Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Oooh two chapters in one day! Hopefully, this chapter will have set the story up; I will try and get a third up by the end of the week.
Leave a review and let me know what you think so far :)
Chapter 2: Eihwaz
She tripped out of the fireplace and looked around. "Remus?" She called out. "Are you home?"
"Hermione?" Came Remus' voice. "Quick! I need your help!"
Hermione's heart started thumping with adrenaline at the panic in his voice. She broke into a run, taking the stairs two at a time as she raced to Remus' aid.
At the top of the stairs Hermione followed the sound of Remus' voice to Teddy's bedroom. Taking out her wand, she braced herself for whatever she would find on the other side of the door. Suddenly, she flung open the door and stepped into the room.
"What on earth...?" She asked, taking in the strange scene before her. Remus was suspended in the air, as though some invisible force were holding him by his ankle. The blood had all rushed to his face so he resembled a plum more than a wizard. Teddy sat on the floor happily, clapping his hands and changing his hair to match his father's puce complexion.
"Help!" Remus choked out, looking at Hermione with doleful amber eyes.
Hermione waved her wand and Remus collapsed unceremoniously onto the floor. She helped him into a chair and watched as he started to return to a more normal colour. "Daddy fly!" Teddy exclaimed happily and tottered over to wrap his pudgy toddler arms around Hermione's leg.
Hermione lifted Teddy up into her arms, making him giggle when she blew a raspberry on his cheek. "Who's a clever little boy?" She chuckled and ruffled the toddler's purple hair.
"Don't encourage him!" Remus exclaimed, running a hand through his sandy hair peppered with grey.
"Well, it was quite impressive magic for a three year old," Hermione said with a grin.
"Magic," Agreed Teddy before he put his thumb in his mouth and snuggled into Hermione's shoulder.
"All I did was wake him up from his afternoon nap," Remus said, shaking his head.
"I guess he didn't appreciate it then! Come on, I'll make you a coffee," Hermione said and began to make her way down to the kitchen.
"Thanks, just give me a minute," Remus replied.
Teddy was making short work of a chocolate biscuit and Hermione sipping at her coffee when Remus finally appeared. "You look better," Hermione commented mildly. "How long had you been hanging there?"
Remus groaned. "Ten minutes by the time you got there. I expected his magic to start showing soon but don't toddlers usually just summon their cuddly toy or bounce when they fall over?"
Hermione smiled at the exasperation on his face. "It depends on how powerful a wizard they are, I suppose. With you and Tonks for parents it's not a surprise he's showing such potential," she said, before taking another sip of coffee.
"I guess that was Dora's enthusiasm for magic showing in him," Remus said fondly. "I believe that she caused Andromeda's bowl of washing up to fill the kitchen with bubbles when she was just a little older than him."
"I can see that happening!" Hermione laughed.
"Dora would have loved to have seen what he did today," Remus said sadly, looking at Teddy smear chocolate-y fingers all over his face.
Hermione reached over and patted Remus on the shoulder in consolation. At the final battle at Hogwarts they had initially put Tonks and Remus together with the dead in the Great Hall but it had soon become apparent that Remus' lycanthropy allowed his body to deal with the curse thrown at him in ways others couldn't. They'd patched him up, relieved that Teddy was not an orphan, but it wasn't until they'd already buried Tonks a month later that Remus had woken up. Naturally, he had been distraught.
When Harry offered her Grimmauld Place as a home, she asked if Remus and Teddy could move in too. Remus could use an extra pair of hands and she liked the company. Harry had said that he didn't mind who lived there, as long as they treated the house with respect. And so, before they had even unpacked their things Remus and Hermione had put pictures of the Order (past and present) in the hallway and framed Sirius' declaration of innocence and posthumous Order of Merlin, first class. They'd done it to honour the memories of friends but mostly for Harry. Although, Harry did not visit often because of the memories of Sirius it stirred up for him.
"What are you thinking?" Remus asked as he cleaned chocolate off Teddy's face.
"About Harry," She replied, draining the last of her coffee.
"Worried about him?" Remus said, putting Teddy back on the floor.
"He took the break up from Ginny so hard," Hermione said with a sigh. "I know it was mutual but still...and he's found it so hard to adjust after everything that's happened."
"He'll be okay, Hermione," Remus said with a reassuring pat on her hand. "You've got work to throw yourself into, Ron has his..." Remus trailed off.
"Fan girls?" Hermione suggested with a wry smile.
"I suppose that's the politest thing to call them," Remus said with a smile. "My point being that Harry isn't able to let go in the same way you two are, I think he feels responsible in some way for the people who died."
"That's bullsh –" Hermione glanced at Teddy. "Rubbish. That's rubbish, he knows it's not his fault and he has his quidditch too!"
"And I'm sure that while he's on a broomstick he's happy. But one of the perks, in this case downside, is that professional quidditch player gets paid a lot of money for not a lot of hours," Remus said.
"I never thought of that," Hermione admitted. "I just wish he wouldn't cut himself off from everyone."
"I understand how he feels," Remus said. "After the first war it took me a long time to feel like I could function in normal society again. You have to remember that where you lost friends Harry lost Dumbledore and Sirius, the only two father figures he had."
Hermione smiled. "What would I do without my trusty werewolf friend to keep my head screwed on?" she sighed.
"Leave your head at work and send your body home to sleep probably," Remus laughed, his eyes shining with amusement. "Thanks for the coffee, Hermione," He said, standing up. "I'm going to take Teddy to the park, I'll make dinner when I get back."
"You're a star!" Hermione called after him and Teddy.
She was just settling down in a comfy chair in the Black family library when an owl pecked at the window. Hermione got up and let the wind-ruffled owl into the warm, took the large envelope, and fed the brown feathered creature an owl-treat from the pot on the letter desk. Hermione looked at the writing and recognised it immediately as Kingsley's handwriting before tearing open the flap of the envelope to read.
Hermione,
I am writing about your new project. I know we discussed allowing you to be the first to sort through the boxes from the room you discovered today but Head Auror Robards insisted upon sorting 'identifiable' documents into piles for their relevant departments. Don't worry, there is still a lot of material for you to look through from Monday but I thought I'd give you a heads up.
Apologetically,
Kingsley Shacklebolt.
P.s. In an attempt to placate you (because I value my life) I have enclosed one of the manuscripts more easily transportable, so that you can examine it over the weekend!
Hermione let the owl back out with a quick thank you note and an assurance that she would not murder Kingsley but head straight for Robards on Monday. Irritated but also grateful that Kingsley sent her something to get started on over the weekend; Hermione pulled the old pages from the envelope.
The manuscript was old and only a few pages long but it was bound together to make a small book. The ink was faded to an almost purplish colour and the script appeared to be runic. Hermione peered closer at the symbols scrawled across the pages and felt the familiar flutter in her stomach that only academic curiosity could create.
She had never seen a runic language like this before and although the runes were almost all ones she recognised the translation would be incredibly difficult if she couldn't decipher the subject matter first. She scanned her eyes down the first page, taking in all the little symbols before something strange but thrilling caught her eye.
Towards the middle of the page was a rune displayed in a way that Hermione had never encountered. It was a simply drawn archway with nothing else except one recognisable rune placed in middle. The angular rune Eihwaz sent Hermione's mind reeling. It was the rune for the Beyond, the gate to the underworld.
She looked at the rune sat inside the archway and realised that she could very well be holding the secrets of the Veil.