Hey guys, hope you all enjoy this chapter, didn't take me long to get it out but definitely needed to get some motivation for it. Hopefully I can keep it going, I missed writing for you guys. Anyway, enjoy, hopefully I'll have another update for you guys later this month.
The Girl Who Lived
Chapter 8
Staring into the fire in front of her, Hermione couldn't help contemplating the changes since she had found out that she is a witch. She ran her hands over the arms of her sweater, smiling at the warmth it brought her as the last few months played back through her mind. As she did, her smile slowly turned into a frown. Something had changed, more than just finding out she was a witch. She couldn't quite identify what it was but it was there, she could feel it – as though someone else was trying to control her thoughts, pushing her down a darker, more violent path for her life. She shuddered as she remembered the Slytherin she'd attacked, remembering how easily she could have taken the girl's life. She didn't know what was going on but she knew she couldn't deal with it alone, she needed help and Hermione knew who she needed to ask. Rubbing her arms, Hermione resolved to ask Minerva about the changes she was feeling. She had no idea how she would broach the topic, but if there was anyone she trusted who would know what was going on, it was Minerva. A smile once again tugged her lips as she thought of the woman who had become like a mother to her. Never having known her own mother was tough on Hermione, but having Minerva there was almost as good; Hermione didn't want to know just how tough it would've been on her had she not had Minerva there to help her. Leaning her head back against the headrest of the armchair, Hermione moved her hands to the brown leather as she let herself sink into the soft, comfortable cushions. Looking around to Morgan, who was sitting on a matching chair in front of the fire, she smiled. Hermione was always so caught up in her studies at Hogwarts, she never really noticed how much she missed him while she was away. They'd spent most of the first couple days of the holidays catching up; they seemed to always be around one another, eager to make up for lost time and get to share their news. Hermione was glad to have this time with her father; she'd heard the stories of other children who lost touch with their muggle families after being introduced to the magical world, and was glad she was one of the few who wouldn't.
It would be hard to have a divide between the two worlds, she thought, remembering the first few days of her holidays with Morgan. The time spent shopping for some last minute gifts and decorating the tree they bought were some memories Hermione knew she would always cherish. Hermione smiled as she remembered the surprise of not seeing a tree in the living room when she walked through the door with Morgan. Hermione had turned to him and asked him why he didn't have a tree yet; Morgan's response was simple.
"We always go and get a tree and decorate it together Sweetie, you know that."
Hermione's smile was radiant at Morgan's response and she had hugged him tightly, she always looked forward to getting and decorating the tree with him and was immensely happy that her time at Hogwarts wouldn't ruin that tradition. They had gone out the next day to pick out a tree and they spent the all day decorating it, spending just as much time covering each other in tinsel and other decorations as they did the tree. Hermione had dissolved into laughter as Morgan stood, covered in tinsel and with coloured balls hanging from his arms, the star that went on the tree top balanced precariously on his head.
Pulling herself from her memories she ran her fingers over the necklace and charm around her neck, still smiling as she remembered her reaction to opening it. It was something she was sure Minerva had helped her father get for her, because something like this would never be able to be made in the muggle world. She looked down at it and felt a rush of happiness, the pendant was solid silver to match the chain. A lioness sat in the center with a ring of forget-me-nots running from one side to the other, going behind the lioness's head. There were Gladiolus flowers on either side of the Lioness on the bottom of the pendant. Running her thumb over the raised metal forming the Lioness and the flowers, Hermione closed her eyes and smiled. Her mother had loved lionesses and the flowers were a good pick for a memento to remember her mother. She ran a finger over the Lioness and smiled as it roared silently in response. She had pulled it from the small box, tears falling from her cheeks while she smiled at Morgan. She remembered the stories of her mother's love for the lioness and her research on flowers had come in handy as she remembered instantly what they had meant. She had stood up and kissed Morgan on the cheek and said that she was sure that her mother would have loved to see Hermione wearing it before she slid the necklace in place around her neck.
Closing the book on her lap Hermione stood and walked over to her father, giving him a kiss on the cheek in a repeat of her birthday.
"I'm going up to bed Dad, I've got a busy day tomorrow."
Hermione smiled at him and walked up to her room, the book in her hands went back into its place on the shelf next to her door before she started getting ready for bed. Curled up under her blankets Hermione smiled again as memories took over once more. She was glad she'd chosen to stay with her father for Christmas. It was a great idea in her opinion, but tomorrow, she was off to spend the rest of the holidays with her friends. A wave of excitement passed over her as she thought of all the fun they were going to have. With the blessing of their parents, Harry's idea that they spend the time over the holidays at everyone's house as a group was very well received. Shaking her head Hermione closed her eyes and let the fatigue she felt take over, she'd need rest if she was going to survive the next couple weeks.
Hermione sighed and relaxed into the chair next to Minerva, closing her eyes with a smile as she let some of the memories wash over her, the weeks before had been as tiring as she thought they would be but she couldn't find it in her to complain. The day after Christmas, Harry came with his parents to pick Hermione up and introduce his parents to Morgan. Harry noticed the pendant almost instantly and asked her about it.
"That's a nice pendant Hermione, where'd you get that?"
Gripping the pendant softly in her hand Hermione looked down at it and let her thoughts wander for a moment before answering.
"I got it from my dad for Christmas, something to remind me of my mother. She loved lionesses and the flowers were my dad and Minerva's idea. The Forget Me Nots mean 'remember me forever', and the Gladiolus is a symbol for strength of character. My dad always told me that my mother was a very strong woman, that pretty much everyone noticed that about her right away, something he says I share with her, that's why he chose the Gladiolus. Minerva thought the Forget Me Nots would be a good reminder that even though she's dead it doesn't mean that I should forget her, that there's things I can learn from her regardless."
Harry never got a chance to reply, his parents walked into the room and led them out to the living room so Hermione could say goodbye to Morgan. Smiling up at him, Hermione wrapped her arms around Morgan and she felt him leave a kiss on her forehead. Pulling away, Hermione leaned up to leave a kiss on Morgan's cheek before waving and walking over to Lily. Taking Lily's hand, Hermione nodded to her, letting her know she was ready before Lily apparated them just outside their house. As with Minerva's house, Hermione found herself in awe of the building before her. The building wasn't massive but it was more than big enough to house the family of 3. The dark brown wood exterior glinting softly in the sunlight as she took in the front, the black door with a silver Lion head knocker set into it with a stone staircase leading up to the door, the steps made of a polished white stone. A balcony on the second floor held up by stone pillars matching the colour of the wooden exterior and a gently slanting roof. Looking at it, Hermione could see it was at least 3 stories tall but when the door opened and she walked in after Harry she felt her jaw drop at the interior. The floors were oak hardwood and the walls were a light cream colour as she walked into the entrance hall. Any further looking around was disturbed by a hug courtesy of Susan as she ran up to greet Hermione.
"Hermione! It's great to see you again!"
Hermione laughed as she hugged Susan back, seeing the rest of the group behind Susan waiting for their turn to greet Hermione, she pulled away and smiled down at Susan.
"It's great to see you again too Susan, but I think the others are getting jealous."
Susan simply smiled and gave Hermione a playful slap on the arm before stepping aside to let Neville greet her next. Once everyone had said hello, Hermione was herded into the living room, sitting between Susan and Neville as everyone exchanged stories of what they'd gotten for Christmas. Hermione smiled as Harry pointed out her new necklace and pendant, knowing that Harry knew how much she liked it and would enjoy telling everyone the symbolism of the animal and flowers. There was a small silence after Hermione explained what everything meant before Hermione turned to Susan.
"Thank you for the book Susan. It looked interesting but where did you get it?"
Hermione smiled as she remembered her excitement when she unwrapped the book, it was a book of combat magic that Hermione knew was far above what a first year could do but it was no surprise to her that she received it. All of her friends were giving her books that had spells far outside what she should be able to do; it was no secret among her friends she could do stronger spells without trouble.
"You're welcome Hermione, it's actually from my aunt, you being able to do more advanced magic came up and she thought it would be useful. I think she's going to try and recruit you when she meets you, so I'm going to apologize in advance."
There was a ripple of laughter that easily dispelled any melancholy from the explanation of Hermione's necklace. Susan's foresight was spot on, as soon as her aunt spotted Hermione when they moved to Susan's home a few days later, the older witch gave her an appraising look as she walked over to her that Hermione knew meant she would indeed be getting a recruitment pitch or at the very least some information about her job for Hermione to look over. Smiling down at Hermione as she stopped in front of her the older witch extended her hand.
"It's nice to finally meet you Miss Granger, my niece has nothing but wonderful things to say about you. I'm Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Hermione laughed at Susan's groan at her aunt's introduction before shaking Amelia's hand, noting the smile on the older witches face before it disappeared when she turned to face Susan.
"Something wrong Susan?"
Susan grimaced and looked up at her aunt, smiling at her as Susan responds.
"You always introduce yourself like you're meeting an important diplomat or something like that. You don't always have to tell everyone what you do for a living."
Hermione closed her eyes to try and hold in the laughter, it seemed that Harry's parents and godfather had left more of an impact on the normally quiet girl than Hermione had thought initially. Shaking her head softly Hermione knew she shouldn't have been surprised, remembering how much Susan enjoyed joining in on playing pranks on the other people in the house. Amelia's response brought Hermione back to the present and strained her ability to keep from laughing to the very limit.
"Just because you don't think I should be proud of my position Susan, doesn't mean I will stop being proud of it. I'd be wearing a sign around my neck if I could and making sure to include that I was your aunt just to make sure everyone was aware."
At the sight of Susan's wide eyes from that thought finally broke the dam of laughter, Parvati was the first one to break down laughing with Neville following soon after. It took a matter of seconds for everyone except Susan and Amelia to be rolling on the ground laughing, even Amelia was smiling down at Susan. Crossing her arms around her stomach and looking down at her friends and then back up to her aunt Susan smiled up at Amelia.
"Alright, I'll admit you win that round."
Walking up to her, Susan wrapped her arms around Amelia and smiled as she hugged her tight before turning to her friends and winking up at her aunt, drawing her wand from the holster on her arm she pointed it at her friends who were still laughing.
"Aguamenti."
The jet of water covered the group of 4 people laughing on the floor turning laughter into shrieks of surprise as the group jumped and scattered to get away from the jet of water. Hermione was the first to recover and after drying herself quickly sent a tickling jinx at Susan while she was trying to spray Parvati with another jet of water. Hermione smiled and walked over to Susan as she lay on the floor laughing uncontrollably, tears of laughter streaming down her cheek as Hermione knelt down over her.
"This just isn't your day is it Susan?"
Standing up Hermione smiled as she accepted Amelia's offer of a walk and a tour of the house, Hermione knew that Susan was thankful she canceled her jinx as she walked away with Amelia.
The rest of the holiday was similar, nothing but fun with her friends but Hermione was thankful for some quiet and time to rest with Minerva's library at her disposal. Looking over at Minerva, Hermione watched her as she read, wondering how to bring up the questions she had. Turning back to her own book Hermione frowned, not really seeing the words printed on the page as her thoughts flew about in her head like a whirlwind; should she bring up her worries or should she wait and see if she felt it again? Her head throbbed softly with her confusion, her right hand moving up to softly massage her temple, trying to soothe the throbbing as her mind continued to throw possibilities around. Sighing softly, Hermione shook her head, the confusion only getting worse as she thought, still unsure if she wanted to bring this to Minerva's attention. The help the older witch had given her was invaluable but Hermione knew she had a lot to think about already. So lost in her thoughts Hermione jumped in surprise when Minerva spoke and brought her back to reality.
"If you stare any harder at that book I think you're going to light it on fire dear, why don't you leave that poor thing alone and tell me what's bothering you."
Sighing, wondering whether to be thankful that the decision had been taken out of her hands or not, Hermione nodded and set her book aside, her hands moving to rest in her lap. She stared into the fire, her teeth catching her bottom lip as she tried to organize her thoughts into something coherent. She heaved a sigh before turning to Minerva and beginning to speak.
"I don't know if there's something wrong or if this is all just in my head and I'm overthinking, I'm not even sure if I should tell you about this because it may turn out to be nothing at all. There's something different about me Minerva. Ever since we did the ritual to remove the binding on my core it's like I can feel another person in my body, a much more violent person, always just beneath the surface waiting to come out and destroy everything and everyone I care about. Is there something wrong with me or am I just imagining it and worrying about what might happen to people I get close to? Is this real, or is it just in my head?"
Hermione looked at Minerva intently, waiting for her response; each second that passed made her worry more. Hermione trusted Minerva more than anyone else in these matters, she had always come through for her, always had an answer for her. When Minerva finally looked over at her, Hermione knew that she would get no answers to her questions today.
"I'm sorry Hermione, there is an answer to your questions, but you need time to come to grips with your magic, to focus your control more before I can answer your question. I don't like hiding things from you but, I agree with Albus this time. Sometimes you need to wait to get the answers you are looking for."
Hermione nodded at Minerva, her mind kicking into gear again as she absorbed Minerva's words. She knew Minerva trusted her and Hermione knew if she was withholding something, there was a good reason for it. Picking the book back up, Hermione stood again and smiled softly at Minerva.
"I understand Minerva, thank you for being honest with me. Well, I should get some rest before I go back to Hogwarts tomorrow."
Minerva smiled up at her and Hermione turned to move towards the door, as her hand touched the doorknob Minerva called out to her, making Hermione turn to face the older witch.
"If you get these feelings while you're at school, I want you to come to me right away alright? I'll help you get through whatever it is that's wrong, I promise."
Hermione smiled again and walked back over to Minerva, wrapping her in a tight hug.
"Thank you Minerva, I will."
Turning back around, Hermione left the room, leaving Minerva to stare at the fire burning in the hearth with a frown.
"I certainly hope you're right about all this Albus. The future of our world could depend on her. She needs to be ready for what might happen. Hopefully it will just be the paranoia of two old fools and not a reality."
Staring at the fire for a few moments longer, Minerva stood, picking up her book from the table next to her chair and turned to leave the room, heading to the library. She had some books to pack for her trip back to Hogwarts. Hermione would be prepared if she had anything to say about it; better that she knew but didn't need to, than need to know and not have any clue where to go.
Hope you all enjoyed it, working on the next update already so look for it soon hopefully. Please review, looking forward to seeing if everyone enjoyed this one.