CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
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: 10
The Cottage - Wednesday 16th September 1998
It was six weeks later and Hermione found herself sitting alone in the living room, reading a book and eating cheesy mash. It was only her and George alone at the cottage since Regulus and Orion were off being Unspeakables, it was Fred's day at the shop, Kreacher was out getting more food supplies and Sirius was off on Order business.
Hermione felt the D.A coin heat up in the pocket of her jeans, which had been altered with magic to accommodate her growing stomach. Hermione put a spoonful of cheesy mash into her mouth, before placing the bowl onto the coffee table and she struggled to stand up.
She fished the coin out of her pocket and worry surged through her as she looked at the message Harry had sent her.
Help! Ron's injured! #5!
"George!" Hermione yelled as she used her wand to summon a warm coat since the weather was quickly turning, signalling the soon arrival of winter.
"What is it?" he ran into the living room, obviously sensing the panic in her voice.
"Ron's hurt, I have to go."
"I'll go with you," he said, not wanting her to be out of his sight in case she ran into trouble. He knew she could handle herself, but there was no way in hell he would allow what happened to her after the reception to happen again.
She had passed out and was unconscious for three days having used too much of her energy stores during the attack. She had saved their lives but burned herself out doing it, neither her magical core nor the baby could handle the depletion and they sent her into an unconscious state until her magic was restored.
Despite both her and the baby being perfectly healthy, everyone was keeping a closer eye on her to prevent it from happening again. She was barely left alone, even Kreacher followed her around when he wasn't keeping Hermione's craving fed and making sure she rested and kept herself healthy, honestly, he was worse than everyone else combined.
Hermione could see the worry in George, he didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he was also worried for his little brother.
"Okay, we better hurry."
He walked over to her and took her hand, knowing that she was going to transport them.
"Do you know where they are?"
"I know exactly where they are, and that's how I know they're safe."
With that she whisked them away.
~000~000~000~
Location #5
Hermione and George landed smoothly on the ground. The smell of bark and mud hit Hermione's nose and a smile pulled at her mouth.
"Where are we?"
"One of the safe locations I mapped out for Harry and Ron, they should have wards up, I left instructions for them. They'll be nearby somewhere."
She struggled to get onto her knees and George helped her. She pressed her hand into the dirt, the rough texture of broken twigs and dried leaves scratching against her skin.
She listened to voices in the wind and the vibrations in the ground, telling her exactly were Harry and Ron where.
"They're about ten minutes north of us," she spoke.
George helped her up and to speed things along, she transported them to where the earth had told her they'd be.
"I don't see... bloody hell!" George jumped as Harry appeared out of nowhere.
"Thank Merlin, I didn't know what to do," Harry spoke panicked.
Hermione looked him over, he looked tired, stressed, pale, but other than that he was well fed and showed no sign of injury. With that Harry turned and waved his wand, the wards before them dropping instantly and the tent came into view.
Harry led them towards the tent and Ron's whimpers of pain filled Hermione's ears and she sped up as much as she could, looking like a waddling penguin in the process.
"Merlin!" Hermione whispered as she entered the tent, her face drained of colour as she saw the blood covering the sheets of the camp bed Ron was laid on.
"What happened?" She spoke, moving over to Ron and removing her coat.
She examined the wound, moving the blood soaked and shredded clothing out of the way to get a better view. It looked as though his shoulder had been ripped from the socket.
"George, I need Dittany, gauzes and bandages," she said, she heard him rifling through the healing potions, looking for what she asked for.
"We went to The Ministry; we thought we had a lead on another Horcrux. We broke in using PolyJuice and created a distraction so that I could get close enough to Umbridge to see if we were right. We weren't and we were discovered, this happened as we escaped."
"You've splinched him, it should heal but you won't be able to move camp for a while, Ron will need to get his strength back up after this."
She took the Dittany from George and he stood beside her, preparing himself to help in case she needed it. She unstopped the vial and poured several drops of the liquid onto Ron's injury. He gave a scream and his body writhed around.
"Hold him down," she commanded, both Harry and George did their best to keep Ron steady as Hermione continued to drop the healing potion onto his wound, apologising every time she did so.
"Okay, that should do it," she said, putting the Dittany down and looking at the wound as it slowly began to heal, the wound stitching itself back together.
She cleaned the blood away with a siphoning spell and covered the wound with gauze, wrapping it in bandages and securing it. Ron was pale and sweating, his breathing coming out in gasps and his body twitching from the pain he had just endured.
"Get me a Calming Draught, a Blood Replenisher, a Pain Reliever and a mild Sleeping Draught." She ordered. George disappeared from her side, only to return moments later with what she asked for.
She poured the potions down Ron's throat and she could see the difference in him immediately. He stopped shaking, his breathing slowed, colour returned to his face and the pained look disappeared from his face. She was about to pour the Sleeping Draught down his throat when his hand weakly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
Harry and George took one look at each other and quickly left the tent, leaving Hermione and Ron alone to finally have the talk.
"Ron, you need to take this, it'll allow your body to heal whilst you sleep."
"No, not yet," he shook his head slowly, his eyes droopy. "We need to talk."
"We can talk later," Hermione said.
"No, you can't stay long; it's not safe for you."
"Fine, you have two minutes before you have to take the Sleeping Draught."
"I can work with that. These last two years without you being my friend has affected me in ways I never thought possible. I realise now that you were more to me than a friend, than someone to do my homework or argue with. You were my best friend, and you didn't betray me, not even when I said things to purposely hurt you because I was mad at something or other. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, I'm sorry for upsetting you and hurting your feelings. I'm sorry for..."
"I get it, Ronald, you're sorry and I forgive you."
"You do?"
"Yes, I forgive you."
"What made you decide that?"
"Honestly, my pregnancy. What Snape and Dumbledore did to me, for them to interfere in the way they did is unforgivable, but being pregnant, having a tiny life force growing inside of me, depending on me, it's changed the way I see the world, and so has this war. We don't have time for petty squabbles when death is around the corner, we need to show a united front, give them something to be afraid of. You're going to be an Uncle and no matter what you've done to me in the past or what you've said, you're going to be in my baby's life. The more people there is to show my baby love and friendship, the more it will feel and be able to reciprocate. My baby will know love and kindness, friendship and sacrifice, and I'd rather my baby grow up knowing those than having wealth. As much as a pain in the arse you are, you wouldn't be Ron without it, you wouldn't be my best friend. I'm not saying we can just jump back into being the way we were before, I can forgive but I can't forget and it's going to take time until I trust you completely."
"You really forgive me?"
"Yes, I do, I'm pregnant, and I can't get through it without my best friend." His eyes fell to her stomach and it was bigger than the last time he saw her.
"How long do you have left?"
Her hand came up to her stomach and she smiled. "Not long now, about two months, maybe longer."
"Bloody hell," he muttered and she laughed at him.
"Yeah, hopefully the next time we see each other neither you nor Harry will be injured and it will be under better circumstances. I've forgiven you, now take the Sleeping Draught and let your body heal."
"Fine," he muttered childishly.
She helped him to take the potion and he was out within minutes. She covered him with a blanket and grabbed her coat; slipping it back on and she made her way out of the tent, where she found Harry and George sat by the lit fire under a tree and talking quiet
"How is he?" Harry asked, as she approached them and they both stood up.
"He should be fine, but he can't travel for a few days. The bandages will have to be changed at least twice a day to stop infection and hopefully he'll be all healed up within five days. We've made some progress with a possible location to a Horcrux, and we'll find out shortly if we're right in our suspicions. Until then try to be more careful and remember the Taboo. Do you have enough supplies?"
"We should have enough to last a couple more weeks," Harry answered.
"Okay, I'll arrange another drop point in two weeks time along with another coin. We better get back, we've been gone too long and if someone gets home before us, we'll have a panic on our hands." He laughed at her as she rolled her eyes. "Take care of yourself, Harry." She said, hugging him tightly and then stepping back and taking George's hand.
"You'd kill me if I didn't."
"I can't hurt the innocent, but Sirius would probably kill you," she laughed as he paled and his laughter echoed as she left with George.
~000~000~000~
The Cottage – Sunday 27th September 1998
"Do you have it?" Hermione asked hopefully as both Regulus and Orion walked into the library. The shared a grin with each other, before Orion removed a goblet from his robe pocket, and she gasped in disbelief.
They had actually done it. They had found a Horcrux by tracking it through the locket. Hermione wasn't allowed to touch the goblet, seeing as no one wanted to risk the dark magic affecting either her or the baby, but she could feel the darkness around it, even from her place sitting on the couch.
"I can't believe it," she said amazed.
"Well, it's thanks to you that we were able to find it, now we know that we're able to track the others through the locket, we can find the rest. In the meantime, do you think you can destroy it?" Orion asked her.
"I'm not sure; it'll have to be trial and error."
"Now that we have another Horcrux we can use that method, we still need the locket to find the others but we can use the goblet, well, if your guard dog says you can," Orion said amused, looking in his son's direction.
It was true, since Hermione's magical depletion, Regulus had been very attentive to her and the health of the baby, much to the amusement of everyone else.
"As long as she doesn't touch them and remains a safe distance away, she should be fine."
"Should we do it now?" she asked them.
"Now's as good as time as any."
Regulus helped her to stand up and they made their way out of the cottage and onto the grounds. Orion placed the goblet on the ground and Hermione stood fifty feet away from it with them both stood beside her.
"How should I do this?" she asked.
"We know from past experience that spells don't work, we spent nearly fifteen years trying to destroy the locket with spells, charms and curses." Orion answered.
"Elemental?"
"It's our best option, just be careful to pace yourself and don't push yourself, we can't risk you upsetting your magical core or the baby."
"Alright, earth first, see if we can crush it?"
"Worth a try," Regulus said and they both nodded.
"Okay, here we go."
Hermione got down onto her knees and pressed her hands into the grass. She created a small crater in the ground which the goblet fell into, before quickly closing the ground back up, the goblet being swallowed up.
"Good job, very well controlled," Orion praised. "Let's see if it worked."
She nodded and opened up the crater once more, before using the air around her to levitate the goblet out of the ground and she closed the crater back up. They all wore disappointment on their faces when the goblet didn't even show a scratch.
"I'll try water next, let's see if we can drown it," Hermione said.
She levitated the goblet into the air and summoned some water from the lake. She plunged the goblet into the water and held it in place for several minutes. She pulled the water away from the goblet and sent it back to the lake and the goblet was revealed, once again, it had no effect.
"We'll try lightning next, let's see if the bastard can withstand electrocution," Hermione scowled.
Her lightning conjuring was her most difficult element to control, but knowing how important it was to be able to destroy the Horcrux; she put her entire focus into summoning it.
A lightning bolt shot down from the sky and hit the goblet with perfect aim. The goblet flew into the air before landing back on the ground. Smoke cleared to show the goblet once again in perfect condition.
"Oh come on," Hermione growled frustrated and without her realising it, fire shot out of her fingertips and swarmed around the goblet.
When she saw through the dancing flames that the goblet wasn't affected, her anger grew and as a result, the fire grew in size and the heat could be felt coming off it even from their distance of fifty feet away.
She could see the metal slowly beginning to melt and warp and hope filled her, she pushed everything she had into the flames and a sudden screech was heard and black, inky smoke swarmed around them. Hermione let out an ear piercing scream and she collapsed in exhaustion, but Regulus caught her before she could hit the floor. Her scream had pushed away the black smoke and they could breathe without issue.
The flames disappeared.
"Did I get it?" she asked, her breathing heavy and sweat shining on her forehead.
Orion looked at her amazed. "You did it," he whispered in awe, his eyes darting between her and the puddle that was the only remains of Riddle's soul. "We can destroy the Horcruxes, we can end this war."
"We have to find the rest first," Hermione pointed out as Regulus helped her to get her balance, he cast several diagnostic spells and once he was satisfied that Hermione was fine, together they walked back to the cottage.
"We know that Nagini is a Horcrux, we know that the goblet, ring and diary have been destroyed and we have the locket, that's five Horcruxes." Hermione said. "The diary was in the possession of Lucius Malfoy, the ring was found at the old residence of His Uncle, Nagini is kept by his side, the locket was hidden in a cave, where was the goblet?"
"Bellatrix's vault," Orion answered her.
"Bellatrix was his right hand, he trusts her, and he trusted Lucius before his first downfall, the residence of his Uncle was important to him as was the cave. These are all important parts of his life and if we go along with the assumptions that he used items belonging to the Founders of Hogwarts, which leaves Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. As a Slytherin, he would never lower himself to using something belonging to Gryffindor, eliminating the sword, which just leaves Ravenclaw. Does Ravenclaw have anything of historical importance?"
Thoughtful looks appeared on their faces as they entered the cottage and returned to the library taking their seats.
"Wait, I remember it being mentioned that there was a crown," Regulus said with a frown.
"A diadem," Orion muttered. "There was a diadem, but no one has seen it in centuries."
Hermione frowned. "He found it and he hid it, but where?" They all looked at each other. "Let's start tracking it," she suggested.
They agreed and the locket was summoned and they cast their newly invented Tracking Spell on it. After an hour of no results Hermione was getting tired and so she left Regulus and Orion to continue with their tasks, whilst she went to her room to take a nap.
"Hermione? Hermione?" Hermione made a noise of protest at the sound and she heard a chuckle. "Hey, Kreacher's making dinner."
She ignored the voice and felt the mattress dip as Fred laid down beside her. She automatically snuggled into him the best she could given her stomach and his arms wrapped around her, one resting on her stomach. Her eyes fluttered open to see Fred's turquoise eyes shining with happiness and she felt their baby squirming around inside of her, reacting to the touch of Fred.
The mattress behind her dipped and George slid onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her.
"How's our boy doing?" George asked her.
"It could be a girl," she corrected, "And the baby is fine, we were both sleeping until someone woke us up," she grumbled and they chuckled at her, both placing kisses to her cheeks.
"We're sorry, we know how much you and the baby like your naps," Fred said amused.
Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, happy to be snuggled into her husbands.
"Just think two months from now and we'll be meeting our baby," she said softly.
"Yeah, our little Luke."
"Not Luke," both Fred and Hermione said.
"Definitely Michael," Fred said.
"No," Hermione and George spoke.
"We're never going to agree on a name," he chuckled.
They fell into silence until Hermione spoke.
"I was thinking Alex."
"Alex?" the twins questioned.
"Hmm, Alex, it works for either a girl or a boy. Alexandra for a girl and Alexander for a boy."
"Alex, I like it," George commented with a smile.
"Yeah, it's not a name you hear often in the Wizarding World either." Fred nodded.
"Alex will soon be brought into the world," Hermione spoke.
"And before we know it attending Hogwarts." George chuckled.
"Hogwarts," Hermione muttered.
"Sorry?"
"Hogwarts," she said louder and she sat up quickly, shuffled off the bed and rummaged through the bedside table until she found what she was looking for.
She turned to face Fred and George, "Hogwarts!" she squealed excitedly and then she left the room heading down the stairs where she bumped into Sirius.
"Where's the fire?" he chuckled at her.
"Hogwarts" she said excitedly, confusing him and she left down the next flight of stairs, but she popped her head back around the corner.
"Alex," she said,
"What?"
"Alex Weasley-Black; your soon to be Grandchild."
A smile lit his face. "I can't wait to meet him."
"Alex is a unisex name, Alexandra for a girl and Alexander for a boy."
"You think of everything," he chuckled and she grinned at him, before turning and making her way to the library were Regulus and Orion were still working on the locket.
"Hogwarts!" she said, making them jump as they hadn't noticed her arrival.
"What?"
"Hogwarts," she grinned. She put the parchment on the table and tapped it with her wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she spoke and to their amazement the parchment turned into a map.
"Is that a map of Hogwarts?" Orion asked surprised.
"Yes, Sirius, Remus and James Potter created it when they were in Hogwarts. It shows all the hidden rooms and secret passageways before Sirius, Remus and James graduated and it shows every person's movement throughout the castle."
She took the locket by the chain and placed it on the map, she cast the Tracking Spell and they watched with baited breath as the locket levitated into the air and spun around wildly before dropping onto the table with a 'clank'.
They looked at each with grins.
"It's at Hogwarts," Hermione spoke.
"Where?" Regulus asked.
Hermione looked over the map and frowned. "It's not showing up on the map which means it's hidden from view." She frowned in thought and then it hit her. "The Room of Hidden Things," she said to them, "it's located in The Room of Requirement, which is hidden from the map. It's a perfect place to hide something that you don't want to be found. It's basically a magical lost and found."
"We can get into Hogwarts easily enough if you can tell us how to find this room."
"It's on the seventh floor and you'll find where you need to be due to the large tapestry hanging on the wall and the alcoves with suits of armour wearing the Gryffindor crest. You simply walk back and forth in front of the tapestry three times and think of nothing but The Room of Hidden Things and a door will appear. From there I'm afraid you're on your own since I don't know what the diadem looks like, if it is the diadem at all."
"We'll take care of it," Orion said and they stood to leave.
"You're going now?"
"Yes, the quicker we find it, the quicker it can be destroyed and we're one step closer to ending this war. Both you and the baby will be safe."
"Alex."
"Sorry?"
"Alex. It's the baby's name, Alexandra for a girl or Alexander for a boy," she explained.
"About time you three decided on a name," Regulus teased her and she scowled at him. "Are you sure you don't want to know the gender?"
"Yes, we want it to be a surprise, a good surprise, so don't be blabbing to anyone," she warned, knowing he knew the gender of the baby being her healer and midwife.
"Wouldn't dream of it, I don't want to get set on fire again."
"That wasn't me, it was the baby," she defended.
"Hmmm," he hummed in disbelief and Orion chuckled at them both.
"We'll be back soon, hopefully with the diadem," Orion interrupted and with that they left the room, leaving Hermione to think of a future where the war was over and she and her husbands could raise Alex in a safe environment.
She could feel it in the elements; she could feel it in the atmosphere. The war would soon be over.