CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Summary: Hermione's secret is discovered by The Order of the Phoenix. Before Harry is rescued, she needs to be first. But from who? With the help of Sirius she learns to put the past behind her, and with the help of two Weasleys, they show her a happy future. But Hermione isn't who she thinks she is, what she discovers will change her life for good. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: All original characters and canon events belong to J.K. Rowling. Non-canon events are my own ideas. I am not making any profit from posting this fanfic.
Page count: 8
12 Grimmauld Place - Wednesday 15th May 1996
"I was not expecting that," George blurted out. Fred nodded in agreement and the fox let out a bark of amusement.
"You're an Animagus," Fred whispered in awe and the fox nodded in response. "Is this the project you were working on with Sirius?"
The fox nodded in confirmation, before standing up on her back legs and Hermione stood once more, replacing the fox.
"That's going to take some getting used to," George spoke and she laughed at him.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Fred asked.
"I've been working on this for a while now. I started my fourth year but I was struggling as I couldn't centre myself or my magic. During the summer I told Sirius what I was working on and he agreed to help me, seeing as he's been an Animagus for years he's got insider knowledge. I finally completed my transformation during the Christmas break. Those books you kept catching me with, they were on Animagi. I'm an illegal Animagus; I'll be required to register with The Ministry if anyone were to find out. It's best for my safety if I remain unknown."
"Does Harry know that you're an Animagus? Are you going to teach him?" George quizzed.
"No, he doesn't know, and no, he's not going to learn to become an Animagus. It would give him a great advantage but Harry's life is stressful enough without throwing something else onto his plate. Besides, he doesn't have the patience to train. I did talk to Sirius though, he said that he would help me teach you. I had to wait until you could cast a corporeal patronus first and now you can. So, do you want to become illegal Animagi?"
The answering grins on their faces were all the response she needed.
"It won't be easy, there are many components involved."
"We're ready for it," George nodded.
"Very well, we'll begin your training as soon as you wish, first is theoretical, you have to understand the process before you start the physical training and that alone can take weeks, if not months. This isn't a quick process; it'll take you at least six to twelve months and that's if you stick to the training regime and complete all the meditation, without falling back into bad habits or forgetting to complete the meditation during the day. If that happens, you have to start again."
"We'll do it," Fred shrugged.
"Okay then, you can't tell anyone, we can't risk it getting out what you're doing; you'll get arrested." They both nodded.
"When can we start?" George clapped his hands together whilst grinning.
"Whenever you would like to."
"Tomorrow?" they both replied and she laughed at them.
"You know, I'm curious," she spoke. "Why are you here?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We kinda live here," George shrugged.
Hermione stared at them.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked dumbly and they chuckled at her.
"We live here," Fred repeated. "Mum wasn't happy that we left school, really, really not happy, so we came to the only place we could think of, here. We've been here since, we tried to leave a few days ago but Sirius wouldn't let us. He told us we could move in permanently, so we have. We've received two howlers a day so far from Mum so far."
She continued to stare at them.
~000~000~000~
Later that night, Grimmauld was quiet as everyone slept soundly, everyone except Hermione.
She woke screaming, tears pouring down her face and panting with the need to breathe. She gripped her necklace and Sirius responded instantly.
She sat up in bed and wiped her tears away, and when the door was flung open she was expecting to see Sirius, instead she saw two terrified and worried red heads.
"Bloody hell, Love," George cursed and they both rushed forwards, climbing on her bed and hugging her between them.
She immediately felt calmness sink into her, chasing away her terror and exhaustion.
"We knew you had nightmares, but we didn't know they were this bad," Fred said quietly, obviously horrified by the screams he'd heard filling the house. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," she sniffled.
"That's okay, we'll just stay like this until you fall asleep," George said softly.
They laid down, Hermione with her head on George's chest and Fred with his chest to her back as he wrapped her up in his arms. Five minutes later Hermione had fallen asleep and the twins followed not long after.
Unknown to them, Sirius had been stood in the doorway watching them, the others completely unaware of his presence.
He watched them for a little while longer, his mouth quirking at the corners, before he nodded to himself and left the trio to sleep. He happily headed to his own room knowing that Hermione was in good hands with the twin pranksters.
~000~000~000~
Ministry of Magic – Friday 24th May 1996
It had been a week since Hermione had been expelled from Hogwarts, she had held off on informing The Ministry of what had happened, wanting to give Umbridge the chance to change her mind and rectify the situation. She hadn't and so the day before Hermione had sent a letter to The Minister himself.
A meeting had been scheduled with her, so she and her father were currently sat in The Minister's office. Fudge sat behind his large desk, shuffling in his seat and his eyes darting between Hermione and Sirius nervously.
Sirius was sat leaning back against the chair, his arms folded across his chest with a passive look on his face, Hermione sat up straight with her hands delicately clasped in her lap and her ankles crossed, just like any Pureblooded girl should.
Fudge knew that he was in bother; after all, he had appointed Umbridge as Headmistress of Hogwarts himself.
"You know why we are here, Minister," Sirius spoke, breaking the silence and Fudge startled in his seat. "Not only has a great injustice been done against my daughter, but against the entire Hogwarts populace. That woman is using illegal methods of punishment on children, under aged children. I have several witnesses willing to testify to that. Not only is she the worst Headmistress Hogwarts has ever seen, she punished my daughter for something that was not under her control. She is not the one at fault."
Fudge nervously looked at Hermione.
"As you know, The Blue Mage exists to protect the innocent and right the wrongs of others. Ms. Umbridge is a cruel woman that spilled the blood of many a child in Hogwarts; I can list seventy names just off the top of my head." She saw him pale. "As a result my magic thought it prudent that Ms. Umbridge be punished for her transgressions, in hopes that she would learn from her mistakes. I could not control what happened, I tried to and she only continued to provoke me further. My magic acted of its own accord and she was punished as a result. It wasn't a serious punishment, she was only thrown backwards, my magic has punished others worse; one individual was struck by lightning." His eyes widened and his pale looking face had a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. "Ms. Umbridge later expelled me and for threatening me, she was punished once more. You are the one that appointed that incompetent, cruel woman as Headmistress. You put her in charge of the safety and protection of hundreds of children when she is the one that's hurting them. My question to you, Minister Fudge, is how will you fix your mistake?"
Fudge's eyes darted between the two Blacks, Sirius' expression had darkened considerably, as had Hermione's.
He tried to speak but stuttered. Clearing his throat, he started again.
"Miss. Black, I can only apologise for the mistreatment you and others have suffered under the hand of Secretary Umbridge," he looked like he was going to be sick. "Come the end of the school year, she will be removed from the position of Headmistress and she will be removed from her post as Undersecretary." Hermione felt like doing a victory dance. "You will be re-enrolled in Hogwarts and your expulsion will not go on record."
"The other students?" Sirius asked coldly.
Fudge visibly gulped.
"I will send someone to check on the teaching standards at Hogwarts and they will report back to me. Any student that has suffered under Ms. Umbridge's hands will be given a small stipend from Ms Umbridge's personal vault as an apology."
"There is no advantage in my returning to Hogwarts, I have done over a week of independent study for my OWLs, I would be on a different level to the other students. OWLs are less than two weeks away."
Fudge nodded eagerly, in hopes of mending his ties with The Blue Mage.
"Of course, you will return to Hogwarts in September, I will arrange for you to take your OWLs here at The Ministry."
"That is acceptable, thank you," Hermione spoke.
"I do hope we can keep this out of the press," Fudge spoke hopefully.
"I'm afraid not, someone has already beaten us to the punch, an article was released on Ms. Umbridge's punishment methods this morning, from what I heard on the way here, many aren't pleased," Sirius smirked.
Fudge looked ready to faint.
"Well, thank you for your time Minister, I have studying to be getting on with so we'll leave you to your devices." Hermione and Sirius both stood and made their way to the door. "By the way, Minister Fudge." He looked up at her. "You-Know-Who is back and he's preparing for war."
"No, it's impossible."
"Are you calling The Blue Mage a liar?" Sirius asked, looking far too amused with the situation.
"No, no, of course not," he said fearfully.
"Would you like to know how I know he's back? I'm going to tell you anyway, it's not because Harry or Albus Dumbledore told me, it's because I've seen him with my own eyes. He had me abducted during the Easter holidays. He wished for me to join his cause, to fight by his side. I, of course, refused. You should be careful Minister Fudge, with Voldemort back, no one is safe."
She then walked out of the room with Sirius laughing loudly as he followed after her.
~000~000~000~
12 Grimmauld Place
"So how did it go?" Fred asked her, as they laid in bed that night.
Since the night Hermione had returned from school, the twins had stayed in her room every night, and for some reason she couldn't quite explain, she had not had a single nightmare. For nine days she was nightmare free, she was the most rested she had ever been.
She thought Sirius would've had something to say about her boyfriends sleeping in her room, but instead he gave them secret smiles when he thought she wasn't looking. His reaction to her relationship with the twins was interesting and she filed it away for later analysis.
"As we expected," she replied and they chuckled. "I'm not sure who he was the most afraid of, me or Sirius."
"Definitely you," George spoke. "Sirius is terrifying and all, but you're deadly both with and without a wand."
"You didn't see what Sirius did to Richard when he found me," she said lightly.
"Well, at least he isn't deadly on ice skates," Fred spoke and she laughed.
~000~000~000~
Friday 7th June 1996
Hermione hadn't been home long, she had spent the day at The Ministry completing the last of her OWLs and now every exam had been completed. Now she had to wait until August to receive her results.
She was having a quiet night in the library with a book, everyone would be returning from Hogwarts the following Sunday and she wouldn't get any peace and quiet, so she had to take the opportunity whilst she still had it.
She was interrupted when she heard someone talking, Sirius and Remus were out gathering information and the twins had yet to return from setting up their shop, they had their opening day on Monday and so they had been spending most of their time there.
She put her book down and walked out of the library and she followed the voices, which led her to finding Kreacher by the fireplace, turning to leave the room and he stopped when he saw her.
"Who were you talking to, Kreacher?" Hermione asked him kindly.
"No one, Mistress, caller just got the wrong address."
Hermione eyed him carefully. "Are you certain?"
"Yes, Mistress," he spoke.
It unnerved her that he no longer called her a Mudblood or sneered at her. Since she was made a Black and her discovery of her being The Blue Mage, Kreacher had been very attentive to her.
Hermione sighed. "You don't have to call me that if it makes you uncomfortable."
"Kreacher will respond to Mistress the way she is supposed to be."
"Very well," she spoke and then she turned and left.
It was an hour and half later when she knew something wasn't right. Dumbledore's phoenix patronus arrived in front of her, Sirius and Remus who had only returned home ten minutes prior.
"All available Order members are needed at The Ministry in the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort set a trap and a few students are in need of assistance." The phoenix disappeared and they all stood up in shock, staring between each other.
Something hit Hermione.
"Kreacher," Hermione called. He appeared in the room.
"Mistress," he bowed.
"Who floo called?" she asked him with narrowed eyes. "And don't lie to me either."
"Potter," he grumbled.
"Why?"
"He wanted to know where the Master was, Potter mentioned about dreaming about Master being tortured by You-Know-Who."
Hermione's eyes widened.
"He's walked into a trap," she whispered.
~000~000~000~
Department of Mysteries
If you asked Hermione how she had gotten to The Ministry and in the Department of Mysteries no less, she wouldn't be able to tell you. It was all a blur.
She was doing her best to protect the innocent during the battle, to keep things fair but it was difficult without getting involved.
She had saved Luna from the Cruciatus Curse and she'd saved a masked Death Eater from a very nasty Slicing Hex from an Order member. She had protected Neville from the Killing Curse and saved the life of Thoros Nott.
She hated that it was her responsibility. She could tell the Death Eaters were being a little cautious, they never sent a single spell her way, not wanting to suffer the same treatment as Bellatrix. They tended to ignore her as she ran through the different rooms, protecting everyone from getting too badly injured.
Her suspicions regarding the Death Eaters not wanting to hurt her were confirmed when she saw Dolohov shoot a spell at Kingsley, she had never seen anything like it, it was a neon purple colour. Kingsley managed to dive out of the way of it, and it headed straight for Hermione.
She saw the colour drain from Dolohov's face and a genuine look of fear filled his features. Whatever the spell was, she knew a Shielding Charm couldn't block it. She had to protect herself.
She willed the air around her to come to her, with a twist of her hand the air turned into a tornado, spinning around her, getting bigger and bigger. The spell was sucked into the vortex and when she was sure that it wouldn't cause any harm, she dropped the tornado.
She noticed several injuries had occurred, the duellers obviously being distracted by her display of power. The Order members looked at her in awe, the Death Eaters complete fear.
Her attention was brought to her right when she caught the neon green flash of light.
Bellatrix had cast the Killing Curse and it was heading straight for a distracted Sirius. She panicked.
The air around her swirled, once more creating a tornado, only this time it wasn't near her, it surrounded itself around Sirius, protecting him from the curse. Her magic wanted Bellatrix punished; she hadn't learned her lesson. The tornado moved, revealing an uninjured and confused Sirius before his eyes landed on her furious form. Instead of the tornado disappearing like it had with Hermione, it moved over to Bellatrix in a fast blur, it crashed into her, sending her flying through the air and she collided with a shelf of prophecies, the glass balls smashing and cutting Bellatrix's now unconscious form.
What happened next, she wasn't sure she could tell you. She heard shouts and screams, loud bangs and clashes. She rushed in the direction of the noises which led her to the atrium. Dumbledore and Voldemort were duelling. Red and green spells colliding as Harry propped himself up on his elbows on the floor, trying shuffle back and out of the firing line. She rushed to him and supported his weight, helping him to move to safety.
She didn't have to get involved; these two wizards, they were leaders of two different causes and were both evenly matched.
The chandelier took the brunt of the force from the magical energy crackling in the atrium, and it crashed to the ground with the glass shattering and flying in every direction. It broke apart the two colliding spells, just as several Ministry employees, photographers and Minister Fudge entered the atrium. Voldemort gave a smirk and disappeared from view.
Hermione looked to Minister Fudge; he was pale, sweating and looked to be on the verge of fainting.
"Merlin's beard...Here...Here!...In the Ministry of Magic!...Great heavens above...It doesn't seem possible...My word...How can this be?" he stuttered.
"I did tell you," she said impassively, before turning around with Harry and walking away from the shouts of questions and the flashes of light caused by the cameras.