Chapter 38: Finding the Comb
On September first, the day all of them should have been on the train to Hogwarts, both Harry and Ron managed to make their Animagus changes and hold them for over an hour. Ron had turned out to be a Welsh Green dragon—which pressed the large attic room to its limits. After Hermione spent some time doing research, she was able to identify Harry's Animagus form as a Black Cap Capuchin monkey. Though both thought their forms were pretty cool, neither saw how they would be as useful as her own. Hermione's bird form made her nearly invisible in public, and she could cover long distances fairly quickly, but a huge dragon wasn't so easy to hide, and monkeys always drew attention.
Still, they were all relieved when the final transformation was done.
"I can't believe it took us so long to finish this. I was sure it would only be a few weeks," Ron said.
"It took me twice as long," Hermione pointed out as she cleaned up the stack of books Ron had knocked over with his dragon tail earlier.
"Yeah, but you didn't work on it every day."
"Nor did I restrict myself to the once-a-week meetings with McGonagall," she admitted. "Now, any other ideas on locations for the cup and comb?"
"I've been thinking about it," Ron said. "I'm betting he got one of them into that orphanage. It had special significance to him. And remember how he hung that rabbit from the rafters? It was an event that proved his power over the other kids."
"I've been thinking along the same lines, only I can't figure out how to get us in there without drawing attention to ourselves," Harry said.
"Well, they take a summer trip to the seashore, right? Maybe we can lure them out with another trip. Maybe free tickets to the zoo." Hermione pulled out a piece of paper and began writing down ideas, then grinned to herself. "Ron could take you with him to deliver the tickets, with you in your monkey form, of course. The kids would go crazy over that."
"That's brilliant. I think it would be an excellent way to spend pureblood wizard money, don't you? It would gall Sirius's mum's portrait to no end." Harry grinned at them.
"Then again, it might not even be open still. Check into that, would you, Hermione?" Ron sat beside her, nudging her arm by accident. It took a moment before Hermione realized and looked at him in surprise. He hadn't jumped or flinched at all when he touched her.
She lifted an eyebrow at him, and he flushed when he caught her meaning. He looked away, pretending great interest in the list of Horcruxes. "Well, Luna's been stopping by the shop a lot lately. And we sort of, I don't know." He shrugged. "I like her."
"I couldn't be happier for you." Hermione grinned and set down her notes. "I'll head to my parents' house. I'll use their computer to see what information I can find about the orphanage. I'll probably stay for dinner, as it's been a while since I've seen my mum. I'll let you know what I learn."
"See you tomorrow," Harry called after her. Just before she reached the bottom stair, she thought she heard him suggest to Ron that they visit the Burrow that evening.
* * *
Using the information they had picked up from Dumbledore's Pensieve, Hermione was able to gather quite a lot of information about the orphanage before her parents came home for dinner. The building was still standing, but it had been damaged pretty badly in a fire one of the little girls had started a couple years earlier. The building had been abandoned since.
The government hadn't wanted to fix the old relic, but hadn't gotten around to selling or tearing it down yet either—though the latter option was coming up soon. That was perfect as it meant the structure would be empty when the three of them Apparated over. Hermione had a good feeling about all of this. The orphanage had to be one of the locations.
She wondered how long it would take them to find the comb or cup, or if one of the Muggles had found the item when they cleaned the building out and removed it. Would that be possible? With all the protections on the ring and locket to keep Muggles and even powerful wizards at bay, would a Muggle be able to walk off with a piece of Hogwarts history without anyone being the wiser? She thought not—she hoped not.
Her parents came in the back door when Hermione was just warming the oil in a pan on the stove—a smell that made her appetite wane. "Hermione, I was wondering when we'd see you again. I thought I'd try and send a message tonight, and then I got yours that you'd be here." Her mother greeted her with a tight hug.
"Hi, Mum, hi, Dad. I thought it might be nice to see you. I used your computer to look up some things, then started dinner. How does stir fry sound?"
"Wonderful. Just let me get cleaned up and I'll be right back to help you," her mother said.
"Hey, Peanut, how are things going? You should've been on the school train today, shouldn't you?" Her father smoothed a hand down her hair. "Do you wish you were going back?"
"Of course, but they aren't going to open the school until the war's over. We're going to make sure it ends soon. Maybe by Christmas we'll be back in business." Her parents hadn't been thrilled when she told them she wasn't returning to school this year. They'd been even less thrilled when she told them what she would be doing instead—or at least the general idea of what she would be doing. She hadn't been anymore direct with them than with the Order. It was better to redirect his line of thought than to continue in that vein. "How was work today?"
"Good, good. Just a day at the office. Your mother and I were thinking about taking a vacation now that schools are starting again. We didn't go anywhere this summer, wanting to be available to be with you. But we were thinking about spending a couple weeks in Majorca—you could come along."
"That sounds fabulous, but I really can't get away right now." Hermione thought about the warm weather and white sand beaches on the Spanish island. She could really use a break. "Then again, I might be induced to come spend a day or two while you're there. We'll have to see what the next few weeks bring. You should go though, absolutely. You work too hard at the office."
"I'll talk to your mum about it. I better go balance the budget a bit while you ladies cook dinner. Let me know when it's ready." He pressed a kiss to her head, then sauntered out with both hands in his pockets.
Hermione's mum entered the room a minute later, her blouse changed to something more casual and her hair pulled back from her face. "Looks like you've got things well in hand."
"Mostly. You want to wrap the egg rolls?" Hermione knew she could wave her wand and have the egg rolls fill and wrap themselves, but it was nice spending a few minutes working side-by-side with her mum, and she hadn't been back to visit for a couple weeks.
"Sure." They worked together for several minutes while her mother talked about the latest family news and neighborhood gossip. It surprised Hermione when her mother segued into more personal matters. "So things with your young man must be going well. You look happy enough."
Blushing, Hermione avoided her mother's eyes. "Things are going well. He's . . . Mum, he's very special to me. I mean, I can't imagine my life without him." It was touchy treading the thin line between saying too much and saying too little, but she wanted to prepare her parents for a reality they would eventually have to face. Severus was not a young man, by their standards, though he was nearly ten years younger than they were. Thank goodness he wasn't their contemporary.
Her mother set the egg roll she had just finished to the side and turned toward Hermione, studying her face. "That sounds pretty serious. You aren't talking about marriage are you? I'd hate to see you married with a baby before you have time to complete your advanced schooling. You did plan to complete your schooling, didn't you?"
"Er, I did plan on it, yes. Completing my schooling, that is. If I can. In any case, I haven't stopped studying, and I'm sure to have decent references for a job someday. And I don't plan to have a child for years, Mum. I want to get settled into a career, spend some more time with him and take it easy. Things are far too uncertain right now to bring a child into the world—too uncertain to make definite plans of any kind. Witches can bear children well into their fifties, you know, so even if I waited ten years, I'd have more than enough time to have a dozen children of my own—Not that I plan on more than a couple at this point. But I'm not really planning on children right now anyway." She found herself trying to backpedal and undo all of the things she had said that came out backwards. By the end of her tangled monologue she felt rather wrong-footed indeed.
Her mother laughed. "As long as you make me a grandma before I die, and not in the next few years, I'm sure we'll get by. But I think if things have progressed so far, it's about time I learned the young man's name and met him. Don't you?"
Hermione's stomach turned, and she felt suddenly nauseous—not that she hadn't been feeling a bit off lately anyway. The stress of their situation, both hers and the boys, and hers with Severus had been getting to her, stealing her appetite in the evenings. She'd hoped in a different setting she would be able to let go of the stress, but this discussion wasn't helping any. Severus could put on the disguise he used occasionally around the Muggle world. At least in that form he looked ten years younger than he really was. The age difference would probably still bother them.
"We're in a strange situation, Mum." Hermione focused her gaze on the pan of veggies in front of her. "Sebastian's in a precarious spot. He's fighting Voldemort too, but he works as a spy. That means we can't be open about our relationship."
"Sebastian? Does this Sebastian have a last name?"
"Um, he introduced himself to Viktor as Sebastian Prince, but that's actually a pseudonym for public reasons. A kind of compilation of family names, I guess. He's fairly well known among the wizarding population, so if I bring him, he'll be in disguise, which alters his physical appearance, including his age. So don't be surprised if he looks to be late twenties when I bring him. He isn't that age." He's older.
Her mother returned to filling the egg rolls, but paying close attention to her daughter. "He's well known? So he's a famous wizard, is he? Not Harry?"
Infamous is more like it. "No, I already told you it's not Harry. Sebastian's a brilliant wizard, really brilliant in Potions, Defense, and he creates his own spells from scratch." There were so few things she could actually tell her mother about her husband, finding a few to focus on was the best she could do.
"I'm sure we'll love him when we meet him. Our only contacts in your world are the Weasleys, and those nice Aurors who came to help us in July." Her mother faltered slightly at this last reference. She and her husband hadn't discussed their experiences much with Hermione since that day, saying they preferred to put it in the past. Hermione wondered how much in the past it really was, or if they didn't want to worry her, so they glossed over the deeper ramifications. Since she didn't want to pry and could do nothing about it, Hermione pushed that niggling question to the back of her mind. She'd come back to it when there was more time to deal with it. She was already emotionally tapped out.
"Yes, well. I'll have to discuss a visit with him. We'll see if we can get together with you before too much longer. Dad said you were talking about going to Majorca."
* * *
"So the building's empty? When do you want to go over?" Harry asked after Hermione explained her research results. It was late the next morning, and Hermione had been up for several hours, but the boys were only just getting around to breakfast at Headquarters.
"I did a fly-by in my Animagus form this morning," Hermione told him, pouring herself another glass of apple juice. "The building is definitely abandoned, but appears inhabited by vagrants. It's not in great condition. I'm not sure how safe it's going to be or where we want to start. Even worse, I found references that they intend to pull the building down in a matter of weeks, so we can't put the search off for long."
"Sounds like we'll have to be careful, take plenty of precautions. We shouldn't wander around individually, and we can't take the time to huddle up." Ron popped a bite of toast into his mouth.
"I was thinking maybe I should try getting in through a broken window and check it out better," Hermione said. This was dangerous ground knowing the way Harry felt about any of them being caught out alone. She had been considering options for the past twelve hours though and hadn't come up with anything better. "In my Animagus form I wouldn't have to land on unsafe floors, and I could give it a check around to see if there are any seriously dangerous places we need to stay away from."
Harry considered her words. "I don't like the idea of you going in there alone, but no one can know that we're headed there, and as you've already visited in your Animagus form. . . . If Ron and I were Disillusioned and stood outside the building while you checked things out, to keep a look out, we might be okay."
"That's still a little iffy, to my thinking," Ron said. "But I can't come up with anything better."
Hermione nodded to herself. "I wouldn't go inside without you keeping watch, but we can probably work around my being seen there, too. I'll see what I can come up with."
The boys agreed.
*****
It was late the next morning when the Disillusioned Harry, Ron, and Hermione Apparated to a side street near the defunct orphanage. They found each other at the agreed meeting spot quickly enough and made their way across the street and down the block. Ron took up position near a fire hydrant, Harry around the side of the building by another entrance. Hermione focused and changed forms, choosing to stay Disillusioned for her flight as extra assurance that she wouldn't be detected by wizard or Muggle.
She flew up and around the building, located a broken window on the second floor and darted into the building. The rooms were dark and dirty from disuse, and there were still darker spots on the wall from smoke damage. It was clear the room had been inhabited recently, most likely by vagrants, she figured from the pile of bedding in a corner. In her bird form she didn't have the ability to smell as she did in her human form, but looking at the pile of excrement in one corner of the hallway, she decided that was an advantage.
There were sections of the building that had been burned, but barring a room or two, the damage looked mostly cosmetic to Hermione. She noticed people still lived near those areas, so she figured they must be fairly safe.
She flew up and down the halls, checking out rooms, shifting back to her regular shape to gain access to a few closed doors and casting Muggle-repelling charms every hundred feet or so. She hoped anyone in the building would be forced out so she, Harry and Ron could enter without worry about running into some of the less savory inhabitants. By the time she completed her rounds, she counted thirty vagrants in the building. The vagrants were already moving toward the outside doors when she flew back out the window and landed near Harry's post.
She changed back into her regular form yet again. "Give it a few more minutes to ensure the Muggles all get out, then we can go in. There's little serious damage from the fire—mostly just one or two rooms—so we can get started."
"You sure it's safe? There seem to be a lot of people coming out of the building." Harry's whispered answer allowed her to pinpoint his exact location.
"I'm sure. I cast some Muggle-repelling charms so we'll have to give them time to work. Let's grab Ron and go talk layout, then we can return and get down to business."
"Good idea. I could use some lunch, too."
Hermione smiled to herself, but held back an audible laugh. If Harry was hungry, Ron would whinge about being kept from his lunch for so long. She heard his foot shuffle against the cement, and they headed to the area where Ron was stationed.
* * *
They returned to the same location an hour later. Hermione changed back into her bird form and took a quick trip through the building, verifying that the Muggles had all left the building. She smiled when she changed to her true form, landing near the spot from which she had left. "All clear," she said in a low voice.
"Let's go then," Harry said.
She headed toward the front door, casting charms on the front windows so anyone outside the building would see only emptiness inside. The other windows faced away from the street and were unlikely to be a problem. Once they were past the reception area, the three of them returned to visibility and looked around.
"What do you say? Start here and work our way through the building a floor at a time?" Ron asked.
"Yeah. That seems best." Harry pulled out his wand and cast a trip alarm on the outside door. "That should let us know if anyone else comes into the building. With the Muggle-detraction charms, anyone coming in now is sure to be magic. Best be aware if that happens."
"Right." Hermione was pleased Harry was thinking ahead. "Let's start in the room on the left. I think it was the dining room."
They carefully searched the first floor one room at a time, spreading out as they entered each room. Each took time to cast the magic-revealing charm Bill had taught them, then moved on to the next room when it was done. It took more than an hour to complete the first floor. They moved on to the second before they came across any of the serious fire damage.
From one of the classrooms below, they had seen holes in the ceiling, fire damage, water damage, signs of smoke everywhere, even the lingering scent of smoke here and there. Of course, catching it over the smell of human waste wasn't always easy, and most of the time they tried avoiding smelling anything. When they stood in the doorway of the room where the fire was reported to have started, however, the damage looked much more significant.
"I can see why they didn't bother to repair this place," Ron said as he stared at the jagged, half burnt walls, the holes caused by firefighter's axes, the white powder that still lingered from fire extinguishers. The windows were all broken out and bits of garbage, both burned, and those which had blown in through the windows since, were spread around the room.
"Yeah. The building's old enough, and the damage is pretty significant," Hermione admitted. "Some of the dorm rooms upstairs were damaged pretty heavily too." She pointed to large holes in the floorboards. "I wouldn't trust myself to walk across any part of that floor."
"Dorm rooms. We are so stupid! I can't believe I didn't think of it." Ron slapped his forehead and turned to Hermione and Harry. "Where is it that Riddle hung that rabbit? In the dining room? No, in the dorm room. We should have started there, mate. It's got to be there."
"Ron, you're a genius! Let's go check them out." Harry was already halfway to the stairwell when Hermione turned to join him.
They started with the dorms that were in good condition, making their way slowly toward the burned-out room above the fire. When they reached the edge of the burnt-out room nearly two hours later, Harry looked at Hermione. "I don't think I want anyone walking across that floor. Who knows if it's stable."
"Yeah, but we can't leave without checking the room, and neither of us can cast spells in our Animagus forms."
"She's right. Mate, what are we going to do?" Ron asked.
Harry deliberated for a moment, then nodded to himself. "One of you cast a Levitation Charm on me, hold it and move me around the room while I cast the revealing spell. When you get tired, we can trade off. We have to know if it's in there before we go on."
"Are you nutters? Do you know how draining that is?" Ron asked. "We could drop you."
"Do you have a better idea?" Harry asked.
Hermione knew she didn't. After a long moment, it was clear neither of the boys had a better idea either. "Fine then, I'll cast it first. Ron, when I nod at you, you cast your own spell, and I'll hand him off to you."
"Too bad we didn't bring our brooms," Ron said.
"Good idea. We'll do that when we bring Bill back to undo any wards on it. If we find it." Harry pulled out his wand and nodded to Hermione.
Hermione cast Wingardium Leviosa and directed Harry slowly around the room.
She had traded off with Ron twice and over an hour had passed when Harry finished his circuit of the room and she took over again. Having only one of them able to cast the charm meant the work was going painstakingly slow. All the magical energy they had expended had exhausted them. She lifted Harry near the half-burnt rafters so he could continue casting his charms. When he shot the spell at an area of the ceiling that was untouched by scorch marks, a green haze settled around the area.
"Guess that's it." Harry smiled with relief. "We better get Bill over here."
"Tonight's too late. It'll be dark soon, and using light will draw too much attention to ourselves." Hermione was almost glad for the respite, though she wanted to get it over and done with.
"Right. First thing tomorrow then. Back to Headquarters?" The three teens grinned at each other and Disapparated from the building.
Chapter 39: Injuries and Discoveries
Bill had to be to work at nine in the morning, so he asked the trio to meet him at the abandoned orphanage at six-thirty. Ron and Harry were rubbing their eyes when they arrived with Hermione, brooms in hand.
"If I'd known we were going for a flying lesson, I'd have scheduled this for the weekend," Bill said when he saw what they'd brought with them. His scars had now healed so the puckered skin had smoothed out and only the shiny pink scar stretched across his face. While the scar might have been horrifying on someone else, mixed with his earring and ponytail, he looked cooler than ever. Hermione imagined it wouldn't take more than a scowl to unnerve someone who didn't know him.
"You'll understand when you see the room where we're going," Harry said.
Bill followed them into the building and up the stairs. "This place is a dump," Bill said as they reached the third floor. He was holding his nose, causing Hermione to wonder if he had picked up extra sensitive smell when he had been exposed to the werewolf saliva a couple months earlier. Then again, the place was rank. "You think Voldemort really left bits of, er, yeah, those artifact things here?"
Hermione eyed him, certain he knew what the artifacts were. Still, he didn't ask for confirmation, and she was just as glad. "Not since the orphans moved out of the building. Probably back when the place was safe for habitation. And smelled a bit better."
When they reached the doorway to the dorm room Bill looked around at the destruction and whistled. "I see why you brought the brooms. Hand that over here, Harry, then someone point me in the right direction."
In a moment, Bill had mounted Harry's broom and he and Ron were hovering near the site Harry had outlined. Ron cast a shielding spell and Bill began work on the wards while Harry and Hermione watched from the doorway.
The process took longer than Hermione had expected, and from time to time there were small explosions, bits of smoke and sparks that hit Ron's shield, then glanced away. Hermione was glad they were more or less behind the shield as well, so the sparks didn't head toward herself and Harry.
After the better part of an hour, Bill paused and looked at Ron, who had sweat trickling down his face. "You'll have to trade off with Hermione. You're getting tired and I can't have you let go of the shield. There are some nasty buggers on this thing."
"But Hermione hates brooms," Ron said. "She a menace on them."
"I'll go up instead," Harry offered.
"No, Hermione's charm work is better, and you know it." Bill gave her a piercing look. "She'll have to get over her fear of flying, for the moment at least."
Ron brought his broom back over and dismounted, handing it to Hermione, who felt as though she were shaking all over. She'd never liked brooms, wished never to mount one again, but it appeared she had little choice. She really wished she could use her magic while in her Animagus form and determined to research into whether it was possible or not.
Stealing herself for the task, Hermione mounted the broom and focused on what she wanted it to do. It took her twice the time to traverse the distance as it had Ron, and she didn't make it in a straight shot, weaving up and down somewhat, but she made it there. White knuckled. Barely breathing.
"Relax, Hermione. It's a broom, not a bludger." Bill looked at her with a mix of amusement and concern.
She took a deep breath, determined to succeed at this. If she could all but command the winds as a bird, surely she could stay on a broom for a few minutes. "I'll be fine. Really." She rolled her shoulders and worked at loosening her muscles, then focused on the spot of the rafters where Bill had been working and lifted her wand to cast the spell.
Once her attention was on her task, the broom hovered more smoothly, no longer weaving around with her nerves. Bill's attention returned fully to the wards he was removing as sparks flew.
An interminable amount of time passed and Hermione began to appreciate Bill's endurance. He seemed barely winded by the intense work he was doing, while she felt out of breath and worn out in a matter of minutes. Keeping her focus on the rafters, she flexed her shoulder muscles and wished her legs weren't going numb from holding onto the broom as he slowly peeled back the layers of wards and curses on the item.
With one last muttered counter-curse, an explosion of colored sparks blasted them both, knocking Hermione from her broom and sending her end-over-end. She felt her back hit the floor, pushing the air from her lungs. The floorboard cracked and gave way as her head went down through the gaping hole in the floor. As she flipped toward her stomach, falling to the floor below, she instinctively changed into a bird to stop her fall and caught the air, flying away from the falling debris. Though her flight was somewhat erratic, she flew back up the hole to land beside the boys who were calling out her name.
When she changed back to her usual form, she could feel a haze of pain surrounding her and wished she could just pass out.
Bill swore and rushed the few feet between them, landed next to her and dismounted his broom. He turned her around, beginning a diagnostic spell. "That was wicked! When did you learn to do that?"
"June. I think I hurt my back." Pain radiated from the spot where she had hit the floor and she felt something wet and sticky trailing down one hip. She slumped, holding onto the door jam to stay semi-upright.
Ron and Harry both exclaimed over her injury when Bill pulled her shirt over her head to expose her bloodied back. Bill had to shoo them away so he could have some space. "Looks like it; but don't worry, I know a lot of medical spells." He cast a cleansing charm, then another to prevent infection and began repairing the skin and tissue damage. "So, I'm guessing you're unregistered?"
"Yeah, it'll have to wait until the war's over." Hermione appreciated that he was trying to keep her mind off of what he was doing, but she couldn't focus on anything but managing the pain right now. To top things off, she could feel Severus's worry about her and didn't have the energy to send back reassurances.
"Can't blame you for that. It could come in handy sometime."
When she was back in one piece, Bill ran his wand down her exposed back, murmuring another spell Hermione recognized as a different diagnostic spell than the first. He paused, taking in a deep breath, as if surprised, then pinpointed the spot that still hurt on her back and cast one more healing spell Hermione had never heard before. There was a terrible sharp pain causing her to cry out, then heat radiated from the tip, and the pain melted away to a dull ache.
Standing straight again, Hermione tested her muscles and ran a hand over her skin. She felt distinctly uncomfortable in only her bra in front of the three males now that she wasn't focused on her injury. "It feels completely better."
Bill picked up her shirt, cleaned and repaired it, and handed it back to her. "Yeah, you broke a rib, cut yourself up pretty good and damaged your kidney. Fixed all of that, but it wouldn't hurt to have a Healer look it over if you have more pain tonight." Bill wiped a hand over his face. "You three are going to be the death of me yet."
"That was quick wand work," Ron said, clearly impressed. "Where did you learn those spells?"
"It was necessary. Working in the catacombs it isn't always convenient or something we want to announce to the world. Learning basic healing charms came in handy." A funny look emtered his eyes as he looked at Hermione, as if seeing her for the first time. "But you really should see a Healer, Hermione. You never know what residual effects something like that might have. It could cause far-reaching complications and you need to think of more than yourself now."
Hermione smiled reassuringly. "I feel great, thanks. If I have any other pain, I'll see someone. Did we get the comb, then?"
"What makes you think it's the comb?" Ron asked.
"Space requirements—it's pretty tight up there. Is it the cup instead?"
"Don't know. Is it safe to touch now?" Harry asked Bill.
"Yeah. I got them all."
"Accio comb." Harry held out a hand and a silver metal object slapped into his hand.
Fascinated, Hermione peered at the object, the diamonds winking at her along the top as if they were newly set. She reached out a finger and ran it along the cool metal. "Can you take a closer look at it Bill; make sure it's got the same signature."
"If it doesn't, someone went to an awful lot of work to protect it," Ron said, taking his turn to handle it.
"It's hardly a trinket," Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah, but who would hide something that valuable where it might be destroyed by Muggles if he planned to come back for it?"
"No Muggle could have gotten to it with the wards on it." Harry took the comb back. "And no normal wizard would waste that much effort when a Gringott's vault would be just as safe. Safer actually, since we couldn't have gotten to it in the vault."
Bill paid no attention to the chatter around him, taking the comb from Harry and casting a couple spells on it. "It's the same, and it looks like we got everything. The only things left is the, er, thing you neutralized in the locket."
"You know exactly what it is, don't you?" Hermione asked. Too many times now he had changed his sentence half-way through. He had to know what it was.
"Not if you don't confirm it. Which reminds me, I have some time before I have to get going. Want an extra hand on your shielding spell? Hermione really shouldn't be doing anything that serious today after the shielding she already did."
"Ron held the same spell for nearly as long as I did," Hermione pointed out.
"Yes, but your circumstances are different." Bill gave her a knowing look, making her wonder what she was supposed to know. "I've got a few minutes yet."
Harry grinned at him and gave him the directions of where to Apparate.
When they reached the clearing, Bill forbade Hermione from participating in the shielding spell. "You've been hurt. Even if you feel fine, it's taken a lot out of you, so you aren't casting this spell. Just stand by and watch this time—from a distance. Seriously, Hermione."
She wanted to whine, complain, and stamp her feet, which convinced her she must not be back to full strength, so she glowered and accepted his decision.
Twenty minutes later, the bit of soul fled the comb and all three men found themselves flat on their backs. Hermione sat much further back and felt only the flash of dissipating magic. It was incredible to watch the magic going on from a distance though, being able to study the changing colors and shifting boundaries, rather than focus on only her little part of the process.
Before Bill Disapparated to work, he again encouraged Hermione to see a Healer. She smiled and watched him go with no intention to see anyone.
***
What's going on? Are you all right? Do I need to come to you?
The diary notified her of the newest entry before Hermione left the clearing at Godric's Hollow. As it was clear Severus was anxious about her well-being, she answered it the moment she reached her room.
I'm fine. We had quite an adventure; I'll have to give you the details later, but Bill was there and healed my wound. I'm as good as new now. I'll be by to work on the potion this afternoon. One more down, two to go.
As a general rule, Hermione preferred not to mention the Horcruxes in her diary, and even when she did, she kept it indirect. If Bill Weasley could break wards as strong as the ones on the comb, someone else who was determined could surely access the diaries. There was enough damning stuff in them without giving the game away completely. Despite what she told Bill, she did feel a low ache in her back still, but figured with her husband being so worried about her, maybe she'd convince him to give her a back rub. And wouldn't that be nice?
She put the diary away and continued on up to the attic where they planned some silent defense practice.
* * *
"So what's our next stop?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as the three of them split a celebratory pizza at Grimmauld Place that afternoon.
"I've been wracking my brain, and the only other site I can think of is Hogwarts," Ron said around a mouth of food. "But the diary is already connected to that."
"Borgin and Burkes, maybe? He did learn about most of these artifacts because of his job there," Hermione said before taking another large bite of pizza. Practice that morning had drained her far faster than usual, which she would have attributed to her shield work that morning, except Ron seemed hardly affected and he held the shield much longer if you counted the Horcrux destruction. That Harry was unaffected wasn't surprising since he didn't hold the shield at all; and when considering sheer power, he had far more at his command than either Ron or herself.
"What do we do, just go in and start casting spells?" Harry asked. He poured her more soda and slid another slice of the no-cheese pizza onto her plate when she indicated she'd like another. "What's with your appetite lately? I still can't believe you ordered that."
She shrugged and turned it for a bite. The thought of all that greasy cheese had been more than her stomach would handle, but the pizza was tasty this way. "Well, we can hardly search every inch of Hogwarts. Even with a phalanx of house-elf assistance, it would still take months."
"Then we have to either expand our choices of locations, or reduce them," Ron said. "It's unlikely he would place the cup in any of the common rooms, except maybe Slytherin. And I'd guess the Headmaster's office is off limits. I'd love to find it in his first flat or something, but we need to be more realistic."
"Great, that should be just wonderful." Hermione took another bite of pizza and hoped the boys were thinking more clearly than she was at the moment. She decided she could use a nap before meeting her husband at the cottage.
* * *
When Hermione gave Severus the details of the Horcrux chase and destruction at their cottage later that afternoon, she was surprised to see how upset he was. Yes, she'd been hurt, but she was fine; Bill had healed her. She hadn't mentioned falling through the floor and having to use her Animagus form to keep from hitting the ground, no reason to really upset Severus, especially when he didn't know of her alternate shape.
"So Bill healed me and I'm fine. Other than some lingering discomfort in my lower back, I feel great."
"You're having lower back pain? Turn around; I'll check it out." Severus was so earnest, so anxious she couldn't argue with him, though Hermione thought he was going completely overboard. When had her husband turned into a fuss-budget?
She turned and slid out of her Muggle t-shirt so he could see the wound site more clearly. That reminded her that she had disrobed as much in front of the boys that morning. She decided to keep that detail to herself.
"You should have seen a Healer."
She felt his wand tip running along her skin, his fingers tracing the edges of the wound and realized there must be some residual scaring or bruising left. "You and Bill and your one-track minds. I feel fine."
"What was that about Bill?" His voice grew hard, anxious and worried all at once.
Realizing she shouldn't have mentioned that Bill encouraged her to see a Healer, Hermione kept her groan back. It wasn't like her husband to be so over protective, but now she had let it slip, she knew he wouldn't drop the subject until she told him more. "It was odd, he said I was fully healed and should be fine, but he kept telling me to go see a Healer. He cast one of those diagnostic spells and then turned all mother-hen."
"Which diagnostic spell did he use?"
Hermione told him, then waited while he cast it himself. There were several long seconds of silence while her soul mate just sat there, silently caressing her lower back. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw his eyes glued to the area he was touching. "What, do I have cancer or something?" she joked.
"No, no, nothing like that. You're perfectly normal for someone in your situation. It looks like he did a great job of healing you. Just to be safe, you should take some time off from the more dangerous hexes in your practice with the boys." He ran his hands down her back, then reached around her to lean her back against his chest, one hand coming to rest on her hip, the other splayed across her belly almost possessively.
In my situation? But she didn't have time to pursue that comment because he started to move his hands over her.
"So you wanted a massage, then?" His voice was a low purr in her ear.
"That would be heavenly."
* * *
When Hermione was asleep that night, Severus cast a few more diagnostic spells and ran his wand along the length of her body, seeking out other possible injuries. Everything checked out fine, so he cast the one spell again over her stomach and marveled. Already he could imagine her womb stretching, cradling their baby and felt a tug of excitement at the prospect.
When he'd seen the results of the spell earlier in the day, he'd considered letting her in on the secret of Bill's odd behavior. He knew he should, and keeping it secret would blow up in his face, but he knew she'd be very upset with him and didn't want to deal with it at the moment.
Sometimes honesty was not the best policy.
While she had taken an afternoon nap after her massage had turned into lovemaking, he had snuck down to the potion lab. After starting a batch of prenatal vitamin potion, he thoroughly dug through the ingredients he kept on hand, removing anything that might pose a danger for her. He would pass off the vitamin potion as a basic precaution when he directed her to take it every morning.
Next, he checked the upcoming schedule for the Felix Felicis and determined a few spots where he would handle the potion. There was no point risking his growing family.