mother and Hermione, then reluctantly let her mother go and walked towards the Gryffindor table. She glanced back twice on her way as if to make sure they were still there. Once she was finally seated, Sarah turned back to Hermione.

"I've heard that I'm one of the lucky ones," Sarah said.

"Yes," Hermione agreed sadly. "Do you know why?"

"No," the other woman said with a sigh. "All I can figure is that it was because of Claire's younger brother." Hermione looked at her quizzically.

"When we got to the barrier to the platform, my son balked. He didn't think there was any way we wouldn't just crash into the brick wall, even though the professor had explained that we would be fine if we were hanging onto Claire. He got scared and ran off. I let go of Claire to follow him, but she was already running towards the barrier and couldn't stop in time. She went through and we were stuck. We were late too, so there was only a few minutes until the train was supposed to leave. I waited for a bit to try and go through with someone else, but no one came. Once I knew the train had gone, I, I just left." She started to cry. "I left my daughter to be kidnapped and taken to prison."

"It wasn't your fault," Hermione said putting a hand on her arm. "If you'd gone through with her, you likely would have ended up like one of those other families." Sarah nodded.

"I was worried when I didn't hear from Claire right away. She had promised that she would write the first night. But I wasn't sure how long it took owls to travel with letters. After the third day with no news, I was positive something was wrong. My husband told me to be patient, that she was probably so excited it had just slipped her mind. After a week, I was frantic."

"The problem was there was no one to contact. I had no idea how to go about sending any kind of post here and we couldn't go to the police without exposing magic. Even if we had, they wouldn't have believed me." She gave a derisive snort. "I even went back to that pub we'd gone through to get Claire's things for school, but I couldn't find it. I knew where it was supposed to be, but it wasn't there."

"Claire wasn't with you," Hermione said. "It was her magic that made The Leaky Cauldron visible to you." Sarah nodded miserably.

"At Christmas, I went back to the train station. Students came out, of course, but Claire wasn't with them. I tried to speak to a few of them, but they ignored me." Hermione shuddered, realizing how lucky Sarah had been. If she had tried to speak to the wrong person, she likely wouldn't be here now.

"That's when I realized that she wasn't coming home." She broke down in tears again and Hermione put a comforting hand on her arm. "When that man showed up at the house this morning and told me that Claire was alive, I couldn't believe it." Before Hermione could say anything, there was movement behind them and Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall leading a small group of students towards the Great Hall. By the looks on their faces, Hermione guessed that they had been told about their parents.

"Hermione," David called. He pulled Annie with him and soon they both had their arms wrapped around Hermione's waist.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as they cried. She glanced up and saw Claire's mother, her hand covering her mouth and tears running down her cheeks.

"Mummy, are you-?" Claire stopped short when she saw her friends. "Annie? David?" They both looked up with tear-stained faces. "What's the matter?"

"My mum's dead," David said flatly.

"No," Claire whispered. She turned to Annie. "Yours too?" Annie nodded, her lip trembling. Claire threw herself at her friends and the three of them clung to each other. Professor McGonagall ushered the other students into the Great Hall.

"Any word?" Hermione asked quietly, while Claire's mother tried to comfort all three children.

"They have located Annie's sister," Professor McGonagall said. "One of the Aurors will bring Annie to her after lunch. There has been no luck with David's family." Hermione nodded.

"Mum," Claire said, looking up at her mother. "Can Annie and David come home with us?" Sarah looked from the three children to the professor and back again.

"Just a minute, sweetheart," she said to her daughter. Sarah pulled Professor McGonagall and Hermione aside.

"Is it true that David has no family?"

"None that we have been able to locate, but we're having problems establishing just who his father was," the professor replied.

"And Annie?"

"She has an older sister, but the girl is newly married and just nineteen," Professor McGonagall explained. "She buried her parents last fall and thought Annie had gone missing. After all these months, she assumed her sister was dead as well. It's been a bit of a shock."

"Let them come home with me," Sarah said.

"I don't know about that," Professor McGonagall said.

"Please," Sarah said. "They need support and comfort. I'll call Annie's sister and she can pick Annie up at my house if that's what she wants to do. Or she can let her stay with us for now. David can stay until you find his family, or forever if you don't. We've got plenty of room and all Claire has talked about are those two."

"They were imprisoned together for months, Professor," Hermione added. "I don't know if it would be a good idea to separate them right now."

"Yes, I suppose you are right," Professor McGonagall agreed. "I will inform Auror Dawlish. He has your contact information, yes?"

"Yes, he does."

"If it is all right with the children, then we will release them to you."

"Thank you," Sarah said gratefully. She turned toward her daughter and her friends with a smile.

"Thank you for watching over them, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said.

"No thanks needed, Professor. I was happy to do it." The professor patted her arm before walking back towards her office to inform the Aurors of the new developments.

"What do you think?" Sarah was asking.

"I don't have anywhere else to go," David said miserably. Sarah squatted down in front of him and took hold of his hand.

"You will always have a home with us, David," she said, tears shining in her eyes. "For as long as you want." David stared at Claire's mother for a moment before throwing his arms around her neck. Sarah hugged him tightly to her.

"Hermione?"

"Yes," Hermione said to Annie as the girl walked towards her. Annie threw her arms around Hermione's waist.

"Can I stay with you?" she asked in a small voice. Hermione closed her eyes and hugged the girl closer for a minute, then squatted down in front of her when she had calmed herself.

"I don't think that would work, Annie," she said. "I'm still a student and I don't have a home of my own right now." Annie looked dejectedly at the floor. "But Sarah would love for you to stay with her and I'm sure your sister is going to be so happy to know you're all right."

"She won't care," Annie mumbled.

"I'm sure that's not true, Annie." Hermione bit her lip. Annie hadn't spoken much about her sister, but what she had said led Hermione to believe that the older girl wasn't enamored with magic in the least. Hermione hoped that Annie's sister would just allow Annie to stay with Sarah and Claire.

"I'm going to miss you," Annie said, throwing her arms around Hermione's neck.

"I'll miss you too, Annie." There was a lump in Hermione's throat that she was having a hard time swallowing around.

"I'll miss you too," Claire said joining in the hug. David followed suit and the three of them clung to Hermione for a few minutes.

"Mum, can Hermione come and visit us?" Claire asked. Sarah smiled.

"Of course, she can. Let me give you our number." Sarah pulled a piece of paper and pen from her handbag and wrote down her phone number before handing it to Hermione.

"I'll definitely come see you this summer, all right?" The three children nodded.

"Come on, you three," Sarah said as she stood. "We need to find the professor so we can go home." She turned to Hermione and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you again."

"You're welcome," Hermione said. "If you need anything, anything at all, please let me know. The Aurors will be giving you a way to contact them and they can always find me." Sarah nodded and Hermione hugged each of the children one more time before they followed Sarah back towards the staff room.

"All right?" Ron asked from behind her.

"I hope so," Hermione said. "It's not going to be easy for any of them."

"Or any of us," Ron said.

"No," Hermione agreed with a sigh.

Remus stood in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. He wasn't overly fond of the stuff, but after the night he'd had, he needed something stronger than tea. He had finally managed to drift off again shortly before dawn but been awoken a short time later by yet another nightmare. He had barely had time to fully wake before Teddy was crying. Remus had just gotten the baby back to sleep a few minutes before.

"Good morning," Andromeda said quietly as she entered the room.

"Andromeda," Remus acknowledged.

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet. I just got Teddy back to sleep."

"I'll fix you something," she said and moved toward the stove.

"That's not necessary," Remus protested. "I can fix something myself."

"It's no bother," Andromeda said.

"Andromeda-" Remus began, but she cut him off as she turned back towards him.

"It keeps me busy," she said. "It…helps." Remus couldn't speak for a moment. He swallowed thickly and nodded.

"All right."

"I'm sorry I didn't hear Teddy this morning," she said as she busied herself with eggs and sausage.

"It's all right, I was awake anyway." Andromeda turned to him in concern.

"Another nightmare?" He nodded. "I have some Dreamless Sleep." Remus shook his head.

"No, I'll be fine," he said.

"Remus," Andromeda protested but he shook his head again.

"I'll be fine, Andromeda." She sighed and turned back to the breakfast. She worked in silence for a few minutes before Remus spoke again.

"Have you decided? About the service?" She stiffened for a moment before forcing herself to relax.

"I thought Wednesday," she said as she cracked eggs into a bowl. "It will give us a few days to prepare and still be long enough before the full moon."

"All right," Remus agreed.

"And perhaps, perhaps we can do as you suggested and have a joint service for Ted as well."

"That sounds like a good idea." Andromeda nodded and continued with breakfast preparations. Remus watched her for a few moments, but except for the hard set of her shoulders, she looked the same as she always did. Looks, however, could be deceiving as he well knew. Still, Remus knew better than to ask her about it. Their shared grief the night before notwithstanding, Andromeda was a very private person.

"How was Teddy this morning?" she asked.

"A bit restless," Remus said. "He wasn't inclined to take the bottle at first, but he settled down after a few minutes." Andromeda simply nodded. Remus knew that even as young as he was, Teddy could sense the sadness around the two of them.

"I expect we'll have a bit more trouble with that in the next few days," she said.

"Probably," Remus agreed. Andromeda brought two plates to the table and they fell silent as they ate. Remus noticed that she did little but pick at her food. He didn't say anything, not eating much more himself. He knew he needed to, for Teddy, but the rock that currently sat in his stomach left little room for food. He finally pushed his plate away.

"I'm going to get cleaned up," he said. Andromeda nodded absently, still moving her eggs around her plate. Remus sighed and turned to make his way upstairs to the loo. He wasn't sure how they were going to make it through this. But somehow, they had to, for Teddy's sake.