CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
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: 12
12 Grimmauld Place – Monday 30th June 1997
"It can't be, that's impossible," Hermione whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief and without thought she lowered her wand.
Sirius' wand hand shook slightly, he had paled considerably and swayed on his feet. The only two unaffected by the revelation were the twins, who looked more confused than they did shocked, but their stance never wavered.
The two Unspeakables were evidently related. The one was taller than the other, older too, with short black hair and dark brown eyes, he had angular features and a pale complexion. The smaller Unspeakable had identical dark brown eyes and angular features, with a straight nose and pale complexion. The difference was the hair, black and wavy that fell to his shoulders. The resemblance to Sirius was uncanny.
As soon as Hermione had laid eyes on them, she instantly knew who they were, she had seen portraits of them around Grimmauld, though these men had obviously aged, there was no denying they were Orion and Regulus Black, the deceased father and younger brother of Sirius Black. Her grandfather and uncle.
"Who the fuck are you?" Sirius snarled, taking a menacing step forwards after gaining his bearings, his eyes were narrowed but Hermione could see the wariness in his body, and a small amount of hope in his eyes.
"Come on, Son, I think it's fairly obvious who we are," the older man drawled, rolling his eyes.
"Give him a moment, Father," the younger man chuckled, a teasing glint in his eyes. "My dear brother was always slow to recover, he wears his emotions on his face, he would've made a terrible Slytherin." The other man tilted his head in concession.
"I said, who are you?" he bellowed.
"Daddy," Hermione spoke softly, gaining his attention at the way she had addressed him. He knew she loved him, but it wasn't often that she called him anything but his name. "I think I understand what's happening here. Fred, George, please lower your wands, they're not going to hurt me, or you for that matter," Fred and George tilted their head in confusion. "It's okay, I promise, if they even attempt to prove me wrong, my magic will act out and given the results of my accidental magic with pregnancy, I wouldn't want to see the results of intentional magic." They all saw the two men wince and nod in agreement with her words.
"One wrong move and you won't live to see tomorrow," George warned, before he and his twin lowered their wands, but they didn't put them away, keeping them held tightly in their hands by their sides.
"Fred, George, I would like to introduce you to Orion and Regulus Black, my grandfather and uncle, Sirius' father and brother." Their eyes widened and mouths dropped open.
The two Unspeakables snorted.
"Regulus," he nodded in greeting, "Sirius' younger and better looking brother."
"Orion, " he nodded in greeting, "Sirius' father," he said simply.
"But you're dead," Fred blurted out in surprise.
Hermione giggled at his reaction, the twins turned to her and their eyes softened at the sound, even more so when they noticed her holding a hand against her stomach, she didn't even realise she was doing it.
"No, they faked their deaths, didn't you?" she spoke knowingly.
"Rumours of your intelligence are outstanding, I am glad to see they are true," her apparent grandfather said, with a proud smile.
"We did indeed fake our deaths," Regulus nodded at his niece with a smile. "Father and I discussed leaving the ranks of Death Eaters long ago, neither of us wanted a part in destruction or mass murder, but we were bound to protect the House of Black, going against You-Know-Who wouldn't have boded well for our family, better to ally yourself with the enemy than to oppose them, at least until we came up with a solution."
"I am happy that I was able to save Sirius from the life of a Death Eater," Orion spoke.
"You disowned him," Fred pointed out.
"I did what I had to do to protect him, Walburga was a horrid woman, I was forced to marry her to complete the wedding arrangement, we had been set to marry from my tenth birthday, bound by a blood oath," Orion said regretfully. "I never loved her, I was only in her presence long enough to carry out my duty of producing heirs, when that was complete, I kept my distance. I didn't agree with the way she treated my children and I did what I could for them. Walburga banished Sirius out of hatred, I did it out of love," he looked down at the floor, before looking up at Sirius' shocked expression. "By disowning you, you were placed in the care of The Potters, a family I knew would give you the love and care Walburga didn't, that I couldn't show. You were safe with them, without being forced into You-Know-Who's army, the best I could do for Regulus was keep him close by since he didn't have friends such as yours."
"We came up with a plan my final year, I would no longer be protected by Hogwarts and I would be given missions and be expected to attend revels," Regulus spoke, "Father and I wanted to bring down You-Know-Who and it was best to do it from the inside, but we couldn't be suspected. So we planned our deaths. Father was the first to 'die' and he became an Unspeakable since no one knows their true identity. He joined the Death Eaters and fed information to Dumbledore. We were waiting until I graduated, unfortunately my plan was forced into action a little earlier than planned and I never got the change to graduate."
"You 'died' on a mission for Him," Sirius spat.
"No, I had learned of something," Regulus looked at Hermione and she knew instantly, an imaginary light bulb flashing above her head.
"You're R.A.B?" her eyes widened.
He smiled at her. "Yes, I am." Her husbands and father looked confused.
"He borrowed Kreacher and when he returned him to me, he was almost dead. I healed him and had Kreacher take me to the cave, I discovered His secret and stole the locket, Inferi tried to pull me into the water and drown me, I used my animagus form to escape, and I 'died' taking on the identity of an Unspeakable, Agent Comet."
"I should've figured it out," Hermione shook her head, "Comet could've been anyone, but Jugulae is Latin for Orion's Belt," she sighed.
"Occam's Razor," Orion shrugged, Hermione stared at him in surprise at his words. He knew that Muggle theory?
"I informed Father of His secret and after You-Know-Who's down fall we knew he would be back and so we continued with our lives as Unspeakables, until the day He returned, and when he did, we informed Dumbledore and we continued on our mission to bring him down from the inside."
"Yeah, what is this secret you keep mentioning?" George asked, with a raised eyebrow.
They both looked at Hermione and she sighed.
"We have discovered that He is immortal." She told them.
Fred snorted. "Love, there is no denying your intelligence, you're smarter than the both of us combined, but that statement makes us worry that we may have to admit you to the Janus Thickey ward." George spoke, whilst Fred hit him upside the head, making him scowl.
Hermione rolled her eyes at them. "He is immortal, there is an ancient and archaic form of magic that is so dark, the mere mention of it was wiped from the Wizarding World. Unfortunately, a few books were missed, but thankfully, only limited information is revealed in them. He found out about this information during his school years. The process involves committing murder and then splitting your soul and encasing it in an object, giving you immortality, it's how he was only defeated and not killed." They looked at her horrified, and Hermione noticed that Sirius had lowered his wand. "This," she pulled out the locket from her pocket and allowed it to dangle from her finger, swaying back and forth gently. "This is what Dumbledore wanted Harry and I to accompany him to retrieve, it wasn't easy and we hit a few obstacles on the way, but we managed to get it. I destroyed the cave before leaving, it is no longer there, just piles of rock and rubble at the bottom of the sea. Harry opened it and discovered the note, all that trouble was for nothing, I told him I would keep a hold of it and research it whilst I am in hiding, now I don't have to find it. Did you destroy it?" she asked Regulus.
He frowned, "I'm afraid not, we've spent the years since His downfall searching for his others. We're not sure how many he has, we're not sure what they are or where they are hidden, but we believe we have a few potential leads. The only problem we're having is that we can't open the locket, unless we open it, it can't be destroyed. Again, we're not entirely sure on how to destroy it but we have a few theories that just may work."
Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Do you have it? If I take a look at the real locket, I may be able to find something that you've missed, I may also be able to figure out a way to use the locket to track the other objects, giving us their location. We'll have to take into account protective measures surrounding them, just as there was the locket." Orion and Regulus shared a look.
"In all the years we've been searching, we never thought to use the locket to track the other objects," Orion said proudly.
"Brightest Witch of the Age," Fred said proudly, putting his arm around her shoulders, George's hand slipped around her waist.
"You don't actually believe them, do you?" Sirius asked incredulously, his wand now raised. "They could be imposters."
Hermione titled her head. "No, I don't think so, their story is just so ridiculous that I can't imagine someone making it up, but you're right, we should have proof before we divulge anything else and even consider trusting them. Kreacher," she called.
"Mistress called, what can Kreacher do for the Mistress?" he asked bowing.
"Kreacher, please turn around," Hermione said softly.
Kreacher stood up and turned. His eyes widened immediately.
"Master Regulus!" he squealed in joy and he jumped up and down, clapping his hands enthusiastically, Hermione had never seen him so happy and full of life. Kreacher flung himself forward and wrapped himself around Regulus' legs. "Kreacher, knew, Kreacher knew Master Regulus was alive, he did not believe Mistress Walburga," he cried.
Regulus chuckled and patted Kreacher on his head.
"It's them," Hermione nodded.
"Very well," Sirius snarled, putting his wand away before stepping forward. Before anyone saw it coming Sirius brought his fist back and slugged Regulus across the face, he almost fell over and split Regulus' lip. Hermione gasped in shock, the twins stared and fought down the urge to laugh.
"Sirius!" Orion scolded, but Sirius' hand came to his nose, a crack echoing through the room as blood started to pour.
Orion held his nose and Regulus his mouth in shock. Sirius stepped back, cradling his hand, his knuckles split open.
"That was for endangering my daughter's life," he said with a glare.
"How the hell did we endanger her life?" Regulus demanded.
"You gave her a Fertility Potion without the permission of both her and her husbands."
"We did that to protect her, if she was pregnant she would be taken into hiding and be out of the war and the public eye, she would be safe. She is reviving our House, she is our family and the Matriarch of our House, we would never harm her."
"There has never been a reported case of a Blue Mage pregnancy." Hermione spoke quietly, gaining their attention, the arms the twins had around her tightened on her. "Is it because I am not suppose to have children due to my life span and no longer aging? Is it because I am too powerful and my magic could kill the baby? Is it because I risk dying in child birth? Is it to protect me from emotional harm from having to watch my child die whilst I live on? Is it because it will wreck havoc on my already unpredictable magic? I can't control it, I created a small hurricane in my classroom not too long ago, for no reason at all, it just happened. Your intentions to keep me safe may have very well derailed your plan."
They looked down at the ground.
"I'm going to hire a private healer, someone that can stay with her every day, that will always be nearby. It will have to be someone that will take an Unbreakable Vow, someone that won't be missed and therefore must not have any family or friends. I need someone that I can trust to be around my daughter and her husbands." Sirius spoke gruffly.
"I'll do it," eyes snapped to him.
"What?" Hermione, the twins and Sirius all spoke.
"I said I'll do it," Regulus repeated. "Sixteen years is a long time to wait for a war, as well as being an Unspeakable, I trained to be a healer; I thought it would be a useful advantage on our side." He admitted.
"I trained to be a Curse Breaker," Orion informed them.
"So, I'll be your healer, better to keep it in the family," he smirked.
"I am not letting you anywhere near there," Hermione spoke horrified, a blush covering her cheeks.
Regulus paled considerably. "No, neither do I want to be anyway near there," he grimaced, shifting on his feet. "I am your uncle after all. When the time comes to you going into labour, I'll have a healer that I trust deliver the baby, whilst I focus my attention on you. You're worried about the baby, I can do diagnostic spells now to check the health of the baby."
Before anyone could answer, there were loud bangs coming from outside, Sirius rushed over to the window.
"Death Eaters!" Sirius said panicked. "They're trying to get in, they must've broken through the wards and are now trying to enter the house."
Everyone looked at each other.
"Kreacher," Hermione spoke quickly, noticing that he was stood by Regulus. "Is everything of importance at The Cottage?"
"Yes, Mistress, Kreacher has not yet finished unpacking."
"That quite alright, please take Regulus and Orion to the edge of the wards, I will meet you there as soon as possible." They looked at her confused. "We have The Cottage under a Fidelius, I'll have to visit the Secret Keeper to get you the address. Fred, George, Sirius, I'll meet you there." They all nodded and now that the wards were broken they could apparate out.
Xxxxxxxxxx
The Cottage
Hermione landed outside the wards of The Cottage twenty minutes later to see Regulus and Orion standing around looking bored.
"Sorry, I had to travel a while away and it took me longer than I thought it would." She handed them two pieces of parchment and they read it aloud before Hermione took it and burned it into ash.
She wasn't worried about them being able to enter The Cottage, even if they did betray them -which she was sure they wouldn't- they wouldn't be able to reveal their secret since they weren't the Secret Keeper and they didn't know who was.
"Take my hands, you can enter The Cottage but you can't enter through the land wards, I'll take us there, it's a lot quicker." They looked at her curiously but took her hands, Hermione conjured her tornado and they landed inside of her living room, everything the way she left it all those months ago.
She smiled at the sight and looked around happily.
"Welcome to my home," she spoke, before letting go of their hands and going in search of her father and husbands, leaving them to explore.
She found them upstairs, Sirius was in his room looking around with a smile on his face. He had decorated it in Gryffindor colours, crests and banners. His queen sized bed with red silk bedding, his wardrobe, beside table and desk light oak and light wooden flooring. It was simple but it suited him well. She chuckled, he turned and grinned at her.
"I'm not even going to comment," she muttered.
Fred and George entered the room, coming from two of the other bedrooms.
"We were just making sure the bedrooms were set up for our new guests," Fred explained, wrapping his arms around her stomach and tugging her backwards and into him.
Sirius scowled. "You said so yourself, Sirius," Hermione said softly, her eyes closed and revelling in being with her husbands after being away from them for so long. "If Regulus is to be my healer, he needs to be close by and I'm sure Orion won't want to leave me either, I'm carrying the Heir to the House of Black after all."
His expression softened at her words, and his eyes flickered down to her stomach before he could stop them.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her.
"Starving, I've barely eaten anything in three weeks, I'm exhausted since I haven't been sleeping well either."
"Kreacher," Sirius called.
"Yes, Master," he bowed without his usual sneer pointed at Sirius, much to the surprise of everyone and Hermione giggled at the look of disbelief on her father's face, worse than finding out his brother and father were alive.
He cleared his throat. "Prepare dinner, Hermione hasn't eaten recently and neither have we for that matter, it's been a bust day." Hermione glared at him. "Please," he added.
"Of course, Master, Kreacher is happy to serve The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and The Mistress and her child," he grinned and popped away.
"That was weird," George commented, taking a hold of Hermione's hand and running his thumb of her knuckles. "He didn't even call us blood traitors."
"He's happy, he's just found out that Regulus is alive, he adores him and if Regulus approves of us, Kreacher will too," she shrugged.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I'm fi..." she didn't finish the sentence as a sudden wave of nausea hit her. She pulled away from Fred and George and ran out of the room and to the closest bathroom, she just made it in time before she slumped to the ground and threw up.
She coughed and groaned, she felt hands rubbing her back in comfort and someone grabbed her hair as another wave hit her.
"Whatever Kreacher is making for dinner does not agree with the baby," she groaned, pushing away from the toilet, flushing the chain and closing the toilet seat to sit on. Her head bent and her elbows resting on her knees.
"Here, Love," George spoke, holding out a glass of conjured water for her. She took it and drank down as much as she could to get rid of the awful taste.
"Thanks," she replied, handing the glass back. The left over water in the glass suddenly exploded, the glass shattering into pieces, cutting George's hand in the process and the water landing over George's head.
Hermione gasped loudly and stood up.
"George, I am so sorry," she cried, tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's okay, Love," he smiled, taking his robes and pressing them into his hand to slow down the bleeding. "It wasn't your fault, if our baby is capable of that after a couple of months, I can't begin to imagine what it will be capable off in five years," he chuckled shaking his head.
"What happened, we heard a noise?" Regulus and Orion entered the bathroom. They noticed they no longer had their injuries, Regulus must've healed them.
"The baby doesn't like whatever Kreacher is cooking," Fred shrugged. "Hermione made a beeline to the bathroom, after drinking some water, the glass shattered in George's hand."
"Let me see," Regulus ordered, taking out his wand and taking George's hand in his, seeing the deep gash across his hand.
"There doesn't appear to be any glass in the wound, a simple charm and a coat of Dittany and it will be fine in an hour or so," he spoke, before muttering under his breath and then pulling out a vial of Dittany from seemingly out of nowhere.
A few drops on George's palm and he winced, Regulus wrapped a bandage around his palm and then stepped back.
"There, like I said, an hour or so and it should be fine."
"Thanks," George spoke, going over to an upset Hermione, hugging her tightly and whispering to her.
"I didn't mean to," she cried.
"It wasn't your fault," George promised her.
"Maybe it's time I cast those diagnostic spells," Regulus spoke up.
Before anyone could speak, another wave of nausea hit Hermione and she once again found herself with her head in the toilet.
Sirius, Regulus and Orion grimaced, whilst the twins attended to her.
"Oh, Merlin, what is he cooking?" Hermione groaned into the toilet.
"Yeah, I think it's time," Fred agreed. He then turned to Hermione. "Come on, Princess, we'll go downstairs."
"I don't want to move," she muttered.
"Come on, we'll make sure Kreacher makes something else for you, we'll put a charm around you so you can't smell the rest of the food."
"I don't want to move, I'm tired," she muttered.
"You can sleep after you've eaten, I promise," Fred picked her up and she wrapped her hands around his neck, burrowing her head. They all made their way downstairs.
"Is there anything you want, anything you're craving?" George asked her.
"No, I just want something that won't make me throw up," she grumbled.
"Try crackers and ginger tea, they're good for pregnant women," Regulus piped up.
"It's weird that you know that."
"I am a healer," he shrugged.
"So is Madam Pomphrey, yet she only knows the Pregnancy Charm."
"I had mentors in different departments, Madam Pomphrey likely only had a mentor in A&E and common illnesses. I had mentors in A&E, curses and spell damage, creature induced injuries, potions and poisonings and midwifery."
"Over achiever," Sirius mumbled.
"It's going to save her life," Regulus replied.
"Her life wouldn't need saving if you hadn't have stuck your large beak in her marriage," Sirius snarled, turning around to face him.
"Daddy, please don't, you'll have your time to talk later, but right now I want to know if my baby's alright."
"Of course, Kitten," he said softly.
They reached the living room and they could see Kreacher bustling around the kitchen.
"Kreacher," Sirius spoke.
"Master," he turned and bowed. "The dinner you are preparing is unfortunately not agreeing with the baby, please prepare some ginger tea and crackers for Hermione."
"Yes, Master," he bowed before going about his tasks.
Fred put Hermione on the couch and sat down on the end of it, lifting her feet into his lap, whilst George sat the opposite side and rested Hermione's head on his lap.
"Right then, lift your shirt for me," Regulus ordered and Hermione did as he said. Regulus kneeled down beside the couch and began to murmur under his breath whilst Hermione's stomach glowed a variety of colours which she didn't know the meaning of.
"Should we tell your parents and the rest of the family?" Hermione asked.
"Not yet," George said. "We should wait a little longer, maybe after you start showing, Merlin knows we love Mum but she can't keep a secret to save her life and soon enough it would be spread about Wizarding Britain and we need to keep it a secret, so that He doesn't find out. One more course of protection won't hurt anyone," she smiled up at him.
"Besides, Bill and Fleur are getting married in a few weeks, if we told everyone about the pregnancy, it would take away from their big day. Trust us, we know how special a wedding day is," Fred spoke, Hermione smiled up at him.
"Best husbands ever," they chuckled at her.
"Alright, Hermione, the results indicate the baby's development is right on track, and nothing seems to be amiss. The baby's heart appears to be finished forming, as have the organs and limbs, currently the baby is approximately the size of a grape. The baby will start putting on weight and increasing in size. Your nausea should stop in the second trimester, the same for mood swings, though they tend to return in the third trimester. I can see that your magical core is unsettled, likely because of the hormones flooding your body, in order to decrease the risk of accidental magic and outbursts, it may be best that you exercise your magic regularly. I'm not just talking about a spell here and a charm there. I'm talking about three, maybe four times a day of elemental magic, an hour each time. This should help with your magical outbursts, releasing all of the built up magic in your body. I have no concerns about the baby. Are there any other symptoms I need to know about, except for the insomnia and nausea?"
"Cravings," Hermione supplied, looking happy that the baby was perfectly healthy, the twins wore matching beaming smiles.
"That's to be expected, you will have cravings and despite how strange they may be, it is best to give your body what it wants."
"Not for food."
"Sex?" he said bluntly. "That is perfectly understandable, your sex drive will have increased also and..."
"Not sex," she scowled at him, making the twins and Sirius chuckle, whilst Orion sat on an arm chair, smirking.
"What are you having cravings for then?" he titled his head to the side, a confused look marring his features.
"The twins."
"As I was saying, your sex drive..."
"I am not craving sex!" she snapped, the black rug in front of the fireplace set ablaze.
"Shite," Sirius cursed and he quickly cast and Aquamenti on the burning rug, putting it out and soaking it.
"Best not to wind her up, Regulus," Orion was now chuckling.
He nodded with a frown. "You're quite frightening when you want to be," he informed her.
"So I've been told," she growled, his robes suddenly caught fire at he jumped up in shock and shook them off, turning around to stamp out the fire.
Sirius and the twins were howling in laughter, practically doubled over on themselves and Orion laughed richly.
"You shouldn't have said that." Orion spoke.
Regulus scowled at her.
"I'm pregnant, it wasn't my fault; the baby made me do it," she said sweetly, the laughter grew louder and tears were now running down red faces.
He cleared his throat. "What are you craving?" he finally asked, once the others had gotten their laughter under control.
"The twins, I crave their presence. When I was at Hogwarts I was constantly in a foul mood, I couldn't sleep or eat. I always had headaches and I felt stressed. I had constant back and feet ache, poor Draco and Harry had their work cut for them," she sighed. "I just wanted to be around them, I needed to be around them. I couldn't concentrate on anything because my every thought was occupied by them. It wasn't until I saw them in the hospital wing that I knew what it was. When I saw them my stomach gave a hard tug and I felt butterflies, I felt lightheaded and happy. It was the baby, the baby wants them around constantly." The twins hands both slipped onto her stomach which still hadn't been covered, and they rested there, wide smiles on their faces at what she had revealed.
Hermione sighed as she a felt a tug in stomach her once again and she brought her hands up to cover theirs.
"That's interesting," Regulus mused. "I don't wish to see what the consequences are if the baby does not feel the presence it wants, for that reason I think it best that you have at least one of your husbands at The Cottage at all times."
"That's fine with us," the twins spoke.
"Yeah, we have a lab in the basement which we built for that particular reason, we wanted one of us to always be at home so that Hermione never felt lonely. One of us can work at the shop for the day and the other can work from home. We could hire more staff and someone to manage the store and both work from home, but with the current politics, I think it's best that we alternate staying with Hermione."
"I'll take tomorrow and Fred can stay with Hermione, then we'll swap so that we each do every other day. She'll always have one of us with her, not to mention Sirius will be here and she can research these weird objects that need destroying." George spoke.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Are you sure the baby is alright?" Hermione asked.
"Positive," Regulus smiled, "I estimate you to be just over nine weeks pregnant, and your due date is 11th January."
"A great date," the twins grinned causing Hermione to giggle. With her husbands by her side, her father and newly discovered 'resurrected' grandfather and uncle, their baby would be perfectly healthy, safe and well loved.