Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to their otherwise respective owners.
Author's Notes: Usually I do not post chapters with such a short amount of time between them. I somewhat aim for the ~3-4.5k chapter fics to be updated weekly (yes I know I have several that have not been updated in a while, I'm working on it!) and the ~5k+ ones to be updated when I get around to them. But we have a bit of a slow beginning here, so I thought it'd be better to do this than make y'all wait too long.
FFN is also giving me issues, so to those readers because I probably won't get around to posting this story at all there until Saturday: the same kind of still applies for you, but also not! And sorry for the delay in posting there; it's been taking like 3-5 minutes for every page to load and I'm doing my best with the time that I've got.
Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy. Until next chapter,
~TGWSI/Selene Borealis
~daughter of briganti~
~meet me in the woods~
~chapter 2~
1 September 1995
Hogwarts Express, England, Great Britain
"Your mothers planned this?" Hermione repeated softly. "Why?"
Hyleth looked ready to answer her, and if not her, then Luna. The blonde opened her mouth.
"Wait." Nott shifted in his seat, glancing over at his – wife. It was hard to think of Hyleth in that context, but it was the reality they were all now living in. "We should wait to tell them."
Ron's face flushed again. "Hold on a second, Hermione and I should know what all is going – "
"I'm not denying that," Nott retorted. "But this isn't something that Hyleth should have to repeat more times than necessary. It's – a lot. And your and Ginny's brothers already stopped in before you did."
"Wait, they did?" Hermione inquired. "What did they say?"
Ginny gave an impish grin. "Just that they're happy we're back, even if we are married now, and they wish us luck with Mum. Oh, and that if Hyleth ever tries to hurt me, she'll regret it." She eyed the female alpha as she spoke the last bit.
"I'd never do that."
"They know. They just like teasing you."
Ron did not appear satisfied by having to wait for an explanation about why Hyleth's and Luna's mothers had planned on Hyleth having to get married at fifteen. Hermione wasn't, either.
Hyleth noticed this. "Why don't we tell you about the stuff we did in Greece?" she offered up as compromise. "When we weren't busy, that is. Crete has some of the oldest intact magical sites in the world, did you know that?"
Hermione did, in fact, already know that. She was not appeased.
But then, Luna asked, "Did you go to the palace at Phaistos?"
"We did!" Ginny said. "It was amazing, just like you said!"
...And that defined the context of their conversation.
Hyleth, Ginny, and Nott told them all about what they had done while in Greece, the places that they'd went to. Hyleth had gotten a knife while they'd been in Chania, the city in Crete that was well-known for their knives, which she showed off to them. When they were done, Neville told them about his summer vacation, too, taking out the plant that he had gotten for his birthday. It apparently had a defense mechanism, which Nott advised him at the last second not to activate.
Hermione was grateful for that. From the sounds of it, the reaction would have been most...unpleasant.
Luna told them a bit about her summer, too. She did not say much, merely mentioned the expedition she and her father had gone on in search of a creature called a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Hermione was afraid to ask what it was, so she didn't. It was almost assuredly one of those other make-believe creatures that Luna spoke of, like the nargles, since she'd never heard about them before.
Outside of the turn of events with her two best friends besides Ron and Nott, the strangeness of the day continued. Malfoy did not come to bother them once, as he had almost every single time before. None of them commented on it, but she knew that Hyleth, Ron, Ginny, and even Nott thought it as odd, too.
The weather continued to be undecided, as it had been in London, as they traveled further and further north. Rain spattered the windows in a half-hearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, as she'd gone back to it after the conversation had died down some, and put it away carefully in her bag. She took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead, although her eyes were mainly on Hyleth.
While Hyleth flushed, she didn't seem to mind.
"We'd better change," Hermione said at last, and all of them opened their trunks with difficulty and put on their school robes. She and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests. She saw Ron checking his reflection in the black window.
Neither Ginny nor Nott took off their collars. Hermione had thought that they might, if only to quell the gossip that was sure to arise. But they did not, and she decided not to make a comment about it. It felt too...risky, if not dangerous, otherwise.
At last, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get off. She and Ron had to go help supervise, so they left, leaving Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon in the care of their friends.
"I still can't believe this..." Ron muttered to her afterwards.
"I know," she said. "I can't, either."
"I mean, I guess I always kind of imagined that Hyleth and Ginny would get married one day," he pressed on. "It just kind of makes sense, y'know? But married at fifteen? And her mum and Luna's mum intended for it to happen somehow?" He shook his head again. "I just don't get it. I knew Luna's mum, before she died. She never struck me as the type to do something like this. And does this mean that Luna's going to marry Hyleth, too? You saw how she was looking at her!"
"You know polygamy's only acceptable in certain circumstances, Ron," Hermione replied. But her voice was distant, and she did not say anything more than that.
They looked around for Hagrid as they performed their duties, since that would be a highlight of the night in face of what was to come. But there was no sign of him, no familiar call of "firs' years over 'here...firs' years..." for them to pick up on.
Indeed, the person who was calling for the first years was none other than Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.
They didn't have a chance to remark on this, not until they were able to get over to the horseless carriages themselves. Hyleth, Nott, Ginny, and Neville were all already there.
"Where's Pig?" Ron asked Hyleth.
She turned around. "Luna was carrying him, we got separated from her in the crowd," she explained. "Hey, where d'you reckon – ?"
" – Hagrid is? I dunno," Ron replied, sounding worried. "He'd better be okay..."
"Thank you, Ginny," Hermione said quietly, taking her cat away from her. "Come on, let's get a carriage together before they all fill up..."
"I haven't got Pig yet!" Ron complained, but Hermione was already heading off towards the nearest unoccupied coach.
Ginny followed after her, leaving the others behind. "Are you sure you're alright, Hermione?" she questioned concernedly.
Hermione didn't look at her. "Like I said before, I'm fine."
(It was a lie.)
"I know this is a lot," Ginny said. "But after we've talked later with everyone, if you want to talk with just Hy and me – "
"I said 'I'm fine!'"
Hermione flinched back as soon as she had said the words. She hadn't meant them to come out that awful-sounding.
Ginny did not. She looked at Hermione with – sad eyes.
Hermione could not take it anymore. Her eyes darted away.
They got into the carriage. There was a brief, almost heated discussion between Hyleth, Ron, Nott, Luna, and Neville about the horseless carriages – apparently, they weren't actually horseless. Rather, they were pulled by some creatures called thestrals, which could only be seen after one had watched somebody else die. Nott, Luna, and Neville had all been able to see them before now; this was Hyleth's first time, due to her having seen You-Know-Who kill one of his Death Eaters the final night of the Tri-Wizard Cup tournament, although that didn't need to be mentioned.
But, despite him being four-against-one, Ron was staunchly of the belief that the others were trying to pull one over him.
Hermione would have participated more in the conversation than she did, however her heart wasn't in it. Nor was her heart really in debating where Hagrid was, why Professor Grubbly-Plank had returned.
She merely looked out the window of the carriage for the most part, peering into the black night.
The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors. Hyleth got out of the carriage first, and turned around to help both Ginny and Nott out of the carriage. She offered her hand out to Hermione as well, but she didn't take it, just slid out of the carriage of her own accord.
"I'll see you guys later," Neville said as he began to walk away. He nodded to Hyleth and her two mates. "Congratulations again, by the way."
"Thanks," Hyleth said.
But the three of them all abruptly appeared nervous, the bravado they'd given up until now tapering off.
Nott reached out to grab Hyleth's hand. She squeezed it back.
Together, they, Ron, Hermione, and Luna walked into the Entrance Hall, which was ablaze with torches and echoing footsteps. From there, they crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right along with everyone else, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.
Luna drifted away from them to the Ravenclaw table. Nott should've done the same with Slytherin's, and yet he walked with them over to the Gryffindor table, his chin held high in the way that Hermione had come to associate with the purebloods that weren't the Weasleys. A smirk was twisting at his lips.
They sat down, Ginny and Nott taking their places on either side of Hyleth.
Their very presence – or, more accurately, the presence of the mating collars – had a mollifying effect on the entire Great Hall. It started with the Gryffindor table, naturally, as their fellow house members all gaped at them and began to whisper. But the ripple quickly advanced outwards, until everyone is looking at them in shock. Even the professors at the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall, even Dumbledore himself, were taken aback, stunned.
"Here we go," Ginny muttered to no one in particular.
"Jesus Christ, Potter," said Cormac McLaggen, a sixth year who Hermione had never much cared for. "Did you get married to Weasley and Nott? Since when did you even present?"
"Yes, we're married. And it happened over the summer," Hyleth replied, a tad coolly. She'd never really liked him, either.
"What?" somebody else shouted. "That's not possible!"
Just like that, a huge ruckus broke out among the Great Hall. People were talking, shouting, in absolute disbelief –
"Congratulations, Hyleth, Ginny," Parvati Patil said, surprisingly genuinely. Her eyes flitted over to Nott. "And you too, Nott."
"Actually, it's Black now," he corrected her. "But thank you."
"Hyleth Potter married a Slytherin?" somebody else yelled further down the table.
"Should he even be allowed to sit with us?" demanded another.
Dumbledore suddenly got to his feet. He casted an Amplifying Charm and said, "SILENCE!"
The Hall settled down at once.
"I know that it has been a busy summer for some of you," he said, focusing on Hyleth specifically. It was impossible for Hermione to try and decipher what he was thinking. "I am certain you are all anxious to catch up. But, as a reminder, the first years are about to be sorted, and I ask that you show them the same respect which was shown to you when you all were in their place."
With that, he sat down.
But Hermione was no longer paying attention to him.
"Who is that?" she whispered to her friends.
Ron's eyebrows furrowed. "Who?"
"The woman sitting on the other side of Dumbledore."
She was a squat woman, most likely a beta, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Her eyes were pouchy and prominent, and her lips were wide and thin, giving her an unfortunate – even Hermione would have to admit, as impolite as it was – toad-like appearance.
"Oh, Merlin, no," N – Black groaned. "Anyone but her."
"Who is she?" Hermione asked him.
"That's Dolores Umbridge," he said. "The Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. It basically means she's his right-hand woman."
Hyleth sighed. "I suppose that means she won't be a fan of me, then?"
If the way that the woman was looking at her was any indication, then the answer was "yes." Umbridge looked as if she had swallowed a lemon, or something equally as sour.
The first-years were soon brought into the Hall, and the Sorting went underway. Professor McGonagall's face blanched as she saw Ginny and Black sitting with Hyleth, taking in what the rest of them now already knew, but she proceeded with the Sorting without any difficulty once the Sorting Hat had sung its song.
This year's song was markedly different. No longer was it happy and joyous, but almost...ominous. A warning. Nearly Headless Nick had started to explain how it had happened before, but he'd been cut off by Professor McGonagall's harsh stare.
After the first-years were all sorted and Professor Dumbledore told them to "tuck in," he did get back to it, though, explaining how the Sorting Hat usually only gave warnings in times of crises, when it thought that the school was in danger.
"Ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?" Ron said, his mouth so full of food that it was a wonder he could even make a sound at all.
"I beg your pardon?" Nearly Headless Nick asked politely.
Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust.
"How can it know if the school's in danger if it's a Hat?"
"I have no idea," Nearly Headless Nick responded. "Of course, it lives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks things up there."
But that was only part of what their friend group was talking about. Ginny and Black were occupied by Parvati and Lavender, who were both eagerly asking them about the details of how they'd gotten married to Hyleth over the summer. Her two omega friends were still not very forthcoming with their answers, although they did tell slightly different versions than what they had told Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville about their time in Greece instead – focusing on the romantic gestures that Hyleth had done, some of the dates they'd went on. The third omega and the beta were properly enthralled.
Black also remarked to Hyleth once, "My friends are losing their minds."
Hermione glanced over at the Slytherin table. She saw that Zabini, Greengrass, Davis, and Runcorn were all gobsmacked, trying as they were not to show it. She wondered if they'd known beforehand that Black had left the country with Hyleth, Ginny, and Sirius, or if they'd been in the dark for all this time.
She saw Malfoy for the first time this school year, too. It was...unexpected.
He was sitting on his own, as Parkinson was sitting on the other side of Runcorn, and Crabbe and Goyle weren't anywhere near him. His hair was stringy and lank, like it hadn't been washed a while. His eyes were firmly on his plate.
She thought about asking if anybody knew what that was about –
– But she decided not to. There was already too much going on at once.
Towards the end of the feast, from where she was sitting on the other side of Dumbledore, McGonagall got to her feet. She walked down from the staff table, and everyone watched her as she headed towards the Gryffindor table. They'd been distracted by their friends and their tales over the summer, but the reason for what the Transfiguration Professor was doing was clear.
Hyleth and Ginny both cringed as she approached. "Ms. and Mrs. Potter," she said to them. To Hyleth's other spouse, "Mr. – "
"Black," he supplied at once.
"Mr. Black," she confirmed. "Professor Dumbledore wants you three to report to his office after the feast to talk about your living arrangements for the year and some...other things." Her tone confirmed that it was not optional.
"O – okay, Professor McGonagall," said Hyleth. She was practically sinking into her seat.
Lavender and Parvati both giggled.
The professor softened some. "I do wish you three congratulations on your nuptials," she told them. "You are young, but I trust it is because of...extenuating circumstances."
"Very extenuating," Hyleth said, a blush rising to her cheeks.
When McGonagall had left, the female alpha glanced over at Ron and Hermione morosely. "We were gonna tell you guys everything after the feast."
Ron raised an eyebrow. "You really thought Dumbledore was gonna let you go without talking to you?"
"They did," Black said.
"I don't see why you still couldn't," Hermione replied. "Ron and I are prefects now."
Hyleth opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "I didn't think about that."
Ginny hesitated. "But Fred and George – "
"They can come with us," Hermione returned.
"It's not just them," Black countered. "Luna, Cedric Diggory, and Nymphadora Tonks need to be there, too."
"If she hears you calling her Nymphadora, she'll kill you," Hyleth informed him.
He smiled sweetly. "She wouldn't dare."
Hermione went very still. The hurt she was still experiencing over Hyleth and Ginny having left her and Ron behind for the past month and a half, it had already increased with the revelations that they were married and Black was married to Black, too, not to mention them asking her and Ron to wait before they relayed to them everything, why they had had to get married in the first place.
But now –
It was increasing exponentially.
Why did they only want to tell them with a group so large, including Tonks, who they didn't know that well? The older beta girl hung out with the Weasley twins on occasion, not often. Hermione knew she was Hyleth's cousin through both Sirius and James Potter, as the two of them had been first cousins, once removed. It was what had allowed Hyleth's parents to conceive her: the ritual required the sperm donors to be related.
But that was not the point.
The point was, Hermione was best friends with Hyleth and Ginny; Ron was Ginny's twin brother and now Hyleth's brother-in-law. Shouldn't they have been told everything that was going on before everyone else, regardless if that was one more time "than necessary?"
"Why 'onks?" Ron inquired. His mouth was full again.
Black smirked once more.
Hyleth sighed.
"We'll tell you why later, once we're done with Dumbledore," Ginny said. "There's a way we can get the message out to you all. I guess – we can meet up wherever our new living quarters are going to be, if they're not going to be right next to Gryffindor Tower. If you still want to, that is." She bit her lip. "It'll probably be a very late night now."
"'Course we do," Ron said. "'S'not like tomorrow isn't the weekend."
Hermione nodded. Like Malfoy, her gaze had fallen to her plate.
Thankfully – or unthankfully, depending on how you looked at it – a distraction soon came about. When all the students had finished eating, Dumbledore stood up yet again. Talking ceased immediately as they all focused on the headmaster.
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," Dumbledore spoke.
He launched into his usual speech, telling them not to go into the Forbidden Forest, how magic was not permitted in corridors between classes nor were a large number of other things by Argus Filch, the changes in staff for the year, and etcetera. Hyleth, Ron, and Ginny exchanged looks when it was announced that Professor Grubbly-Plank was officially taking over Care of Magical Creatures, before Dumbledore said Umbridge was taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts. That made Black upset.
Yet, when Dumbledore began to talk about the Quidditch trials, he was interrupted. Hermione watched as Professor Umbridge got to her feet, though she was not much taller standing than she was sitting. She cleared her throat with a, "Hem, hem."
The headmaster looked taken aback for only a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of the staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise: Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Hermione had ever seen it.
No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.
"Thank you," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."
Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish.
And as she began her speech, Hermione's thoughts over Hyleth and Ginny's secretiveness were quickly thrown aside as she realized just how serious it was that Dolores Umbridge had come to Hogwarts, and how undoubtedly her being here was going to make things that much harder and more dire for her friends – all of her friends, albeit especially Hyleth and Ginny, and Black as an extension of them – than they already were.
Word Count: 3,550