No update next week, I'll be going out of town.
Hermione quickly stepped off the portkey platform and placed the portkey into the return slot since there was no attendant. There were a couple sleepy-eyed people waiting for arrivals and she hopefully looked at all of them, wilting when none were people she recognized. Guess everyone was too busy.
As much as she would've liked to drive Bug, she wasn't sure if all those fancy spells counted for narrow mountain paths. Yes, she had driven the ones back in Kauai (and had a very close call with an 18 wheeler) but the one to get to her house was even more narrow than those. Only motorbikes and the family bus could make the one leading to the Sanchez house. So she apparated. It was still pretty early, she wasn't likely to miss anyone as they got up and ready for work.
She was only able to land outside the wards. They had beefed up quite a bit since Christmas.
"YOU!"
She whirled around and backed up into the circle of property. The man charging her hit the wards and fell back, sending her a glare. He must've been after one of the people taking refuge in the Girls Home.
"Excuse me, sir," she said coldly. "You're trespassing on private property and I'll have to ask you to leave."
"I'll go, if you can answer a question for me," he said. "Where's that werewolf? Are you hiding him?"
Hermione placed her hands on her hips. "I haven't seen him, but I'll tell you I won't rest easy until I can prove his innocence and bring him home! And that will be soon, so why don't you save your breath and go home before I kick you there myself!"
He smirked. "I hear the warrant to search your homes will be approved any day now. If it turns out you are harboring that fugitive, well… let's just say it will be very bad for your family."
"And you'll find that threatening the Sanchez clan is like threatening a dragon with a rubber sword. Useless and silly."
"That thing is better off dead," said the stranger.
It was bait. She wouldn't bite. There was no audience to perform for, so she wouldn't waste the time changing the mind of someone who clearly didn't care to have it changed.
"Stay away from my family," she said. "I won't tell you again."
She spun on her heel and headed towards the house.
That guy was a freak show. Like some sort of Van Helsing wannabe. They really needed to give European Wizards a lesson in Muggle Dress. And just what sort of accent was that anyway? It sounded totally fake.
"I'm home!" she called, walking into the house and releasing Crookshanks from her purse.
The family clock chimed signaling this to be true.
Nobody answered.
"Okay, whatever," she said and went into the family room.
All of the hands on the clock crowded to "la casa" except for a broken hand that was stuck on "peligro", and Esperanza's which was on "de viaje." Hermione touched it, knowing that Cedric's picture had been there. If he were dead, the hand would have fallen off entirely, which meant that he had attempted to remove it when he stopped here for supplies. She was sure nobody in her family would have done it, they all loved him and the cousins at Castelobruxo were crushed when they learned he wasn't returning. She could imagine the little triplets would be upset too. And Tavi most of all.
She sighed wearily. She wasn't sure if the sleeping situation changed, so she sat down in a rocking chair. It put her in full view of the jukebox. The colors pulsed and changed, making it seem almost alive. A Frankenstein of parts yet still so lovely. Groaning inwardly, she got up and changed seats so she didn't have to look at it.
Abuela entered the room. "Herminita? You're here early. I thought your portkey didn't arrive until this evening."
"No, I said six in the morning," Hermione replied. Guess that explained the lack of greeting.
"Sorry, mija, I would have gone to pick you up if I knew." Abuela squeezed her hand warmly. "Are you hungry? I'll make you something."
Hermione knew something would be made regardless of appetite.
"I could eat," she said. "Do you need any help?"
Abuela looked at her injured hand. "No, sweetheart. I think you need to take care of yourself. What happened?"
"Mm… I went to a party with some friends and well… I learned the hard way that just because a bloke is nice doesn't mean he's good."
Her grandmother grew stony-faced. "He didn't get at you did he?"
"No. After I punched him, my friends came in. Márcia bit him and knocked him out for a couple hours. Kai apologized to me for setting us up. I didn't even realize it was a date, I thought he was just too scared to ask Márcia out on a real date and felt that dinner with friends was a good compromise." She sighed heavily. "I broke every bone in my hand. The doctor was shocked. The only thing that helps is this thing Hyrane of the Centaurs gave me and that just gets rid of the pain temporarily."
"I'm not surprised," said Abuela. "Your hands were in direct contact with that necklace and the Healers were barely able to regrow your tendons and muscles. Any longer and they would've had to amputate your hands. It's scary to think about, but it's true. Now that the curse has set in, any further injuries can't be healed normally. You'll just have to wait for it to heal on its own. If it ever does."
Hermione winced and looked down at her hands. She wasn't sure what she'd do if her hands wouldn't heal.
Tavi entered the room. "Excuse me, do you need help with…"
Her large eyes grew even wider. She popped out without another word.
"Mm… Tavi must hate me," said Hermione. "I mean… what happened to Cedric… I should've been able to stop it."
"No, she's convinced you hate her," said Abuela, ushering Hermione into the kitchen so she could get breakfast going. "She went to go take Cedric home after encouraging the house-elves to revolt. He told her he wanted to stay because some students needed him, but she's been beating herself up. Not literally, but I think part of her wants to. She claims she should've brought him home anyway. Given him no choice in the matter even if he hated her for it. We tried telling her that it wasn't anyone's fault except the system that made things unfair."
Hermione could have stopped it. If she had been there, things wouldn't have gotten nearly so bad. She would have been the catalyst for the Defense Teacher curse, driving that horrible woman out of the school the second that quill split skin.
"Are they really getting a warrant to search this place?"
"Yes. Many of our jobs were threatened, but we still would have hidden him."
"He said that was why he was running instead of hiding here." She rubbed her neck. "I'm furious that he was right. I doubt even a Fidelius Charm would help at this point."
Abuela touched her cheek. "Have a seat, mija. How long are you staying?"
"Good morning." Tía Manola entered the room and poured herself some coffee.
"Good morning, Auntie."
"How long are you staying this time, Nia?"
"Just a few days," said Hermione, sitting at the smaller table. "I'm meeting with some goblins in England and I'd rather get that done sooner rather than later. Plus… with the way things are heading, I want to make sure my parents and brothers are well protected. Even if I have to cast the Fidelius Charm and be the secret-keeper. I'm sure the entire family knows about the horcruxes by now."
Her grandmother slammed the cleaver in her hand down, splitting the watermelon on the counter halfway. She nodded stiffly and used her weight to drive the utensil down the rest of the way.
"We were in an uproar," she said. "But you got it, yes? We're so proud of Noa for standing strong and killing the soul fragment. So now that man is mortal."
"Well… there's more," said Hermione. "I know of one more at the very least."
"HE MADE MORE THAN ONE?!" Tía Manola shrieked. "WHAT HAS THAT DUMBLEDORE BEEN DOING FOR SIXTY YEARS? THERE'S OBVIOUS SIGNS WHEN A PERSON HAS MADE ONE!"
"Why do you think I'm working so hard to handle it before he kills Harry?" said Hermione, covering an ear. "If I can transfer it out of him to an object, then I'll need a weapon strong enough to destroy it. What did you do?"
Tía Manola dropped her mug, jumping back when it shattered.
"Sorry, Mamá," she whispered and waved her wand to clean the mess and mend the cup. She brought the dish to the basin and washed it.
"I'm sorry," said Hermione. "It's a hard topic, I shouldn't ask you about it like a tip for hair care."
"No, no, sweetheart." Tía Manola went over and hugged her. "It is difficult for me to talk about, but maybe talking about it as if it was a hair care tip might make it easier to manage. Frankly… I don't think you should have to deal with it."
Hermione leaned into her, resting her cheek against her shoulder. "Nobody else is. The last adult who tried where these are concerned was killed. The second, we had no clue. I just knew it was dark magic and my friend Ginny destroyed it before the soul resurrected. The third…"
"Do you want breakfast, burbujita?" asked Abuela.
"Mamá, I'm forty-two, don't you think I'm a little old for nicknames?" Tía Manola asked.
"You are never too old. Eat something. Do you have work today?"
"Yes." She looked down at her niece. "I'll be home at five. We'll talk then, okay? I need to… find my words."
"Okay. I understand. I think I might just hang around with Abuela today. If I can't use my hand anymore, then maybe we should figure out if I can cast magic with my feet."
"Good idea. Manny called and told me what happened, I didn't think you'd appreciate me telling the whole family what you went through."
"Mmhm. I didn't really want him telling the whole town, but I get that it was to put them on alert. Make sure the same thing wouldn't happen to their kids. I'll probably tell the rest of the family the truth or let Abuela tell them. Why bother lying? I'm not ashamed of it, just angry and hurt about what almost happened."
"I understand." Tía Manola kissed the top of her head and Hermione wondered if Nachelle would comfort her like this. "I'll just take a banana to go, Mamá."
"Have a big lunch then."
"I will." Manola kissed her on the cheek and left out the side door to the garden so she could apparate.
Hermione tried to rest her chin in her hand and hissed as the movement made pain shoot through her fingers.
"Eat. You'll feel better."
"Mum and Dad told me that food shouldn't be used for comfort."
"That's because they are English and their food is terrible."
Hermione smiled half-heartedly. "I'm sure it's just something they read in a health magazine. I need to keep my calorie intake up anyway with how much energy I burn from my workouts. I can't use my hands but I can still run and kick."
"You work too hard, mija," said Abuela, placing a fruit salad in front of her. "You should rest or you'll burn out. All you young ones seem to think you have to be successful and the best at everything before you turn seventeen. I didn't even know what I wanted to do until after I had four children. I had them all pretty young, of course, but even so. I only learned jewelry making from my aunt because I didn't know what else to do and after many, many, many failed attempts, it clicked. That was after I tried broommaker, seamstress, shoemaker, hairdresser, secretary…" She chuckled. "Terrible at all of them. Not even a hint that I could be good given practice."
"I just always wanted to be a lawyer," said Hermione.
The other adults with jobs flitted into the room, greeting Hermione warmly and getting coffee or breakfast.
"Nia's here!"
The young triplets came barreling in and stopped dead when Abuela raised a hand.
"Nia is very hurt," she said, signing as she spoke. "I know you're excited but be careful not to hurt her more by tugging on her hands."
They nodded and leaned their bodies against Hermione instead.
"Hello to you too," said Hermione.
"Did you bring Cedric with you?" asked Rafaella, peering under the table.
"What did I say?" Greg scolded. "Cedric is busy with his new job and Nia misses him too much to talk about him."
The girls were seven, that was probably better than explaining Cedric was wanted for murder and would never come back.
"Sorry, Nia," they chorused.
Hermione didn't respond since her mouth was full. She spat a watermelon seed into a napkin.
"It's alright," she said. "I'm only here for a few days but perhaps we can have a tea party. If you still like those."
"Melanie does but I like football!" said Salome.
"Don't need hands to play that," said Hermione. "What about you, Rafaella? Tea? Sports?"
"What did you do when you were my age?"
"I would take my stuffed animals and dolls," she said. "I would line them all up in neat rows and pretend I was defending one of them in court with my puppy Pongo as the judge." She sighed heavily. "Pongo was a ruthless one. Poor Squiggy the Squirrel received an immediate death penalty for stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. The trial wasn't even over."
The adults in the room snickered while Rafaella stared at her as if unsure how to respond. She became distracted as Crookshanks cozied up to her.
"You're an odd one, Nia," said Mamá Antonella affectionately. "Though Ximena was odd, too. Her favorite game was lining her dolls up in neat rows."
"Well, we aren't boring," said Abuela.
After all the adults went to work, the grandmothers convened to the sitting room to play dominoes while the little ones went upstairs to their playroom. Hermione sat down in one of the chairs to watch and her cousin Manolo did the same on the opposite table. Anybody else would probably wake up around lunchtime.
By then, Hermione wanted to go to bed, but knew that she wouldn't help her jet lag unless she forced it. That meant staying up until at least nine o'clock.
"Hola, prima," said Renata.
"Aloha, Renata," said Hermione. "Do you have time for my hair this visit?"
"Sure, I can fit you in tomorrow on my day off." She stood behind her and played with her hair. "What you want?"
"How do you think I'd look with dreadlocks?"
"What, like mine or like Josefina's?"
"Like yours. Is it even a good idea with my hands?"
"They are high maintenance sometimes," said Renata. "Especially in the beginning. But I think I can work something out. I've got spells that can speed them up to mature in about six hours. Usually I let people work through the stages themselves, but you're my cousin."
"Thank you."
"Uh huh. Just make sure you follow the care rules. Scalp massaging, no wax or grease, satin bonnet when you sleep. I'll write them down for you."
"I appreciate it."
"Yeah, no problem. You can just make me a couple diamonds when you can hold a wand."
Hermione huffed a laugh. "Where would you even spend them?"
"Not to spend. I just think they're pretty."
Hermione reached into her purse and summoned one of the stones she'd been given at the Hearthstone Festival. The one she was sure was rose quartz.
"How about this instead?" she asked.
Renata's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Gimme gimme!"
"Hey, where's my crystal?" asked Abril, entering the room.
"I'm dedicating eight hours to give her a new hairdo," said Renata. "What are you giving her?"
"Oh, it's payment."
"Do you have stones for jewelry, Nia?" asked Abuela.
"Well…" She took out the stone Alejandro gave her. "Can you do something special with this one? The others I'd prefer to keep in raw, uncut form just for now."
Abuela took the stone and shivered as she felt the energy.
"That is powerful," she said. "I think I can do something with it. How did you get this?"
"It was a gift from Alejandro, my friend who wanted the Larimar."
"It is very pretty."
Hermione drifted around the house most of the day, seeing what everyone else was doing. She even walked to the Girls Home to see the place for herself. There she sat in on a class. They only had typewriters and paper ledgers to practice with but on the blackboards were accurate layouts of a computer spreadsheet and an email page.
"You're from the Big House aren't you?" said one of the girls, Wilmarie, when the class was dismissed to make room for the sewing class led by one of the women from the shop. That day's lesson? Mending and hemming.
"That's right," said Hermione.
"Are you adopted or something? Because I've been here for five years and I only saw you around for a couple."
"No, I'm biological," she said. "I had been abducted and only found my way back a few years ago. This place seems nice."
"It is," said Wilmarie. "I was at this group home in Santo Domingo most of my life and I ran away. Angela found me digging in the trash for food and brought me here. The magic thing took some getting used to, but I don't envy you witches."
"I was at a group home for a year after I lost my memory," said Hermione.
"Yeah, some people in town talk down about this place sometimes," said Wilmarie. "Try and get it shut down because they think there's some super secret evil plot going on. One idiot tried saying the young girls were being used to keep you Sanchez women young and beautiful."
"People are so weird."
"Yeah! And like… the shelter in town makes women beg like dogs for their food! Here, if you're over fifteen you don't have a curfew, though there is a check-in every morning just to make sure. When a girl goes missing, Mom—that's what we call Angela—works fast to make sure she's okay. You can get up at three am to make yourself cereal, mangú, or a burrito if you wanted. But I don't recommend it unless you want twenty people flooding in asking if you'll make one for them, too. We get three meals a day and even though we don't have to, those who work keep the community pantry stocked and you're allowed to keep things you buy for yourself in your room. I would like to have my own bathroom, but no place is perfect. I think we get a better deal here than we would out there."
"I heard Angela say once that if more of you decide to stay we'd probably have to start turning this place into a suburb."
"Yeah, we all had a meeting about it," Wilmarie looked at her. "Your family is big on meetings. Anyway, most of the families are only here temporarily anyway. A lot of times they move to a different city after they get a job and can get a place to live. It's the kids who are expected to stay long term and, really, can you imagine us having our own houses?"
"Guess not," said Hermione. "It'd be tough to wrangle you all."
"Do you want to hang around with us?"
"I should probably be getting home for dinner," said Hermione regretfully. "My aunt is expecting me anyway. I'll come by tomorrow."
"Okay. See you around Nia."
"Yes, bye Wilmarie."
Hermione returned home just as Tía Manola was entering the kitchen.
"There you are," she said. "Dinner isn't ready yet, so let's go ahead and talk now."
"Okay."
They went into the kitchen and moved a rug over the door leading to the cellar. Tía Manola made sure Hermione got down safely first before following and latching it so none of the little ones could get hurt on it.
"I suppose now you'll show me your favorite cask of wine?" said Hermione.
Tía Manola chuckled and baubles of light scattered across the ceiling from her wand. It was mostly a storage room, but there was a breath of air from the cavern that stretched back. This connected to the Larimar mine beneath their property. Probably the only entrance now. The others were destroyed long ago. Manola climbed the rest of the way down and led Hermione past the plastic tubs. Behind the paper Christmas tree was a door. Hermione stepped aside so her aunt could unlock it.
This room looked like one huge conspiracy theory board or something from a cop show. Along with the corkboard with pictures and papers were books on all sorts of dark and ancient magic.
"Well, this is a fun room," said Hermione, testing a wooden stool for sturdiness before sitting on it.
Tía Manola sat in the desk chair and faced her.
"I'm sure you already know now that horcruxes are tied to curses to give them strength and longevity," she said. "Curses… are interesting in that way. Any spell can become a curse with intent. You wish and wish and wish that no outsider will ever be able to harm your family and it comes true and it's a blessing until even the good ones are killed with love."
"But ours was broken upon the horcruxes' destruction," said Hermione. "Because He-Who-Must-Be-Forgotten tied our curse to his horcrux."
Tía Manola's face tightened.
"His curse… was child's play," she said. "I tied our family curse to his horcrux. Doubled up, it almost made it impossible to destroy. Perhaps if I had known the spell you knew, I could have had an easier time of it. It was a brash decision on my part, but I couldn't lose anymore family. I couldn't lose the man I loved." She inhaled deeply. "I spent my whole life trying to find a way to break it. Much of the information here was collected to try and break our curse. I almost resurrected the man. This doesn't leave this room, Nia. You carry it alone."
"Yes, ma'am."
She unlocked a drawer in the desk and handed a journal to Hermione. "This should help you. These are all my notes on horcruxes. How to track them, what to look for, and how I destroyed that one. I had to use gillyweed and special spells to bring the horcrux as far down into the ocean as a human body could go. There, I set up a containment much like the one your teacher taught you to use and then I had to use fiendfyre to melt the vessel and let the soul be washed away in the ocean. It almost killed me and, even underwater, fiendfyre is dangerous and nearly uncontrollable."
"I plan on asking the goblins to make me a horcrux destroying weapon," said Hermione. "I'm going to trade them the secret to wandcrafting."
"Well, if they also want gold for it, contact me," said Tía Manola. "A Weapon is much safer than fiendfyre." She rubbed her temple. "I can't believe I said that. I'm a mother of four for Atabei's sake."
Hermione set the journal down on her lap and flipped through it.
"Tía… this next one is inside a living person. Do you think we can remove it without killing him?"
She bit her lip and sifted through the research collected over centuries.
"You could use that spell you learned," she said. "It's actually a recent spell, meant for releasing trapped souls. I'm one of the ones who helped develop it. It was first successfully used on a music box… well… I worry though. If you pull a soul out of a person, what would the damage be? Horcruxes are so violent… it would probably tear the human vessel apart upon exiting.
"Is his death imminent?"
"I don't know. I think Dumbledore is waiting until he's sure how many horcruxes there are first."
"Okay." Tía Manola wrapped her up in a hug. "You have so much to worry about, cielita Nia. Let me research this for you."
Hermione returned the gesture. "Thank you, Auntie."
"And remember: If you feel you're in over your head, you can call us in. Ceci will be close by, she's trained for this."
"I know. I do worry though… I told so many people already. What if Voldemort attacks us? That's what Cedric was afraid of. Bringing Death Eaters to our door. Maybe he was right that I'd endanger us too."
"That doesn't sound like something he'd say," said Tía Manola. "Nia, we're tough. This wouldn't be the first time racist colonizers tried to stamp us out. We persevere. Even if there is only one of us left, we'll always rebuild. We've done it before. Don't worry about us, let us worry about you. You're not alone, Herminia. Your family, your friends, they are your greatest strength."
"Everyone is convinced Harry is the Chosen One," said Hermione. "I saw the papers. And the prophecy."
She recited it.
"Tch! If everyone waits for a higher power to call on someone to save the world then nothing would ever be fixed." She tipped Hermione's chin up to look at her. "The greatest heroes are the ones who take action to right wrongs without being called to do so. Maybe Harry does have the key to defeat Voldemort, or maybe that power the Dark Lord knows not is a righteously angry Latina with a good network."
Hermione smiled slightly.
"Just promise me, you won't try and do this alone. Get yourself a coven of people you trust and who trust you."
"I promise."