Seventh Year, Part 2, 1997
It broke her heart to say goodbye to Lucius, but she told herself that the sooner they found a way to end Voldemort, the sooner she could return to her lover, for good. What exactly she was going to do about the existence of one Narcissa Malfoy, Hermione really did not know, but just as she had all morally dubious deeds since she fell for Lucius, she decided that his wife really did not matter. If Lucius being married before the end of the war did not prevent them from being together than neither would it after the war. They would simply find a way to make it work. It was unlike her to shrug off a problem as big as her lover's marital status, but with war looming, she had more pressing concerns.
She went on the run with Harry and Ron sooner than expected, when Death Eaters crashed Bill and Fleur Weasley's wedding reception. She thought she recognised Lucius's mask in the chaos, but Harry apparated them away before she could be certain. Luckily she had her beaded bag on her at the wedding. She'd taken to carrying it everywhere, as it contained everything she thought they might need on the horcrux hunt all tucked into the bag, courtesy of undetectable extension and lightweight charms Lucius helped her perfect.
They moved into Grimmauld Place, which Sirius had abandoned following Dumbledore's death. Once the headmaster was gone, Harry's godfather had felt free to escape the prison of his childhood and live elsewhere. He'd moved into what Harry said was a small cottage in the Cotswalds, a place that now served as the de facto Order headquarters. Grimmauld Place had been abandoned by the light, making it an ideal place for them to hide. Sirius had left Kreacher behind at Grimmauld, which made both happier, although the grizzled old elf was rather put out at the idea of 'blood traitors and mudbloods' in the house again when the trio set up residence there.
Hunting for horcruxes turned out to be far more tedious and dull than any of them had expected. Voldemort's forces seized control of the Ministry that summer, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione now had high prices on their heads as 'undesirables.' They were unable to set foot outside of Grimmauld Place without use of polyjuice or heavy glamour charms. They saw scant little of other members of the Order, most of whom were busy with their own battles.
Sirius, despite his tremendous dislike for Grimmauld Place, visited them on a semi-regular basis and acted as a quasi-official link between the trio and the Order. He was more than a bit put out by Harry's unwillingness to tell him what the trio had planned. Harry would only say that they had a mission from Dumbledore that would help them end Voldemort.
It took a great deal of back and forth between Harry, Hermione, and Ron, but Harry did finally
confide in his godfather about the need to find the locket and the mysterious R.A.B., and it was Sirius who figured out that his own deceased brother, Regulus Arcturus Black, had hidden the real locket. Thanks to Sirius's help, the trio discovered that the locket had been in Grimmauld Place this entire time, held in trust by Kreacher, who was still deeply loyal to "Master Regulus." However, this early success quickly turned to frustration when she, Ron, and Harry realised they had no way to destroy the cursed necklace. Still, they were making progress. She tried to keep focused on that.
The highlights of this time period were the all too brief messages she shared with Lucius through her bracelet, almost always exchanged late at night. The tidbits of information he passed on to her about new rules coming down from the Ministry were frightening, particularly given how much they reminded her of Nazi Germany. The very idea that a muggleborn baby could somehow 'steal' magic from a pureblood child, thus rendering that individual a squib was so blatantly absurd. She was utterly horrified that otherwise rational people could believe such nonsense. It was perhaps for the best that she was hidden away at Grimmauld Place, for she doubted she could have kept quiet in public in the face of such ignorance and injustice.
~oOo~
For more than a year following that fateful day in the Ministry when she'd handed Lucius the prophecy, the two had danced metaphorically around the war and the roles they would play in it. She knew that Lucius, a consummate Slytherin, would do what he had to survive and to protect his son and her, but she'd held out hope that if she extended an olive branch to him, an opportunity to help the light, he would take it. Given their agreement that he would share what information he could, she began to lay the groundwork with Sirius, telling him that she had a contact who was connected to someone close to Voldemort's inner circle, and that she was hopeful this anonymous person would be able to pass information to her.
She was overjoyed one sweltering August night when Lucius messaged her through the bracelet to let her know about an upcoming Death Eater attack on a wizarding village in Surrey.
This was it! It was the move she'd been waiting for! He'd gone from helping her indirectly by providing training and education to helping her directly by sharing covert information!
"You need to contact Sirius, using the mirror," Hermione said as she came up behind Harry in the kitchen, her presence startling him and making him spill his tea.
"What? Why?" he asked, giving her an annoyed glance as he mopped up the tea he'd spilt on his shirt.
"I have news that he needs!" She knew Harry was staring at her with more than a little bit of concern, and she couldn't blame him really, not when she knew she was standing there with an absurdly maniacal grin on her face. She was so happy about Lucius's direct action to aid Harry and the Light that she couldn't contain her excitement.
"What? What news?" he asked.
"Just contact him, and I'll tell you both together," she said impatiently, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from his tea.
Ron had fallen asleep on the sofa and was snoring lightly, so rather than wake him, she and Harry quietly made their way upstairs and used his magical handheld mirror to reach out to Sirius.
"How's my favorite godson?" Sirius's twinkling eyes and broad smile filled the small mirror.
"I'm your only godson," Harry said wryly.
"Thus far, pup. Thus far. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, um, Hermione asked me to call you. I honestly don't know why," Harry admitted sheepishly, running his fingers through his messy black hair.
She reached over and took the mirror from Harry.
"Sirius, I need you to get the Order together. There's going to be a Death Eater attack on the wizarding village near Farnham on Wednesday night."
At once Sirius's expression turned, well, serious.
"Where did you hear that?" he asked in a low voice.
"I...I can't say."
"Hermione."
"No, I mean it. I have a source, someone I've been working with discreetly for some time now, and this person is finally willing to share information we can use. This could save lives!" she insisted.
"Or risk lives if they're wrong or if it's a trap," Harry pointed out.
"It's not a trap."
"You can't be sure of that," Sirius replied.
"I am. I...I would trust this person with my life," she said carefully, ignoring the gobsmacked expression on Harry's face.
"Hermione, you've got to give me more to go on than 'Hermione Granger says it's so,'" Sirius said. "I don't know that that's going to be the most compelling argument before the Order."
"The Order," Harry scoffed. "You and I both know the Order is in disarray now that Dumbledore's gone."
"Sirius, please! You have to believe me!" she insisted before the conversation could devolve into a debate about Order politics. "A team of Death Eaters is going to target the village on Wednesday night. There's an apothecary there that supplies potions to St. Mungo's and has been slipping needed potions to some of the Order members. They're going to kill the owner and burn the apothecary to the ground."
Harry's godfather swore under his breath, confirming for Hermione that the apothecary was indeed an important resource. "Okay. I'll talk to Remus, Kingsley, and the others, and I'll see what we can do."
"We'll help you," Harry said immediately.
"No, you won't!" Sirius said firmly. "I don't know what your mission is, but if it came from Dumbledore, if it's vital to ending Voldemort, then you need to stay focused on that. That goes for all three of you? Do you understand me? If this information is correct, if there's truly to be an attack in Farnham, I don't want to see any of you there. Understood?"
They both mumbled a yes before Sirius cut off the connection to their call.
Harry had a queer expression on his face.
"What is it?" she asked.
"That...that tone of voice he took at the end. He almost sounded like, like a dad," he said, a hint of wonder in his own voice.
"He loves you, Harry, and he was meant to raise you. It's what your parents wanted. It's a good thing he sounds like a dad. Besides, he's right: our job is to find the rest of the horcruxes."
He tucked the mirror back into his trunk and frowned at her.
"Where did you get this information about the attack near Farnham?" he asked.
"I really can't say," she said firmly.
"Not even to me?"
The hurt look on his face twisted at her heartstrings.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I made contact with someone who has information, and it's, well, it wasn't planned the way it happened, but I've spent a long time getting this person to trust me, and I can't betray that trust now."
He looked distinctly unhappy with her.
"You're certain it's not a trap?"
"As certain as I can be," she replied in a hushed voice. Now she just had to hope and pray that Lucius's information was correct.
~oOo~
Harry had relayed the word of a possible attack in Farnham to Ron, and as Wednesday night turned into Thursday, she, Harry, and Ron waited near the mirror for a response from Sirius. Hermione was agitated all evening, filled with nervous energy.
Would the Order show up? Would the Death Eaters? Lucius had told her of the planned attack, but plans could change. If something happened at the last minute to prevent the Death Eaters from showing up, how was she to get the Order to trust her again with any news?
Would Lucius be there? She wanted to cringe at the thought of her friends and allies in the Order firing on her lover. Lucius valued self-preservation, she reminded herself. Surely he would not risk capture or injury on this night.
She knew Harry and Ron were watching her and were a bit confused about her level of anxiety, and she tried to remain as calm as possible, despite her fears. Waiting was such agony.
They eventually all drifted off to sleep in the parlor, with no word about the possible Death Eater attack.
The sun was still rising when the sound of the floo jerked Hermione from sleep. They'd charmed the fireplace to only permit certain people to even call, and only Sirius could come through the floo and only then from his cottage. She awkwardly pushed herself into a sitting position as a bedraggled looking Sirius stumbled out of the fireplace, his hair wild and his face tinged with soot.
"Sirius! What happened? Are you okay?" Harry asked as he leapt from the sofa.
Sirius held up his hands in a gesture meant to calm the trio before engulfing Harry in a hug.
"I'm fine. A little bit worse for wear, but nothing compared to how I looked after Azkaban," he said reassuredly as he ruffled Harry's hair.
He turned to Hermione then. "Good job, kiddo. I don't know who your source is, but they were absolutely right."
"So the Death Eaters did attack?" she asked breathlessly as she stood as well.
He flopped down on the sofa and yelled at Kreacher to bring him a butterbeer, immediately. Hermione cringed at the harsh tone Harry's godfather used with the elderly elf. Kreacher did as he was ordered, but he grumbled the whole time about the filthy blood traitors and mudblood "defiling the home of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."
"Yes. Moody, Remus, and I took a small team in," Sirius said. "We warned the apothecary owner ahead of time, and he brought in a few other wizards to help defend the place. Those bastards in black didn't know what hit them."
Hermione swallowed the bile in her throat at the thought of Harry's godfather firing curses at Lucius. Had he been there that night? Was he safe?
"Several of them got away, but we captured Rodolphus Lestrange. A wizard we're pretty sure was Antonin Dolohov died as well," Sirius said after a long sip of his drink.
"Dolohov!" Harry exclaimed.
"Nasty bastard, that one," Sirius said with a sigh.
"He was at the Department of Mysteries!" Ron exclaimed.
"Yes, he was the one who wanted to kill everyone but me," Harry said darkly. "Good riddance."
Hermione's eyes widened at Harry's statement. He'd always been firmly in the light and not one to wish death on others, so she wondered if Dumbledore's death and Snape's defection had toughened Harry to the realities of war. She did not like the idea of killing anyone, but if it meant protecting herself or Harry or Lucius, she was willing to use whatever means necessary.
Sirius gulped his butterbeer. "Unfortunately he managed to wound Moody before we took him down."
"Is he alright?" Ron asked.
"That tough old bastard? He'll be out of the line of fire for some time, but he's too mean to die," Sirius said with a bit of a snort. "Tonks was trying to drag him out of the line of fire to portkey him to St. Mungo's, and he was yelling at her the whole time that he wasn't about to leave a battle before it was over."
Hermione could certainly picture it.
"Did we lose anyone?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No. It was obvious the Death Eaters weren't expecting much in the way of resistance when they showed up. There were some curses, some burns - they did set fire to part of the building, but we got it put out before it did too much damage. We were able to erect new wards around the apothecary too, in case they come back for it. Listen, I can't stay long - we've got to figure out what to do with Lestrange - but I knew you'd worry, so I wanted to come by personally."
"I appreciate it," Harry said.
"What do you mean what to do with Lestrange?" she asked. She hated to admit that her automatic thought was that when you captured the bad guys, you called the Aurors, and the bad guys went to jail, end of story.
"With Voldemort's puppet minister in place, there's not much reason to turn Lestrange over to the Ministry. Voldemort's already broken Lestrange and others out of Azkaban, so there doesn't seem much point in sending him back."
"Off him," Ron said quickly.
She stared at him in shock.
"What?" Ron shrugged. "S'not like he'd offer you any kindness if he caught you."
Sirius sighed. "Unfortunately he's right - about how he'd treat you, not about killing prisoners of war. We can't risk letting him escape, and we don't exactly have a prison as secure as Azkaban used to be."
He looked around the room and the three teenagers, at the concerned look on Harry's face and the thoughtful expression on Hermione's. "Look, don't worry about Lestrange. Let the rest of the Order worry about some of this stuff. You focus on whatever it is you have to do with that necklace and whatever else your mission is. And Hermione, if there's anything else your source can share with you, please let me know right away."
"I will," she promised.
He finished his butterbeer and then hugged Harry before departing, leaving the trio alone again.
The room was silent for a long moment before Harry offered her a lopsided grin. "Well. That went better than I expected."
"Who's your source?" Ron asked sharply before she could respond to Harry.
Hermione folded her arms across her chest. "I've told you, Ron, I am not at liberty to share that information."
"Someone in the know enough so share information that let us take out Dolohov and Lestrange is helping you, and I want to know who it is! How is someone getting information to you?" he challenged.
She rolled her eyes in response. "And I've told you that I cannot - will not - compromise my source. What happened in Farnham is proof that we have a person on the inside who is willing to help us. Let it go at that, Ron."
He let go of it for the time being, but Hermione knew the matter was far from settled.
~oOo~
This chapter is a little bit shorter, but I had it ready and didn't want to wait to post it. Seventh Year has been both fun and extremely challenging for me to write – it has far more action/fighting than the rest of the story, and I've had to think long and hard about how the horcrux hunt might go with Sirius alive and with Lucius sharing bit and pieces of information with Hermione. I'm still writing seventh year, and I'm pretty nervous about getting it right. I really appreciate all of your feedback – the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between. Thank you for reading!
-Elle