It had taken Hermione less than a week to decide to write to Herido. Of course, the long distance made letter writing a little impractical and after her first letter he had given his email address and they now spoke many times a day.
Hermione was like a black hole, taking all the information in that she could and constantly hungering for more. Trying to satisfy her curiosity was tiring Heri out. He couldn't help but admire her tenacity.
At first he had started fairly light, simply explaining that there was no true difference between what the British Ministry had labelled dark and light magic. She had thrown at him every argument she could think of to the contrary, arguments he knew came straight out of books. He strictly stayed on the topic of wand magic. This girl was still young and impressionable, and if she turned out the way he hoped, he could teach her more in the years to come, but he doubted she would be comfortable discussing sacrificial magic any time soon. The Addams magic was to stay strictly in the family, but there were basic blood magics he could teach her, as well as the supposedly dark wand magic that his mother was teaching him. Before he could do that though, he had to make sure she was ready, and after only a few weeks of correspondence, he knew she wasn't. She had unfortunately been raised with muggle fairy tales and still believed in the ridiculous notion of good and evil.
He invited her to stay with him for a weekend. He hoped that a little exposure to the Addams house, which was heavily saturated with 'dark' magic, would sooth her core and make her a little more open to the ideas he was expounding.
This is how it came about that Gomez, Morticia and Herido stood before a nondescript detached house on a plain street in England. Morticia shuddered.
"Are you sure this is the place, darling?" She asked her son. She wondered if she had failed him somehow. She hadn't noticed any change in his behaviour recently, but if he was associating with people of this sort, he needed help.
"It is. Don't forget, Hermione is new to our world mother." He reassured her and she took a deep breath.
"Yes, of course. Poor child. We must be understanding." She nodded to herself and took her husband's arm. "Shall we?"
Gomez looked as though he wanted to object, but led his family to the door and tried to school his features as they waited to meet the occupants. He loved his children dearly, but sometimes their interests and side projects worried him. Why couldn't his son stay home, safe in the graveyard, enjoying a warm cup of henbane and preparing his victims for the upcoming ritual for the new school year like any normal child? The sacrifices he made for his children! He was nothing if not a supportive father.
Roy and Helen Granger were preparing to meet the parents of their daughter's new friend. Hermione had been excited all week about the visit, but they were concerned.
Their daughter hadn't been herself lately. It was as though her world had shifted and although she still gave them bright smiles, they could see that she was struggling with something. They wanted to chalk it all up to this new world of magic they'd been exposed to, but they couldn't help notice the change had occurred after she'd formed a friendship with a young wizard called Herido. They would be deeply uncomfortable allowing Hermione to stay with someone they'd never met, but add that to the fact they were taking her away to America, where she'd be in a world that she knew so little about, with no one there to help her if she needed it, and even now, minutes before the meeting, they were unsure they would be able to let her go. They couldn't deny that she was determined to go though, and could see that this could be a marvellous opportunity and experience for their young child. After all, she'd never been to America before and a little exposure to her new world could only be beneficial.
Oh, why couldn't their daughter stay home, safe in her room, with a mug of hot chocolate, studying for the new school year like any normal child? They shared a brief look and took a determined breath as the doorbell rang. This world was as new to Hermione as it was to them and they would be supportive parents.
All the parents stood staring at each other for a full 4 seconds before Helen invited the other family inside. She watched as the woman seemed to glide into her home. She was obviously terribly depressed and they only hoped she wasn't influencing Hermione. Was that the reason for the recent change of behaviour? Thankfully the father seemed much more normal. He greeted them with a bright smile and enthusiastic handshakes and was dressed in a very smart suit. The boy also seemed acceptable. He was charming and polite and although Hermione hadn't mentioned it, they obviously had money. That didn't really matter, of course, but it was nice to know their daughter would be taken care of.
Herido greeted Hermione warmly and tried not to laugh as she stammered and chatted through the introductions. She must have been dreadfully uncomfortable.
Hermione, herself was a little taken aback when she saw Mrs Addams. From the things he'd mentioned in his emails, she knew his family was a tad eccentric, but Herido hadn't mentioned anything about his mother being a Goth. She only hoped it didn't affect her parents allowing her to go. They were usually very accepting of people and their lifestyle choices, but she could tell that they were still on the fence about letting her go at all and thought something silly like this might make them change their minds.
They all settled down in the living room and fell into pleasant enough small talk. When Mrs Granger offered tea with milk and sugar, the Addams' shared a look, but were too polite to say anything.
Soon enough things got more comfortable and Morticia and Gomez were subjected to a relentless interrogation. Where exactly would Hermione be staying? Who else would be there? Was it a safe neighbourhood? Were they near a hospital and what were the police like in America? Would their daughter be able to contact them any time she wanted to? Was their house safe for someone who wasn't used to magic around the home? The questions seemed endless and Mrs Granger seemed a little demented in her intensity. Morticia was glad to see that she had misjudged the woman. She reminded herself that you can't condemn a person based on their light and airy home. This was probably all the poor dears could afford.
The Grangers were relieved to hear that the Addams' had excellent phone coverage and the best broadband available, and that additionally, should there be a power-cut or the like, they had many magical methods of communication that Hermione could use if she so wished. They did have quite a full house, but they were assured that most of the people staying there were family and that the rest where people who had been in their employ for many years and were all very well mannered. There wasn't a hospital in the neighbourhood, but Gomez assured them that wizards could travel great distances in no time at all and that their Grandmamma was a doctor, so their daughter would be in safe hands. They were also glad to hear that the family was on a first name basis with the local police. They could only assume it was a very safe and friendly neighbourhood.
Morticia was glad to see her vague answer regarding the girl's safety around magic had gone unnoticed. 'Safe' was such a relative term after all.
In the end the Grangers were happy with their daughter's safety. They found the Addams' a bit odd, but all the wizards they had met so far were a bit odd.
Heri thought the meeting had gone swimmingly.
As soon as Hermione felt solid ground beneath her feet once more, she wretched and was violently sick. She couldn't even think of how embarrassing it was, all she could think was that she had never felt this poorly her whole life. She felt like she was dying.
After she'd stopped heaving, she felt a hand on her back and looked up to see Heri standing there with a slightly lopsided smile. He was laughing at her! She scowled and straightened up.
"You could have warned me!" She stated, deciding that she shouldn't be embarrassed. She'd never done this before. His smile just grew.
"I could have." He replied in a sly tone that made her smack him hard on the arm. Then he did laugh and Hermione couldn't help but join in. This new world was crazy and sometimes all you can do is laugh.
Her laughter died a bit when she looked around. Before them stood what Heri informed her was his home, but he'd mentioned in his emails that magic had made his home basically indestructible and the mansion in front of her looked worryingly fragile. She shook it off and cleared her head. Since she'd received her Hogwarts letter it had been one strange and impossible thing after another and she had decided to just accept what her eyes told her was real. For now. She would find out how everything worked eventually, but knew she was just going to have to get used to a lot of things she didn't understand before school started.
They got Hermione settled into a guest room and then set off for a tour of the house. It occurred to her that Mrs Addams must have decorated, and even though Heri said they had servants, she assumed they were too few in number or simply incompetent. The Addams' must have been short on money nowadays…
The house was fascinating though. There were so many odd and often gruesome artefacts and decorations, each of which had its own story – each of which seemed less likely than the last, but each of which Hermione was inclined to believe.
She started when a terrible scream rang throughout the house.
"It's ok. That's just the doorbell." Herido reassured, but she was beginning to think that Mrs Addams needed help; she was far too dedicated. She tried to laugh it off.
"That's an interesting sound effect. Who is it?" She joked. He looked thoughtful for a moment.
"You know, I'm not sure. Uncle Fester connects it to someone different ever so often." He sounded sincere, but he just couldn't be.
"You're joking, of course." She said, hoping he would confirm it. However he wasn't the one who replied.
"We never joke." Came the cold female voice from behind her. She spun round, only to be greeted with the sharp end of a dagger an inch from her face and aimed between her eyes. It took a second to realise Herido's arms were around her shoulders and he was holding the blade between his palms… Had he just CAUGHT that? Hermione was sure her heart was beating faster than it was meant to. She'd only been here an hour or so and this was the second time she felt like she was going to die. Perhaps she nearly had. Perhaps coming here was a mistake after all. She had been prepared for eccentricity, what with Heri's stories and sadistic sense of humour, but this was plain madness.
"Hermione let me introduce you to my darling sister, Wednesday. She isn't usually this rude." He said as he lowered his arms and stepped beside her.
"I was only playing." Wednesday could see that he was chastising her for trying to steal someone else's kill.
"Playing?" Hermione came back to her senses and glared at the girl. "Are you insane? You can't go around throwing knives at people! You could have killed me!"
"If I was trying to kill you, you'd be dead." Wednesday thought she was being reassuring, but the new girl just intensified her glare. "I like her." She declared and proceeded to introduce herself in the more conventional way.
After that, Wednesday joined them on the tour and fell into the conversation easily enough, though Hermione kept a constant eye on her and used an altogether harsher tone than she used with Heri.
Halfway down one hallway, they came across a door that was at least half the normal size. Hermione couldn't decide whether she even wanted to know anymore and instead asked the question that had bothered her since she'd arrived.
"Heri, you said that the house is practically indestructible?" At his quiet 'hmm' she continued. "Well, it's just that it doesn't seem at all sturdy to me." They stopped walking.
"Really?" He sounded confused. She could only watch in horror as he pulled a stick of dynamite from an inside pocket, lit it with just his finger and thumb and then casually tossed it behind him. The whole house shook and Hermione brought up her arms to protect her head from the flying debris. Was this near-death number three?
As the dust cleared, she barely looked at the remains of the side cabinet and priceless antique trinkets that were scattered about. Her attention was on the walls – walls that looked exactly as they did a moment before. There weren't even any scorch marks.
"It seems fine to me." Herido decided. She just nodded. She needed to lie down for a while.
That night as Hermione lay in bed, listening to the man called Uncle Fester howl at the moon, she felt conflicted.
On the one hand she was staying with people who were quite clearly insane and wasn't sure her heart could take much more of it. On the other hand the casual magic all around this place was incredible. She'd found nothing like it in any of her books. And the family was very friendly, if you could ignore the unusual behaviour. At some point she'd given up trying to lecture Herido's sister. As infuriating as it was, her words seemed to have no effect on the girl at all. She had been left alone with her to explore the… well, the outside, and after a short time decided she really liked the strange child. She was surprisingly intelligent and just as knowledgeable as her brother. She also had his wicked sense of humour that Hermione couldn't help but appreciate.
The house itself felt comforting in a way that defied logic and a brief perusal of the library had silenced any further doubts she had about staying here, at least for the time being.
In the end, she had insisted that she was happy, safe and excited to be here all five times her parents had called that day.
She felt conflicted about having lied to them about being safe.
The rest of the weekend was enjoyed by all four children. Hermione had quickly gotten used to the odd family and they had reluctantly accepted her presence. Wednesday appreciated the fight the girl had – she always spoke her mind when she thought someone was wrong and argued her point valiantly. They knew of very few people who were willing to do such a thing and appreciated such a strong will, even if it was a little misguided. This was something Pugsley liked to invoke for his own amusement. He'd trigger the girl with some outrageous statement and then watch his sister become more and more annoyed as she went on and on. Unfortunately for him, she'd realised what he was doing pretty early on and started to take her frustration out on him.
Hermione was absolutely no fun to play with though. Heri spent a great deal of time thwarting Wednesday's attacks and the girl hadn't even noticed!
Herido was actually starting to like his new classmate, and they had extended her visit for two more days. If she wasn't so fragile he'd have invited her to stay for even longer. Maybe next year. He knew his little project would be a success, as she had already started reading some of the dark arts books in the library and was asking fewer and fewer questions. She hadn't even objected when he told her that he'd have to ask his father to disguise the books if she wanted to borrow them, so she wouldn't get arrested if anyone else saw them back in England. Her progress was far exceeding his expectations. He was glad that she could only access the more theoretical books that would only be considered a little dark. Any truly dark book would reject and attack the girl if she tried to read them.
The only thing he continued to struggle with was her morality. He was trying to show her that like all things, magic, supposed morality and dark intent needed balance and temperance. He was so caught up in his project that he decided to pull out the big guns. He was an Addams after all and an Addams did as they pleased, even if other people would think it reckless.
As they sat on Hermione's bed they rehashed the same old argument.
"It isn't that I don't want to learn. I find the idea that there is knowledge we're not supposed to have access to sacrilege. I just don't think it right to use some of it. It's not right that I should have to hurt someone and have other people suffer for my sake!" She was absolutely sure about this.
"You're forgetting the balance." She rolled her eyes, but he continued. "When we were talking about the way people treated you at school, you laughed at the solutions we'd come up with to deal with similar situations. I'm not saying you should go around torturing everyone you come across, but you would have had the intention to hurt those boys who threw your book bag into the canal, wouldn't you?" He knew he had her there, but she would never admit it. Heri had of course not admitted to killing or outright torturing anyone yet, so really, all they were talking about here was a little corporal punishment.
She stayed quiet for a while, the crease in her brow deep enough to wrinkle.
"But every action we take has repercussions and consequences we can't predict. You might want to hurt one person, but end up hurting more."
"That's life, 'Mione." He purposely used the nickname to make her feel more relaxed and accepted. "Life isn't fair. Everyone has reasons for acting the way they do, and you're right that every action has its consequence, but that doesn't mean you should stay dormant your whole life. Things happen. You react and move on. There as many rights and wrongs as there are opinions in the world." He saw her face screwing up even more and sighed. He was determined not to fail in this project and he really wouldn't mind having her for a friend at school. "Do you know what a magical oath is?" The sudden topic change made her look up.
"A magical oath is a promise made against your own magic. If you should break the oath your magic is forfeit. It is similar to magically binding contracts and the Unbreakable Vow, although that last one stakes your life instead of your magic." A mostly textbook answer.
"Would you be willing to make an oath not to intentionally reveal a secret I want to tell you?" She bit her lip and he could see the burning desire to know the secret warring with the fear of making such a dangerous promise.
In the end, the curiosity of an eleven year old girl won out over reason and she nodded. Heri broke out into a smile that made her extremely discomforted and sent Tilly to fetch Pugsley, who performed the spell before she could change her mind.
"Ok," She said with determination, looking intently into his deep forest green eyes. She'd already jumped off the cliff; it was time to find out if it was worth it. "What's this grand secret?"
Heri took a breath. This would be the first time he'd chosen to reveal his secret and it made him a little nervous. Not that he showed anything but cool confidence of course.
"You've read about the story of Lord Voldemort and his downfall at the hands of Harry Potter?" She rolled her eyes again like that should have been obvious but nodded for him to continue. "Well, Harry Potter was seen as a beacon of 'light' that defeated the 'evil' Dark Lord. Voldemort killed in order to further his cause," he saw her draw a deep breath and held up his hands in a sign of appeasement, "and it's a cause I disagree with of course! But he fought and did what he decided was acceptable to him to achieve his ends. Harry Potter was a baby who got lucky. He stood for nothing and made no choice regarding his place in the war and yet he is celebrated, while a man with power that even you can surely respect, and who died trying to achieve his goals is demonised. And not in a good way." Hermione couldn't hold her tongue at that!
"But he was evil," Heri really did try his best to suppress the sigh – that word again! "He killed and tortured and…"
"Because that was acceptable to him. And if you didn't agree – if that wasn't acceptable to you, you were free to try and oppose him. That is what the Potter's did, and their choice should be respected too. But on the night that Voldemort fell, the whole wizarding world celebrated. It was the best night many had lived through. But for their saviour it was his worst. He'd become an orphan. He'd watched his mother die before his eyes. That wasn't a night for celebration to him and a baby that old would watch the world burn in order to keep their mother and father with him… its basic psychology." Hermione paused at this. She thought she knew what he was getting at. That you had to make choices for yourself and let others make their own even if they got hurt, perhaps even if you were the one to hurt them, but…
"But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Heri had to smile at the quote but let her continue. "It's terrible to think of a child losing its parents, but so many other people were saved because of it!"
"And that's your balance, your choice about something that happened when you were a baby. But tell me, if it happened now, say you had to kill a fifteen month old baby in order to defeat a dark lord and save thousands of people from living in fear and uncertainty, would you do it? Or a more common argument: if a man waited in the ER to have a cut on his finger stitched, and elsewhere in the hospital there were people who were about to die unless they got a liver, a kidney… a heart. Would you sacrifice that man in order to save the others?"
"That's not a fair question!"
"Isn't it? Because I can tell you that I don't think I would. Unless of course it was to benefit my family, in which case I would do it in a heartbeat, because that's my balance, my line in the sand." He said.
"Nobody made a choice that night…"
"The Potters chose to fight." He countered immediately. "And though Harry Potter would accept their decision, he wouldn't agree with it years later when he was lost and alone and afraid." Hermione looked upset at the image that presented. "Just as he would accept the decisions Voldemort made that night, but if he had had the power to do so, he would have fought against those decisions. He couldn't and therefore he can't hold their actions against them, neither Voldemort nor the Potters. They were both doing what they thought best." She scowled. Nobody liked having their world view challenged and this was a little too heavy a conversation for a Tuesday night!
"Well," she began and her petulant tone told him that she was reaching out for anything to throw back at him at this point, anything to save her ideas of the world, "we can't know he would have thought!" Heri took a deep breath. This was what he had been waiting for.
"Actually, I can." He declared and she gave him a look that said he was being ridiculous – who was grasping at straws now? He took her hand gently in his, trying to convey his sincerity and curb at least some of the protestations he knew he was about to receive. "I know exactly, because my birth name was Harry Potter." He whispered out.
Hermione felt her mouth drop open. Her brain scrambled to try and make sense of her friend's last statement, to find a way it made any sense at all.
"You can't be! He died! I read about it! You're American!" She went on, so he brushed his fringe aside so she could see his scar. Her eyes bugged. "But how could you accept V… why are you her…what happened to you?" He quickly patted his fringe back down. He hadn't expected her to react quite like this. She had only recently read about Harry Potter, which is why he thought it wouldn't be too big a deal if she knew that truth. He dreaded to think what would happen if any of those children that had been raised hearing of his 'great victory' found out the truth!
"That's a long story. One for another time perhaps." Never if he could help it. "I just wanted you to know so you can try to understand what I'm saying. My birth parents decided to fight in a war. People die in war and…" He trailed off. Maybe he shouldn't have taken on such a monumental task. But to his utter joy, she surprised him.
"There are as many rights and wrongs as there are opinions in the world." She repeated slowly. "You're saying that we all have to find what we are comfortable with. We can't help affecting others no matter what we do and therefore we all have to decide how much we are willing to let others suffer in order to benefit ourselves. If other people's actions affect us in a way we don't like, we should stand up and prevent them from doing so if we can." She spoke in monotone and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He worried that he'd broken her – that hadn't been his intention. "And if I decided that I didn't want anyone to suffer at all?" He smiled at her and gave her hand a little squeeze.
"Then I would of course respect that. I just wanted you to be informed before you made your choice, because I think you would be wasted if you went through life denying the dark." She could see the sincerity in his eyes, but this was all too much and she needed time to think about it. He could see that, and so rose from the bed and headed to the door to let her sleep. He paused at the door, "Try not to view things as black and white, good and evil. You may have noticed that my family is a little dark…" She scoffed loudly, although it might have been a sob, "but we aren't monsters from Hell," unfortunately, "mother loves the arts and gives generously to charity for example, and I'm sure you've found my wonderful family friendly and accepting. No one can tell you this is right and that is wrong, you have to decide for yourself." And with that he left.
He was glad he had waited until the last night to push her like that, because during breakfast the next morning she had been quiet as the dead and didn't look like she'd slept at all.
When it came time for her to leave, she hugged Heri in a vice-tight grip that shocked him. He didn't return it as he was too stunned! And he just didn't hug! But he let her cling to him as she gave a polite thank you and then watched her leave.
He didn't hear from her during the final week of summer, but he noticed that she'd taken him up on his offer to borrow books and could only hope for the best. He knew that once you step into the shadows there's no going back, so if she could just take this step any further ideas about embracing the dark would come much more easily.
The last week of summer was the best week of summer, because it was Herido's birthday (his adoption day became his new birthday). Becoming eleven was an important milestone, so a grand ball had been thrown in his honour. Cousins from all over the world came and the party lasted into the next morning. Heri had a wonderful time and was spoiled rotten, but is favourite gift come from his parents.
He could tell before he even opened it that it was a powerful artefact. Dark, malevolent magic emanated from it and he took extra care when opening it.
Within the black paper and black box had been a wand, and as soon as he held it, he knew what this was. This was Voldemort's wand! It felt so familiar and… comfortable that it could be no one else's.
"But, how?" He managed to get out. His father laughed and slammed a hand down on his back, almost making him stumble.
"Well, we know how fascinated you are with the old boy, so we had Grandmamma find his wand. Apparently it'd been lost, but I'd have to say it was simply badly hidden."
Heri just stared at the wand. He would never use it, to do so seemed disrespectful somehow. No, he'd keep it safe and maybe one day he'd be staring down the end of it once more, only this time he'd be ready!
I really struggled to write this chapter and still aren't happy with it.
I want Hermione dark, but didn't want such an obvious 'good girl' to be swayed with mere cookies and the like. I also didn't want her intimidated or beaten into submission, because she is perhaps the only character who can start a friendship with Herido from a position of (mostly, she thinks…), equality. She has never heard of the Addams family, nor has she yet heard the rumours of how dangerous they are.
I wanted Heri to use her own desire for knowledge and intelligence against her. He makes her feel comfortable and accepted no matter what so that she keeps an open mind and doesn't immediately get defensive. He twists her through a few topics to confuse her reasoning skills a little and triggers her sense of compassion before hitting her with the shocking news of his identity – an identity that seems to give him authority on the subject even though he really has no more than anyone else.
Also he doesn't lie to her, just glosses over or ignores certain truths…
Honesty, if I have to write out this chapter one more time I'm going to scream haha. So that's it. I tried!
Next chapter we are finally heading to Hogwarts.
Thanks for reading! And thank you for the reviews, I adore you, guys!