THE VEIL

Chapter 12

18th September 1979 – Tears and Tattoos

Whispering. Constant, never ending whispering. Indistinct, even when it was so loud she felt like she was standing in a large room full of people all talking at once, then silence. Hermione almost felt as though it were a never ending ocean of sound, curling over her crushing her then leaving her bereft in the silence it left behind. And the grey ever swirling, ever changing, like moods, shifting and moving. There was beauty in it. Sometimes she appreciated it; though more and more she cursed and screamed at it, her cries melding with the whispers.

She wondered if it would have been better if she just drifted, endlessly in the grey to stop the pain of being ripped away over and over again. She tried so hard to embrace each ever fleeting moment, yet her mind in its logic burned the hope on the knowledge that many of the people she had met were already long dead in her present. Their deaths shaped the history, the future and the present. Her actions, interactions and mere presence seemed to be shaping the history she knew. A breeze caressed her snaking around her. She shut her eyes, and took a deep breath as the veil shifted and sent her back into the presence of the past.

"Evans for the love of all things magical; why in Merlin's beard are we doing this the muggle way?" Sirius panted as he lugged a large box labelled books into the house, which Lily and James had just bought. It was a large three bedroom home. It was big enough to begin a family, which is what they both wanted to do.
"Because I said so Black." Lily said, "Take that goes upstairs, in the sitting room. And it's Potter now not Evans!" She was standing at the entrance directing everyone on where to put the boxes, as they came through.
"You've always been Evans, Evans. Marrying Prongs never changed that, especially when you are refusing to let us do this with magic!" Sirius growled as he carried it past her and up the stairs.

"Lils my love, I am starting to agree with Padfoot. Can we at least use magic on the furniture?" James huffed, carrying a box destined for their kitchen. Lily narrowed her eyes, "You said last night that this was a great idea!"
Lily followed James into the house as they bickered, which mostly involved Lily yelling and James placating her.

Sirius walked down the hallway on the second level, smirking as Lily and James's voices echoed through the house. Setting the box down, he turned hearing someone behind him. He was expecting, Remus or Peter with a box. Instead Hermione was standing there, seemingly checking him out from behind. She looked up her cheeks dimpled as she smirked.
"I can completely understand Lily's reasoning for doing it the muggle way."
"Oh? Is that so, Princess?" Sirius grinned, taking two steps towards her grabbing her by the waist and captured her lips with his, gently nibbled her bottom lip growling softly into her mouth, causing her to gasp. They were interrupted again to Lily yelling from the bottom of the stairs, "SIRIUS BLACK GET YOUR ASS DOWNSTAIRS AND HELP!"

Sirius growled, pulling away reluctantly, his hands still around her. Hermione followed his mouth, not wanting to stop.
"Hermione," he groaned, grey into brown, he saw her desire burning.
"Just shut up and kiss me Mr Black." She crooned, reaching up and pulling his head down towards her, meeting him in a fiery kiss that left him panting, when she pulled away smirking.

"Vixen," he growled and lifted her over his shoulder. Hermione laughed, as he carried her downstairs.
"I found another helper for you Evans. Don't lose her." Setting Hermione down in front of Lily, who beamed and pulled her into a tight hug.
"So glad you're here! Come; help me sort these boys out." Lily took Hermione's hand leading her into the house.

Lily eventually allowed the boys to finish bringing the boxes and furniture in with magic, as well as unpacking with magic. It was a sight to behold as things flew out of the boxes, sitting themselves on shelves and in zooming into cupboards. Most of the furniture had come from James's parents place. Since his parents died, he couldn't live in the house and decided to sell it for new beginnings with his wife. They found a house that was right in town, in Godric's Hollow. Lily was a little sad at living so far away from her parents, but excited with the prospect of starting a family with James.

Remus was sent to get dinner and drinks as, James, Peter and Sirius cleared the boxes from the house, while Lily, Marlene and Hermione finished unpacking the kitchen, by hand as Lily had argued with Sirius, "It's my bloody kitchen, and if I do it with magic, I won't know where anything is!"
Remus returned with five large pizzas and several bottles of wine to toast their new place. All of them sitting on the floor in the living room eating and enjoying the success of their work.

The night was late and the bottles of wine were diminishing, all of them were rather tipsy.
"Hermione, you did it again." James said smirking at her. "You called me Harry again." The others laughed as Hermione's cheeks tinged pink.
"Sorry Harry-James." She apologised, causing the others to laugh again.
"It is actually a nice name though, Harry." Lily mused, sipping her wine. The clock on the mantle, a house warming gift from Peter, chimed midnight. Hermione felt a tingle rush through her. Sirius, who had her encircled by his legs, felt her shiver. "You OK Princess?" he asked as she shivered again, the tingling sensation shuddering through her.

Hermione frowned. Her tipsy mind trying to work out the funny feeling. She remembered she used to get smaller tingles each time she had used the time turner. She sat up straight as she felt like a bucket of water had doused her.
"What day is it?" She twisted to look at Sirius; he was frowning at her concern written across his features.

"Officially, we are now into the 19th September 1979." Peter answered her question, pouring himself another glass of wine.
Hermione looked at Peter, "you're sure?" she asked as another tingle went through her. Peter nodded and shrugged.
"Princess, what's going on? You're trembling." He asked her gently turning her to face him. Her eyes were round as saucers, her face slightly pale.
"Today is my birth-day." She whispered.

The others cheered mishearing her, making toasts and drinking. Sirius however, continued to frown, as Hermione trembled against him again, when it dawned on him. "It's your -! But your-!" Hermione smiled weakly. "Your Birth – day! The day you were born?" Sirius stammered.
Marlene asked, "That is why they call it a birthday Black. So how old are you then?" still not quite understanding.

"Um… Well…" Hermione struggled to think. She was minutes ago born and at the same time older. She no longer truly knew how old she was, sometimes she felt old beyond her years, and other times she felt too young for all the things she had been through, was still going through. Suddenly it became too much. She stood up; "I- I need to go," and she fled from the house leaving the others sitting in stunned silence, Sirius scrambled up following her out the door.

"Hermione wait!" Sirius called as ran after her, but she ran on, she needed to get away from everything. She felt like if she were to stop she would be crushed by the tidal wave of emotions writhing through her, spurring her forward. Sirius was impressed at how fast she ran, and thankful she had not had the opportunity to learn to apparate as he cheated by apparating ahead of her down the road. She skidded to a stop in front of him. Tears were streaming down her face, her body shaking in the dim light.
"I- I can't Sirius. I can't tell them." He stepped slowly forward, wrapping his arms around her, "Shh, Princess, you don't have to say anything." He crooned. He held her as she cried, racking sobs. "Si- Sirius, I – I don't even know how old I am."

"I know, Princess, it doesn't matter." He soothed. "Age is irrelevant." He hoped. He knew she was from 1996. She had also told him that she had calculated she gained an additional six months when she was in her third year at Hogwarts. He mentally calculated that if her birthday was near the time she fell back in time she would have been roughly seventeen. He hissed as he realised. She was roughly seventeen, possibly older.

"Merlins beard!" He whispered as another realisation hit. "I'm nineteen years older than you!" Hermione didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had known the age difference from the when she first fell into Sirius's past. She had tried so hard to just be friends with the charismatic and incredibly handsome young man and failed abysmally. Yet from everything else that was going on, right now in this very moment she felt calmest and safest with Sirius.

"Come on Princess, how about we go home." Sirius said softly as he felt Hermione stop trembling. She looked up at him with red rimmed eyes, slightly confused. "Home?"
Sirius smirked, "Yes, home." Apparating them back to his terrace house. He led her to the bedroom. He found her one of his shirts to wear, handing it out to her.
"If you need to, go and shower, and then in bed, Princess." He kissed her temple.
"I'll be back in a minute to give you privacy." He gently shut the bedroom door, walked down the hall and pulled out the small hand mirror he was never without.

"Prongs! You there?" He called into the mirror. James face appeared almost instantly, waiting for Sirius to talk to him.
"Is she alright?" James asked concerned for the young witch.
Sirius nodded, "Yeah, too much wine and she hates her birthday." James nodded yet clearly unconvinced at what he said; however, he knew that his friend would tell him in time. James looked away from the mirror for a second as someone said something, turned back.
"Lily and Marly send their love to her. They were sorry she had to leave. Remus said he will be around later in the morning."
"Thanks Prongs. Tell the girls I'll pass it on. Night."
"Night Padfoot." The mirror went blank and Sirius walked slowly back down the hall, knocking gently on his bedroom door before entering.

He saw that Hermione had changed and was standing by the window looking up at the sky hugging herself tightly. Sirius changed quickly and padded towards her, wrapping his arms around her form. Hermione leaned into him. A tear splashed onto his arm. She was weeping. Slowly he turned her within his arms holding her against him. She had so much strength, he thought, and yet right now she was so very fragile. He scooped her up into his arms carrying her over to the bed. He held her, soothing her, rubbing her back softly, breathing in her scent; until she fell asleep. He lay awake watching her until the sun rose, the early morning light streaming across the room, highlighting her brown curls, highlighting golden tints. Sounds from downstairs indicated that Remus had arrived as he said he would. Kissing Hermione on her temple, he carefully got out of the bed and padded out the room, grabbing his dressing gown as he left.

"Morning Moon- Reggie? What are you doing here?" Sirius stopped on the stairs, staring down at his brother in shock. He hadn't seen his brother since graduation, thanks to his mother, the last time they had spoken was on the train heading back to London. The words were short as Regulus had befriended Severus Snape; and Sirius accused his brother for cavorting with slimy gits. His brother was now standing in the living room at the in front of the fire place. Regulus looked pale, his cheeks gaunt, hair and clothes unkempt, as if he had been in them for several days. It was the haunted look in his brother's eyes that made Sirius pause.

"What are you doing here Reggie?" Sirius repeated crossing his arms, leaning against the wall. Regulus looked at his brother, brief flickers of emotion showing on his face before the mask of indifference fell back into place.
"I'm starting to think, maybe it was a mistake coming here," Regulus's aristocratic voice gravelly, not its usual soft tenor.
Sirius laughed, "You turn up in the early hours of the morning, out of the blue and then realise it was a mistake? Reggie what in Merlins beard are you doing here?"
Regulus's shoulders hunched over, as if struggling to answer his brother. "I- I need your help. I-I've made a terrible mistake." He looked up to his brother now pleadingly.

Sirius unfolded himself and continued down the last few steps, "What could you have done to require my help? Last time we spoke, you made it quite clear that you shared our dear mother's wishes on wishing I was dead!" He growled. The two brothers stood facing each other, both so alike in appearance, yet so different in mannerisms. Sirius's grey eyes burned with fire, Regulus's were cold, almost devoid of life. The silence grew, the void showing how large a wedge had become between the two. Even after he was rejected from the house by his mother, Sirius still tried his best to protect his brother, until his brother had publicly denounced and rejected him, and throwing a bunch of letters at him, left Sirius gutted. The letters were from Hermione to a scared and lonely little boy that was now a scared and lonely young man.

Now Regulus stood opposite his brother, asking for help. For what he didn't know, until Regulus took a deep breath, raised his right arm and pulled up his sleeve. Sirius eyes widened at the tattoo that marked his arm. For a long minute Sirius could not speak, staring at the Dark Mark.
"WHAT THE FUCK REGGIE!" He exploded; Regulus cringed back, dropping his arm letting the sleeve fall. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? YOU FUCKING JOINED THAT GROUP OF SICK FUCKS? THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT ME TO HELP YOU WITH?" Sirius ranted pointing at his brother's arm, glaring at his brother. When Regulus said nothing, Sirius laughed hollowly, "That mark, is your death sentence Reg, you have signed your own death warrant, and you want me to what? Bail you out?"

Regulus noticed movement at the top of the stairs and glanced up. His eyes widened briefly, before his face went blank. Hermione stood at the top of the stairs having woken from Sirius yelling. "I can see that coming here definitely was a mistake. I should have known that she was always there to save you, never me." Regulus spoke quietly, "No, I can see that you really can't help me." He straightened his sleeves.

"Regulus!" Hermione gasped and ran down the stairs, Sirius caught her from going to his brother, "Hermione, don't. He is not my brother. Not anymore. He stopped being my brother a long time ago." Sirius growled. Hermione looked up at Sirius incredulously. She pulled herself away from him, standing between them.
"He is your brother Sirius! He saved your life!" Hermione argued.
"HE IS A DEATH EATER! HE IS NOT MY BROTHER ANYMORE" Sirius yelled. Hermione stood there shocked, turned slowly to Regulus, not quite believing that it was true. Regulus stood there his face a complete mask, neither confirming nor denying the statement.

"I think you should go." Sirius spoke quietly, anger dripping from every word. Regulus nodded in agreement, and stepped towards the fireplace. "Yes, indeed. I can see my welcome here is all but gone." He bowed to Hermione then Sirius formally.
"Goodbye Hermione, Sirius." And he disappeared in a rush of green flames.

Sirius walked out of the living room, into the kitchen. A cupboard door slammed and Hermione flinched. Sirius walked out drinking deeply from a bottle of Fire whiskey, until it was empty then threw the empty bottle into the fireplace. Hermione flinched again, Sirius noticed and growled, stalking towards her, Hermione backed up, eyes wide. She had only ever seen him like this once before, which was in her past, his future, when he wanted to kill Peter.

The flames whooshed again; Remus stepped out, stopping at the site before him. Hermione, looked terrified, and Sirius looked ready to kill. Remus had a bunch of flowers and a present in his arms, but dropped them on the couch, his wand appeared his hand as he looked between the pair.
"Padfoot, would you care to step into the kitchen?" He asked calmly. Sirius looked between the two and pivoted on the spot stalking into the kitchen, sounds of smashing crockery broke the silence. Remus moved to Hermione, shaking her gently to focus on him.
"Hermione, tell me what happened?" he asked concerned at how pale she was.
"Regulus was here. Th- they argued. I- I think I made it worse." She quavered before him. Remus looked at her concerned briefly, pulling her into a quick hug.
He whispered, "Go and shower. Get dressed. I'll go and talk to him." Hermione nodded, pulling away. She practically bolted back up the stairs.

Remus walked slowly to the kitchen entrance, watching as a frying pan flew past the door, embedding itself in the wall. He stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, watching Sirius tear apart his kitchen in his rage.
"HE'S A FUCKING DEATH EATER!" He roared. He ripped the bench top off with his bare hands. The cupboard doors were ripped off lying strewn across the kitchen. The frying was not the only thing that now decorated the walls, or the ceiling. The cutlery, that wasn't bent and strewn across the floor, was wedged in the ceiling. Knives were stabbed through a framed sketch, a portrait of his favourite muse. When there was nothing left to tear apart Sirius began punching the wall. It was at this point Remus finally entered, grabbing his friend as his rage turned to anguish.
"My brother! My own brother!" He cried into Remus shoulder.

Remus held him letting him cry. They had already seen the effects on this new "Dark Lord" that was rising to power rapidly. James's parents were one of the first victims as the group calling themselves Death Eaters had killed them. Their deaths were the reason that James, Lily, Marlene, Peter himself, and Sirius joined the Order of the Phoenix, to help fight against their attempts for chaos and murder. They had helped rebuild places that these Death Eaters destroyed, saved and protected many. The victims were predominantly Muggles and Muggleborn witches and wizards, though it seemed that they were also starting to target pureblood families that were helping and supporting against the hate of muggleborns. A hatred that had been passed down over the centuries by the purebloods, especially those families known as the sacred twenty eight.

The Black Family, one of the most prominent of the sacred twenty eight, was known for their open hatred of muggles and muggleborn witches and wizards. Sirius was one of the extreme few of his family that went openly against these creeds. His own friends were the sum of all that his family hated; muggleborns, muggle sympathisers and a werewolf. It was one of the main reasons his mother had done her best to permanently remove him from the family. Sirius's back still had the scar from her final attempt from that night.

When Hermione came down the stairs slowly, Remus and Sirius were sitting on the couch sipping tea. Remus had kindly returned the kitchen back to its original state. Remus looked up and directed his wand to pour her a tea, floating it over to her as she sat on the armchair. She smiled in thanks and sipped it, tasting the tannins with a hint of lemon. Remus also floated over the flowers and presents he'd brought over, his original purpose in coming.

"Remus, you didn't have to." She said quietly.
Remus shrugged, "The flowers are from me, but the other gifts are from Marly and Lily. They will be extremely upset if you don't accept them."
Hermione gave him a small smile, "Better not disappoint them then. And the flowers are lovely." Hermione pulled out her wand and conjured a vase for them filled with water. She floated them to rest on the mantle above the fireplace.
"I'm impressed, that is a lovely vase." Remus looked at the elegant vase, mildly surprised.

Hermione's cheeks dimpled, "I wasn't the top of my year for nothing."
Hermione opened the first present, from Lily and James it read on the card. It was a book, the complete works of William Shakespeare. She set it down slowly, though wanted to simply pull up her feet and delve into the book. The other present, from Marlene was a beaded handbag. The note said that there was an undetectable extension charm in it, so she wouldn't leave anything behind. Hermione looked up at Remus, smiling, her eyes tear bright.
"Please tell them thank you, in case I can't. They are lovely. Thank you Remus."

Sirius who had been watching her as she opened her gifts, felt his heart swell, and guilt hit him at the same time. He'd scared the hell out of her, it was written in her body language, as she strived to let the moment be normal. He stood and summoned a small case, which zoomed from upstairs. Walked over and handed it to her. Hermione took it, looked into his eyes seeing the emotions that reflected through them. Opening it she looked down and gasped, "Oh Sirius it's gorgeous."

In the case on a thin gold chain was a fairy pendant. The fairy resting on a ruby, cut to look like a rose. Sirius picked up the necklace and moved around to sit on the arm of her chair, putting it around her neck. When the clasp was on he leaned down kissing her hair and whispered, "You will always be my fairy Princess."
Hermione blushed, and smiled, looking up at him.
"Thank you Sirius, it is lovely." Sirius captured her lips in his; stopping when there was a small cough. Remus was still sitting on the couch sipping his tea watching on amused.

Hermione, her cheeks still flushed, stood and turned to both gentlemen, "Would you care for some breakfast?"
Sirius grinned, "Only if its pancakes. She makes the best pancakes" He explained to Remus who chuckled and nodded. Hermione disappeared into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast. Sirius and Remus were never great at cooking and ate out more often than not. Sirius sitting in the seat Hermione vacated sat with Remus, listening to the sounds from the kitchen and soon the smells of pancakes being cooked.

Remus watched his friend, "You know we will need to tell the Order, about your brother, I mean." He said quietly.
Sirius looked over to his friend and nodded, sighing and leaning back. The hurt and pain once again across his face.
"Do you want me to?" Remus asked.
Sirius shook his head. "No, it's my burden. But thanks Moony." Remus nodded and stood, the smells from the kitchen were wafting into the living room.
"Breakfast smells like it's almost ready, shall we?" Sirius smirked, following his friend, into the kitchen.

"Hermione that was the most scrumptious breakfast I have had in a long time." Remus complimented her, as he scraped the last morsels from his plate.
"Thanks Remus, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Hermione blushed at the compliment and set her plate into the sink.
"Enjoyed it, he ate most of them!" Sirius grouched. He waved his wand to magically clean up the mess.
Remus chuckled, "What can I say, I have a wolfish appetite."
Hermione laughed, her hand absently feeling the necklace around her neck. She normally didn't wear jewellery, and it still felt odd around her neck.

The conversation moved to the motorcycle in the garage, and both made their way out. Hermione, not as interested in the conversation topic walked back into the lounge collecting her presents, from her friends, intending to sit and begin perusing through the book. She looked up as the flowers in the vase moved by a stirring breeze, and whispered about the room. She backed up, her head shaking, "No, not now. Not now!" she begged uselessly.

The curtains in the front window fluttered as if beckoning her. She tried to veer away, but she had no power to stop as the whispering wind, lifted and pulled her back into the veil. The curtains were settling back into place when Sirius and Remus came back into the room, the book on Shakespeare lying on the floor. Remus watched as his friend walked over to the book and picked it up, and placed it carefully on the mantle next to the flowers. Sirius turned and opened the front door, shifting into the black dog and bolted out the door. Remus sighed and followed, through shutting the door behind him, hoping that this time Padfoot would not get caught again by the dog catchers and ending up in the pound like last time.