CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
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: 11
Hogwarts – Monday 30th June 1997
Hermione appeared back onto the grounds of Hogwarts almost an hour after she had left and taken Draco with her. Now that she was sure he was safe, she made her way through the castle and to the hospital wing, knowing that was where she would likely find her family.
The hospital wing was buzzing with activity, the beds filled with the injured and surrounded by their friends and loved ones, poor Madam Pomphrey was rushing about like a chicken without a head, trying to see to patients and administer the correct forms of treatment.
Towards the front of the hospital wing were beds filled with D.A and Order members, supporting various injuries and wounds. Hermione's eyes landed on that of her family at the back of the hospital wing.
Sirius was quietly whispering with Arthur and Molly, who where sat in two chairs close by Bill's bed, he sat up with his soon to be wife, Fleur, sat beside him, they only had eyes for each other. She noticed several painful looking wounds on his face and she felt anger flare up in her. Bill was her family, her brother-in-law, she might not have been as close to him as she was with some of the Weasley's, bar Ron and Ginny of course, but he was still family. He was always friendly and welcoming when speaking to her, he treated her like family, he teased her like one would a little sister.
Hermione's eyes then fell on the hospital bed opposite Bill's, the curtains were drawn and she could hear nothing, likely having a Silencing Charm around it, but due to the shadows she could see moving, she knew there were two people hidden behind them. She could not see Harry anywhere. Her eyes scanned the room and she felt relief flood through her.
Her breath was knocked out of her and her stomach gave a hard tug, her hand came up to rest on her stomach and she stumbled slightly. It was her husbands, Fred and George, the two men she had been craving to be in the presence of for two months now. They were pacing back and forth, passing each other in the process.
Their work robes were askew, their hair messier than usual, though if it was caused by the battle or the constant running of their hands through it in frustration was anyone's guess. She was glad to see that they didn't appear to be injured, anxious and jittery, but not injured.
When she couldn't take the need to be close to them any longer, she quickly ran from the doors to the bacl of the hospital wing, she noticed Sirius smile at her from the corner of her eyes, but her sole focus was on her husbands.
As if knowing she was there, they stopped pacing and their heads swooped around to look at her, startlingly fast. Relief and joy lit up their faces and she visibly saw their bodies relaxing, before she barrelled into them, almost knocking them both off their feet, but they didn't mind. Wrapping their arms around her and hugging her tightly between them, she felt her stomach fluttering and her heart clenched. She could feel their bodies pressed against hers, she could smell the scent of smoke and mint that always seemed to follow them, she could feel their magic swarming her, she could feel them through the bond that only they shared.
It was the squirming in her stomach that made her realise it was the baby, their baby growing inside of her that had craved the presence of her husbands. Their baby that was slowly growing inside of her, it was calling for their fathers.
She finally noticed the twins mumblings of incoherent words, their faces pressed into either side of her neck and she noticed that their grip on her had tightened almost painfully.
"I'm alright, I promise you, I have no injuries and I am completely fine." She spoke softly.
"Where the hell were you?" they both muttered.
"I had to get Draco back to Grimmauld. I made a detour to Malfoy Manor before coming here."
"WHAT?" they both yelled, pulling back to look at her in disbelief, she winced when she noticed they had drawn the attention of most in the room.
"I made a promise to Draco, remember?" they looked at her, still in disbelief at what had what she had told them. "I promised to protect his mother," she reminded them. "I didn't put myself in danger, the manor was sparsely occupied by Death Eaters, there were more house elves than there were humans and He wasn't there. I had to collect his mother and I took her to the safe house we set up, the house elves are packing up any essential belongings of both Draco and his mother and they will be moving them to the safe house, before Bellatrix returns to the manor, any trace of Narcissa Malfoy will be long gone. I was only there ten minutes, that's all, I promise you I was in no danger, I had Dobby check before I went inside and I had Draco with me."
They didn't seem to be pleased with the news of her entering the headquarters of the dark side, but they let the subject drop, pulling her back to them and hugging her tightly.
They didn't bother telling her about the death of Dumbledore, they knew that she already knew and they didn't question how. The mark of the dark mark in the sky let everyone in seeing distance know about his murder.
"Where's Harry?" she asked them.
"He was checked over for injuries and then he left, he said he needed some space." Fred told her, she nodded in understanding.
"Who's behind the curtain?" she asked, conversationally.
She heard them chuckle lightly and she smiled to herself at the sound, the sound she had come to love and she hadn't heard in months.
"Remus and Tonks, she shouted at him, slapped him and then climbed onto his lap and snogged him." George answered.
She snorted. "About time, it was downright awkward being in the room with them, the sexual tension could've been cut with a blunt butter knife." They chuckled at her.
Slowly she pulled away from her husbands and looked up at them both, their turquoise eyes shining in the way she adored and made her feel as if she was melting into a puddle on the floor. She had to tell them, she would need to tell Sirius too, she would wait till they back at Grimmauld, she knew they would have to move as soon as possible, it was for that reason she had asked Kreacher to pack up anything of importance, value or anything that would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands -mainly the extensive collection of dark and illegal books in the library- and transport it to the cottage, which was newly unplottable and under the Fidelius with Charlie Weasley being the Secret Keeper.
Since he spent far less time with The Weasley family than the rest of them, and the fact that he lived in a different country, Romania, made him less of a suspect and it was agreed upon by Hermione, the twins and Sirius that it was the best option. Charlie was honoured to be trusted with such a secret, with such a responsibility that he had promptly swept Hermione up into a hug and much to the surprise of her father and husbands, she laughed and hugged him back without issue.
Hermione took the hands of her husbands and she pulled them in the direction of her father, Sirius noticed and met them halfway, she quickly hugged him and was relieved to see that he was injury free, though if that was because he had already been healed or he wasn't injured at all was unknown to her.
"I'm glad to see that you're okay." He whispered to her.
"Yeah, me too." She replied.
She pulled back from him and gestured for the three of the four most important men in her life to follow her to an empty cubicle. They looked at her curiously but went without question, she drew the curtains closed and cast a Silencing Charm around them.
"Okay, I have something incredibly important to tell you, I'm not sure how you're going to take the news, but I can't tell you here, I'll wait until we get back to Grimmauld," they looked like they wanted to argue with her so she quickly continued. "We have to get going as soon as possible, Snape knows the whereabouts of Grimmauld and with the Secret Keeper no longer living, the Fidelius is broken and therefore can be entered by anyone that can break through the wards. Kreacher is already packing everything up and sending it to The Cottage; we need to be out before anyone can have the chance to surprise us with an attack."
Sirius shrugged. "Hopefully they'll burn the place down without bothering to go inside, take the Old Bag with it."
"It may hold bad memories, Sirius, but it holds good ones too," Hermione said softly, "it's thanks to Grimmauld that I had a home, somewhere safe, somewhere I knew no one could hurt me, where I knew you would be safe. I understand your dislike for the place, but I will still miss it, that has been the only place that has been home to me in a long time, a place where I wasn't judged."
He looked at her thoughtfully and slowly nodded, but didn't respond.
"Right then, the plans are set into motion, I took Draco with me to Malfoy Manor, it took a good five minutes to pry his mother off him," they chuckled despite the situation, "I understand that she hasn't seen him since September but we were on a schedule and there was no time for dallying around. It took me a further five minutes to quickly explain my relationship with Draco, and his relationship with The Order and The Weasleys and Blacks. She looked like she was about to faint and before she could protest, I took her to the safe house with a promise of house elves brining her some belongings and her seeing Draco again. He is at Grimmauld helping Kreacher to pack up anything that we don't want Death Eaters getting a hold of. It's best if we're out of there by tomorrow at the latest."
They nodded. "Dumbledore's funeral is tomorrow," Sirius spoke. Hermione looked down at the ground. "None of us will be attending, we'll be putting ourselves in a vulnerable situation. We have to get Harry back to The Dursley's by tonight so that he will be safe since we can't risk the Hogwarts Express being stopped. Molly and Arthur will be taking Ron and Ginny back to The Burrow, along with Bill and Fleur tonight, you, I and the twins will be heading back to Grimmauld, we'll make sure that everything we need is packed up and then head to The Cottage, you'll be safe there."
They noticed a look of anger and betrayal enter her eyes at the last statement but it quickly vanished.
"Okay, I'll take Harry back to The Durselys, my way of travelling is untraceable and it doesn't require several apparition stops, I'll leave The Dursleys with a few choice words to make sure they leave him alone for the rest of the summer," that received smirks from the three men and knowing looks been sent between them. "Has a decision been reached?" she asked her father, he knew to what she was referring to.
"Not exactly, we're still in the planning stages, we believe we may have a way but it needs more preparation and contingency plans before we make a decision." She nodded.
"We better get moving, I'll see to Harry and get him home, no doubt Dobby has already packed our trunks up for us, if so he knows where to send them, I'll make a detour and send Hedwig back to The Durselys, you explain the plan to the others, and I'll meet you all back at Grimmauld." They nodded at her, accepting the plan. She quickly hugged her father and kissed his cheek, before hugging and kissing the twins chastely.
They all stepped out behind the curtains and separated, each going off to carry out their own tasks.
Hermione left the hospital wing after quickly assuring The Weasley parents that she was fine and she made her way to the one place she knew where Harry would be.
The Astronomy Tower.
He had been going there for years when things got too much for him, it was also the place where she knew he had witnessed Dumbledore dying.
She approached Harry and stood next to him, leaning forward against the railing and looking out and up at the stars, thankful that the dark mark was no longer present, thankful that it had been banished. Everything was eerily quiet, as if Hogwarts and its grounds were in mourning for its beloved Headmaster.
Harry slowly turned his head to look at her. He looked so defeated and scared, it broke her heart and she flung her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.
He clung to her tightly, his sister in everything but blood, Hermione could feel him trembling and she hugged him tighter, making comforting sounds and rubbing his back.
"He's dead," he whispered.
"I know." She said softly.
"You knew, didn't you? You knew what was going to happen."
"Not entirely, I knew what was to happen when Draco finished his task of completing the Vanishing Cabinet. It opened up a passageway into Hogwarts, with its connection to its sister in Borgin and Burkes, in Knockturn Alley. Dumbledore has been aware of Draco's task since I brought him to Grimmauld for Christmas, since before that actually. Dumbledore made it clear that his task was to be completed, no matter what. He asked me to visit his office after lunch, he divulged some information, I could guess as to what its true meaning was, but I knew I was right. Dumbledore knew he was going to die and made me promise not to interfere."
"Why didn't he fight back, he's the most powerful wizard alive?"
"He was dying Harry," she told him softly. "The Gaunt ring, Dumbledore destroyed it but he foolishly wore it, it was cursed, it was the reason his hand was black, he was dying. I know he's left this massive burden on your shoulders, of saving the world, but I'll help you." They pulled back from each other and leaned against the railing.
"I'm leaving, I have to, I have to finish what we started." He stated, she noticed he was clutching the locket in his hand.
"I know," she said sadly. "I want to come with you. I can help you in more ways than one."
"No," he shook his head. "It's too dangerous, you need to stay hidden, with you being The Blue Mage and being pregnant, you can't be put in any situation that will result in injury or risk the life of you or your baby."
"That's why I'm pregnant," Hermione whispered.
"What?" he asked, clearly confused.
"I'm pregnant because Dumbledore and Snape interfered. That Contraception Potion Snape gave me, it was actually a Fertility Potion." He gaped at her. "They wanted me out of the way, apparently it was decided that I shouldn't be with you through this so they made sure that I would not able to help you, but I promise you Harry, I will help you in any way that I can, whether I'm with you or not. As much as I dislike the situation, you should take Ronald with you, you know he'd follow you, I don't want you being alone and it's easier for two people to survive when they have someone to rely on, to keep them company, to keep them going. Since we don't know anything useful I'll spend my time doing research, I have access to the entire Black Library. We'll make rendezvous points and meet up every so often, I'll bring supplies and relay any information that I have to you. That's how I'll help you, even if I'm not there in person, I'll be there in spirit."
He looked at her and she could see the relief clear as day on his face.
"Everything here will be taken care of, the twins and I will be at The Cottage along with Sirius, it's now unplottable and under the Fidelius. The Weasleys should be safe at The Burrow, if not there are safe houses in place. Narcissa Malfoy is in a safe house and Draco is helping to pack up Grimmauld and then he'll be going there to be with his mother until it's safe for him to leave, he's now officially a blood traitor, and not just any blood traitor, a Malfoy."
He handed her a note he pulled out of his pocket. She looked at it curiously before opening the aged parchment, staring at the words of the faded ink.
To The Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
"This isn't even the real Horcrux," she frowned. "Who the hell is R.A.B? How does he know about Horcruxes? How did he know where it was hidden in the first place?" she huffed, rubbing her temples in irritation. Why wasn't anything ever easy?
He shrugged. "No, idea."
She sighed. "I'll take the locket and start researching immediately, maybe I can use it to figure out the whereabouts of the true Horcrux and who this R.A.B is, even better, maybe it'll help me discover the others." He nodded and handed the locket to her, which she stuffed into her pocket along with the note.
"I'm taking you back to The Durselys," he hated it there but nodded. "The Order's working on a plan to retrieve you before your seventeenth birthday, you'll be there less than a month, obviously there won't be any contact between you and the Wizarding World, so you'll effectively be on your own. Take this time to get as much rest as you can, and go through all of your Charms and Defence books, learn about as many spells as possible, you never know when they'll be useful, the simplest spells can save your life. You need to prepare for the coming months. Don't you dare leave without Ronald, you know he'll go with you and I'll track you down and flay you alive." Without giving him chance to argue, she took his hand and they left the castle in the tornado surrounding them.
~000~000~000~
12 Grimmauld Place
Hermione quickly entered the house, looking behind her and checking for anyone watching her, for good measure she cast a Revealment Charm and she sighed when she counted only four magical signatures surrounding the house, there were only four people it could've been and so she was relieved that no one was watching them.
She made her way to the living room where she found the twins and Sirius talking between them, they looked up when she entered, once more looking relieved that she was fine.
"Harry's safe, The Durselys will leave him be, I've given them their warning, they were practically wetting themselves by the time I left." They chuckled at her. "Is everything ready to be moved?" she asked.
She looked around the room seeing that recently framed photographs were no longer in the room but everything else was, including the furniture.
"Yes, Kreacher had everything we needed packed up by the time we arrived, he's transported it all over to The Cottage and he's unpacking it as we speak." Her father answered.
"Dobby came for Malfoy five minutes ago and he's took him to his mother." She nodded at Fred's answer to the question she hadn't been given time to ask.
Suddenly the three men's expressions changed, they all stared at her with determination and crossed their arms in a synchronicity which was unnerving.
"Now, what is it that you need to tell us?" George asked her, she shuffled on her feet and her hands shook lightly.
The best way for her to do it was to blurt it out before she lost the never, she was a Gryffindor after all.
"I'm pregnant!" she was met with silence.
"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" George said with a crinkle in his brow.
"I'm pregnant, just over two months if my math is correct." She admitted.
She was expecting disbelief, anger, confusion, even fainting, especially fainting. But no, what she got were two yells of joy and beaming smiles as she was picked up and spun around, by each of her husbands before she was pressed tightly between them and being peppered with kisses.
Her face lit up with joy at their reactions.
"We're going to be fathers," Fred whispered in awe into her neck.
"We're going to be fathers," George mirrored his twin's actions.
"You're going to be fathers," she repeated.
"Wait a minute," Sirius said slowly, they pulled away from each other and Hermione saw the frown on his face, a confused look in eyes.
"You can't be pregnant, you were on the Contraception Potion, you told me that you took it at the specified times."
"I did, I never once missed a dosage and I didn't stop taking it until after I returned to Hogwarts." She admitted.
"Then how are you pregnant?" George asked, seeing Sirius' point and they all looked at her confused. Anger and betrayal filled her eyes.
"Dumbledore and Snape," she answered with a slight sneer.
"What do they have to do with anything?"
"They were under the impression that it was their decision as to how we participate in the ending of the war. It was under their impression that they saw to it that I would have no reason but to go into hiding and remain in hiding. They were under the impression that they had the right to make decisions in our lives, in our marriage, decisions that don't concern them. It wasn't a Contraception Potion they gave me, it was a Fertility Potion."
Fred and George looked at her in disbelief. A loud noise made her jump and when she looked it was too see that Sirius had pulled his wand and blown a hole in the wall.
"They had no right!" he yelled in anger, his face twisted in a way she had never seen before. "They had no right to put you in danger. There haven't been any recorded pregnancies with a Blue Mage before, for all we know that could be for a reason. Maybe The Blue Mage is not supposed to have children due to her responsibility to the world, maybe it's because there's so much magic in her it could kill the baby. They have not only put your life in danger, my daughter, but my grandchild's too!" another bang, a cloud of smoke and there was another hole in the wall.
Hermione stilled in horror, her father was right, she hadn't even thought of that. What if her magic killed their child? A child that was conceived without their knowledge, that was conceived under deception, but that she loved with all her heart already. How could she not, it was a product of her love, her bond with her husbands? It was a part of them.
She brought her hand up and rested it against her stomach and she turned her head when she felt two more hands cover hers, her husbands'.
"We won't let anything hurt our baby," Fred promised her, wiping away a tear softly, she hadn't even realised that she had started crying.
"We will research this day and night and we won't stop until we know that our baby is safe. Until we see our baby for the first time in seven months." George said, his eyes boring into her.
"He's right, George, I've read the entire journal of The Blue Mage before me, three times, front to back. There was no mention of anything to do with pregnancies and children, there was no mention of my predecessors having children or pregnancies either. If a Blue Mage had previously had a child, it would be on record, no one would miss that opportunity, that implies there's never been a pregnancy. Is it because I'm to live till five hundred, not aging for centuries, stopping my menstrual cycle? Is it because we are too powerful and our magic stops the development of the baby? Is it because it's too dangerous for me to risk dying in child birth if there are complications? They've put our baby at risk, not only because of the unknown, but because of the unknown certainty of the future, of the war."
"We will not let anything happen to you or our baby." Her husbands promised her.
"I'll hire the best private healer that there is," Sirius spoke, pacing back and forth and running his hands through his hair. "Even if we make them take an Unbreakable Vow, there's a way to get around it, so they'd have to stay at The Cottage full time, so that they cannot be captured and information pulled from their mind." Hermione and the twins looked at each other. "They'll have to leave everything behind, I'll need someone that doesn't have a family or girlfriend, someone that wouldn't be missed if they were to go missing." He spoke, but mainly to himself. They didn't have a choice in the matter, they knew he was right, what happened was a betrayal, but they couldn't focus on that, they had to focus on making sure their baby was taken care of.
"Who else knows about your pregnancy?" Sirius suddenly asked, looking at her, well, seriously.
"Harry knows, he took me to the hospital wing. He knew something wasn't right, I just assumed it was my body dealing with the stress of everything and missing the twins. When he heard I haven't been able to keep any food down for the last three weeks he took me to see Madam Pomphrey. We found out I'm pregnant, so she knows too. Dumbledore knew, Snape knows, he wasn't surprised when I revealed the news to him, I quickly figured out why. He's been very lenient with me lately, he never once sneered at me or gave me detention when I had a sudden wave of nausea or when I was late to class because I had to run to the bathroom in-between classes. He didn't kick me out of his class when my magic suddenly flared up and I couldn't control it, accidently creating a miniature hurricane in his classroom. He knew, he knew long before I did and that's when I figured out he had known all along. And now you three know." She told them.
"We have to get you to The Cottage now," Sirius said quickly, walking over to the window and peaking out behind the curtains, looking to see if the house was being watched. "If Snape knows, Voldemort knows, I knew that traitorous bastard couldn't be trusted, once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater," he said angrily. "He did this for a reason, by giving you that Fertility Potion he has made you vulnerable to attack, he has made sure you will not be able to fight for The Order, they've taken you out of the equation, our most powerful member and protector. He's made you dangerous, a regular magical pregnancy can be hell on the mother's magic, I can't even begin to imagine what it would do to your magic." The twins squeezed her hand, still covering her stomach.
"How the fuck did he even think of this?" he fumed.
"Us," their heads all snapped up to see two cloaked figures standing in front of the living room door, before anyone could blink, four wands were trained on the two figures, though Sirius and the twins had moved to shield Hermione, much to her annoyance.
The two figures raised their hands in surrender, showing they were not a threat.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Sirius demanded, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
The Fidelius may have been broken, but there were still wards around the house. Sirius and Hermione could enter being Blacks, the twins being married to Hermione and Draco due to having Black blood in him.
If the figures in front of them had gotten in it meant the wards had been broken and they were likely surrounded be Death Eaters. They would have to fight their way out and they all steeled themselves at the realisation.
"We mean you no harm, you wish to know how Severus thought to give a Fertility Potion to Lady Black, well, it was our idea."
"Comet and Jugulae," Hermione spoke up, realising that the two figures were the Unspeakables. Sirius' tilted his head slightly, letting her know he had heard her.
"Admitting that isn't going to save you," Sirius spat, his knuckles going white from his grip on his wand. "You've signed my daughter's death certificate."
"We did it to protect her, this is the only way that she would go into hiding, that she would be safe and out of danger of injury. Out of the eye of the public, she will be safe from You-Know-Who." Comet explained.
"And why do you care what happens to my daughter?"
"She is Lady Black."
"She is nothing to you."
"We want nothing more than to protect her." Jugulae admitted.
Hands suddenly reached up and gripped at the hoods of the cloaks and they were lowered.
"Merlin!" Hermione whispered in surprise at the two Unspeakables in front of her, their identities now revealed.