Hermione lingered by the entrance hall, craning her neck to try and make people out from the cluster that poured out of the carriages. As the figures descended upon the hall, Hermione spied three very tall red heads with a boy wearing dreadlocks. She squeezed between the masses, apologizing if she came into contact with anyone and found Lee Jordan and the elder Weasley boys.
"Hi, Hermione!" Fred beamed.
"Our baby brother not with you?" George asked.
"I was here from the start," she explained. "So I didn't need to take the train in. I thought he and Harry might be with you."
"No," George mused.
"Don't think I've seen them since we crossed the barrier." Fred mused.
"They'll turn up somewhere, Hermione," Percy said pushing up his glasses. "I should get going." he called out over her shoulder. "Penny! Wait up."
"Let's talk DADA Pool," George whispered mischievously.
"I want to wait until we have classes with the new teacher before I bet," Lee explained.
"That's not a bad idea," Hermione agreed. "Spent all month with him and I can't gauge his tenacity...Wait! You haven't seen them at all? What if they're still in London?"
"I had an owl come in saying your two idiots were flying a car to school!" a voice giggled.
Hermione turned to see Pansy Parkinson clinging to Draco Malfoy's arm. Pansy was a bit taller than Malfoy with long black hair tied back in a green scrunchie, and a mean glimmer in her brown eyes. Malfoy was a bit smaller than average, very pale with white-blond hair and a permanent sneer on his pointed face. The two were made for each other, though despite Hermione's first impressions, Pansy wasn't unilaterally cruel like Malfoy was.
"That's rubbish, Pansy," Hermione rolled her eyes. After begging them to not give my father a reason to go after them, it better be! "I doubt I can think of anyone that thick!"
"It's in the paper! Look on the bright side," Malfoy sneered. "Once Potter and Weasley are expelled you'll only have Longbottom to mind!"
"Until he fails out!" Pansy laughed.
"Oh, Pansy," Hermione cooed. "We've certainly studied together enough for me to know you should focus on your own studies."
"Oh, sweetie," Pansy mimicked her cooing. "At least I have things to focus on outside of studies, but I'm sure it'll come in time."
Sweetie? Far cry from stupid ugly bitch. It seemed her father's position bought her false civility from the Slytherins. Pansy had been terribly cruel to Hermione when they first met, but as soon as Pansy learned her last name, she tried to make a show of friendship. Which ended with the girls using each other. Hermione couldn't tell if this were good or bad. It was exhausting to keep up the facade and all three of them were clueless as to which of them had more power in the relationship.
"Fred, George, Hermione!" Neville called waving from the distance.
Shock widened his blue eyes and his round face paled as he saw Pansy and Malfoy turning their cruel eyes toward him.
"Let's go, Pansy," Malfoy said. "I can feel my IQ getting lower with each new addition."
"Ignore those gits, Neville," George said.
"I personally don't think it's possible for Malfoy's IQ to dip any further," Fred added.
"He's a little bitch," Hermione mused. "But he's still clever and connected enough to make our lives hell. Don't be afraid of them, Neville, but you do need to be careful."
Neville's face went pink and he nodded with a gulp. I am a stupid piece of shit! Why'd I say that?
"Shall we head in?" Fred asked.
"Go ahead," Hermione smiled. "I'll catch up to you guys."
There was a tree close to the Great Hall's window. If Harry and Ron came up, she was certain Ron would want to see where his sister was sorted. She climbed into the tree and hid among it's bushy foliage, keeping her eyes glued to the starry sky. All she had to do was watch and wait for a car to land on the ground, get their attention and sneak them into a school praised for its security without a soul noticing. Nothing too difficult...
That was when she saw it. Headlights blot out the stars and bathed the yard in their yellow glow, the car very loudly putting as it streaked across the sky. How does anyone hide that?! Keep calm and wait for them to land.
That was when the car came crashing into the Whomping Willow like a giant blue brick sending timbers and car parts into the night. Shit! The tree reacted to the threat trying to throw the car out of its branches, swinging its free branches to wail on the unknown assailants. Hermione jumped to attention at the first metallic crunch that echoed through the night. She scrambled down the tree and drew her wand. She ran to the car, still trying to evade attention, keeping to walls, plants and shadows. She should have just ran to them, but she couldn't make herself obey her mind. At least this time she was moving.
Once she got to the tree she cast a shrinking curse on a number of the branches, minimizing their impact on the car. Once the car was no longer being pounded relentlessly, teetered on the its precarious perch an fell out of the tree. Shit! Do something, something...
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
That didn't cause the car to float like smaller objects she had practised with, but it did soften the blow as it came to the ground. It landed centimetres from Hermione's feet. Through the cracked windscreen Harry and Ron exchanged shocked glances, their pale faces standing out in the dark interior. That was when all four doors sprang open and some force threw Harry, Ron and their luggage out on the grass before speeding off into the forest.
"Are you guys, okay?" Hermione whispered kneeling next to Ron.
"Mum's going to murder me..." Ron gulped. "What're you-"
"Helping," she whispered. "Keep your voice low."
"What," Harry asked finding his feet "Was that!"
"Whomping Willow," she explained gathering the boys' luggage into one neat pile. "It's been here as long as I can remember. What was that spell again, oh!" and Hermione sent the luggage and Hedwig to the Gryffindor tower. "It'll be easier getting you into the school without-"
"What did you just do?" Ron said, his blue eyes wide and fixed at the spot where his luggage was.
"Sent it to Gryffindor tower," Hermione explained.
"Wait, Whomping Willow?" Harry asked.
"A very violent tree planted here a long time ago. It attacks perceived threats to itself. Don't know why it's even here. We should go. Do you have the invisibility cloak?"
"I did," Harry said. "But you sent it to Gryffindor tower."
"Shit!" Hermione slapped her forehead.
A ringing filled Severus's ears and he knew exactly what was responsible for it. That girl is going to regret this once I'm done with Potter and Weasley! He drew his wand and silently cast the counterspell before closing his eyes to figure out where the sound was coming from. If he was affected by the spell, they were very close, indeed.
"Not everyone's fluent in Hermione!" A boy-Weasley- hissed.
He followed the sounds of their voices knowing Hermione would assume her spell was still in effect. The conversation continued down the corridor, and he saw why Hermione felt the need to use the spell in the first place.
Hermione's voice hissed something back that he couldn't make out, but whatever it was, it offended Weasley.
"Not knowing what you mean by waving your hands around doesn't make me an idiot. If you're so bloody angry with us why are you even bothering helping us? And we told you what happened! I don't even know why you're angry!"
"I begged you two not to give my father anything else to use against you this year and you flew a car into school on the first day!" Hermione's voice became shrill. "And I had somehow convinced him to give you another chance. That's not something I'm going to convince him of a second time."
"Hermione," Potter ventured. "It wasn't like we were looking to make trouble. We didn't know what else to do."
"If only you had access to an owl and someone to receive it at the school to go get help!" Hermione hissed before softening her voice, "I don't understand wh-"
"Oh, skip the lecture!" Weasley snapped.
"Sorry," she sighed. "I don't think either of you two are idiots, I-"
"Could have fooled me," Weasley groaned.
"I just wish you thought about it a little more before you decided that was your only option. I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed. Let's just get the hell out of here before you're found. If my father knows he'll be out for blood."
That was when he rounded the corner to find the three of them, Hermione's back to him, and the two boys gaped up at him looking as if the reaper himself appeared before them. Hermione on the other hand buried her head in her hands and grumbled.
"There's a professor right behind me, isn't there?"
"And apparently one that's 'out for blood'," he said coolly. "Though he may settle for an explanation for why you boys weren't on the train? It must be very good to have convinced my daughter to throw away everything to sneak them into the school."
Hermione now turned to face him, but her eyes were still firmly set on her feet.
"Right," he said. "Follow me."
"Sit down," her father barked.
The three of them obeyed silently, and Hermione noticed her father did not do the same. She imagined he would pace around them or lean over them to really lean into the power imbalance between them. Hermione was the only person he ever made an effort to be eye-level with, and never while he was angry. And her father was very angry at the moment.
Hermione listened in silence while her father entered a monologue about how the train wasn't "cool enough for Harry Potter and his sidekick", and all the damage they'd caused. It was a monologue because he silenced any attempt on Harry or Ron's part to clarify the situation. Hermione suddenly felt very bad about snapping at them.
"Where's the car?" he asked.
Ron gulped before exchanging a confused look with Harry. Hermione sat on Ron's left staring at her clasped hands as she dug her nails into them. Were they expelled? What would happen after that? Hermione wondered if they might have gotten more than half-way to Gryffindor tower if she had not been there to hinder them. Would their expulsion be her fault? Don't be ridiculous! McGonagall won't expel them! And if she would, she would either way. You were sneaking them in to avoid this...Fat lot of good that did!
Her father produced a news paper and Hermione realized Draco Malfoy had been very, very right. Hermione's stomach churned as he read the article aloud. "Do you boys have any idea what you've done? The ministry is under fire by the press. I believe your father works in the department of Muggle Artifacts?" he tutted. "His own son... well, your father and I might have something in common after tonight." He turned to Hermione at that. "Can you imagine, little girl? A child betraying the trust of their father and his coworkers? Poor Arthur Weasley must be profoundly disappointed."
Hermione bit her lip and dug her nails in deeper. If his goal was to make her feel guilty, he succeeded.
"At least the Department of Muggle Artifacts didn't see Weasley grow from infancy!" he spat. "Sneaking people into the castle, undermining security measures we have worked so hard to set up! I assure you, I am not the only one who is shocked and disgusted by your behaviour!"
Hermione felt every muscle in her body tense involuntarily and stared firmly at the ground. What had she done? She didn't spare Harry and Ron any trouble and she just destroyed any attempts she and her father had made over the summer to re-build trust. How the hell could she have been so damn stupid? Don't you dare fucking cry...it'll make everything worse! She felt something wet on the tips of her fingers after a sharp pain on the back of her hands. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.
"And you were doing so well since you returned too..." her father sighed. "Month's detention should set you straight if I can rescue you from expulsion. You boys destroy everything you touch, don't you? She had a future. Since you idiots aren't in Slytherin I can't expel you, so I shall fetch those who do possess that happy power. And don't expect Professor McGonagall to be stupid enough to fall for whatever sob story you fed my child!" he turned to Hermione. "I don't know if I can convince her not to expel you as well. Even with your test scores, I won't be able to convince a single headmaster to take you if she does!"
"Wow," Ron breathed at after the door slammed. "How did you survive twelve years of that?"
"H-he, erm, he's not normally like this..." Hermione squeaked. "At least not with me, erm, not often...I'm the one that messed up-"
"He's really done a number on your brain, hasn't he?" Ron scoffed.
Hermione bit her lip and sat in silence not wanting to tell him how right he was. She still didn't trust her own memories. She silently reviewed every moment with her father for inconsistencies.
"What do you reckon will happen?" Harry asked no one in particular.
"No one's going to expel you, Harry," Hermione lifted her eyes from the floor to meet their gaze. "If I'm honest, I'm more worried about Ron."
"Why?" Ron knit his red eyebrows, and twisted his mouth in thought.
"We really fucked up here, Ron," Hermione explained between controlled breaths. "You were seen, that breaks the statute of secrecy, and I snuck you in after the fact. I've seen a student nearly be expelled for less. We're probably done here..."
Harry narrowed his green eyes and examined her face. "Why wouldn't I be expelled too?"
"You still don't know, do you?" Hermione asked returning her gaze to the floor. "You're, erm, Harry, you're like the second coming of Merlin and Jesus all rolled into one in our world. Expelling you would be suicide for the school's reputation."
"B-but that hardly seems fair," Harry said.
"It's not," Hermione agreed venturing eye contact. "Life's not fair. You know that better than the rest of us."
Harry nodded solemnly, his face pale as if he didn't quite buy that he was safe and Ron stared at Harry a mix of pity and fear flashing across his freckled face. She wondered what would happen to her if she were expelled. She knew it wouldn't be easy for Ron, but after a while he might adjust to a less than ideal life with his family. At least she hoped. But if she were expelled...she imagined life confined to her living quarters with her father constantly looming over her, reminding her that she threw everything away for nothing. She shuddered and cast her eyes back to the ground. Nothing was exactly what she accomplished.
"Mum's going to flay me," Ron whispered.
"I'm sorry, Ron," Harry said.
"No, mate," he sighed. "You told me the car was bad idea..."
"What's going to happen to you?" Harry asked.
A silence passed, she had expected Ron to answer his question, but instead when she heard his voice it was saying: "Hello, earth to Hermione!"
"Oh, sorry!" Hermione squeaked. "I, erm, thought Harry was talking to you. Erm, I expect I'll be fine."
"Really?" Harry and Ron asked skeptically.
"Honestly, you two!" she groaned. "It's like you think he's a monster!"
"Well," Ron ventured. "He did-"
"Save Harry's life last year," she said. "And oh! Raised me on his-"
"Oh, come off it!" Ron sent his eyes to heaven with a groan. "Were you dropped on the head as a baby?"
"Weasley," a cold voice said behind him. "I knew you were an idiot, but I hadn't any clue you were a cruel idiot."
"Calm down, Severus," Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to face the three of them.
McGonagall followed the two men into the room looking almost as angry as her father.
Shit!
"I believe you have an owl, Potter," McGonagall said after hearing the boys' story.
Hermione's shrill comment to Potter now made sense to Severus. He wondered if she even crossed either boy's mind as a possible solution to the problem, given their apparent inability of considering Dumbledore or McGonagall's ability to help. He wasn't satisfied with the explanation, but he didn't doubt it was truthful. This was nothing more than Potter showcasing his ineptitude in problem solving. He wondered why the barrier had been tampered with, but turned his thoughts to the situation at hand. McGonagall moved from livid to exasperated, and wouldn't even look at Hermione.
"We weren't thinking, Professor," Potter admitted.
"That," McGonagall said. "Is abundantly clear!"
"Perhaps," Dumbledore interjected. "Harry, it might be in your best interest to consider asking for help when faced with such issues. There will always be help for you at Hogwarts."
"I-I'm-" Potter stammered. "We're not expelled, sir?"
"No, Potter," McGonagall said. "You're not expelled. Though what you did was incredibly reckless. You three will be receiving detention. And I will be writing your parents."
That hardly seemed proportional. However, he couldn't say he was surprised. Nothing beyond violence that caused irreparable harm would earn them anything greater than a detention. Though it also meant he didn't have to go begging other schools to accept Hermione. The woman seemed to make herself a surrogate grandmother to the girl, and he doubted she would suffer expulsion for anything less than illegal.
"You also will be forgoing the feast tonight," McGonagall said. "I won't be having you parade into the Great Hall after that stunt."
"Erm, Professor," Weasley said. "My little sister, Ginny, started this year-"
"Sorting's already happened," McGonagall shrugged. "It won't come as a surprise to you that she was sorted into Gryffindor."
"Thank you."
Were the hell was that humility when you called Hermione brain-damaged? He turned his gaze to a very still and silent Hermione, the news she wasn't expelled didn't seem to relieve her in the slightest, her gaze didn't leave the floor since they entered the room. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard her say a word since he found them in the corridor. Though she must have said something to Weasley to illicit such a comment.
"You three will sta-" McGonagall started.
"Actually," Severus interrupted. "I would like a word alone with my daughter. You can set the boys up elsewhere."
McGonagall, Potter and Weasley all looked at Hermione, who still made no indication she knew they were there, with palpable pity. What the hell did they think he was going to do to her? After everything his own father did, he couldn't bring himself to so much as spank her. And-thought it was an accident- he was still wracked with guilt over the head injury she sustained as a baby. Though playing with her memory was fair game?
"Very well," McGonagall clapped. "Follow me, boys."
Dumbledore lingered after McGonagall led the boys out, heads bowed in shame. He didn't like the way Dumbledore peered at him over his half-moon glasses, his blue eyes twinkling in the candlelight with a knowing gleam. He placed a hand on his shoulder like he did when Severus was a boy.
"I'm reminded of a nervous twelve-year-old boy who sat in my office about twenty years ago because he thought he was doing the right thing," he mused. "Don't be too hard on the girl."
"As always, headmaster, your input is appreciated," he said. "But I do believe I am capable of determining how to appropriately deal with my own child."
"Understood, Severus," Dumbledore sighed before casting his eyes toward Hermione for a moment before leaving.
Condescending bastard...No amount of respect I have for you will blind me to that. He thought watching Dumbledore leave before shutting the door behind him and turning to Hermione, still trying her best to shrink away to nothing.
"You, young lady," he seethed. "Will explain yourself!"
"I, erm, I, erm,-"
"Now!"
She squeaked and flinched before stammering her way to something that resembled a sentence. "I thought if I could get them through unnoticed Professor McGonagall would be more willing to hear them out the morning after-"
"You little idiot," he strode over next to her. "Whatever decision she was going to make wasn't going to change with the passing of a single night. You've accomplished nothing!"
Hermione bit her lip and looked at the floor solemnly, her little face barely visible. He imagined she was very aware of that.
"Well, nothing other than getting yourself involved!" he snapped. "This could have been avoided if you hadn't leapt into to trouble in a feeble attempt to rescue them from their own stupidity. I want you to think about that, assuming you're even capable of forming your own thoughts!"
Hermione might have been replaced by a clay replica and he would have no idea. She maintained her bowed head over clasped hands and hunched over as small as she could make herself without making a sound. He wondered if she were retreating into her own head again, either for distraction or to find some way to smooth over the situation. This is not at all what I was hoping for when we've finally got things back to normal...
He let the silence pass between them and wondered just what the hell was going on inside that little head of hers. How could she have been so damn foolish as to try to aid them? Surely, she should have known how this would all pan out. Had she succeeded in getting them to Gryffindor Tower unnoticed, the whole school would have still talked, the article in the Prophet would still exist what McGonagall's judgements would have remained unchanged. Though telling her all of this had the same effect as reprimanding her for trying to fix a broken jar when she was five. She knew what she did was incredibly stupid, perhaps knew in the moment that it was, and she couldn't help herself. Where did this impulse to fix everything at her own expense come from?
"You're right," Hermione finally spoke. "It was stupid. But I couldn't-if I could help and didn't, I'd be complicit in whatever happened to them."
"Complicit?" he scoffed. "Hermione, those boys brought what resulted upon themselves. And if you ask me, it wasn't nearly harsh enough. A single detention and a letter home for breaking the law. Had any other student pulled the same stunt they'd be expelled or at least suspended."
"Maybe they wouldn't be," Hermione said venturing eye contact. "You heard what they said about the barrier."
"Regardless of their reasoning," he sighed. "The severity of the situation should be impressed upon them. Which is exactly what I intend to do with you. Now, can you tell me why we hide from muggles?"
"Because muggles see us as a threat, outnumber us and the panic would lead to war." Hermione answered. "But I'm not sure I believe tha-"
"You should," he told her. "You've led an incredibly sheltered life, and as much as I believe it was for your own good, you were deprived of a very important life lesson. The world out there is cold, cruel and muggles and wizards are on constant brink of war with their own. Of course not all muggles would move to exterminate a people, but it would be easy for a handful of the wrong muggles to find out about us and whip up hysteria. If that happened, countless on both sides would die. I know you don't want that."
"No, sir," she choked. She had known all this before, but judging by her expression, it seemed to be the first time she thought about it. "I don't think anyone does."
"You would be surprised," he said thinking about how eagerly some stoked the flames of war less than twenty years ago."There are many who want that more than anything."
Hermione's face drained of colour and her eyes grew in size at that. He wasn't sure what she was picturing, but she seemed legitimately surprised that there would be some out there that would relish in such horrors.
He didn't know if twelve was too young to know such things, or if he'd done a great disservice not telling her earlier...
"I wish it were different, love," he placed a hand on her head and sat next to her. "I don't expect you to understand everything at your age, but you should know how dangerous one reckless act can be, not just for you, but for everyone. Do you understand?"
"Yes,sir," Hermione nodded.
"Hermione," he said before she left. "I don't want to hear any of your flimsy defences for those boys this year. I told you those boys were on thin ice and they flew a car through it."