Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own creativity with JKR's amazing world.

A/N1: Yeah another chapter. It's spiralling out of control. But I'm having fun with it. I do hope you are too?

AN2: The song in this chapter is the rewritten version of *Mordred's Lullaby by Heather Dale. All copyrights in connection to the song are hers, I just got creative with the lyrics to fit the story.

AN3: sort of quasi-spoiler in the author's note section at the end! You've been warned.


Sins of the Past

Chapter 5

Hermione secretly adored the Weasley's ramshackle home even though she never expressed it in so many words. It was so inherently magical that the brunette witch always felt like she had stepped into one of her childhood fairy tales. Even after having entered the wizarding world nearly two decades ago she was awed by the spectacle of magic and gleeful memories from her youthful years bubbled up inside her, making her feel giddy with joy.

This time, however, Hermione was much too nervous about their imminent conversation with the Weasleys and try as she might she couldn't distract herself. Normally she'd be delighted to inspect Molly's various clever spells designed to lessen her workload or the various magical paraphernalia scattered around the house, but today all she could think about was what Minerva and she were about to ask.

"Is anything the matter, dearie?" Molly asked, concerned. After having reared so many children her keen eyes never failed to spy distress, particularly upon the features of those she cared for. While not her daughter by blood, Hermione had a special place in her heart and she could read the younger witch with uncanny precision. "You're as ashen as if you'd just seen a dementor."

Her gaze shifted to Minerva for a moment, taking the animagus in. She'd known the older woman for almost all of her life, having learnt transfiguration from her during her Hogwarts years and then fighting two wars along her side as Order members. She assessed the Scottish woman's behaviour and posture with a measure of satisfaction, noting the effort Minerva was putting into emotionally supporting her partner. The woman had been immersed in her now perfected "Stalwart Headmistress Minerva McGonagall" persona much before she actually became Headmistress, and as a result, had some difficulty removing the mask and expressing affection. She was pleased to see that the younger woman did wonders to her, helping her open up more at least in the privacy of her small circle of friends.

They were sat together on one of the sofas in the Weasleys' living room, and Minerva had sat quite close to Hermione, legs turning towards her, an arm draped across the back of the furniture, her hand disappearing under the chestnut curls. It was evident to all in the room, even without the gentle look Minerva was giving the younger woman that she was her sole focus. Hermione had a hand resting on Minerva's thigh in return, absently scratching the material under her fingers but after a brief glance to seek reassurance she focused her attention on Molly.

"I'll admit I'm a tad bit nervous." Hermione said vaguely, not quite knowing where to start. She expected that Arthur would be ecstatic at her suggestion but was extremely apprehensive of Molly's potential reaction. "We've come to ask you a rather personal favour."

The very air around the Weasley couple changed as they became slightly more alert. Minerva wouldn't have said that it was a bad change, but it was clear that they became more serious, giving their utmost attention to Hermione. While Arthur sat back, making himself more comfortable on the sofa, Molly scooted closer to the edge, her elbows rested on her knees and her hands clasped one another and eyes firmly trained on Hermione in concentration. 'Classic alert Molly.' Minerva thought.

"And what is it?" Arthur cut to the chase.

"Well...you've both seen Rose." Hermione stated, referring to her last visit when she'd left Rose with the Weasleys for a couple of hours. Despite only having spent about ten minutes at Minerva's office that afternoon she only managed to pick her daughter up a few hours later by which time Arthur had arrived home. Not wishing to unnecessarily expose her infant child to stress she spent the time calming her rampaging emotions. How they managed to keep Rose a secret from their children was a mystery to Hermione but she wasn't about to poke at this one.

Upon their nod she took a deep breath and blurted out their request in one breath. "We'd like to ask you Arthur to undergo a complex muggle DNA testing procedure to determine if Rose is related to your family."

Arthur's eyes twitched slightly as he took in the information. A part of him was excited about the prospect of coming into contact with muggle technology, despite Molly's reaction to the last time he dabbled in muggle remedies, but he felt quite astonished at the request, not knowing where to put it.

"Arthur? Why Arthur?" Molly asked, equally stunned. While she had absolutely nothing against muggles she did not share her husband's passion for their ways so she had not even that to support her, particularly when it came to anything a healer ought to be doing.


"Well, that went well..." Minerva dead panned after they'd left the Burrow some time later. She automatically removed the sooth from herself and Hermione as well the moment they stepped out of the fireplace. If there was one thing the animagus had learnt from the portrait of her maternal grandmother, it was that sooth was evil and had absolutely no place in a respectable house, except maybe inside the fireplace.

"You mean when Molly nearly hexed me because she thought I was accusing Arthur of having an affair with my mother? Or when she accused us that we wanted to murder her husband with dangerous muggle insanities?" Hermione asked mock-innocently. She loved her magical adopted mother, for that is how she looked upon the Weasley matriarch, particularly after she had lost contact with her real one, but she had incredibly little patience for muggle technology.

"Both, I guess." Minerva said as she removed her cloak and set it sailing across the den and out the door to hang itself. A smile played on her lips as she approached the still miffed brunette.

Sure hands slid around her hips and a moment later Hermione was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth as strong arms crossed over her stomach and Minerva's front moulded into her back. She knew that Minerva was trying to distract her from thinking too much about their conversation with the Weasleys and while she relished the contact she couldn't decide if she wanted to resist or not.

True to her animal form, the animagus liked to play dirty and use whatever advantage was at her disposal. On her current mission the prime advantage she was banking on was the fact that the brunette witch in her arms could be easily distracted by her purring. As her lips found the silky soft skin of the younger woman's neck she started the happy vibrations, just loud enough for the other witch to hear.

Hermione closed her eyes in absolute contentment, the marvellous feeling of familiar lips massaging the side of her throat combined with the delicious sound of purring instantaneously commanded all of her attention. She did vaguely notice that her lover had turned her around in her arms and was now pressing their fronts together which only served to thicken the soft haze that was slowly settling over her mind.

Minerva moved her lips further up, nuzzling the brunette witch's temple with her nose before kissing the soft spot behind her ear, at which point she slyly started purring louder, aiming at drowning out every last thought that did not revolve around what they were doing.

Later Hermione would admit that the plan had been quite a well-founded one but then the one thing happened that Minerva had not counted on. A sudden beeping noise broke the intimate atmosphere which caused the brunette witch to snap her eyes open and the animagus to grab her wand instinctively, annoyed green eyes searching for the source of the intrusion.

Seeing the older woman's defensive movement, Hermione laid a hand on her arm to reassure her. "It's only the baby monitor, Rose probably woke up." She said with a smile. The younger witch slid her hand down the arm she'd grabbed and wrapped her fingers around an elegant hand to pull her lover along towards Rose's room.


The ginger haired little girl learned to express her displeasure at her two main discomforts, hunger and wet nappies, rather loudly in the week she'd been in the world so it was not a surprise to either witch when not long after the baby monitor's signal Rose started wailing. Now fed and clean, she was more content but would not quite settle back down to sleep despite her younger mother's best efforts.

"Why don't I give it a try?" Minerva whispered into Hermione's ear from her vantage point, perched on the armrest of the comfy chair the younger witch was occupying. At first she was content to just watch the two most important women in her life, smiling tenderly as her gaze shifted back and forth between them but she soon noticed that the brunette looked rather tired so she came to her rescue.

Hermione gently passed a fidgeting Rose into Minerva's waiting arms, smirking when the Scottish woman unfailingly started singing her favourite lullaby. It was a slow and melancholy song and the Gaelic words made it sound very exotic. Despite being unable to sing the words, it quickly got stuck in her head and Hermione began to hum it in tune with Minerva. It wasn't much of a surprise when Rose quieted down after only a few minutes, albeit not yet dozing off completely. Minerva's lullaby seemed to do wonders.

"I wish I could sing her this song too..." Hermione whispered "She drops like a rock almost instantly whenever you do."

The animagus smiled obligingly and started the song anew, but to the brunette's surprise she started singing the oddly familiar lyrics in English. "Hush, child, The darkness will rise from the deep, And carry you down into sleep"

Hermione frowned, her brows knitting together in concentration as she tried to figure out why the English version was so incredibly from the fact that she'd heard Minerva sing it hundreds of times in Gaelic she suddenly had a vague impression that she'd come across these words before.

"Child, the darkness will rise from the deep, And carry you down into sleep" Minerva sang, for the moment oblivious to Hermione's preoccupation.

"Guileless love,
I'll shape your belief
And you'll always know that dangers are brief
And you won't be exposed to causes of grief
And you'll always follow our voices beneath

Love unto Love unto Love unto Love unto
Love unto Love unto Love unto only to thee

Guileless babe,
Your spirit will love her
The flower who married your mother, my saviour
And you will be raised to Gryffindor behaviour
For you are the fruit of our love for the other

Love unto Love unto Love unto Love unto
Love unto Love unto Love unto only to thee

Hush, child
The darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep

Love unto Love unto Love unto Love unto
Love unto Love unto Love unto only to thee

Guileless Rose,
Each day you grow older
Each moment I'm watching your future unfold
For the child of my body, the flesh of my soul
Will thrive in the nurturing birthright we hold

Love unto Love unto Love unto Love unto
Love unto Love unto Love unto only to thee

Hush, child
The darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep"*


Next day, near apparition point in muggle London

Most muggles walked past the two women idly standing on a street corner in central London without a second thought. To all appearances the pair was seemingly engaged in basking in the warm sunlight during their morning stroll with the babe peacefully napping in the pram between them. Others who had noticed them despite the rush of their lives glanced at them, as the pair would later discuss, with a variety of thoughts gleaming in their eyes, ranging between kindness and suspicious judgement. Most undoubtedly thought that the dark haired older woman was the brunette's older relative, mother or aunt perhaps, and the child must have been the result of the younger woman's bedtime activities with a man who was clearly not present. The two witches would later agree over their morning tea that given their muggle status and the limited ways in which they could conceive children, they could be forgiven for such narrow-minded thinking.

In that precise moment, however, neither witches were in a state that was even remotely related to relaxed basking. Hermione was surreptitiously glancing around every minute or so as if she were waiting for someone, a pleasant smile that never quite reached her eyes plastered on her face for show. Her partner, while better at masking her facial expressions, had both her hands deep in the pockets of the muggle jacket she was wearing, her right hand clenching and unclenching around her wand that was concealed in the sleeve of said garment. While it had been a good eight years since the war and all known renegade dark wizards were dead or in Azkaban, a lifetime's habit was hard to kick, especially in an environment where she was forced to keep her magic to a minimum. Minerva McGonagall was uncharacteristically nervous.

"Do you think they won't come?" Hermione asked, nerves stretched equally taut, albeit for slightly different reasons. The younger witch was naturally more comfortable in a muggle environment, which she not only had plenty of more experience blending into, but her intimate knowledge of their surroundings also gave her advantage in using magic without muggles suspecting anything. No, Hermione was nervous because the mystery of their daughter's inexplicable hair colour, and the implied conclusions most people drew infuriated her.

"I highly doubt that, dearest." Minerva replied without hesitation. "While Molly was absolutely livid at first, she DID agree in the end. I've known her for almost all of her life and she is not one to break a promise."

The younger witch let out a frustrated sigh which to the unenlightened observer might have looked like a petulant huff of protest. "Right. Yeah, you're right, Minerva." She said, her voice strained with emotion. "It's just... the bloody prophet article this morning got to me. I'm sure they've read it too and I'm worried what they'll think." She admitted.

It was very rate for Hermione to swear which gave the animagus an inkling of just how frustrated her partner must be. Keenly aware of their exposed location and having a good working idea of what the passing muggles perceived them to be she moved fractionally closer, attempting to balance comforting her lover and not drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

She leaned in to whisper into Hermione's ear and subtly slid a hand over the brunette's lower back, knowing that their backs were not exposed to spying eyes. "They'll most likely think that Rita Skeeter is a vile... bitch for insinuating that you were having a liaison with Ronald behind my back. In fact, I expect Molly had already sent her a scathing howler." She said, mirth lacing her voice as she remembered the numerous howlers the witch in question had sent to her children over the years.

Hermione involuntarily giggled at the thought, remembering one howler in particular that was sent to her poor friend in their second year. Molly did have her way with howlers, she remembered quite vividly how embarrassed shewas by mere association when Ronald opened his letter. Imagining Rita Skeeter opening the Weasley matriarch's howler, or better yet waiting for it to explode in her face, served exactly as Minerva had intended it and Hermione visibly relaxed.

"Thank you, Minerva, I needed that." She whispered in return, grateful happiness momentarily finding its way to her eyes.

"I know. That's why I said it." Minerva replied, grinning wickedly.

"Gosh, I could kiss you right now. But I'm afraid we'd scandalize these poor muggles around us." Hermione said, an impish grin forming on her beautiful features. "Although, I have half the mind to not care..." She added almost as an afterthought, inching a fraction closer to the older woman, dangerously balancing on the border of appearing highly inappropriate for their expected relationship status.

"And I have half the mind to encourage you..." Minerva said, trailing off. Her own impish side getting the better of her, she started softly purring, just loud enough for Hermione to hear.

The brunette closed her eyes involuntarily, basking in the wonderful sound. The animagus' ability to purr was by far the most intensive turn on for her which meant she reflexively had to grip the handle of the pram tighter as a shiver ran down her spine, igniting a pleasant warmness in her lower abdomen. "Evil witch." She breathed huskily, not daring to open her eyes lest she should be confronted with the too close proximity of emerald ones staring back at her. Suddenly Hermione felt that her otherwise mighty resolve would pitifully crack and she'd snog the older witch right there on the spot.

"Khm." The sound of a throat being cleared close by broke the trance of their moment of intimacy. Minerva's eyes snapped up to find the source of the offending noise, murder thundering in her emerald green orbs at the intrusion only to soften and morph into slight embarrassment when she spotted two familiar faces standing not far from them. The fact that they'd managed to come that close without Minerva's sensitive hearing picking up on it was testament to how much of a distraction Hermione's close proximity could be to her.

The younger witch in question took a moment to compose herself, her mind oscillating between shaking the remaining dregs of her suddenly doused passion and shaking herself from the stupor of embarrassment at being caught in an intimate moment by the Weasleys. "Good morning Molly, Arthur." She croaked finally, her voice not exactly willing to function just yet.

Molly, who hitherto had an indulgent smile and a rather knowing look plastered on her face, turned unpleasantly serious. "Morning to you too." She said. "I trust there have been better ones. Have you seen the prophet this morning?" The ginger haired witch asked, bristling at the mere mention of the newspaper.

"I'm afraid we have, Molly." Minerva replied in a clipped tone that implied an equal amount of annoyance. "I expect you've already dispatched an appropriate reply to the prophet about their abysmally atrocious accusations?" she asked, her accent becoming thicker as she allowed her temper to rise for just a moment.

While none of the present company was unaccustomed to Minerva's penchant for alliterative expressions, her prowess in coming up with a unique combination of expressions that suited the situation perfectly never failed to amaze them. Arthur's expression belied the repressed mirth he was trying to control, the corner of his thinly pressed lips twitching in an attempt to not burst out laughing at Minerva's choice of words. He understood his wife's dire need to defend her youngest son, who was constantly hounded by the press, for they somewhat mirrored his own. However, the difference between them was that Arthur, lacking motherly instincts with which to smother his child, wished to allow his son more room to defend himself as he saw fit.

Molly merely raised an eyebrow at Minerva's choice of expressions before replying in the affirmative. "If you're asking if I've sent that foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach a scorching howler, then, yes, I certainly have. Such disgusting allegations..." Molly was about to launch into a tirade of rarely seen proportions but the shockingly unexpected sound of Hermione bursting out laughing stopped her dead in her tracks.

Minerva of course knew that the spineless reporter's unregistered animagus form was a cockroach, for Hermione had shared the information with her some time ago. This was something, she guessed by her behaviour, she had not done with Molly. However, she still stood surprised, for the hysterical laughter now bubbling from her lover's lips seemed quite out of place. 'There must be something more I'm not aware of...' The registered animagus made a mental note to ask later.

"What's so darn funny?" A voice asked from behind the witches as their party suddenly expanded with the arrival of an unexpected wizard.

"Ronald?" Hermione asked, laugher dying on her lips so quickly as if it had never been there. After what the Prophet had written, the shock of seeing him of all people in muggle London, on their way to test his father's DNA against Rose's sobered her up almost like magic.

"Well of course it's me, 'Mione." Ron replied, tone flat, one eyebrow raised. Years of working as an Auror was rubbing off on him, including on his mannerisms, but he unfailingly reverted back to old habits whenever his path crossed Hermione's, particularly when Harry was present as well, which, unsurprisingly, happened quite often. "Who'd you expect after the morning paper? Malfoy?" He asked, somewhat exasperated due to the havoc the article was wrecking on his personal life.

Mentioning the blond wizard's name, from Ron himself, just moments after Molly's choice of words was too much for the brunette witch and she doubled over laughing again. Later she would blame the uncharacteristic behaviour on her raging hormones, but for the time being all she could do was clutch at her sides as she desperately tried to regain some measure of control over her breathing. Having lost the ability to stand upright she relied on Minerva, who currently had both of her arms wrapped around her, to help steady her as she broke into yet another fit of hysterical laughter.

"What is so darn funny?" Ron asked again, ears turning pink as he looked around expectantly, impatiently waiting for someone to explain the situation.

Much to his escalating annoyance everyone just stood there, confusion written across their features as they all stared as the brains of the golden trio attempted to not suffocate from laughing. His parents' jaws were slack as they shared a glance, confirming the other's utter confusion, while Minerva helplessly stood beside Hermione, one hand caressing the brunette's back in a vain effort to calm her down.

"Sh..she...ahahaha...your mum..." Hermione tried to say between fits of laugher, weakly attempting to stand straight but thinking of the words made her double up in laughter again. "Oh...ahaha...can't breathe... your mothe... called... Rita..." Hermione couldn't finish the sentence as she struggled to breath through her fit, at this point laughing more at the ridiculousness of her inability to stop laughing than anything else.

"What'd you call that bitch, mum?" Ron asked, turning to his mother. He did not even bother correcting his language as Molly did not seem bothered much either.

"I called her as I see her!" Molly said in a strangled voice, her tone a mixture of confusion and angry defiance. "I foul loathsome evil little cockroach is what she is!" Molly verbatim repeated her earlier words.

If it would have been possible the young ginger haired wizard's eyes would have jumped right out of his face upon hearing the words his mother had spoken. In a fraction of a moment his eyes met the chocolate brown eyes of the brunette witch who by now started crying from laughing so much, desperately clinging to Minerva for support. The moment their eyes connected, the two confirmed that they were indeed both thinking of Hermione's outburst a moment before she punched Malfoy in the face. That, the knowledge of Skeeter's animagus form and the implications of his own words just moments ago forced Ron to erupt in a similar belly laugh.


The three oldest of the company stared at one another in amazed befuddlement. When Ron was launched into his own hysterical laughing fit Hermione dislodged herself from Minerva's embrace and stumbled over to Ronald, the two first clinging to one another but soon they had to lean against the wall for support only to eventually slide down into a crumpled heap, still laughing in a half-embrace. The words 'Malfoy', 'foul' and 'cockroach' could occasionally be heard gasped by either of them which served to renew their vigorous fit, albeit seemingly to a lesser degree as time passed.

The animagus, fighting a momentary pang of jealousy over their shared bond, one from which not only the elder Weasleys but she herself was clearly excluded, chanced a glance at Molly and Arthur who were nervously glancing around in return. "I expect you are just as confused as I am?" Molly managed to ask in a relatively even tone.

"Quite!" Minerva quipped. She adjusted Rose in her arms, who, while miraculously sleeping through Hermione's original fit, woke up and started wailing when the ginger haired wizard joined in.

"How do you reckon we should break it up... if at all possible?" Arthur wondered aloud.

"They do seem to be winding down on their own..." Minerva observed. "I've put up a Muggle-Repelling Charm and a Silencing charm just in case. No need to cause a commotion." The animagus said in her best no nonsense tone.

They started chatting idly as they waited for the two to stop behaving like a couple of crazy clowns.


TBC

So what do you think? PLEASE REVIEW!


Slight spoiler starting at this point:

N.b. The song was not randomly selected by googling Gaelic lullaby or anything, it will have a role in the plot development. I'm fairly confident that my saying so betrays some of the plot but y'all are welcome to guess the finer details of what I might have planned. I always enjoy it very much :)