Chapter Two
Sirius wasn't surprised to find his best friend sitting in the drawing room, staring at the family tapestry. "Mate?" He questioned. "Do you remember how James explained her arrival?" Remus asked. Sirius thought hard for a minute, it was so long ago and Azkaban had rendered his memory fuzzy. "Vaguely, he said that Charlus carried her into the house, and that she was covered in blood. That's all he got to see before Dorea forced him out of the room." Sirius explained, "It was the reason Charlus called for Dumbledore. He thought it might be Order business, small as it was back then." He looked towards his friend, Remus's eyes hadn't left the tapestry. "Her wound currently could tear with any sort of trauma to her chest." Remus explained, "What's your estimate then? When will it happen?" Sirius asked. The werewolf shrugged, "Before the end of the year." Sirius swore quietly, "What do we do then?" He asked, Remus finally lifted his eyes from the tapestry, "We mourn again, and we provide Harry and Ron the support that no one could give us."
Hermione had her Charms homework spread out over the dining room table, she was desperately trying to shorten her essay by at least a foot. "Wotcher, 'Mione" A voice called from the doorway. The young witch looked up and smiled, "Hello Tonks," She greeted. "Are the boys upstairs?" Tonks asked. Hermione nodded, Tonks made her way over to the fridge and grabbed a muggle soda from the door before leaning against the counter. She glanced towards Hermione's homework, "Better get as much of that done as you can, it's about to get a lot more crowded around here." Tonks stated as she took a sip from the can. Hermione looked up, excitement bubbling in her chest, "Weasleys?" she asked. Tonks nodded and Hermione couldn't help the smile that spread over her face, it had been almost six weeks since she had seen any of her friends. "They'll be here tomorrow morning sometime, I'm supposed to let Sirius know so he can prepare their rooms." The older witch explained. Hermione rolled her parchment up, "I'll go prep Ginny's bed." She called as she made her way up the stairs, Tonks laughed quietly and started following the girl up the stairs. She made her way passed the little hallway that led to Hermione and Ginny's room and up to the door to the drawing room, it was heavily warded which meant that the two wizards were probably discussing stuff they didn't want anyone to walk in on. She knocked loudly on the door, it was a few seconds until the door opened to reveal Sirius and Remus sitting in the room. Remus was sitting on the arm of the chaise lounge and Sirius was sitting on the low tea table in front of the tapestry, Tonks rolled her eyes at their inability to properly use furniture. "Gentlemen," She greeted as she shut the door, "Cousin, always nice to see you." Sirius responded as he waved his wand and relaid the wards. Tonks made her way over to the two men and sat down in an arm chair across from both of them. "Awfully heavy wards for a casual afternoon tea." She said as she sat down. "We were just discussing My." Sirius explained, gesturing to the tapestry. Tonks nodded, "I figured, what about though?" Sirius cleared his throat and looked towards his best friend. Remus sighed, "She'll go back before the end of the year." He stated in an almost monotone voice. "Damn," Tonks looked down at her feet. "We're going to let the order know tomorrow night at the meeting and try to come up with a plan for what happens after." Sirius explained. "Oh, that reminds me, the Weasleys will be here tomorrow morning. Dumbledore would like you to prepare the house for them." The witch said patting her cousin on the shoulder as he whined. "You'll be fine," she said as she pushed off the chair, she gently squeezed Remus's shoulder before leaving the room, Sirius following behind her. The door to the drawing room shut, leaving Remus in there alone. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath as a single tear rolled down his cheek.
Hermione could barely contain her excitement as she sat on the ground floor stairs the next morning. She had a book from the Black Library on Animagi, Sirius was reading the Prophet at the dining room table, Remus left early in the morning and hadn't been back yet. There was a noise from the basement, Hermione looked up from her book excitedly, Sirius set down his paper, both of them watched the door with anticipation. It seemed like forever before it opened and out stepped Ginny Weasley, backpack slung over her shoulder. Hermione threw her book aside, the noise caught Ginny's attention and the redhead finally noticed the other girl. The two witches squealed with excitement and met in a hug that, in Sirius's opinion, looked painful. He watched the scene with a bittersweet feeling in his chest, it was very reminiscent of two other witches he knew, one curly haired brunette and one fiery redhead, he smiled sadly as the two girls started making their way up the stairs to their shared room. They had just rounded the corner when another redhead stepped out of the basement. "Oi!" Ron yelled, "What am I? Scrap potion ingredients?" He muttered. Sirius snorted, Ron nodded at the older man before making his way up the stairs. It was only a minute later before Molly Weasley exited the basement, and Sirius's quiet summer exited his life.
Upstairs the girls were getting Ginny settled in their room. Ginny was putting her clothes into her wardrobe while Hermione cleared the other small desk in the room. "So," Ginny started "What's it been like, being here completely alone with two men?" Hermione sputtered as she turned to her friend. "What are you on about?" Hermione asked her. "Oh come on 'Mione, You've been here for a month, just you and two men, grown men!" The redhead exclaimed. The other witch rolled her eyes, then her face softened as she thought about what the last month had been like. "It was nice, they don't treat me like a child. They don't treat any of us like children." She explained. "I worked a lot on my summer homework and Sirius let me have full run of the Black Family Library." Ginny laughed, "Of course that's what you've done so far." Hermione smirked at her friend and continued cleaning of the small desk. Moments later there was a knock on their door and before either of them could say anything Ron opened it and stepped into the room. "You could at least wait until we said 'come in'" Ginny said with full sass. Her brother just made a face at her before turning to the other girl in the room. Hermione's face had lit up the second he walked into the room and her stomach erupted in butterflies. Her happy feeling lasted a mere second though as the first words out of Ron's mouth ended any joy she had in seeing him. "Mione," He whined "You didn't even stay downstairs long enough to say hi to me when I got here." She half expected him to cross his arms and stop his foot like a petulant toddler. "Sorry Ronald, contrary to your belief, my world doesn't revolve around you." Hermione said, crossing her arms. Ginny snorted as Ron's ears turned red. He huffed but when he opened his mouth to whine some more Hermione turned back to the desk, completely ignoring him. Ron mumbled something under his breath before collapsing in Hermione's bed with a book on Quidditch that Harry had sent him over Christmas. The three teens sat together, unpacking, talking about their summers, and complaining about summer homework for hours.
Sometime later there was a knock on the door, and again before anyone could answer, it opened. Mrs. Weasley stood in the doorway, wiping her hands on a tea towel. "Lunch is ready dears." She told them, Ron and Ginny raced each other down the stairs and into the dining room. Hermione rolled her eyes and made her way down the stairs in a normal fashion while Mrs. Weasley followed and asked Hermione all about her summer. Sirius, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Tonks, and Remus were all sitting at the kitchen table, the table itself was filled with food. Sandwiches, fruit, fresh chips, and fresh squeezed lemonade. Hermione sat down between Ginny and Tonks and made herself a plate. The table was full of conversation for a while, Hermione had finished her sandwich and was mostly just picking at her chips when Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. The chatter stopped and the whole table looked at her. "There will be an Order meeting tonight, I expect the three of you to remain upstairs and out of the way." She said firmly, eye both her children and then Hermione. The brunette witch felt a little uneasy about where this conversation was going. "Um, well I normally spend the meetings in the Library." Hermione said. If she had broken eye contact with Mrs. Weasley she would have noticed Sirius's smirk and Remus's glance. "Oh no, you'll spend it upstairs with the others." The matriarch countered. Hermione's brow furrowed, "I've spent every Order meeting in the library since I've been here." She stated. "Well now you'll be spending it in your room with Ginny." Sirius watched the argument closely, and when he looked at Hermione he could see a few little sparks in her hair. The witch jumped up from her seat, "That's completely unfair!" She shouted, Mrs. Weasley turned slowly, shocked that she was yelled at. "Excuse me, but this is not up for discussion. You will be spending the entirety of the meeting upstairs." Mrs. Weasley said with a glare. Hermione picked her plate up, dumped the rest of her food, and dropped it in the sink before exiting the room and stomping up the stairs to the room where Buckbeak resided.
Hermione wasn't sure how long she had been in the dark bedroom, at some point Buckbeak had join her against the wall and laid his feathered head in her lap. She knew she was acting like a child but if Mrs. Weasley wanted to treat like one why shouldn't she act the part. She spent the last few weeks being treated like she was equal to those in the house, not like she was a minor inconvenience that can't make her own decisions. She left her parents to protect them for Merlin's sake! Clearly she's capable of making adult choices. Hermione could hear Ron and Ginny talking outside the attic door, arguing over who should open it. They couldn't, Sirius had warded the door long ago so that only he and Remus could get in, Hermione wasn't sure why she could still get in but she wasn't going to look a gift hippogriff in the beak. As if listening to her inner monologue, Buckbeak snorted. Ron and Ginny's voices faded from the door as they went back downstairs. Sometime later Hermione heard the top step of the attic stairs creak as someone stepped onto the small landing. A shadow was cast under the door and the witch watched the doorknob twitch as someone laid their hand on it. Seconds ticked on as the shadow remained outside the door, completely silent. Eventually the doorknob twitched again, the shadow pulled away and the stairs creaked as whoever it was descended the stairs, leaving Hermione alone once more.
Meanwhile downstairs in the dining room Sirius was desperately trying not to fall asleep as Dumbledore slowly went around the table asking for everyone's updates. Nothing new from the ministry, the muggle world, other countries, or even within the Death Eater meetings. Sirius rolled his eyes as Dumbledore once again circled back to him going and picking up Harry and bringing him here. We had already discussed this several times this meeting, not including the last 3 meetings where it was brought up at least once. Dumbledore reiterated that he would be going to retrieve Harry after the meeting was finished. Once that discussion was over, again, Sirius's heart started racing. He knew what question was coming next, and he wasn't prepared to have the conversation that he needed to have with everyone. Sure enough Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Does anybody else have information that needs to be shared before we dismiss?" The old man asked. Sirius pushed back from the table and stood up, all eyes in the room on him. "As you all know myself, Tonks, and Remus have been closely monitoring a situation that none of us were prepared for." He started, several people sat up straighter, and everyone was giving the animagus their full attention, even Snape. "The aftermath of the Department of Mysteries has left us with a much better estimation." Sirius paused and took a shaky breath. "The timeline of Hermione Granger is rapidly coming to a close." He said, avoiding the eye contact of those at the table. There were several gasps, Molly brought a hand to her mouth and let out a quiet sob. "Are you sure?" Poppy Pomfrey asked, Sirius nodded, "Without a doubt." Minerva McGonagall narrowed her eyes, "How can you be sure?" She asked. "The wound she sustained from the battle in the Ministry. My cousin had a scar that matches." He explained. The whole table nodded sadly, Sirius made eye contact with his school yard rival who was looking at him skeptically. "The scar Mia had wasn't from a burn though, it almost looked like the skin was torn." Severus said slowly, as if trying to work it out in his head as he spoke. Sirius nodded, "Yes, we think she sustained some sort of trauma to the wound during her travel back in time." He explained "At one point James told us that she was covered in blood when his father brought her into the house." Severus scowled at him, not fully convinced that the time was coming as soon as Sirius said. "What happens when she leaves?" Molly asked quietly., Sirius looked her right in the eye "Same thing as last time," He thought about when his cousin first left, how everyone told them all to get over it, it was just another part of the war, "but at least Harry and Ron will have the support team that we were missing the first time around." Sirius said
A/N Happy Wednesday! Again if anything needs to be specified or explained feel free to leave an review. And please leave a review anyway so I know what ya'll think! Also I know for sure now that upload days will be changed before the end of the year. I will keep you guys updated on that as I post new chapters and if you want quicker information feel free to hit up my Tumblr, linked on my profile.