Edited 3/24/23

Thanks to RabidCommentarian for beta work. And bam2305 for alpha-ing.

Hi! I went on a 3 week European vacation (it was amazing!) after having moved across the country. I would say I'm sorry about the delay, but I was so busy I couldn't even think about writing! Here is Chapter 9 and we're back on regularly scheduled Wednesday writing again!

Enjoy

Winter 1999

Hermione

The following weeks were busy for the Order. Bill and a few others made their way room by room through the Manor, clearing curses and making it habitable. Theo, George, and Hermione, set up shop in the potions lab.

The business didn't stop with the preparations at Nott Manor, the Order was fighting skirmish after skirmish. Voldemort seemed to be recruiting faster than he ever had before. Families who had previously been allied with the Light, were bowing to the pressure of the Death Eaters. Order safehouses were being burned at a rate which was not sustainable. Distrust and discord began to grow amongst the various branches, especially towards the residents of Nott Manor.

Hermione and Theo had opened the doors and rooms to anyone in the Order, but most hadn't taken them up on the offer. Remus, Andromeda and Teddy moved into the main house, and Neville and Augusta moved into a groundskeeper's house at the back corner of the property. George stayed at Shell Cottage while Harry was going on so many missions he often slept wherever he landed.

For some reason, a large portion of the Order believed that somehow Theodore Junius Nott had tricked the Order's leadership into letting him stay. Even the prisoners they had managed to capture didn't improve their attitudes for long. It seemed a stroke of fortune that they'd captured both Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle.

Harry and Kingsley took on the interviewing of the prisoners. Dolohov refused to budge and sat alone in his cell at Nott Manor, often muttering hateful things toward anyone who came by. They tried Veritaserum, and Legilimency, but he was able to speak his way around answers and his Occlumency walls were exceptionally strong. Whenever she thought about him locked in the dungeons, she felt the scar across her chest tingle. There were not many people that she was cautious around, but Antonin Dolohov was only beaten out by Bellatrix LeStrange in her mind.

As it turned out, Dolohov had been keeping the Rowle heir under an Imperius curse for months. When Harry and Kingsley discovered this and released him, he informed the Order of everything he knew.

While Thorfinn Rowle wasn't exactly a prisoner, he wasn't allowed to go free either. He stayed in Nott Manor close to the ballroom that they'd redesignated as a training course, after the Order agreed to let him help train the newest members. Hermione found him to be surprisingly pleasant company. He had graduated from Hogwarts a few years ahead of them, when they were 3rd years, he was in his 7th, after school he'd gone to play Beater for the Pride of Portree. She often saw Theo watching him when he didn't think anyone was looking.

She would often sit with Thorfinn and discuss some of the older spells and things that he knew about Pureblood culture. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about Muggle culture and would often engage with her and Harry about the similarities and differences. There were many an evening spent around the massive dining room table, Cookie and Dottie flitting around as they held long discussions about how each of them would reform the Wizarding World if they had the chance.

Hermione wasn't sure that she'd ever seen Neville so happy in her life. The Nott Greenhouses were his dream to come true, they were overflowing with magical plants, some of which he'd thought were extinct. With the help of the Nott elves, Neville began cultivating the land. Hermione was sure that he spent almost as much time in the library glued to the extensive Magi-Botany wing. She chuckled every time she saw him mumbling into a book about some new plant. Although she couldn't complain about his obsession as he kept their potions lab and kitchens impressively stocked.

In early November, Theo introduced Hermione to the Bowtruckles that lived in the Wiggentree. At first they staunchly refused to let Hermione take any bark to make her pages, so she decided to sit with them for tea every day. She learned so much from them about how the ecology of magical plants and animals worked together that she found herself reevaluating a lot of what she thought she knew about the Magical World. Finally, in mid December, they agreed to part with a few branches, with a promise that her family would hold balance as one of their core values.

George, Theo, and Hermione dove into their research with gusto. They knew that the most powerful time for Hermione to forge her grimoire was the Spring Equinox, so she began to craft her ingredients and plot her sections. She began to create pages from her Wiggentree pulp and Essence of Dittany, as anyone who was touching the bark would be protected from Dark creatures and the Dittany because of its healing and restorative powers. She decided on 702 pages after looking deeper into her Numerology and Grammatica text.

7: Related to lunar energy, connected to the moon, femininity, and workings related to intuition and wisdom. Thought forms and consciousness are represented by the number seven.

0: Zero means nothing, and so it often symbolises the potential we have to form something new out of what does not exist. In some cases, zero is seen as representative of the beginning, much like The Fool appears at the beginning of the Tarot, about to begin his new journey.

2: Related to polarity and duality. Think of balance: the yin and yang, light and dark, god and goddess. Two represents one of each thing, side by side. The second chakra connects to relationships. That doesn't mean just with other people, but also how we relate to our jobs, our stuff, our money, and so forth.

( the-basics-of-numerology-2561761)

She wove the fluxweed and werewolf fur into the bindings. The fluxweed was a major ingredient in Polyjuice Potion and represented flexibility to change. Werewolf fur was exceptionally resistant to curses and had immunity to many poisons. It helped that Werewolves were known to be strong and valued their pack above all else. Plus she considered having Remus Lupin's fur an added benefit.

When it came to the cover, Hermione found herself torn. She didn't believe in killing an animal just for its leather, but couldn't find a suitable substitute. Just before Christmas, Theo interrupted her in the library. "Hermione!" he shouted, she looked up at him, mildly annoyed. "Quickly! Come!" She set her book down just as Theo grasped her hand and apparated her to the barns.

One of his Abraxans (because of course Theo had Abraxans that he and Draco used to ride together), was lying down on his side. "Hermione, this is Brutus, Brutus, Hermione," he said, quickly gesturing between them. "I was just talking with Brutus," he said turning to Hermione, he held up his hand when he saw the question forming at her lips, "Legilimency, I'll explain more later. Well Brutus knows it's almost his time. He's sired our entire herd," Theo gestured around the barn, "and we were talking about your cover conundrum, and he's volunteered himself."

Hermione's eyes widened. "I-Theo, I couldn't do that to him!"

Brutus whinnied, and Hermione felt a prodding in her brain. "Hello, young one," his voice reverberated through her brain., "It is because of your discomfort with killing anyone that I offer my leather to you, with the caveat that you let young Theodore harvest it."

She shook her head and felt tears prick her eyes, "I couldn't-"

"But child, I'm dying. I won't live much past the turn of the year," he said, gravely. This way I get to live on for a greater purpose, because I do see greatness in you. I won't speak more about this. Take this gift."

She nodded and reached out her fingers to run through his mane. With a whinny, he lay his head down and slept. She looked at Theo, "He said you have to- you have to make the cover."

Theo nodded. "I learned to fly on Brutus, and his children are some of the most prized horses on the market, you should be honoured that he would allow this, Mia." He grasped her hand and they walked back toward the Manor.

Of course, one of the things that took up most of Hermione, George, and Theo's time was the Time Travel research. They had read the Nott Grimoire cover to cover, learning about the steps that needed to be taken. It was a sort of ritual that they had to follow. There were many steps and runes and ingredients that needed to be collected. The Arithmancy equations took up a full wall of one of the larger parlours; it was warded against anyone entering, thanks to Hermione's Cursebreaking book.

They found that there were 4 major events that could change the course of history and stop Tom Riddle:

- January 1998 - The Final Battle

- Summer of 1979

- July of 1944

- Winter of 1928

Each date had equation after equation that they continuously adjusted. There was one variable though, a person, that they couldn't seem to identify. Theo and Hermione needed to go, but adding George into the mix threw off the entire scheme. This caused quite a row between the trio, with George isolating himself for a few weeks. When they'd finally coaxed him out of Shell Cottage, they made a vow on their magic that they would do whatever possible to save Fred.

They settled into an uneasy peace, although Hermione noticed that sometimes George would stare at their board of equations sadly. They tried to put everyone in the Order they could think of, and even some random people like Blaise Zabini or Stan Shunpike, into the equation, but no one worked. Fortunately they had time to find the missing companion as they couldn't go anywhere until after the Spring Equinox when Hermione would perform the Grimoire ritual.

They spent an inordinate amount of time on their research and in their lab, often forgoing meals and sleep to continue work. The weeks turned into months, until Hermione realised that Christmas was almost upon them. Nott Manor descended into a flurry of preparation and Andromeda wanted to give everyone in the house a "proper Christmas."

Thursday, December 24, 1999

Theo

Theo couldn't remember having what Andromeda and Hermione deemed a "proper Christmas," since before his mother had died, and even then they had to stay quiet so they wouldn't upset his father. As he sat on Christmas Eve, with a glass of Eggnog in his hand (unfortunately, non-alcoholic, per Order rules), he pondered the gathering of people around him. Neville and Hermione were talking animatedly about some rare plant or other, Aunt Gussie and McGonagall looked cosy on the loveseat, and Andromeda and Remus were fussing over Teddy who had been stuffed into an elf costume. Harry and Thorfinn had their heads bent together, probably discussing battle tactics again.

He had watched over the months as Andromeda had changed the look of his Manor. The walls were all painted light pastels, and the dark woods were stained a lighter colour. The musty old furniture was transfigured to appear much homier than he'd ever seen it. It still looked like a true Pure Blooded Manor, thanks to Andromeda's upbringing, but he also noticed that many of the especially volatile portraits had been moved and landscapes had been put in their place. With a small sigh he thought that if he had been raised in a house like this, he might not be quite so messed up as he was.

"-Theo?" Hermione said, looking at him quizzically.

"I'm sorry, what was that, Mia? I was lost in my own musings," he responded, blinking at her.

"Are you ready for dinner?" she repeated.

"Traditionally, the Master of the House calls a holiday meal to begin," added Andromeda with a smirk as if she knew exactly what he'd been thinking.

"Oh! Right then!" he said with a clap, "Off to dinner we go, I'm sure Cookie has created an extravagant, sumptuous feast for us!" He led the group to the formal dining room where they all settled in their typical seats, Theo at the head and Augusta at the foot, with the rest interspersed throughout the rest of the seats.

He clinked his glass, "I would like to give a toast to the people around me who have become like family over the past few months. I'm not totally sure what the alternative to all of this would be," he said gesturing around at the gathered party, "but I can assure you that this has been the happiest Christmas I've ever had. I am glad to be spending these final days of 1999 with the people that I care most about."

Everyone raised their glass, cheersing each other and then began to dig into the feast. Theo spent a few more seconds looking around the table before he scooped food onto his own plate. He felt like home.

Thoughts!? Let me know!