Chapter Five: Of Truths and Solidarity

The following week, Marius received a call from an unknown sender. "Hello?" he greeted assertively.

"Hello?" an equally assertive woman's voice replied. "Mr. Black?"

"My name is Marius Black," he affirmed. "How can I assist you?"

"About my daughter, Hermione," Mrs. Granger started.

"Oh yes," Marius responded. "I met her last week when she was on her school field trip. She and my nephew hit it off quite well. They had trouble separating, and frankly, it was very adorable."

He could hear her smile when she spoke her next words. "I am so happy that she made such a good friend. I hope that you will allow them to stay together."

His smile was audible when he assured her, "I would be more than happy to help nurture their friendship as I have a question for you."

"And what would that be?" she asked, revealing where Hermione had gotten her curiosity from.

"Now, this could be on either end, but I was wondering if one could transfer to the other's school so that they could be together," he proposed. "I'm willing to transfer him to her school, or you could transfer her to his. Harry is fine with either of the choices, although he does have two friends he's hesitant to leave."

"I'd like to speak to my husband, Dan, about it," Mrs. Granger put in.

"Oh, absolutely," Marius agreed easily.

"Thank you!" she thanked before hanging up.

When Mr. Granger returned home from running some errands for the family, Mrs. Granger pulled him into the sitting room.

"So I have spoken to Mr. Black and he was wondering if we were willing to transfer Hermione to her friend, Harry's, school. He also said that he could transfer him to her if that was easier."

"Well, either is fine by me," he replied. "I'm just glad that she has made a friend."

"Let's ask her," Mrs. Granger compromised. "Hermione!" The little girl came out of her room.

"Mum?" she asked.

"Come here," the woman said smiling, tucking an errant curl behind her daughter's ear when she came close enough. A coy, little smirk appeared on her face. "You gave her your mop of hair."

"Well, I'd rather that than my big nose," he replied, bopping Hermione on the nose. "We've got a question for you, Hermione."

"Would you rather have Harry come to you for school, or would you like to go to him?" her mother asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Mum, I don't have any friends at school; I want to go to where my friends are."

"Are you sure?" her father asked.

"I'm sure," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Okay," the pair agreed readily.

It was a whirlwind of a process. First, Mrs. Granger spoke to the counsel of the government.

"Greetings, my name is Emma Granger and I'd like for my daughter to apply to Stonewall High."

"I would like you to give documentation that you live within the area," Mr. Smith answered gruffly. "If you want her to enroll there, your household will have to relocate."

"We are willing to do so," Mrs. Granger replied.

"Then start on that process then."

"Thank you."

"Yes, and I'll send you the application in the meantime."

"Thank you."

They searched for a modest home within the school area. They found one fifteen minutes from Harry's home. They already had a buyer for their home as it was one of Hermione's older cousins, who had been looking for a home.

Mr. Granger sat at the dining room table, hunched over the sheath of paperwork that was the application for the school.

"Recipient's full name, Hermione Jean Granger, birthday is the Nineteenth of September…." He hummed a bit as he filled out the rest of the paperwork, an hour and a half slipping by before he was finished.

Marius and the family were coming to help make a quick move. With a little bit of magic, the move was going to be quick. The application was sent in and the school sent them the policy packet to read over.

Hermione was left in charge of that as she spent time with Harry while the adults were helping the Grangers settle in.

Usually, there were requirements that Hermione would need to meet, but as part of the application, they knew that she already met them. The uniform came before she was due to start in mid-November. Everything was set.

The first day finally arrived. It was currently nearing the end of November, which marked the coming winter. Frost covered the ground in a slightly glossy sheen.

Hermione's hair is a static-y, frizzy mess under her hat, and Clara had to comment on it when he pulled it off.

"You've got bad hair," she stated malice in her sharp, bell-like voice.

"Be careful, Clara," Carl tutted. "Santa is watching you."

"And mine is worse," Harry added, pulling off his hat. They had come in from playing outdoors before school started.

Hermione was placed in Harry's class. The first subject was English. Hermione was easily the smartest. Carl and Gemma stuck to Harry and Hermione by extension.

She helped Ms. Bennett read to the class, giving extra synonyms and the like. "Are you supposed to be here?" a girl with braided black hair and brown eyes asked. "You're so smart."

The question hovered in her mind even as she and Harry helped their fellow peers with their maths problems a little while later.

There was a recitation as they went to their activity for the morning, which was PE. Harry was exceptional while this was where Hermione struggled.

Gemma, Carl, and Harry put up a valiant fight as they spotted Clara and Jasper bullying Hermione from across the gymnasium.

Clara was pulling a fistful of her hair. Jasper laughed as she screwed her face up in pain. "You're lazy, so you can't do gym class." Gemma's face was flushed with anger as she tackled Clara to the ground, forcing her to release her hold on Hermione's thick locks.

Jasper lunged at her, but Harry grabbed him by the neck of his T-shirt, which stretched audibly.

"Time out!" the teacher shouted, rushing towards them. "Clara, Jasper, go stand in the corner. Harry, Carl, and Gemma, it was kind of you to defend your friend, but it could've been handled better. Come to me if there's a next time, alright?" The trio nodded. "Are you hurt, Hermione?"

She shook her head. "I just got my hair pulled."

"That looked like it hurt," Carl said.

"It's fine," she said. After gym class, they returned to the classroom to have free time until lunch. Then came recess and Clara and Jasper had lost that privilege for the day. The quartet spent the whole time on the swings while talking.

Then came science and Carl shined. "Is this how people see me?" she whispered to the other three.

"And Harry," Carl said. "But yeah."

Then came History. Gemma got the limelight. "I have records of my family on both sides from the 1600s."

"Mine is like that," Harry agreed. "They're super old and have lots of stuff like how our queen knows her whole family." Harry and Hermione exchanged looks.

"We will need them later," she whispered. He nodded.

'Yeah," he agreed. The bell rang to signal the end of the day. Hermione could say that she had a decent day minus a few hiccups.

Grey eyes peered up at Harry as he and Luna sat on his bed. A heavy, stout snake slithered onto the bed and Harry giggled.

"You're so silly, Fuego," he told the snake. Fuego shook his whole body once to show his amusement.

"And we have similar eye colours!" Luna added. Indeed, his irises were a silvery colour. She observed the snake as it wrapped around Harry's arms. He extended his arms out to Luna and she interlaced their fingers.

"What are you doing?" the boy asked as Fuego runged himself between their arms. Green eyes flicked to the window where snow was falling gently. Fuego flicked his tongue out to sniff the air.

"Making myself comfortable," the snake replied. He rolled his eyes. "It's not for us." Luna giggled.

"What is your favourite animal?" she asked.

"I don't have a favourite because they're family," he answered. "I spend a lot of time with Figaro and Polaris though." The door was nudged open. "And there's Polaris." Speaking of the devil.

"Hi Polaris," she greeted him in her lilting voice. He let out a soft bark in greeting. Then it turned a bit sharper.

"Fuego, don't do that!" Polaris admonished. "You'll hurt them." Fuego hissed in annoyance.

"But it's so comfortable," he argued.

"They're arguing about Fuego using our arms," he explained.

"It's okay," she said sincerely.

"It's okay with me too," he concurred. "'Cause we're doing it together." Polaris huffed and ultimately dropped it at their words. Harry was the one leaning against the headboard and the fluffy canine wriggled his way between it and his great-great-grandson's back.

"Thank you," he said. Polaris woofed.

Downstairs, the sounds of the radio drifted up to them. "Daddy told me that when Mummy was in school with your mummy and daddy, they loved to sing."

"Really?" The little girl nodded. "Did he ever describe what they sound like?"

"He says that it's really hard to describe, but they're all different, but they sound very good when they are all together."

"Uncle Amazon says that there are ways to view memories. Could he share them?" Luna sent Polaris and Fuego beseeching looks.

"Why are you not telling him about his family? Even if it's hard, Daddy tells me about Mummy."

"Did you know that they did that?" There was a bit of a demand in his voice. "Why are you not telling me?"

There was a very long pause. Fuego and Polaris exchanged looks.

"We haven't been telling you because, to tell you the truth, we know that you would ask where they are or the state that they are in."

"They're in America?" Harry asked.

"No, what condition they are in," Fuego clarified. He went to g

"You talk about them like they aren't there," Harry observed. "Except when Polaris said that 'Padfoot's more dramatic than I am.'"

"Father," Fuego said with a groan.

"I know." If dogs could roll their eyes, he would be.

"What do you know about them?"

"As people?" Polaris pressed.

"As people and what happened to them. Since Luna is affected, can I tell her?"

"What happened was that there was this wizard and he found out something about his friend and he went to confront him," Polaris explained.

"That man was Gellert Grindelwald and he went to confront Albus Dumbledore," Fuego revealed.

"The man with silver, moon glasses, and purple robes?" Harry queried. The dog nodded.

They prepared for another magic fight, a fight with actual wands because Grindelwald believed that Dumbledore was the one to kill his sister. Grindelwald only brought a single other, but Dumbledore brought twelve people. It got worse and it merged into a small-scale war."

"And what do you mean by 'another?'"

"Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Dumbledore's brother, fought one another because Dumbledore and Grindelwald were fighting because they thought differently. Once upon a time, Dumbledore had wanted world dominance, but changed, and Grindelwald still wanted it." That was Polaris.

"And dominance is where someone has power over someone else," Fuego explained. "Grindelwald wanted to take over the whole world."

"So, my parents and Luna's mum fought Grindelwald and didn't make it?"

"They fought Grindelwald, but we don't know if they're dead or alive," Fuego admitted. "We don't have their wands and there have been no signs of their bodies."

"I'm telling Luna," Harry said flatly. "She deserves to know." The pair nodded.

"We also didn't tell you about them because we wanted to hope that you may get to know them for yourself," Polaris explained.

"If I do get to meet them, what if it takes forever?" Harry pointed out. "I'd rather know all the little things so that if it happened then it wouldn't be awkward when I met them." The pair shared another look.

"That didn't even cross our minds," Polaris said.

"I guess it's where we're blinded by our uncertainty of whether or not they were truly alive or dead," Fuego said.

"It's okay to be scared," Harry said quietly.

"We are taught to think that our mummies and daddies know everything, but they're people too," Luna added. Harry nodded.

"We don't have to know because there would be no story if we knew everything from the beginning," he added. "I want to know if I could meet my parents and it'll be something to find out. And my friends will be there finding out with me."

"From the very beginning even if I don't get to go until he's twelve." A question popped into Harry's head.

"If you got a music box and they went places if your mum is with my parents?"

"They were a bit older and didn't go away until I was eight months old."

"I had seven more months then," Harry said, counting on his fingers. He explained the extra details to her.

"I hope that you aren't mad at us," Fuego said.

"I didn't like that you didn't tell me right away, but I understand," Harry said. "I'm not angry because you didn't want to tell me if you weren't sure because, to children like us, you're supposed to know everything." Luna nodded. The snake squeezed their arms lightly while Polaris crawled out from behind Harry's back to sprawl out between the pair.

Fuego hissed indignantly as he knew what was about to happen. He unwrapped himself from them and freed their hands to pet Polaris or in Harry's case, to lay on top of him.

I'm tired!" Harry declared as he closed his eyes. The poor dog groaned slightly as Harry became heavier. Luna giggled as she watched and then promptly plopped her head on the canine's flank to crash as well.

When Marius and Xenophilius came up to get them, they chuckled and savoured the moment, cherishing it with a photo each.