Chapter 3: And Life Goes On

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the below characters. They all belong to the world of Harry Potter so cleverly created by JK Rowling.

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Abby stayed up the whole night. Remus and Arthur had come to stay with her, although only Remus knew about Hermione. He had arrived shortly before Arthur and he and Corvus had

put a concealment charm on her room. As far as Arthur knew, they were there to protect her and Harry. It was around four in the morning when it happened. Abby was in the kitchen

getting some tea when she felt it. She dropped the cup she was holding and screamed, before collapsing to the ground. Remus and Arthur were at her side in a second. Remus carried

her back into the living room and it was five minutes or so before she came to. When they asked her what happened all she could manage was to whisper "He's gone," but they

understood instantly. Ten minutes later Lily, James and Sirius showed up at the door. James and Lily had a few minor cuts and bruises, however they didn't seem to be too badly

wounded. Sirius on the other hand, looked almost as if he was on the verge of death himself. It didn't take long for Abby to understand why though. Sirius was carrying her husband's

lifeless body in his arms.

As soon as they came in and got situated Remus and Arthur left. Both the women went to get their children, clutching them tightly to their chests. Once everyone had sat down, James

began to tell Abby what had happened. They had gone in in pairs. James and Lily, Corvus and Sirius, and Albus and Alastor. Things were going well, until one death eater saw them and

sounded the alarm. After that, everything was chaos. They fought for an hour before it happened. Sirius, who was battling one death eater, failed to see another one come up behind

him. Corvus who did see the death eater, pushed Sirius out of the way, and was hit by spells from both death eaters. Abby was relieved to know he didn't suffer, but it didn't help much.

Sirius had refused to leave without his body, and in effect was caught by a couple of other spells, but none that were fatal.

Corvus had fought brilliantly. He took out five death eaters before they finally got him. It seemed the only other real causality was one of Alastor's legs, but that could be fixed.

Time went on slowly after Corvus's death. She attended the funeral, however she had left Hermione with her parents. While the mission had been somewhat successful, it hadn't

succeed in destroying Voldemort, or some of his closest death eaters. Abby stayed in close touch with James, Lily, and Sirius after his death, but no one else.

Then six months later, just a couple of months after Hermione's second birthday, the rest of Abby's world came crashing down. Lily and James were murdered, Sirius, Harry and

Hermione's godfather, was accused of betraying them and murdering thirteen other people, and Harry was orphaned.

After that Abby took Hermione and disappeared. They moved away from London to Ireland where Abby found work at a dental office. That was were she met Charles Granger.

Determined to start over, and find a father for Hermione, she agreed to date. She was surprised at how quickly she fell for him, and before she knew it, they were married. She was

thrilled with how willing he was to step into the role of fatherhood for Hermione. She was even more surprised at how quickly he became attached to her, and how quickly she took to

him. The best part was, Charles knew everything about her past, including Blake's magical abilities and the likelihood that these abilities would be passed down to Hermione, and he

didn't love either of them any less for it. For five years life was great. Then, when Hermione was eight Abby's father died. Suddenly Abby found herself being forced to move back to the

home she had shared with Corvus, the home she never had the heart to sell, to take care of her ailing mother. Yet life continued. She and Charles opened their own dental practice just

miles from there home. For the next three years Abby adjusted to life back in London. Then, when Hermione was ten, her mother died. Then, while Abby was still recovering from that

loss, the day Abby had dreaded ever since that fateful night Corvus left, came. Hermione received her Hogwarts letter. Of course her little girl was excited at this new challenge and

eager to prove herself. She and Charles played their parts perfectly, they pretended to be just as shocked as she was, just and puzzled and confused by everything as she was, but

the night that Hermione left on the Hogwarts Express, Abby cried the whole night. Charles was completely supportive. The next day they canceled all their appointments and closed

their office and then for the first time in almost ten years Abby visited Corvus's grave. That year was hard for both of them, but much more so for Abby. That winter when Hermione came

home, Abby came so close to not letting her go back, but she couldn't. Hermione was happier than she had ever seen her, and for the first time in her young life, she had found friends.

It never occurred to her that Harry was the same Harry that she used to baby sit for James and Lily all those years ago.

Then she saw him at the bookstore that day, and she just about passed out. For a second she thought it was James, but then she saw Lily's eyes and she knew. Then she saw

Hermione fly out the door to greet him and her heart plummeted. Then there was Arthur, who was shocked to see her there, with a daughter the same age as Harry none the less. She

was forced to tell Arthur the whole story, a painful experience in itself. She made him swear up and down not to tell a soul, especially not Hermione. She even made him swear not to

tell Molly.

So the years went by and Abby watched Hermione grow into a beautiful young women. Then her seventeenth birthday came and went and Abby didn't give Hermione the letter. She

knew it was wrong, and she knew that Hermione deserved to know the truth, and yet she couldn't bring herself to do it. Hermione was so happy, she didn't need to suddenly be hit

with all of this, or at least that is what she convinced herself. She tried to convince herself that Corvus had given his life to keep her safe, happy, and carefree, why should she be

burdened with such a huge shock.

Yet, it was still there, still nagging that she had made the wrong decision. As the year went by though it nagged less and less, and pretty soon Abby had almost forgotten about it.