Hermione had found herself with some free time, so she went out to the workshop to practice her jewelry making. She was getting rather good at it according to Juana. Fleur particularly enjoyed beading, but her chains were still a bit clumsy and uneven. They weren't short on supplies, so Hermione was working on making bracelets. She supposed they were friendship bracelets in a way. They were at least inspired by the friendship bracelet Quripuma made for all of them to schedule hang outs with. Only these would be for her secret society. To call them to battle, to spread information. A mass alert system. A combination of a friendship bracelet and the coins the D.A. used. She was personalizing each one for those she already knew on her side. She made sure to leave plenty of room for various wrist sizes and could always add an extension chain if need be.
Juana had long since gone into the house. The family tried to work no more than six hours a day if they could help it. Benefit of running your own businesses. You controlled the hours. And they made plenty of money by paying themselves the same wages they paid those under their employment. They made plenty of money to pay for their spending habits. Of course, when Esperanza wasn't on a design stint, they were more than happy to deal with hand-me-downs. Kids grow so fast anyway and clothes, if taken care of, could be good for a while.
The pliers Hermione was using to make chains slipped and pinched her finger for the third time. She hissed and inhaled sharply, shaking her hand out. Perhaps it was time to call it quits. It was almost time for dinner anyway.
She put what she was working on in her newly assigned drawer. They all looked very similar, though the wire she used for the chains were different. She had silver, gold, rose gold, black, and rainbow. Some were simple, others she decorated with beads either of glass, clay, or gems she created with arithmancy.
Hermione let her headphones hang around her neck and headed to the house.
"HERMIONE GRANGER!"
She stopped and looked to the border to see three Death Eaters standing on the edge.
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!" called the one in the middle.
Hermione scoffed and went inside.
"STOP IGNORING ME!" he screamed. "COWARD!"
"I don't know what to do anymore," she heard Abuela say just before entering the kitchen. "I thought if I worked her like Abuelita worked us… maybe she would give up. Quit out of frustration. Instead she's the hardest worker any of us have ever had. I'm running out of chores to give her."
"Maybe you could make her quit?" suggested Mamá Florencía. "Tell her the work isn't good enough?"
"That would be a lie, Mamí," said Mamá Antonella. "She's a quick learner, decent at whatever she tries and could be great at whatever she applied herself to. The opposite of Ximena."
"Cabrona!"
"Ey! You're grown women!"
"Sorry, Mamá," said Anuela. "I just worry. She's too hard on herself and she refuses to talk about what happened to her." She sighed heavily. "She skipped out on her own birthday party last month. Only eighteen and she acts like she's bearing the weight of the world on her shoulders."
"Perhaps she is," said Fleur. "She has done more to stop Our Good Friend's second rise to power in the past two years than anyone else has in sixteen. You are certain she is not a prophecy child?"
"Yes," said Mamá Delfina firmly. "When she was born I only had a vision of her becoming a Matriarch. A leader. Some of us have defined futures but hers has always been a mystery to me. A leader is my only certainty."
"Then all we can do is prepare her," said Mamá Florencía. "And as long as she knows that she has friends and family behind her she should be able to handle anything."
"Friends…" Fleur mused. "Perhaps we should invite more of her friends. Alejandro, Bernice… who are the others? She talked all about them last summer. I think Marsha… Cassie… Queenie?"
"Márcia, Cássia, and Quripuma," said Renata.
"Yes, them."
"It is worth a try," said Abuela. "I will write them, see if they can visit."
Hermione bit her lips and put on her headphones before entering the kitchen. "Hello, family. What's for dinner?"
"Stew," Abuela signed, turning around. "Are you O.K.?"
"Death Eaters on the border," she said.
They had come up with a sign for the Death Eaters. Two fingers were dragged in a wavy line up the forearm to signify their telltale tattoo.
"I'll take care of them," said Tía Manola. "Greg is getting the girls ready for bed, so they won't see."
Hermione stepped aside and got a bowl from the stacks, filling it with the stew. "Can I eat in my room?"
"Okay, just… bring your bowl down before you go to bed," said Abuela.
Thanking her, Hermione took her food upstairs. She sat down at her desk to continue reading the book she had started last night on war strategies. She looked at the growing number of IMNs. Many marked to indicate messages she had yet to reply to.
She turned the beads on Quripuma's friendship bracelet over with her fingers. She wore the bracelet often and her heart twinged to see messages to meet up from those still in school.
She tapped it with her finger to make the message.
D.R. NEXT WEEK TOO SOON?
Over a span of thirty minutes, she watched the beads representing her friends spin to signal the affirmative save for Bernice who was probably too busy with her apprenticeship. Sure enough her IMN flashed with a message.
Hermione opened it.
Sorry, Nia. Can't. I do miss you though.
Hermione responded, I thought it might be a long shot. How's the apprenticeship going?
They spoke for a few minutes, but Bernice had to get to work. She passed along a message from the family reminding Hermione to take it easy and not work so hard and to visit as soon as she could.
She couldn't. Not with Death Eaters tailing her and she sent a warning to that effect.
Don't worry, we'll be alright.
Hermione closed the book and sighed. She looked out the window to see Tía Manola confronting the Death Eaters. A few moments passed and Aurors arrived to arrest them. Not for the first time, the thought to just pack up and leave crossed her mind.
But then she would be doing the exact same thing Cedric did. Running away because the alternative was to put everyone else in danger.
She understood his thought process completely now, so why was she still angry at him?
If she did run, they would never let her stop. Rule One, always finish the fight. And she would. That's why she was here. To train. To be better. To be a leader. And to finish this. If only she had some idea of the location of the horcruxes. Urgh, maybe she should have taken Dumbledore's memories and Pensieve. Looked through all of them instead of what he only deemed to be important.
She took out the book he left her in his will and thumbed through it hoping to find some secret note. She must've gone through it dozens of times by now. With a black light, with specs from the Quibbler, using every spell she and her family knew to try and find hidden messages. Nothing. All she had was Grindelwald's Mark and she knew all she could about that thanks to Viktor.
What else was there for her to do?
~o0o~
Hermione sat on the stairs waiting for Tía Manola and Tío Greg to return with her friends. She couldn't go, too. In fact, she couldn't leave the wards anymore. Protections were bulked up on their shops, but the government requested that Hermione remain within the wards of her home or leave the country entirely. Basically, house arrest just because some assholes wanted her dead.
She saw their signatures pass through the wards and jumped to her feet. She opened the door for them and was surprised to see Blaise as a part of the bunch.
"Nia!" her friends from Castelobruxo chorused and wrapped her up in a group hug.
Hermione leaned into it and stepped back to hold up her notebook.
"I'm so happy to see you!"
Quripuma tipped her head and furrowed her brow.
"I lost my voice," Hermione signed. "I don't know where it is."
"It's okay, Nia," said Cássia. "We like you with or without your voice."
Hermione smiled slightly and looked over to see Fleur enter. "This is my friend, F-L-E-U-R."
"Bonjour," said Fleur. "Alejandro, it is nice to see you again."
"Hi, Fleur," said Alejandro.
Hermione took the exchange of greetings to write out a question for Blaise.
"Don't you have school?"
"Ah, well, I convinced Mother to allow me to take a sabbatical," they said. "I was at Hogwarts for a month. Things are terrible, some of the new teachers are clearly Death Eater plants, and I'm not going to stick around for them to try and fail to recruit me. Actually, I was arranging for a visit to the Hearthstone with Alejandro, and upon arrival, he requested we come here to see you."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. She knew that Blaise was interested, but it seemed that their relationship went from flirting to actual couple. She wasn't entirely surprised, she knew there was interest, but side-by-side they did seem like an odd couple.
"That's great. I'm happy for you. Let me show you to your rooms."
They would be sharing rooms, but she had a hammock in her room and Noa, Bianca, and Josefina's rooms were open. Cássia and Quripuma were sharing a bed. Márcia would take the hammock in Hermione's room and Alejandro and Blaise could have their own beds.
"Hey, Nia," said Alejandro. "You know, if you're not feeling safe you're always welcome to come to the Hearthstone. Even if we're invaded, we would crush them."
Hermione thought about it, then looked back at him and nodded.
"Great, then when we leave next week you will come with us."
"Is there another festival?" she asked.
"Ay, you missed it," he said regretfully.
That was fine. She wasn't sure she'd be up to participating anyway.
It was nice having her friends around. She was smiling more. Those smiles didn't quite feel genuine, but they made those around her happy. At least, it made them not worry as much.
They were still able to go down to the beach. One night they sat on the slab of rock and stargazed. They had games to play and Hermione had her movies and television shows. The Golden Girls box set she had received for her birthday was a hit with most of the household. Quripuma thought their library was wonderful, especially the detailed archives. One of the things Hermione had started doing was recording the oral stories so they couldn't be lost.
Of course, this last day together, Hermione was playing chicken foot with her friends. She and Fleur decided they would stay at the Hearthstone before going to France in December to finish wedding preparations. Márcia, Cássia, and Quripuma all had to return to their jobs, but she was happy for the time with them. Besides, they got along so well with Fleur that she invited them to the wedding. So they would all be seeing each other really soon anyway. Well, Márcia had to decline, but was regretful. She had duties as the President of the Brazil division of S.A.M.B. Hermione was happy to be a consultant or just a sound board.
"Are you okay, Nia?" Alejandro asked.
"Fine," she signed and put a domino down.
"Okay. You just seemed a million miles away," he said and saw what Fleur had played. "I hate you."
Fleur grinned. "It seems I have won!"
"You've won almost every game!" said Cássia. "What are you doing? Stuffing dominos down your bra?"
Nia smiled as they bantered and looked out the window. Her smile disappeared as she saw another group of Death Eaters standing on the border. They were relentless. Idiots. What did they think if they struck out on their own they'd gain favor? It had been months and they were no closer to capturing or killing her. Were they stupid? Or was this an order? Either way, they really must've had no idea what they had gotten themselves into.
Fleur looked out and huffed in irritation.
"Abuela!" she called. "The vermin are back!"
"Not the vermin!" said Abuela, looking up from her cross stitch. "Okay, let's go issue the warning."
As a group, they left the house and headed to the edge of the property where three Death Eaters were standing. Hermione wound up her arm. While she was sure her splints could cause some damage, she preferred to reinforce her punches with magic.
"Hermione Granger!" said the leader. "Surrender now and—"
She stepped out of the wards and punched him hard, splitting his mask in two. She returned within the wards and rested her hands on her hips.
"You bitch! I'll kill everyone in your family!"
"You are trespassing," said Abuela calmly. "Your threats are currently being recorded. Our family is under protection and you could face serious consequences. This is your first and only warning. Should you remain, I will have you arrested."
"Can I give the warning?" Alejandro asked.
"Go ahead."
Alejandro removed his necklace to bring himself to full height. He planted his feet on the ground, inhaled deeply, and released an earth-shaking roar. He kept it going until he ran out of breath.
"Nice one," said Blaise.
The Death Eaters had clustered together, no doubt when they ran there would be a large wet spot on the red earth. Márcia hissed, showing her fangs. That did it and they ran off.
"Tch!" Hermione scoffed. They were coming more and more frequently. It was good she was leaving tomorrow.
"Let's go back inside," said Abuela. "I meant to ask, is the duckling going with you?"
Hermione nodded. Draco's Honor Bond made it so that if he were too far away from her, he would grow terribly ill. Confirmed to be true when she went with Tía Manola to work. She was away on a separate island in the center of the Bermuda Triangle where shared departments of the United Magical Communities of the Caribbean were located. It was far enough that Draco had collapsed entirely and was beset with chills and fatigue.
Part of her wondered if that was the cause of the Greengrass Blood Curse. If she died before Draco had a chance to save her life or serve her for 30 years, would he then be cursed? To have his blood quit replenishing itself? To die young? To curse any children he might have? She couldn't bear the thought of making anyone go through that.
"Duckling?" said Alejandro.
"She must mean Draco," said Blaise. "Nia started calling him Duckie to annoy him. Strange that I haven't seen him yet on this trip. He is here, isn't he?"
"Yes, but he did not seem interested in meeting Nia's friends," said Abuela. "Don't worry, he's been busy helping Angela at the hospital."
"Draco working at a hospital?" Blaise scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think he even knows what bedside manner means."
"He's actually okay at it," said Hermione. "It's important for the cause."
"Fair point."
"I like working with the jewelry," said Fleur. "But I prefer the dueling circuit. When all this is over, I intend to return to it."
"You're a beast in the A-R-E-N-A," said Hermione, grinning.
"Don't let Biggs hear that," said Alejandro. "He'll start charging her like he does you."
"Charging?" said Fleur.
"He was really rude to Nia when they first met and she picked a fight," said Márcia. "She won the fight and he fell in love with her."
"I think love is too strong," said Quripuma. "He had a crush."
"He's still sweet on her," said Alejandro. "But he's moved on from pursuing her." He paused. "I think."
Fleur chuckled and slung an arm around Hermione. "I knew boys would just fall at your feet."
"If they don't, I'll make them." Hermione punctuated her statement by punching her fist. Her friends laughed and for a second, things felt normal.
"It's about time to start dinner," said Abuela. "Nia, why don't you and Fleur go pack?"
"Good idea, Abuela," said Fleur. "I know, why don't we do a spa night for our last night?"
"That sounds fun," said Quripuma.
"A spa night?" said Renata keenly, poking her head out from the library. "Count me in!"
Not everyone wanted in on the spa night, but there was a big enough group to make it a party.
Fleur didn't need much time to pack. When she was done, she crammed on Hermione's bed with the others to keep her company while she packed. Hermione wasn't sure how she accumulated so much stuff, but she wasn't keen on throwing any of it out either.
"There must be a better way of condensing your IMNs," Quripuma noted.
"Can't." Hermione smiled. "Too many friends."
Which reminded her.
"You inspired me, Quripuma," said Hermione.
"I did?"
"Your friendship bracelets." She gestured to her wrist. "I'm making a bunch for the Weather, the R-E-B-E-L group. I made some for all of you. You don't have to join, but I want to keep you involved."
"That's so kind of you," said Cássia. "Even though I can't fight, I'll treasure the bracelet forever."
Hermione passed them all out. She had made sure that Cássia's would be in Braille.
"I wouldn't expect many messages," she said. "This is more of an emergency broadcast system."
"I think it's clever," said Alejandro.
"There is more room for messages than a ring," said Fleur. "Of course, I might be concerned if there was one ring to rule them all."
Hermione huffed in amusement and closed the case. She wasn't entirely finished, but she was given enough supplies to make plenty of bracelets.
"You have taste, Nia," said Blaise, admiring their bracelet. "If the lawyer thing doesn't work out, you could always go in the jewelry business."
Hermione shook her head. "I like it as a H-O-B-B-Y. Maybe when I'm old, I'll consider it."
The future was too much to think about right now, really. She had no clue what she would do. Frankly, she didn't think the war would ever end. Sure, Voldemort might be defeated, but what about after? Rounding up rogue Death Eaters? Dismantling the government that allowed him to gain power in the first place… And what would she do? Would she move on? Find love? Or just spend her days too afraid to let someone close out of fear that they would hurt her? Or worse, that she would hurt them like she had Char?
Or would she simply disappear? There was something enticing about becoming a nobody. Being unimportant. Getting a job that goes nowhere that pays enough to sustain her hobbies. Perhaps go somewhere a couple times a year.
She didn't know and the more she thought of it, especially what she might do if the war was lost… it left her feeling stuck.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Márcia.
Hermione smiled. "Nothing. Don't worry."
Her room was incredibly bare by the time she was done packing everything. She had a new backpack. Before her friends arrived, she went inside and transformed it into a living space using the architects' notes. Not much. Really it was a glorified closet with room for a cot. She couldn't get the materials for plumbing and really it was a complicated bit of magic anyway.
She wasn't going on the run, she was just likely to be on the move a lot, so it was important to have a way to store everything where she could find it.
Hermione climbed out of her backpack.
"Abuela says dinner is ready," said Fleur, offering her hand.
Hermione accepted her help out and zipped her bag up. All she had left were her pajamas and a change of clothes for tomorrow.
After dinner, Hermione set up something to watch. She used a translation spell for the subtitles so Cássia wouldn't have to translate the whole thing for Quripuma. She wished there was a way to make it more accessible for Cássia and Tía Constanza, but both claimed they were more than happy to just sit and be with everyone.
Hermione sat on the floor in a cuddle pile with her friends while they double featured the Sister Act movies. Not everyone in the family stayed for both movies.
Normally, she liked sitting and being, but now it felt wrong. As if because she wasn't doing anything right at this moment the world would come crashing down. Still, she forced herself to stay still. To keep her cheek on Alejandro's shoulder and her arm draped around Márcia.
Come December, she would have time to act. More resources to plan. She would rest now, but just because she was going to the Hearthstone didn't mean she would stop training.
She couldn't stop.