An: Believe or not, I hadn't realised I hadn't updated in two years, then I saw the date and had a heart attack. Well here is a long-awaited next chapter, hopefully the next one won't take as long. Sidenote, there are certain discrepancies with earlier chapters, I imagine it has a lot to do with the fact that it's been 2 years and I've done more research. Particularly bothering me is the whole 'speech therapy' thing, in which I skipped some important steps, so I was like – do I go back on myself and ignore what I've already written? Or do I keep digging my grave? I choose the latter, because this is only a fanfiction and speech is only important in the (maybe) sequel. So note- this speech therapy is off. (also, it's a lot more elaborate than I planned in this chapter, that plot line is probably gonna get dropped?). There's probably other inconsistencies in the story but I'm not going back on them, unless I get a message from one of the readers over something really bad.
November - Monday part 2
Hermione stepped out of the fireplace at the English embassy in Sidney, Australia, the usual floo destination for travellers to help regulate comings and goings. She signed in at the desk and stepped into the local floo to finally land in Carnarvon. It was now 2 in the afternoon. She looked at the piece of paper;
25 Orr street
The witch took a shaky breath in. She headed to the muggle side of town and flagged down a taxi.
"Kiki." Bellatrix shook the girl gently. "Kissara." She spoke a little louder the second time. Then mentally slapped herself and simply pulled the blankets off.
The girl groaned and stretched out as the cold air hit her. She opened grumpy eyes and looked towards the offender. Bellatrix had hoped that the girl was going to wake up then, but she just rolled over into the pillow. Bellatrix backed up and crossed her arms. She understood the sentiment, really, she did, but the school bus was scheduled for 8:05.
Bellatrix scooped Kiki up and plopped her down on her reading chair.
'Do you not want to have time to play with Teddy this morning?'
Kissara smiled sheepishly.
'Good morning.' Bellatrix signed, amused. 'I'm going to make breakfast. I expect you to be downstairs and dressed by the time breakfast is ready.'
Kissara nodded and rubbed some of the sleep out of her eyes.
Bellatrix went downstairs. First making herself a cup of tea, she would have also liked to have stayed in bed, then she made the first meal on the meal planner Hermione had prepared. Simple cream cheese bagels this morning.
Kissara came downstairs a little later than hoped, but mostly dressed and ready to go. Her shirt was inside out and she wasn't wearing socks, but that was easy to fix.
'Arms up.'
Kissara complied and Bellatrix made sure the glitter butterfly was facing the world and sat the girl down to eat. Kiki proceeded to lick the cheese off the bagel. Bellatrix faintly remembered Narcissa doing that at that age…and receiving a magical whip to the hand for doing so. Bellatrix did think it was a habit to kick, but not one to kick today so she only watched the girl in amusement. Bellatrix only ate half her breakfast, they needed to get going and she would have time to eat later. She first went to get the MIA socks, then made sure what Kiki needed for school was in her backpack. Shortly after, it was time to usher Kissara out the door.
"Wotcher!" Tonks waved the two down. Her and Teddy were standing at the bus stop.
Tonks was griping her boy by the bagpack and Bellatrix failed to understand why. That is, until they crossed the street and Teddy was released. He charged his cousin and the kids went down laughing and hugging. Tonks laughed at her aunt's slightly stunned look.
"How was your morning?"
"Quiet, good." Bellatrix answered as she moved closer.
"Good. Do you think you're all set for tonight?"
"I think."
Bellatrix hoped Tonks didn't find her too rude, she wasn't yet awake. Tonks gave her a slight smile and conversation died as they watched the kids run around until the bus arrived.
"Thank you."
Hermione closed the door to the taxi and scanned the neighbourhood. It was nice. She was glad that they had managed to lead a comfortable life.
25 Orr Street was right in front of her. She felt like the house number was staring her down. The curtains were drawn and the house was dark. She looked at her watch. It read 14:35. They could be at work? Would they still be working though? They were almost of retirement age, that's why she had sent them on a grand retirement to Australia. They had always said it was on their bucket list.
Hermione walked shakily to the door, anxiety tightening up her chest. How would she go about this? Should she return their memories as soon as she saw them? Should she ease into the process?
She walked up one step, then another and raised her hand, which made a detour into her hair.
What would happen? Would they be mad? Relieved? Would they come back with her? Her breathing quickened and she took a step back. Tears were now flowing down her cheeks.
She could not do this, not yet.
She quickly moved between Numbers 25 and 27 and apparated back to the Carnarvon public floo, just missing the car which pulled into Number 25.
Bellatrix dug her fingers into her hair, pulling so hard it was painful. Kissara was sitting on the floor behind the loveseat, crying.
After school everything had gone well, the small amount of homework got done quickly without trouble, then they had played in the treehouse until dusk. But then, they had come in and the girl had begun jumping from couch to couch on the living room. Squealing, screaming. No matter what Bellatrix had tried, she couldn't get the child to calm down.
Shut it up! Shut it up!
She had tried ignoring both her and them.
Then Bellatrix had had it. She had snapped. She had dragged Kissara down from the couch by the arm and started yelling. The girl had stared at her, wide-eyed and teary, not understanding the words but feeling the anger radiating off the woman she had come to trust. Scared, Kissara had called upon some sort of magic which had thrown Bellatrix across the living room, through the hallway into the kitchen. The older woman had collided with the dining room set and the child had scrambled behind the loveseat.
The shock of it had knocked some sense into Bellatrix, and whilst one piece of her wanted to go after Kissara, the actual woman was mortified of what she had done. No matter how badly Kissara had been behaving, she didn't deserve that. Bellatrix let her head fall back onto the table leg. A couple of tears of frustration and sadness slipped down her cheeks. She would call Nymphadora. It was best to let her niece take care of Kissara for the rest of the week. What had she been thinking? She should not have agreed to this.
First though, Bellatrix wanted to make sure she hadn't hurt the girl. She remembered only snippets of her outburst and prayed that she hadn't struck Kissara.
Bellatrix crawled to the loveseat, staying far enough away but making sure the girl could see her. She signed.
'Sweetheart? I didn't hurt you, did I?' Kissara looked at her but didn't reply. 'I'm sorry. Yelling at you wasn't very nice.'
Kissara nodded in acknowledgement.
'I'm going to call Aunty Wolf. She'll come pick you up.'
At that Kissara unfolded herself and signed; 'Why?'
'Because I don't want to hurt you.'
Kissara nodded sadly, quickly glancing at something. Bellatrix followed the gaze down to see a redness starting to spread around the girl's wrist. Bellatrix's heart clenched.
'I'm sorry' Bellatrix signed again. 'Go pack your overnight bag.'
Bellatrix sat aside, letting the girl run by. Kissara went upstairs. Bellatrix didn't follow her up, she went straight to the fireplace and flooed Tonks, projecting only her voice.
"Aunt Bella? Is everything alright?"
Bellatrix bit back a retort, no, obviously everything wasn't 'alright'.
"Please come pick Kissara up."
"What do you mean? Did you hurt her?" Tonks' tone shifted from worried to angry.
"Please come pick Kissara up." She repeated and hung up. Bellatrix couldn't risk saying anything that would get her in more trouble. She did not go upstairs to check on the child; she would let her niece make sure Kissara had everything she needed.
Tonks flooed in just moments later.
"Where is she?" Tonks growled at Bellatrix.
"Upstairs packing her bags." She didn't make eye contact and only listened as Tonks ran upstairs to Kissara's room.
Tonks made it up the stairs in record time. She gasped in panic as Kissara was leaning out the window. Tonks grabbed her god-daughter and pulled her back from the window, casting a locking spell as she did so. Kissara cried out in annoyance.
'What are you doing?' Tonks asked horrified.
'Saying hello.' The girl stated simply, not understanding what her aunt was worried about.
Tonks frowned and looked out the window, there was nothing out of the ordinary. She shook the occurrence off for the moment to concentrate on the more pressing matter.
She knelt down at eye level and made sure she had Kissara's full attention.
'Star told me to come pick you up. What happened?'
The girl shrugged. 'I was playing then she got mad at me and started yelling.'
'Do you know why she was mad?'
Kiki shook her head.
'Did she hurt you?'
Kissara looked down at her arm. Tonks grit her teeth.
'Did you pack your bags?'
Kissara again shook her head.
Tonks stood and grabbed Kissara's overnight bag. Right now, she was just concerned about getting the girl out of here, they could come back for more during the week.
She held Kiki's hand as they went downstairs, keeping herself between Bellatrix and the child.
"We'll talk later." There was no give in Tonks' voice, it was not an option and it would not be pleasant. Bellatrix nodded, then Tonks frowned as she spotted the broken table behind the ex-Death Eater. "What. On. Earth. Did. You. Do?" She growled at the woman.
"I grabbed her by the wrist and yelled at her." Bellatrix explained slowly. "Then she threw me into the table to get me off of her."
"You fucking liar." With that, Tonks left the house.
Bellatrix smiled sadly as Kiki still bothered to wave goodbye as she was reluctantly pulled out of the house.
As soon as the door closed Bellatrix proceeded to kick the dinning set. Breaking every piece which hadn't already been broken and then she broke them again and again. All the while screaming and screaming. Finally, she ran out of energy and collapsed to the floor.
Bellatrix woke up a while later. Groggily, she sat up, wondering where she was and what she was doing on the floor. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she looked towards the stove clock, but the remnants of the dining set stole her attention. Her chest tightened as she remembered what had transpired. The earlier anger returned but this time it was overpowered by sadness. Bellatrix stood and looked at the clock. Just past midnight. She sighed. She was tired but didn't want to go to bed. Instead she decided to clean up the mess in the kitchen.
When the dining room set was fully fixed, she proceeded to compulsively clean every other inch of the kitchen, living room and bedrooms, something she had never done before. She didn't feel comfortable going into Hermione's room though. She finished her night in Kissara's room. Sitting on the pink fairy bed Bellatrix stared out the window and wondered why it had gone so wrong. She fell asleep on the little bed, wondering if that odd shadow in the backyard had actually moved.
Tuesday
Between the jet lag and the nerves, Hermione had spent a sleepless night. She was sitting on her hotel bed, head in her hands, exhausted, chest tight. She had run through so many scenarios, from the plausible to the unlikely. The unlikely would be a happy reunion. She knew that it wouldn't go well. And what if she couldn't restore their memories? Would that be the worst-case scenario? Or would they actually consider disowning her?
It was 8:30 now. It was time for her to bite the bullet. She figured if she went early, she had more of a chance to catch them at home. She changed out of yesterday's clothes, grabbed her backpack and checked out of the hotel. Hopefully she wouldn't be back.
She apparated between Numbers 25 and 27, out of sight, and slowly rounded the corner of the house. There was a small white car parked in the driveway this time around. She walked up the steps and knocked immediately so she wouldn't have time to overthink it. All was quiet. She went to knock again and before her hand connected with the door, it opened.
"Oh hello." The woman, her mother, said. She was in her pyjamas, a bathrobe thrown on top and looked younger than the last time Hermione had seen her, despite having just woken. She has also dyed her hair dark brown, it suited her. "You're the woman who was here yesterday."
"Yes. I needed to talk to you." Hermione wrung her hands nervously.
"Now, we aren't interested in buying anything."
"No…. Um… I've come from England to talk to you about…" She stuttered as her father came up behind her mother. He also looked younger, rested, though his grey was showing. He was groggy but wearing house wear, not the boxers she knew he slept in.
"You've come from England to talk to us about?" Catherine urged her on.
"I… My missing parents. I was told you may have known them."
Both of her parents looked confused as they, obviously, could not recall said parents or Hermione. The young woman must have looked very pitiful because despite her lack of recollection, Catherine waved her inside.
"Catherine, we don't know anything about this." Richard poorly whispered to his wife.
"She's come all the way from England, the least we can do is listen and see if we can think of anything new." Her mother shushed him.
"Thank you." Hermione said as she hesitantly crossed the foreign threshold, Catherine closing the door behind her.
"Oh, that's cute. Where did you get that?"
"Get what?" Hermione asked.
She followed her mother's gaze to her backpack, so she pulled her bag around to see what her mother was looking at. She found one of Kiki's old toys, a stuffed rabbit, hanging out of the poorly closed zipper. Tonks had given it to Kissara the first time she met the child. Kissara didn't play with it anymore, but Hermione had kept it for sentimental reasons. She didn't know how it ended up in her bag though.
"Oh, it's my daughter's. A gift from a friend. I guess I didn't pack my bag correctly." Hermione explained as she pushed the stuffy back into the bag and made sure the zipper was fully closed.
"Cute. How about we chat in the living room?" Catherine made a motion towards said room.
"Actually… Um…" Hermione hesitated. "There's one thing that needs to happen first."
Hermione took a deep breath, pulled her wand out of her sleeve and once again pointed it at her parents. She ignored their confused expressions and cast the spell she both wanted to cast and dreaded to cast.
Then, there was silence. She examined her parents' expressions, nervous and hopeful. They stared at her, at first only confusion was apparent, then revelation, a bit of joy, anger, more confusion, sadness… Having memories flood in like that could not be easy.
"Hermione?"
"Hi mom." Hermione felt her eyes tear up. They remembered.
"How dare you?" Her father said in quiet anger. "How dare you mess with our minds?" His voice rose. "What were you thinking? Do you think we are an experiment?"
As he continued his rant, her father's voice started to blend, simultaneously loud and distant. She kept her eyes trained on her father's angry face. Hermione suddenly found herself having difficulty breathing. She wanted to scream, and cry, and cuddle with her parents despite how angry they were. The young woman felt herself growing dizzy. She put her head in her hands and tried to take a deep breath.
"What kind of a daughter are you?"
That stabbed her in the heart. Her deep breath turned into a sob. She cried. She couldn't hear anything over the static in her mind. She had missed her parents, she wanted the explanations to be over, for them to know she was protecting them, that she loved them. And reassurance that they still loved her. How could she impress the seriousness of the situation? That she wasn't experimenting with them?
She couldn't keep on crying forever. She needed to explain. Forcing herself to breath normally, she tried to focus on listening to her surroundings. She didn't hear anything but realised she could feel a hand rubbing circles over her back, she was sitting on the floor, Catherine beside her.
Her mom. No matter how bad she must have been feeling, she still took it upon herself to comfort her baby.
Hermione sat up and smiled sadly at her mother.
"What did you mean you had no choice?" Her mother asked.
"What?"
"You said you had no choice." Her father confirmed.
"Oh." Hermione must have voiced some of her thoughts. "Yes… I'm sorry."
Her dad ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "How about we sit down over a cup of tea and start from the beginning."
Hermione nodded.
They were quiet as Catherine made tea. Richard cleared some paperwork off the dining room table and sat down. Hermione followed suit, sitting uncomfortably as her father scrutinised her. Thankfully Catherine soon came back with tea.
"Why did you wipe our memories?" Her father asked.
Bellatrix was sitting at the bus stop, waiting for Tonks and the kids to arrive. Cross-legged, she was nervously plucking at the blades of dead grass. She was expecting Tonks to shoo her away, but she wanted to at least try to start reparations. She watched as an ant crawled across the ground carrying a late-fall prize, a large piece of dried crab-apple. It didn't seem to struggle with the weight but kept dropping the food as it got caught on the foliage.
A light touch on the shoulder made her jump. The small hand pulled back in surprise and Bellatrix looked up into wide green eyes. Kissara looked very down, quite unlike her usual self.
'I'm sorry.' Bellatrix signed, what else could she say?
'Was I bad?'
'No sweetheart. Well, your behaviour was not good. But you weren't bad, I just reacted poorly.'
Kissara extended her arms and Bellatrix took her into a hug. The girl fell onto her lap.
'I promise to behave.'
'You can't promise that, you're four.'
'I don't want you to send me away.'
'I didn't send you away because you weren't behaving. I sent you away because I was afraid to hurt you.'
'It's ok. I'll hurt you more.'
Bellatrix was stunned those words had come from a 4-year-old. But she found them hilarious. She took Kiki's head in her hands and kissed her forehead. It was all she could do to keep from laughing, which she knew was inappropriate. She couldn't help but be proud of the fight in her daughter.
'Can I come home now?'
Bellatrix looked to Tonks, who had been standing nearby, watching, keeping Teddy beside her. Tonks opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the school bus pulling up.
Tonks leant in and kissed her boy. "Have a good day." She ushered Kissara off Bellatrix's lap. 'Have a good day.' She kissed Kiki and put the kids on the bus, thanking the bus driver.
When she turned around, she was frowning. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. The currently red-haired witch continued to stare at her aunt. Bellatrix felt over-analysed at that moment and was certain Tonks would have used Legilimency on her had it been legal to use on unwilling participants.
Finally, Tonks pinched the bridge of her nose and said; "I don't know what to say. If you did just yell at her and grab her arm… Then it's not unusual. It's wrong. But I must confess I've lost my cool with Teddy like that before. I've never bruised him tough." Tonks sat down next to her aunt. "The problem is, with your past, I'm worried that you won't know when to stop."
Bellatrix nodded. "That's why I called you. I'm not sure I would've stopped had she not sent me into the table."
Tonks frowned and scrutinised her aunt's face. "You're not lying." Tonks' features rose in amazement, then frowned again. "Well, I suppose, good for her. Hopefully she'll only do that when she's protecting herself."
Bellatrix nodded. "…she wants to come home tonight."
"Yeah, she was really upset last night."
Tonks stayed quiet for a bit, watching her aunt rip up more grass.
"Look…I believe you feel bad about what happened, and that you don't want to do it again. But…"
"She's going to misbehave again, and I can't deal with that." Bellatrix finished the thought.
"What exactly happened last night?"
"She just wouldn't settle down."
Bellatrix pulled on her hair, struggling to grasp the situation. Tonks instinctively raised her arm to try and stop Bellatrix from hurting herself but dropped it without doing anything.
"How about we start from the beginning. How was the evening before you snapped?"
"Pretty good, homework was done quickly, we played a bit, supper was fine." Bellatrix shrugged. Then realisation dawned on her. "Fuck…." She groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"What?"
"I didn't take her for a run…I thought running in the backyard would be enough…"
"Oh. Yeah… she's a high energy kid…"
They fell quiet again and Bellatrix laid down, feet in the street, torso in a mud puddle.
"Oh, and she has speech therapy tonight at 5 if you are planning on keeping her."
Tonks frowned. "Shouldn't Hermione be there for her first appointment?"
"She was planning to be, but then the whole thing about missing parents." Bellatrix shrugged.
Tonks nodded and stood. It would be an interesting evening.
"Well… I need to go to work. But how about I finish early, and we can go look at some of my parenthood books. Then we'll see about working on bringing her home towards the end of the week?"
Bellatrix smiled. "Thank you."
Hermione took a sip of her tea, wondering where to begin.
"You remember the name Voldemort?"
"The terrorist?"
"More like Hitler…" Hermione frowned. She went on to explain the complexities of Voldemort and his empire in more detail than she had previously. She started with his rise to power and defeat during the First Wizarding War, then his slow return and takeover of the Ministry. "He started targeting muggle-borns and their families. They would go out and murder entire families for practice, for fun and for extermination… I knew early on that I, and my family, was a high-profile target…"
"What do you mean, you were a high-profile target?" Her father asked, hiding a concerned, yet disbelieving tone.
"You remember I told you Voldemort split his soul?" They nodded. "Well, we didn't know it at the time, but Harry was a Horcrux… And Dumbledore knew…" Her mixed feelings for the 'great' wizard creeped up; anger, sadness, admiration, confusion… "Harry was being groomed, from the start… To die. And of course, most important for the world, to destroy Voldemort. And I was his friend. I helped Harry in this endeavour."
"Why didn't you just leave him, save yourself?" Her dad asked, clearly upset.
"Because you do not abandon friends." Hermione said sternly, hoping he would understand that that line of discussion was closed.
"Then why didn't you tell us! We could have help! Protected you!"
"What could you have done? What could dentists do against bloodthirsty battle-trained wizards?"
Her father looked shocked; it was the first time she had risen her voice.
"You would be dead!" Hermione nearly yelled, she started crying again. "Every day, Harry, Ron and I listened to the casualties on the radio. On a good day, dozens of names would be read. I had solace in the fact that I would not hear yours."
Catherine stood and pulled Hermione into her arms. "Thank you for caring for us. But was tempering with our memories necessary? We could've hidden."
"I figured you'd be safer the less you knew, they can read minds…" Hermione sniffled.
"Why did it take you so long to come get us?" Richard quietly asked, he had calmed down.
"I thought you were dead." She said as she wiped her tears. "I started looking for you as soon as I could. I personally gave up after a year. I left the rest up to authorities. I figured they had gotten to you. The next year I… I 'buried' you." Hermione stiffened a sob. "I managed to get you a plot next to grandma and grandpa…"
Catherine started to cry again, she lovingly wrapped her arms around her daughter, and kissed the top of her head. She stroked Hermione's hair as her baby cried. Richard came around the table and wrapped his arms around his girls, a few tears escaping him.
When Hermione's sobs subsided, Richard knelt beside his daughter. He took her hands in his and kissed them.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I was angry. I didn't mean what I said. I love you, baby girl."
"I love you too daddy."
After having been at the Granger house almost continuously for the last month her small cabin seemed almost unfamiliar. It felt more like a prison now, not a home. It was two rooms. The first room had a small kitchen on one side, bed on the other with a writing desk nearby. The other smaller room was a bathroom.
Bellatrix had spent the morning lying on the floor, weighed down by conflicting emotions. Then she had gone to Tonks' place where they had had a talk about parenting. As the conversation went on, Bellatrix kept asking herself why Hermione hadn't gone over these things with her. By the end on the conversation her and her niece had found common ground.
Bellatrix was almost done reading the second book on parenting Tonks had lent her. She had concluded that there was no perfect way to do it, but there was a wrong way. She also wondered if Hermione had read any of these, she would've thought so, but the bookworm had never given her a copy to read. She would've appreciated it.
Bellatrix jumped and dropped her book as the front door slammed open. She was reaching for her wand when she spotted a little girl running towards her. Then Kissara was in her arms, pouting.
Tonks rounded the corner looking frustrated.
"Well." She said with a near-scolding tone.
Bellatrix looked up at her niece with puppy dog eyes.
"Fuck, did she get those from you, or did you get them from her?"
"Should you really be swearing?" Bellatrix teased.
Tonks rolled her eyes. "She can't hear me."
Bellatrix stuck her tongue out at her niece while she snuggled her daughter.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
Tonks pinched the bridge of her nose. "Kissara insists on staying with you tonight. So, I guess you'll start by bringing her to her appointment and I'll check on you afterwards."
Bellatrix couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, yeah, get ready, appointment is in 15. Oh, and I checked, it's just a short introduction to the therapist today." Tonks turned to leave.
"Dora!" Bellatrix called out, taping Kissara on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Mmm?"
'Say thank you and bye-bye to your aunt.'
Kissara touched her lips and brought her hand down towards her aunt, then waved goodbye.
Tonks waved back.
"Thank you for giving me another chance so soon. I'll let you know, my goal is to have a good enough day to keep her overnight."
Tonks smirked. "Good luck."
The younger woman waved one last time before heading back home where her mother and her son were waiting for her.
The secretary looked very uneasy as they walked to the counter.
"Hi, Kissara Granger has an appointment with Dr. Bower."
"Kissara?" The man echoed shakily.
He stared at the ex-Death Eater. Bellatrix was in her dark robes for the public outing, mirroring Narcissa's expressions. She was uneasy and figured ice queen would be better than the sociopath she usually leaned towards. Though of course she still made people uncomfortable. This young man, definitely so, he seemed to have forgotten how to do his job.
"Mmm?"
The young man shook himself out of his thoughts. "Yes. Um. Her mother needs to be here."
Bellatrix shifted a little so he could see Kissara who was tucked up behind her, almost completely hidden in her robes.
"Oh." He looked shocked at the resemblance between the two. "One moment."
The secretary scurried out of the reception room and disappeared into what seemed like the therapy room. A few muffled words were heard before the man came back.
"You can go in." He nervously waved towards the door.
"Thank you."
Kissara clung to her robes and Bellatrix placed her hand on the girl's shoulder leading her into the room.
The room was very child friendly, bright walls with word posters. The speech therapist was seated on a loveseat. There was a couch directly in front of her with a low table in between. The table had crayons, pencils, blank pages and colouring pages. There were child-sized chairs scattered across the room, little school chairs and foams chairs and beans bags. There were two toy boxes in one corner, one for elder children another for younger children. In the other corner was a mirror.
"Madame Black." The woman, whom Bellatrix assumed was Dr. Bower, greeted.
The woman's posture was severe, guarded, her eyes scrutinising.
"You fought in the war." Bellatrix stated as she looked over the familiar woman.
Bellatrix could still picture her fighting against Death Eaters, protecting civilians. She had been one of the volunteers to create safety zones. Some were rag-tag bands. Others, like Dr. Bower's were just as organised as the Death Eaters. Somehow some of them had acquired robes with protection enchantments. Today Dr. Bower was a healthy weight, wearing a very kid-friendly outfit, brightly coloured with a cartoon cat printed on the shirt, her hair kept up in an afro by a paw print headband. Although Bellatrix could see her wearing her dark armour, hair in tight corn rows, making her already thin face look even more severe. She blended into the shadows and struck Death Eaters down before they knew she was there.
"You remember me?"
"Yes, you were quite a challenging foe."
"I was angry when I heard you were free."
"Understandable."
"Why are you here?"
Bellatrix looked to Kissara, who was sucking on her thumb and hiding in her momma's robes because of the tension in the air, then looked to Dr. Bower.
"I can tell she's biologically yours. But her true mother is Hermione Granger. What are you doing with her?"
"I'm keeping her for the week, with permission of course."
Dr. Bower's eye narrowed at her, clearly untrusting. But it seems the woman figured it wasn't worth the fight. Yet.
"I would have preferred Miss Granger be here. This is a therapy that will need extra work at home and we will be covering the steps today."
Bellatrix decided to clarify. "Hermione's parents were found recently. She needed to be with them."
"I'm sorry?"
"Her parents were declared dead after the war but were found alive last week."
Dr. Bower's eyes widened in surprise. The Grangers demise had never been reported.
"Crazily, she let me keep Kissara for the week, although Nymphadora Tonks, my niece and Kissara's godmother, is keeping an eye on us."
Dr. Bower looked Bellatrix over once more before looking towards Kissara. As she looked over the child, the therapist's love for children took over. Her stance softened and she smiled softly at the nervous child.
'I'm sorry.' She signed. 'The adults were talking and forgot about you. How about you and I have a small talk alone?'
Bellatrix's heart fluttered as big green eyes looked up at her in question. She pushed a few curls off Kiki's face.
'It's ok. I'll stand right outside the door.'
They could see the discontent on the child's face as Bellatrix lifted Kissara off her robes.
'I'll be right back.'
Bellatrix exited the room, to the chagrin of the nervous man behind the desk. The witch leaned on the door and closed her eyes. A small whispered spell later, she could see the conversation between her child and the doctor.
'I think a proper introduction is in order.' Dr. Bower signed.
Kissara frowned at her.
'I'm doctor I-M-A-N-I' She signed her name out completely. 'But you can call me,' She signed the letter I with her right hand and touched her right shoulder with the same pinky. 'What's your name?'
'You know my name.'
The therapist was unsure about the girl. Kissara was cautious of her and currently retreated into herself. Dr. Bower would have blamed it on the woman standing outside, but the girl didn't seem scared of her. 'I do, but I don't know how you sign it. Can you show me?'
Kissara didn't move, simply continued to stare at her.
'Do you know why you're here?'
'Mommy told me that you would teach me to talk like a hearing person.'
'Exactly, and you would learn how to understand someone who can't sign. Would you like that?'
Kissara nodded, her face softening a bit.
'Good. And you and I will have to work together to do that. It will take a long time. So I would also like to be your friend. Can you tell me why you are so unhappy with me?'
Kissara glowered at her. 'You don't like Star.'
'No, I don't. But I also don't know her very well… Do you like Star?'
Kissara gave her one huge nod.
'How long have you known her?'
Kissara signed 'Easter'.
'Oh wow. That's very cool.'
The last comment made Kissara smile shyly. Imani hadn't been very truthful but was relieved to know the relationship wasn't new.
"Do you like her?"
"She's awesome!" Kissara smiled brightly.
Dr. Bower smiled back. Good, kids didn't lie about these things. She would need to clarify family dynamics with Miss Granger to ensure safety and make sure that she wouldn't accidently say something wrong. Last thing she needed was to break it to Kissara that she was adopted. In any case, she needed to clarify one last thing today.
'And mommy. Where is she? She is going to need to help with your learning.'
At that Kissara enthusiastically signed. 'She's going to get my grand-parents!'
'That's awesome!' Imani smiled. That it really was, the Golden girl deserved it after all she had done. Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. She herself had lost a brother.
'Are you excited to have grandparents?'
Kissara nodded excitedly. Imani was happy to see her start to move around on the chair, like a proper excited 4 four-year-old.
'Mommy tells me it'll be like having another aunty and uncle weasel.'
Dr. Bower figured it was safe to assume that Kissara was referring to members of the Weasley family.
'One last question before we let Star back in.'
Kissara nodded a go-ahead.
'How do I sign your name?'
Kissara interlocked her thumbs, palms facing herself and flapped her fingers. 'Butterfly'
'That's lovely. Your family really likes nicknames.'
Kissara nodded.
To the deaf community, names were really a personal decision. You could simply sign an initial, add a movement to an initial or sign a nickname. Nicknames could be based on what someone liked, or a personality trait. And they could change with you as you grew older. Imani had always enjoyed discovering the many ways people presented themselves.
'Now, let's get Star back in here.'
Bellatrix dropped her spell as she saw Dr. Bower get up and quickly shifted her weight so as to not topple over when the door opened.
The therapist looked a little surprised to see her so close to the door.
"You can come back in."
Bellatrix acquiesced. Kissara came to hug her as she entered.
'Everything ok?'
Kissara smiled at her.
'Good.' Bellatrix returned the hug and led the girls back to the couch. Dr. Bower was already seated.
"First things first," Dr. Bower both signed and spoke, "according to these charts Kissara has profound hearing loss. Have you tried using hearing aids?"
"Um… I don't know, her mother and I have not had that discussion. Would hearing aids help?"
"They could. I suggest trying it. If they do work, it should help her learn to forms sounds faster and more accurately."
Bellatrix nodded. "I'll bring it up to her mother."
Dr. Bower nodded back. "Now, I have an overview of what we plan on doing."
The therapist sat on the floor pulling out some colourful planners and mentioned for Kissara to sit at the table with her.
"And I need to know what you would like to achieve."
Her parents were speechless. They had had a late lunch, then Hermione had finished telling them the entire story of the hunt for Horcruxes, deliberately toning down the episode with Bellatrix, making sure to tell them she was a spy.
"You are a good friend. I hope those boys know how blessed they were to have you."
Her father's statement brought tears to her eyes.
"Thank you."
"You're still close I assume?" Richard asked.
"With Harry, yes, and his wife Ginny."
"Ron's sister?" Her mother asked.
"Yes."
"What happened with Ron?" Her father looked curious.
Hermione shifted uncomfortably. With all her worrying about lost memories, she had neglected to think about coming out of the closet.
"Well, he and I went out together for almost a year… And I found out two things. One, that he was very much like a little brother, not a lover."
Nervous, she stopped talking.
"So, you broke up with him, that makes sense. What was the second revelation?" Her mother urged.
"Yeah… The breakup was bad because… Well… After the war, I had time to think about things other than surviving. Like dating and boys… and girls."
"Oh." Her mother said simply.
"What?" Her father seemed genuinely confused.
"Richard…" Catherine said between her teeth, trying to make him understand without explaining it.
"I'm gay dad." Hermione deadpanned.
"Oh." Richard looked away from his daughter to the street outside, where the sun had set. "I'm going to go start supper."
Her father stood and walked into the kitchen. Hermione shifted uncomfortably.
"Mommy?"
Hermione smiled tightly and nearly choked as she said; "And you?"
Her mother smiled and winked at her playfully; "All I want is a grandchild."
Hermione smiled, trying not to cry.
"Oh sweetheart. I love you." Her mother pulled her in and held her as tears of relief flowed.
"Thank you." Hermione pulled back and wiped her tears and a laugh escaped her. "You remember the bunny?"
"The bunny? Oh my God! The bunny! Is it true? You have a daughter!"
The sound of his wife's excitement drew Richard from the kitchen. He stood in the doorway, pensive, attentive and possibly even a little excited himself.
"Her name is Kissara." Hermione couldn't help but smile proudly through her general unease.
"How old is she?"
"She'll be 5 next month."
"Five?" Her mother repeated, shocked.
"I thought we had raised you better than that. It's Ron's isn't it?" Her father nearly growled.
Hermione's heart tightened and anger swelled. She kept it down for the moment. "And what do you mean by that?" Sensing the venom in her daughter's voice, Catherine didn't answer. "You mean, after fighting in a war, graduating and managing a successful bookstore, I can't decide to have a child?"
Her mother looked a little ashamed. "You're right, I'm sorry. Though that must have been quite a surprise."
Hermione shook her head. "Did you not hear? I chose to have her. And she's adopted, so she's mine and mine alone."
Catherine smiled. "Do you have a picture of my grand-daughter?"
"Of course." Hermione pulled her wallet out. There was an Easter picture of Kissara, pink dress with flowers along the bottom, sitting amongst plastic Easter eggs, hair wild. She had tried to tame it for the pictures, but to no avail.
"Ah! She's adorable!" Catherine's smile was wide and she wasted no time showing the picture to her husband, who also looked very happy.
"When did you get her?" Richard asked, not taking his eyes off the picture.
"2000, she was 9 months old."
Richard frowned. "When did you buy your bookstore?"
"September '98."
"Right after you graduated? You didn't want to go out and see the world?"
Her father looked a little confused. She understood why. When he had graduated, he had left England for two years before starting the process to become a dentist.
"By September '98, I had travelled across Europe, hiding from supremacists, seen the deaths of so many, friends included, and helped rebuild damages from the war." She hesitated. "I have killed…" The silence was heavy as that sentence weighed on them all. She shook if off. "I was done. I needed to pretend everything was normal."
Her father eyes were wide, and he nodded in understanding. Hermione figured it would take a while for her parents to fully wrap their heads around the concept of their daughter being a war veteran by the age of 18.
Hermione continued, talking almost to herself; "Yeah… I bought the bookstore in October '98, broke up with Ron in February '99. Focused on building up my store, adopted Kiki in 2000 when I had enough income and employees to run the shop. Now…Well I have been thinking about travelling a bit more. Maybe I'll take Kiki on a two-month long trip this summer."
"That would be nice, but that long of a trip with a five-year-old might be long." Richard said.
Hermione shrugged. "She's a good girl. And you have to remember, I don't need to take the plane."
Richard nodded. "That helps a lot. You used to throw the worst tantrums on the plane." Her father looked pensive. "Are you seeing anyone now?"
Hermione shook her head. "I've had a difficult time finding someone who isn't interested in just sex, or fame, even less so someone who is interested in a family."
Her mother nodded in understanding. Her father, on the other hand, grumbled, almost inaudibly.
"Lesbians…"
Hermione didn't even have time to get angry before her mother's voice startled her.
"Richard! Upstairs!"
Richard grit his teeth and did as his wife asked.
Before leaving her mom said to her; "Boys are the same, especially at your age. The right one will show up. Now, don't worry about your father, I'll sort him out."
Hermione was numb as she listened to the quiet arguing.
Bellatrix was changing a very sleepy girl into pyjamas. Kissara was just awake enough to obey simple commands and sit up for the pyjama top before flopping back down on the bed. She didn't know whether Kiki was spending the night, but it wouldn't hurt to have her ready for bed.
Bellatrix was proud of how the evening had gone. Tonks had sent her Patronus for an update after the appointment and since everything had gone well Tonks had let her keep Kiki for supper. Bellatrix took the girl to Harvester. It may have been a mistake on her part but she was ultimately proud that she managed to keep Kissara from running around. Then, once again, Tonks had checked on them and allowed Bellatrix to keep Kissara until bedtime with the condition she call if Kissara became too much to handle.
Bellatrix decided to forgo apparition and they walked home. Kissara had chatted away about her day. How Teddy and she had started playing with a couple of new kids and how she would 'like to shove blondie's face in the mud'. Hopefully 'blondie' was not one of the children in her friend group. Bellatrix bit her lip to keep from laughing and simply continued to listen to the girl.
The walk was longer than anticipated and Bellatrix had certainly enjoyed herself, she believed Kissara had too. Bellatrix laughed as she remembered running home. Kissara had launched herself as soon as she knew where she was. Bellatrix was reminded of how horribly out of shape she was. She had to slow down several times. Each time Kissara had run back to her, then sprinted off as she sped up.
After they got home, Bellatrix had been worried about possibly having to take Kissara out again, she was about ready to drop. Thankfully Kissara was calm and they had been able to read a couple of books together. At quarter to eight, the four-year-old was leaning heavily on her and her eyes were closing. So, Bellatrix picked her up and they started bedtime routine.
Bellatrix heard the Floo at exactly 8, when Tonks had promised to come and check on them. She had just managed to pull the pants up to the hip of the sleeping child when she heard Tonks in the doorway.
"Well, it's not worth bringing her to my place if she's already asleep." Tonks laughed.
"You're sure?" Bellatrix asked as she turned to face her niece.
Tonks shrugged. "Yeah. Everything went fine today?"
Bellatrix smiled and nodded.
"Then let's just say, I'll check on you throughout the evening tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning."
"Thank you."
With that Bellatrix slid Kissara under the covers. The women left the room, turning off the lights and closing the door.
"It won't be this good every day I take it?"
Tonks snorted. "No, but remember, you have family."
Bellatrix stopped halfway down the stairs as that thought hit her. Only eight months ago she wouldn't have been able to say that.
Tonks turned in concern, but Bellatrix had already wiped her tears away.
"And if you don't want to call me for help, you can still call my mom or aunt Narcissa." The younger witch continued.
"Thank you." Bellatrix said.
Tonks nodded. "Goodnight." The Auror stepped into the Floo and was gone.
Hermione had time to make sandwiches before her parents before her father sheepishly came down the stairs.
"I guess I owe you another apology..." He said. "I've been stupid tonight."
Hermione nodded her head in agreement.
"I had a brother."
Hermione was stunned by that revelation; her father had never mentioned a brother. Her stomach churned as she thought of all the possible outcomes.
"He…um… was beaten to death because… he… was suspected of being a gay. I don't know if he was or not… he wouldn't have… 'come out'… at home if he was. My parents…" He took in in a shuddering breath, "just told me to forget him. I…um… left after that. I loved my brother, but I guess I brought my parents' ideals with me."
Hermione nodded sadly.
"I have to work on how I think. And I hope… I hope you will let me stay in your life and be patient and teach me to be better. And I promise you that these issues will not spill over to your daughter."
Tears started down Hermione's cheeks.
"Forgive me?" Her father held out his arms and Hermione sank into his embrace.
Hermione nodded into his chest. She relaxed a bit. She was happy he would make an effort.
Hermione pulled back and was surprised to see tears on his cheeks. He quickly brushed them away.
"Thank you." He softly said. She smiled at him.
"So, I guess. Enough about me?" Hermione smiled nervously; she was done with that line of discussion. "How were your years in Australia?"
Hermione put the sandwiches on the table, supper and the rest of the evening was spent listening to her parents enthusiastically recall their travels on the continent and even neighbouring New Zealand and Tasmania.