Hello there!
Can't thank you all enough for the love continuously given to this story. Followers, Favorite-ers and Reviewers, a simple 'thank you' just doesn't seem enough. =)
And DeadDelta, misckachick, GhostWriter1864, Calimocho, Jily71102, Sofia Linnae, StormWitch19851, and xXMizz Alec VolturiXx; thank you all for the extra love you continue to give this fic.
Here we go!
"He can't do this! Not again; Aunt Minerva, please," Hermione paced McGonagall's private quarters as she vented about Dumbledore's exclusionary decision.
The older witch shook her head, "I've tried to reason with him. But Albus has insisted that you not be involved in Order missions due to the fact that you're not from here. He is very much of the belief that time is spherical. He believes that only the things that are meant to change can be altered; and he does not see these missions as things that will be changed. Albus would rather you offer your wealth of information without becoming physically involved."
Hermione rounded on her ex-professor with narrowed eyes and a horrible edge to her words, "And you and Sirius can't help but be relieved that I'm not being put at risk! I am more capable than half the Order members; I've been preparing to fight the Dark Arts since my fifth year!"
"Young lady, do not for a second confuse our relief at your safety with our confidence in your capabilities." McGonagall's voice was monotone but laced with a bit of reluctance. It was true; she had been very relieved when Dumbledore had decided against using Hermione for Order missions, but Minerva knew that the idea of not helping create a better future was eating away at her 'niece'
The younger witch sighed heavily and sunk down into one of the chesterfield chairs, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice like that. I just… I can't understand… why can't Professor Dumbledore let me do something… anything, really. I can't survive simply being a well of knowledge. I love books, but not enough to be treated as one."
Minerva offered a tight smile, "I know, my dear. But right now, we still do not have enough information about what exactly we are being pitted against. I'm sure when we have a clearer picture; it will be more difficult for Albus to refuse your assistance."
Hermione snorted before she could stop herself, "Sorry; that was uncalled for." She covered her mouth and nose in case another derogatory sound escaped her. Hermione looked at her 'aunt' and noticed the new worry lines around her eyes; "I worry about them all too, you know; out there running patrols, building profiles on people and trying to secretly strike against the Death Eaters."
The Transfiguration professor knew exactly what Hermione was referring to. Ever since the most recent graduates had officially joined the Order, the older witch had felt a constant horrible cringing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Some of her favorite students had now thrown their hats into a very dangerous ring. And she had some knowledge on the horrific future that was ahead of them. "So you can understand the feeling I have when I imagine you going out there soon. It's even worse for Mr. Black, you know. That man loves you even though he knows he can't keep you; imagine how he feels when he thinks about how much you want to go out on missions."
"I won't sit by twiddling my thumbs because the people who love me are worried about me. I'm sorry; I simply can't do that," Hermione held her face in her hands as she tried to reason with her 'aunt' yet again.
"I know that my dear; and so does Sirius. But this isn't our decision, anyway. You cannot fault us for being relieved at Dumbledore's stubbornness while we are able to," Minerva felt her lips pull up into a sly smirk.
Hermione shook her head but chuckled, "I hate that this is the only thing you've found common ground with him on, Aunt Minerva."
"Oh please," McGonagall sat up a little taller in her own seat, "That is not the only thing we've agreed on. Mr. Black and I have also come to the agreement that you are far too good for him."
"Oh Merlin…"
Hermione flooed back to The Cottage from Hogwarts after having afternoon tea with Minerva. She was still upset that Professor Dumbledore refused to send her off onto missions with the rest of the Order; but she knew that in time he wouldn't be able to deny her rightful place among them.
She hadn't meant to bring up Minvera's and Sirius's reaction to her being left out of Order business, but it always seemed to be brought up whenever arguments were raised. Mostly due to it being the truth; but also partly because Hermione wished that they would defend her more, even though she knew it would be futile quarrelling with Dumbledore.
Hermione walked into the kitchen to find Sirius leaning his back against the counter sorting through several pieces of post, "Aren't you popular today." She rose on her toes slightly to meet her boyfriend halfway for a quick kiss.
"Yes, but unfortunately… it is not pleasant conversations today," Sirius frowned at the piece of parchment in his hands and put it down on the counter behind him. He picked up a second paper and began reading; his expression became even angrier.
"What's wrong?" she stepped close to Sirius and tucked herself under his free arm; which the wizard automatically secured around her waist.
Sirius sighed heavily, "They're trying to set up a permanent contact for Reg. They don't think it will be safe for him to run away to us every time he needs to inform us of something. The Order's afraid it will look too suspicious; me being a disinherited blood traitor and you being a half-blood."
"Ah. Well they might have a point. Do they have any ideas for a solution?"
The wizard shook his head, "Not currently. But I'm sure they will focus on finding a solution quickly after we've finished the next mission."
The blonde witch stiffened in his arms.
"Love, don't be like that. It's not even an interesting mission. We're simply looking into that locket that Voldemort was after," but that of course was the worst way that Sirius could have said it.
Hermione pulled away from his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest, "You do realize that the locket is something that I brought to the attention of Dumbledore and the Order. I'm the reason that you all know what it's going to be used for. And yet… I've been deemed unfit to carry out the mission that I essentially began."
"No. We are not having this argument again," Sirius took a deep breath to keep his own temper in check. "I know that this is unfair; I am sorry for that. And I know that you are very qualified to come on this mission." He closed the gap between them and rubbed his hands up and down Hermione's arms until he felt her physically relax under his touch, "And I'm the last person on this earth who would say you're not fit…"
"Sirius…" Hermione rolled her eyes at the double entendre her boyfriend had used.
"Come on; give me some credit for that one. It was clever, Blondie," Sirius flashed one of his blinding smiles and chuckled a little as the witch in front of him relented and leaned into his chest. "You know, I'm not sure if I can call you that anymore. You're lucky everyone was too distracted by Regulus's unveiling to really care about your color changing hair."
"Haha, very funny. You're lucky I like you too much to really care about your comment, Black," the witch mumbled as she tilted her head up and placed a deep kiss on his lips.
Sirius smirked, "We could go upstairs and I could show you just how much I like you." He cradled Hermione's cheek and angled her head so that he had better access to her neck as he trailed soft kisses over her collar bone.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
Hermione chuckled as Sirius sighed, annoyed at the timing of whoever was on the other side of their door. The witch offered him one last searing kiss before untangling herself and answering the door.
"Mia!" Lily's pleasant voice rang out as she pulled Hermione in for a hug. "I thought you were going to be at Hogwarts today?"
"I was; just got back in fact. I wanted to see you all off," Hermione embraced James as well before waving them further into the house.
The four of them settled around the table in the kitchen with a few cups of hastily prepared tea, "So where are you all off to today?"
"We have to visit with Bathilda Bagshot and try to get information from her about the locket. Last time Remus and Peter were the ones who tried to get her to answer some questions, but it was one of her bad days and she couldn't recall anything past 1924; she couldn't even remember her nephew who was there attempting to help," Lily stated as she held her tea mug.
Hermione looked a bit surprised, "Oh, why was she having a difficult day?"
James chuckled a bit, "Well the old bird is about 95..."
Lily slapped his arm and shot him a measured look, "You be nice, James Potter; or I can assure you that I will make your life very difficult when we get old and decrepit."
Everyone at the table except Hermione broke out in laughter; she took a long sip of her tea to give herself a moment to not react emotionally to the innocent comment.
Sirius had to leave with Lily and James shortly after tea was finished. Hermione muses that she was going to end up hating Earl Gray if she continued to drink it at this rapid rate.
The trio bid Hermione goodbye and Lily promised to look after the two wizards carefully.
Hermione decided to occupy her time by cleaning the kitchen and putting away the dishes and cups the muggle way. She sometimes missed the simplicity of her muggle upbringing. Things were so easy then; being a child and not knowing about magic had originally made her greatly appreciate the magical world. But know she felt rather the opposite. The complicated magical world now showed her how much she loved and had undervalued her muggle side.
She wandered into the library at the front of the cottage after the kitchen was deemed perfect. The multitude of books there made Hermione smile. Sirius had placed a high backed chair right by the window for her, with a magically modified reading lamp right next to it. Hermione pulled a thick tome about medical magic from the shelves and settled into her chair. She thought it might be prudent to brush up on a few healing spells since some of her friends were off on a mission. No matter how mundane the mission appeared to be.
Hermione was just reviewing the wand movement for Episkey, when there was a loud crack of apparition just past the wards. The witch gazed out the window and saw that a figure was marching quickly toward the house and slipped through the protection spells with such ease that she only needed three guesses who it might be.
She marked the page in her book and strode over to the entrance of the house. Hermione opened the door with a wide smile as she noticed the mop of curly black hair. With the slightly smaller frame, it could only be one person, "Hello, Regulus. I wasn't expecting you until this weekend. What…"
When the wizard had gotten close enough to the door, he had finally raised his head; Hermione could now see the completely blank expression that fell across his extremely pale face. She also noticed that he was cradling his left arm very gingerly, "Reg… what… what's happened?"
All the adrenaline that had been coursing through his system to just get him to the Cottage was now rapidly slipping away. Regulus shook his head and then promptly collapsed in the doorway.
Hermione shifted into work mode immediately.
She waved her wand over Regulus's unconscious body and levitated him up to the room that had been set aside for the boy. Hermione quickly stripped him of his robe and blazer and gently placed the younger Black on his bed.
The stern expression on Hermione's face grew more concerned when she performed a diagnostic spell over the boy and realized that he was severally dehydrated, had significantly less than normal amounts of blood in his body, and many of his nerve endings were exposed on his arm as if his skin had been burned away.
Hermione glanced at Regulus's left arm, "No… it couldn't have happened already..."
With hesitant hands Hermione unbuttoned the cuff on Regulus's dress shirt and slowly rolled up his sleeve. There was a thick piece of gauze taped to his arm; she gently pulled the tape away.
There, in the middle of the boy's forearm, was the Dark Mark.
Dark red liquid, the consistency of tar, oozed out of the slightly waving skull and snake. The skin all around the mark was an angry bright red, and the excretion from the cursed tattoo didn't seem to be cauterizing; it just kept pooling on Regulus's arm and dripped onto the bed.
Hermione replaced the bandage over the mark and sprinted to the master bathroom to collect some potions and extra gauze. She stood over Regulus and hesitated for a moment before rousing him with a quick flick of her wand.
The screams were excruciating to hear. Regulus was yelling and crying simultaneously as Hermione attempted to pour a blood replenishing potion down his throat. She also tipped back a general antiseptic, hydrating potion, burn counter-actor and numbing potion before finally offering him a sleeping draught.
"No… no, I'm… I'm fine now. I don't want the sleeping potion just yet," Regulus's voice was scratchy and very low; Hermione struggled to understand him. But she had been relieved when his pain filled cries had gradually subsided after each potion had been introduced to his body.
"If… if it still hurts Regulus, it would be better to be asleep while I work," Hermione gently touched the edge of the Dark Mark and witnessed the boy clench his teeth so tightly together that she was surprised that he didn't chip one.
"No. I deserve the pain. I need to remember this." Regulus did not pull away from Hermione's hand this time, but he did close his eyes and cringe horribly every time she dabbed the skin healing balm over the mark.
After she wrapped up Regulus's arm and waved away the bloody mess on the bed, Hermione sat down on the chair next to his bed and faced the younger Black brother, "What happened tonight?"
Hermione saw his stoic mask slip into place, "Nothing worth telling I'm afraid, Amelia."
"That's bullock's and you know it."
A crack appeared in Regulus's mask as he chuckled, "Yes well, you need to learn that in our family, feelings are weakness. And since I'm fairly certain I'll be calling you sister before long, you might need to learn that." He smiled apologetically at the witch.
Hermione felt her face warm slightly at the boy's insinuation, but decided to use his own theory against him, "Well in my family, we are supportive of each other… and each others feelings." She leaned forward and took Regulus's hand in her own.
He smirked, "You're family are muggles though. Much easier life than that of a pureblood who was raised to hate anyone who's different from themselves."
"True, but you seem to be doing alright with that. I'm holding your hand and you're not spitting at me or trying to squirm away anymore," Hermione offered with a smile.
Regulus paled a bit, "I'm sorry about before. I wasn't trying to get away from you. I just… the pain… and the circumstance… I didn't want anyone touching me." For good measure Regulus reached over with his other arm and placed his hand over Hermione's, "honestly, if I wasn't terrified of how much pain it would cause my arm, I would probably be on my fifth shower right now trying to scrub away this entire night…"
Hermione opened her mouth to ask again what had happened, but she had a theory that Regulus would talk if just given a few moments to collect his thoughts. Silence can be a good motivator sometimes as well.
"I told you the rumors that we were to be marked right before summer ended, but apparently that was just to throw us off balance when he was actually set to mark us." The black haired wizard squeezed her hand tightly, "They brought us to a huge cemetery; I'm not sure where it was… and they had us kneel in front of a rather large mausoleum. The Dark Lord made a grand entrance from inside the tomb and began speaking to us about sacrifice and honor. How we needed to pledge our lives to him for the sake of our families and any pureblood family unable to defend itself against the encroaching filth around our world. And then…"
Regulus took a breath and blinked back angry tears, refusing to show any more emotion than he already had, "…Then he ordered us to prove our loyalty to the cause. A group of bound muggles were brought forward and one was placed in front of each of us. We were told to perform the Cruciatus curse on our respective prisoners. One of us, a recent graduate like you… he hesitated; he questioned…"
Hermione looked at Regulus and saw how young he suddenly looked. When they had first met, she had marveled at how grown up he had looked and portrayed himself. But now, as he lay in front of her, wide-eyed and broken; he looked so young... just a child.
"They killed him and immediately set the prisoner ablaze; I barely even had time to process what had happened." He swallowed thickly, "I had no choice… I preformed the weakest crusio I could, but the Dark Lord began to circle and examine me. He mused that maybe I didn't have the will to fight and he stated that he had no need for weak-willed boys... he raised his wand to my neck… I was terrified, so I… I made sure to overpower my curse so that it would kill almost instantaneously, but could simply look like an eager boy not knowing how to gauge his magic… I killed him…"
Regulus showed no emotion outwardly except the slight tremble of his hands.
Hermione let go of the breath she had been holding and gazed sadly at the boy in front of her. She felt guilty that she had supported Regulus's decision to be a part of this when Sirius had given him such a better alternative. She wanted to apologize, but she knew that he would never hear of it. The boy was too proud for such things; but logic could possibly comfort him where kind words could not, "You had no choice Regulus. You said yourself; the one who questioned them was killed. This was the only way to save yourself, and you managed to minimize that man's suffering as well. What you did was merciful; imagine his fate if another Death Eater took over?"
"A speech about self-preservation and logic… are you sure you were a Gryffindor?" A brief smirk crossed Regulus's face; but his indifferent expression was back in place almost instantly.
But before Hermione could voice her snide comeback, she heard two more loud cracks from outside the house, beyond the protective wards. She looked at Regulus nervously, "Seal your door behind me and do not open it until I come back and ask you how the weather is."
Regulus nodded curtly as the witch found his wand in his already removed cloak, and placed it into his palm before she hurriedly made her way back down to the front door.
As Hermione reached the large entryway, she was knocked backwards when the door was kicked open.
"James; Lily? What happened?!"
So yea, Hermione is going stir crazy, Reg is marked, and ... I'm really sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm going to dedicate next chapter to what happened on the 'boring' mission to Godric's Hollow. SO I promise it will be worth the cliffy.
Delta - hope that convo with Sirius addressed your question
Ghosty - Happy belated Birthday!
Cali - Thanks! that was actually the inspiration
Sofia - we'll just have to see what happens...
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Always,
Misha
Ps. Check out the other stories by me: 'Begin Again,' 'The Bookworm and The Prankster' and 'Penelope Jackson: The Lightning Thief.'