August 14th

Antonin was in no rush to return to the outside world once he was settled back in Augustus' house. After the conversation the married couple had in the late hours of the night he returned, a peace had fallen over their family. Hermione was glad to find that he wasn't tempted to leave the next morning. It had been his pattern. An entire day passed where no one, except for Augustus claiming he had an errand when really Hermione suspected he was just trying to give the Dolohovs some time alone, left. Though very little happened, there was comfort in being together.

Midway through August, only two and a half weeks away from the expected start of term for Hogwarts, the four inhabitants sat down for a lavish breakfast prepared by Antonin. With little else to do to occupy his time, he'd once again taken the domestic duties in the kitchen away from his wife. No one complained. There were still awkward moments here and there, but for the most part, they had all figured out an effective way to live with each other. At the very least Hermione was no longer asking her husband every few minutes when they could leave.

"Have you any plans to get out today?"

The question was out of Hermione's mouth before she could stop herself from speaking the words. It reeked of desperation. She didn't want to actually encourage her husband to believe that she couldn't bear to be apart from him when he left. Yes, she'd admitted that she was no longer entertaining running away alone, but that didn't mean she wanted to give him false hope. Their marriage was improving every day, little by little. That still didn't mean what Antonin wanted it to mean. After years of her brain and emotions being manipulated by potions and spells, she wasn't ready to make any serious decisions about what kind of future they might have together.

"No, I thought I'd stay in today. Hogwarts will be starting soon. We should be careful not to waste the time we still have with Ollie."

She appreciated that he didn't make a big deal out of the slip of her tongue. Or maybe she was the one that was making a big deal out nothing. It was just a question after all. She didn't fall to her knees and profess her undying love to the man she'd been married to for over a decade. It would take her some time to relearn how to navigate the potential awkwardness and anxiety of socialization without the crutch of her potions.

Oliver's fork stabbed at his eggs, the clink of the tines hitting the plate enough to pull Hermione out of her thoughts. Rarely did her son ever act out in anger when there was an audience. Either Augustus was quickly becoming considered a member of the family or he was just that upset. She met her husband's concerned eyes across the table.

"Afraid your eggs are going to jump off your plate, Ollie?"

Only Augustus could find the humor in their son's actions. Maybe he didn't realize that Oliver was angry. Or perhaps more likely, he understood perfectly but his personal experience with his own three sons meant that he wasn't impressed. The former Unspeakable laughed his loud belly laugh when he saw the young wizard glare in his direction. Since their conversation days after they first arrived when they thought they were alone in the kitchen, Augustus and Oliver had developed a good relationship. Sometimes Hermione thought that despite being the oldest person in the house, Augustus was just an overgrown child. She assumed that was why they were able to make each other laugh.

"What's wrong, Ollie?"

"Nothing, Papa."

He had many lessons to learn from his parents on how to veil his true feelings and emotions. Every cell in his growing body seemed to scream out that he was angry. Hermione didn't even have the first clue what it could've possibly been about. Breakfast had been perfectly pleasant up until the moment Antonin mentioned Hogwarts. She sighed, understanding at least some of what had their son so upset.

"Are you concerned that you won't be able to go to Hogwarts?"

The sagging of his little shoulders informed her that her guess was correct. All at once she felt guilty that she hadn't even considered how worried he might have been about that. Stuck inside a home that wasn't his, Oliver probably was afraid that he wouldn't be able to go back to school where his friends were. From all reports and witnessing with her own eyes, he thrived at Hogwarts.

"I've already explained this to you, Ollie. You will be going back to Hogwarts on September 1st with everyone else."

"I'm not stupid, Papa. I know we're not safe outside of this house. And if they find out we're here, we won't be safe here either."

Clearing his throat softly, Augustus rose to his feet. He didn't even bother to make an excuse to leave the small family alone. Slipping quietly down the corridor to his bedroom, he gave them the privacy they required. Hermione was grateful. Sometimes it was hard enough feeling like an actual family when they weren't even living inside their own home.

"There's a truce. It has already been settled that no one will be harmed on September 1st. Not at King's Cross station. Not on the Hogwarts Express. Certainly not at Hogwarts itself."

"And did everyone agree to this truce?"

Their son was too smart and too paranoid for his own good, but Hermione couldn't disagree with him. It was a big gamble to just accept that September 1st would indeed be a day of peace. Even more of a gamble to believe that the students wouldn't be harmed at Hogwarts. Twenty years might have come and gone since the last war. That didn't mean she couldn't still remember how the students at the castle were often used against their parents. Luna Lovegood was removed from the Hogwarts Express and kept in the cellar at Malfoy Manor to ensure that her father stopped printing pro-Harry Potter articles in his magazine. They would be foolish to believe that it wasn't within the realm of possibilities that the same would happen again. If Rodolphus wanted to lure Hermione out of hiding, he wouldn't hesitate to use her son.

"I give you my word, son. You will be on the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. You don't need to keep worrying about that."

Oliver was skeptical. So was his mother. Deciding that he was done having the uncomfortable conversation with his parents, he set his fork down on his plate and got up from the table without asking for permission. Neither of them stopped him. They understood all too well what it was like to feel like they were at the end of their tether. He needed some time to calm down. Unfortunately for him, their son inherited a number of their least attractive personality traits. His parents sat in silence listening to him stomp up the wooden stairs to his attic bedroom, breaking it only when they heard the slam of his door.

"I'm worried about it too, Antonin. Just like he said, not everyone agreed to the truce."

"Honestly? I'm concerned too, but I'm more concerned about him not being at the castle. I've spoken at length with Temeritus. With the Dark Lord gone, his number one priority is the safety of his students. He's assured me that he will not allow any violence on the school grounds or in the castle. The other professors are aiding him in ensuring they remain safe."

"I went to school during the war. It wasn't always safe."

"I know, but consider the alternative. We can't stay in Gus' house forever. You and I both know this is only temporary. We can't return to our house. Not until everything has been settled and we're no longer in danger. Hogwarts is the best place for him."

She hoped he was right. Once upon a time she believed that she was perfectly safe within the walls of the ancient, formidable castle. But then somehow Lord Voldemort made his way into the corridors attached to the back of a professor's head. He almost killed Harry. And that was, of course, forgetting the fact that she was almost crushed by a mountain troll in a lavatory earlier that school year. Her second year she was almost killed by a basilisk for no other reason than she had Muggles for parents and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was almost mauled by a werewolf the next year…

The more she considered her own school years, the more she decided that Hogwarts was in fact not the place she wanted to take her son. Did other wizarding schools have to deal with the same insanities that Hogwarts did? She always meant to ask Viktor about Durmstrang, but their time alone was usually spent otherwise occupied in more enjoyable ways.

"Then I suppose all we can do is trust that Headmaster Mulciber can make good on his promises and we have to end this, Antonin. Either we fight the war that's coming or we run. This sitting around waiting is maddening. I can't bear it anymore."

"I know, and you've been very patient. It's just not a good time right now."

As much as she truly didn't want to be involved in the planning and fighting of another war, being actively excluded from one that affected her so deeply was even worse. She was weary of Antonin patronizing her so. Hadn't she proven that she was capable of taking care of herself? She wasn't some weakling.

"You are infuriating. I'm not a child, but yet, you speak to me just like you do our son."

Antonin clenched his jaw, unable to deny her accusations, but still upset by them. She didn't want him to just brush her concerns aside. Either she needed to be given the chance to leave their country behind for good or she needed to at least be kept informed. Trying to 'protect' her from the truth wasn't helping anyone.

"Do you really think that you are still able to do what is necessary to survive, Hermione? Think about it. I know you think I'm coddling you or infantilizing you or whatever intellectual term you want to use for it, but I'm not. You are not the same person you used to be. You are not the cold and ruthless fighter that you were. Something changed in you. Did you find it easy to kill Nott? Because I watched you when you came home that day. For days, you were sick, not yourself. Can you honestly tell me that if you had to kill someone again, you would be all right?"

"Nott was an evil man. Killing him wasn't hard."

"Yes, he was evil. He was wretched and nasty and no one alive mourned him when you killed him. He would've killed you given half a chance. And yet, you still struggled. Don't deny it. I know you. What's going to happen out there, Hermione, isn't good versus evil. It's not light versus dark. It's going to be a bloody civil war. Good people are going to try to kill you if you get involved. Not just bad. Do you really believe you could dirty your hands with blood again?"

She didn't know what to say.

"I will protect you and our son with the last drop of blood in my body. I am not afraid to kill or maim or kidnap or do all of the horrible tasks that must be done to make certain my family gets through this in the end. If that means I have to keep the truth from you to keep you from running out there and trying to be brave and foolish before you are ready, then I will. You may never be that warrior again, Hermione. That's all right. Let me be it for you."