A dull, grey light seeped into Hermione's sleep-filled eyes. She struggled to lift her heavy lids and stretched her arms above her head, eliciting a low growl from Crookshanks. He clearly wasn't pleased with her audacity to move while he was nestled comfortably. She smiled, scratching his ears until the growls transformed into contented purrs.
Hermione cherished lazy mornings like these, even though she rarely indulged in them. Her bed felt irresistibly cosy, and she was at the perfect temperature—not too hot, not too cold. Ginny's measured breathing was soothing, and Hermione contemplated drifting back to sleep for just a bit longer. Soon enough, school would start, and these moments would be rare.
School.
Harry's hearing was today. He'd find out whether or not he could return to school.
Hermione bolted upright in bed, her heart pounding. She felt sick to her stomach as she scrambled out of bed, grabbed her robe, and dashed out of the room. She flew down the staircase, skidding into the kitchen where Mrs Weasley, Sirius, and Tonks were gathered.
"Did I miss him?" she blurted out, breathing heavily.
"Just," Mrs Weasley said.
"Damnit!" Hermione exclaimed, clamping her hands over her mouth immediately. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean—"
Sirius chuckled. "It's fine. I think I said that myself this morning, in fact."
"A few times," Professor Lupin added.
"I just wanted to wish him luck before he left," Hermione said, her voice tinged with guilt.
"Harry wasn't really in a talkative mood this morning," Tonks said gently.
Hermione felt a pang of regret. She would have woken up extra early to give Harry a pep talk if she were a better friend. She sank into the seat nearest Tonks and buried her face in her hands. She had so many ideas for his defence but had let him change the subject without much of a fight.
"It'll be okay," Mrs Weasley said kindly. "He'll be home in no time and completely vindicated."
"Don't give the girl false hope, Molly," Sirius said, his tone flat.
"It's just a misunderstanding," Mrs Weasley insisted. "Underage wizards can perform magic in life-threatening circumstances."
"Fudge is going to do everything in his power to ensure Harry loses," Sirius replied flippantly. "You know that."
"Well, I am sorry that I am trying to remain optimistic, Sirius," Mrs Weasley said sarcastically. "I know you hate that Harry will probably be cleared of charges because you'll lose your pseudo-best friend, but that's no reason to be irrational. You know the laws."
Sirius immediately stood up and stormed out of the room. Hermione and Tonks exchanged awkward looks before glancing at Mrs Weasley to gauge her reaction. Her lips were pursed, but she didn't seem angry for once.
"I do feel bad for the man," Mrs Weasley said, her eyes lingering on the doorway Sirius had stormed through. "Twelve years in Azkaban, wrongfully accused of the murder of his best friend." She shook her head and turned back to Tonks and Hermione. "But that is no reason to put his needs ahead of Harry's. Harry needs a parent who knows he needs to go to school, not a friend who wants to drop out and have fun."
Hermione nodded. She completely agreed. Harry had three more years of school. After that, he could do whatever he wanted, but not until then. "Do you know what time the hearing is set?" she asked.
"Nine o'clock," Tonks answered. "Shouldn't take too long, though. Like Molly said, it's pretty straightforward."
"What are we to clean today?" Hermione asked, eager to distract herself.
"I thought maybe we could take today off," Mrs Weasley said. "I know I won't be able to concentrate on anything until we hear from Arthur and Harry."
"Oh," Hermione said, looking down. She had wanted something to get her mind off everything.
Tonks laughed. "I'm sure Molly can find you something to do if you're really that chuffed about it."
"Oh, absolutely."
Hermione smiled weakly. "Cleaning is mindless, which is sometimes a nice break for me. I worry. A lot."
"Cooking helps me calm down," Mrs Weasley said. "Do you want to help me make some biscuits? I promised Ron I'd make his favorites before you lot go back to school."
"Sure!" Hermione said, a jolt of excitement running through her.
"Let me whip up some breakfast for the late risers, and then we can get to work," Mrs Weasley said with a smile. "Tonks, would you mind running to the market for me? I'll need some jam for the Jammie Dodgers. Ron loves raspberry or lemon curd. You can pick."
"Want to go with me to the market while you wait?" Tonks asked. Hermione glanced at Mrs Weasley for approval—they hadn't been out of the house all summer.
Mrs Weasley nodded. "I should be ready to bake in an hour."
Hermione practically sprinted up the stairs to change out of her pyjamas. She had no idea what to wear for her first adventure out of Headquarters. Before she realised it, she had wasted five minutes just staring at the clothing in her trunk. Shaking her head to break out of her excited trance, Hermione grabbed a pair of shorts and a blouse and threw them on as quietly as she could to not wake Ginny. She crept out of the bedroom, shut the door softly, and then took the stairs two at a time.
Tonks was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps. "Ready?"
"Absolutely," Hermione said.
"Good, because I'm not good at Muggle grocery stores," Tonks admitted as they headed down the hall.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione noticed Tonks getting dangerously close to the troll leg umbrella stand. She quickly grabbed Tonks and pulled her out of its path, preventing another early morning screaming session from Mrs Black.
"Thanks," Tonks said with an embarrassed grin.
"Anytime," Hermione replied with a smile.
As they reached the front door, Tonks paused. "You remember the address, yeah?"
"The what?"
"The address. Here. Headquarters," Tonks clarified.
"Oh, yes. Twelve Grimmauld Place. Why?"
"Just so you can get back in," Tonks said. "I'm not a Secret Keeper, so I can't remind you once we leave."
"Got it," Hermione said, immediately recalling the Fidelius Charm protecting the house. "Yes, I remember the address."
"Good, ready?"
"Yes!"
Hermione stepped out into the grey London morning and took a deep breath. Even though it was overcast, she could still feel the sun on her skin. Everything seemed much brighter than inside the House of Black.
"I think there's a market down this way," Tonks said, looking uncertain. Hermione didn't care if they got lost. She followed the Auror aimlessly, savouring the brief taste of freedom. Tonks looked relatively Muggle-like in her outfit, though her bright green and teal hair attracted a few passersby stares.
"So, tell me about working in the Ministry," Hermione said, eager for a distraction.
Tonks chuckled. "What about working in the Ministry?"
"I don't know, anything," Hermione said. "What's it like being a woman there? Do you like being an Auror? What kind of other jobs are there? What should—"
"Thinking about your O.W.L.s, yeah?" Tonks said.
"Guilty as charged," Hermione admitted.
"Working at the Ministry is," Tonks paused, thinking. "Working at the Ministry is exhaustingly wonderful. There's always so much going on. You're right in the middle of it all. And it's nice for me because I've always been on the fringe because of the whole Metamorphmagus thing, but it makes me a bit more special there. Does that make sense?"
"Absolutely," Hermione said, feeling honoured that Tonks was opening up to her.
"It's all underground, though magical windows show whatever weather Magical Maintenance decides on for the day, from bright sunshine to hurricanes. You learn very quickly not to piss off the Magical Maintenance Department," Tonks grinned. "All entrances open to the Atrium. The Atrium is on level eight. It's a large hall with fireplaces up and down both long walls for employees. There's a visitor's entrance somewhere else. Can't tell you where—never used it. There's a big fountain in the middle of the Atrium. I've fallen into it a few times. The water is always warm. I'm a bit clumsy if you haven't noticed."
Hermione laughed. "No, I had no idea," she said sarcastically.
"Continuing on our tour," Tonks said in a mock museum guide voice, "come the hall of lifts that can take you anywhere in the Ministry except the tenth floor. That's where the big Wizengamot courtrooms are."
"Is that where Harry is?" Hermione asked, worried.
"Oh no," Tonks said. "Those courtrooms are for the most serious of cases."
"Then where would he have his hearing?"
"Probably floor two: Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Ooh, wanna see if I can name all the departments on each floor?"
"Sure," Hermione said, genuinely interested.
"Okay, so level one is the offices of the Minister for Magic and Support Staff. We covered level two. Level three is the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. I've been there a lot. The Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is on four. Five is the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Six is," Tonks stopped and screwed up her face in concentration. "Oh! Six is Magical Transportation. Games and Sports is on seven. Eight is the Atrium. And nine is the Department of Mysteries. And ten is the courts. Ha!"
"Bravo!" Hermione said, but that last part piqued her interest. "What's the Department of Mysteries?"
"It's a mystery," Tonks laughed. "It's where all of the confidential stuff is kept. The people who work there are called the Unspeakables because they can't talk about anything they do. It's the only department in the Ministry that's not under the Minister's control."
"But what kind of stuff is there?"
"Like I said, it's all confidential, even to me. I can only guess what goes on in there."
"Then guess," Hermione said with a smile, hoping to mask her desperation.
"There are a lot of records there, I know," Tonks said. "Probably a lot of experimental magic and weapons, too."
The word "weapons" stood out to Hermione, recalling their conversation with Sirius on Harry's first night at Headquarters.
"Any idea what kind of weapons?" Hermione asked as casually as she could, but Tonks finally figured out what Hermione was trying to do.
"Oh, I think we went the wrong way," Tonks said, changing the subject. They did an about-face in the middle of the street and started up the other way.
Hermione sighed. She had pushed too far. She knew Tonks would keep quiet about anything remotely related to the Department of Mysteries from that point forward.
After grabbing the jam at the market, Hermione and Tonks explored more before returning. The streets of Islington were starting to come alive, mostly with Arsenal fans getting ready for the game later that day. Hermione was sure her father was excited—Arsenal was one of his favourite football clubs.
Thinking about her father at that moment gave Hermione pause. She realised that she had not written to her parents once since arriving at Twelve Grimmauld Place. Guilt washed over her, as intense as the regret she felt that morning for missing Harry before he left for his hearing. She scolded herself silently. How could she manage her fifth year with O.W.L.s and all the other stressors at Hogwarts when she couldn't even handle simple tasks like writing to her parents to let them know she arrived safely or waking up a few minutes early to support her best friend?
Hermione's gait slowed as she internally criticised herself. She could feel a panic attack beginning but didn't do any of her usual steps to quell it because she thought she deserved to have one at this point.
"Hey, you alright?" Tonks asked, stopping to look at her with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You can't lie to an Auror," Tonks said with a knowing smile. "We always know. 'Constant vigilance' and all, yeah?"
Hermione allowed herself a small smile at Tonks's impersonation of Professor Moody. "I just got sad all of a sudden, that's all."
"What's wrong?"
"All of the Arsenal fans made me think of my dad. He's a big fan."
"Oh, is that the Muggle sport thing? What is it? Soccer?"
"Kind of," said Hermione with a giggle. "But we call it Football here."
"Ahh, right. Soccer is the American version," Tonks said with a grin. "Ya miss them, yeah?"
Hermione paused. "Kind of," she said. "It's complicated. But I just realised I haven't spoken to them all summer."
"Why don't you write them when we get back?" Tonks suggested.
"Yeah, great idea," Hermione said, humorlessly wishing it was that easy.
"I have some fun colour-changing parchment back in my bag at Headquarters you can use," Tonks offered.
Hermione pretended to be excited but knew there was no way she'd use that parchment in a letter to her parents. She suspected magic was even more of a taboo subject in the Granger house now that she had ignored them all summer.
When they returned to Twelve Grimmauld Place, Hermione watched as numbers Eleven and Thirteen stretched and pulled apart to reveal number Twelve. Magic was an amazing thing, her parents be damned.