a/n: Things should pick up a bit from here on out. Poka, as always, you're good at spotting the bread crumbs! Hopefully it plays out in a satisfying manner. Thanks to everyone else for the favorites and follows. I had a work conference and need to get posting on my other WIPs this week.

No prompt. Adapted from a drabble posted on discord.

Chapter 27: Shattered

A gentle breeze blew over the field. As the sweetgrass blew around her, Hermione took in the strong smell of lilac. It was her favorite time of the year. Her favorite flower was blooming and the reason she chose to live had been born. After eleven years, the pain of the past was a dull ache. Most days. Replaced with the joys of watching Liam grow and learn. He was protected in the north woods of the states. Disconnected from everything and everyone she knew. It had to be done. For Liam. To protect him. The first few months in hiding had been hard. She desperately wanted to know what was happening in Great Britain. Lilith had been right to steer her away from such temptations. Only fresh pains and sorrows would be found. Voldemort won. Harry was dead. The Death Eaters would hunt her down if they knew she was alive. Not just her. Liam would certainly be a target. His safety was all that mattered. Was all that she was able to control. Months turned to years. The war never found its way to her private hideaway. She wasn't about to go looking for it.

A loud bang had Hermione sitting up. She looked around, over the wildflowers. She looked toward the cottage. Was that smoke? Hermione was on her feet, her wand out and was running faster than she had ever run before. She shouldn't have left Liam alone. He wasn't alone though. Lilith had come to deliver a birthday present and to drop off their monthly supplies. The ground pitched upward, Hermione used her free hand to pull herself up by the exposed roots of the mound surrounding their cottage. It was protected better than she had ever protected something in her life. Nothing was getting through the enchantments that weren't supposed to. Maybe Liam produced some magic. She had seen the signs. It wasn't something she had a plan to deal with. Sending him to Ilvermorny wasn't an option. Even if she got him fake identification. In eleven years, he had never been out of her sight. She wasn't about to send him away to school. She knew how unfair that was. He wasn't ready to protect himself yet.

Standing straight, Hermione scanned the boundaries of the protections. There was someone there. Just outside the shields. Two somebodies. Hermione recognized Lilith. The witch who had kept her secrets. Who healed her when she was near death. Who saved Liam's life. The other person was familiar too. Hermione swallowed hard. Her gut told her what her brain already knew. The war finally found her. Walking briskly passed the cottage, she saw Liam peeking out of the open door. "Get inside the closest like we practiced. Don't make a sound. No matter what. Not until you hear me say the words," Hermione whispered. She saw Liam's demeanor change from fear to certainty. He knew what to do. She had drilled it into him from the day he could walk. He'd stay hidden until she revealed the secret words that told him it was safe.

Satisfied, Hermione gripped her wand handle painfully tight. Red sparks erupted from the tip in response to her fear. Stepping over the last enchantment, she came face to face with her past.

The older witch who had been arguing with Lilith abruptly stopped. She let out a small gasp. "I don't believe it," Minerva said reverently.

"Hermione get back inside. I'll handle this," Lilith said, a wild furry in her eye, wand leveled at McGonagall's chest.

Hermione stepped forward, put a hand on Lilith's arm, forcing her to lower it safely toward the ground. "She's not here to hurt me." Even as Hermione said those words, she knew they weren't entirely true. Minerva wouldn't physically hurt her. Not intentionally. But the knowledge she carried. The information that had brought her thousands of miles away from England would do more damage than any curse could.

"You don't know that," Lilith hissed as she took a step forward.

Minerva straightened at the challenge. "Hermione Jean Granger. You were almost a hat stall. You were permitted to use a time turner in your third year. Your boggart is me, tell you that you failed your exams."

Hermione knew at the intonation of her name that it was her former head of house. Polyjuice potion couldn't imitate authority. "How did you find me?"

The older witch held out a letter. Hermione reached for it. Studied the address. Liam Granger-Potter, cottage in the woods, L'Anse Indian Reservation. Where the sweetgrass meets the lilacs. On the back of the letter was the Hogwarts crest.

Hermione looked up in surprise and a mix of fear. "Who else knows?"

"Just me and the book of admittance. I didn't believe it. I came myself thinking it was a trick. Everyone thinks you're dead."

"Everyone needs to keep thinking that," Hermione answered but not entirely sure of herself anymore.

"Enough. It is a trick. Hermione. Get back on the other side of your protections. We'll move you today," Lilith was near hysterics.

Of all the years Hermione had known the witch, she had never seen her out of control. It was so out of character, Hermione's wand went up out of instinct. "You told me Voldemort won," Hermione said with an edge. She looked from the healer who she thought she could trust to the serious face of her former head of house. "But the school still stands? It still admits halfbloods?"

"He hasn't won. The school is safe. Thanks to Harry," Minerva confirmed.

There was a buzzing in her ears at the name. Hermione shook her head. Harry. He must have protected the school before he died. It had to be the only option. It couldn't be the only other person she had any contact with for eleven years had been lying to her the entire time. "Harry."

What happened next, happened so fast, Hermione wasn't exactly sure who fired off the first spell. What was clear was that Minerva had been ready for an attack. Lilith was on the ground, petrified. The shock of everything was threatening to overwhelm Hermione. Someone was trying to talk to her.

"...hear me?" Minerva was saying, stopping short of shaking her. "Hermione."

"This whole time. I trusted her," Hermione said, feeling the weight of the betrayal. What else had she been lying about. And why? It couldn't be the Death Eaters. They would have come for them by now. Blinking rapidly, Hermione cleared her vision.

Sensing the shift, McGonagall put a comforting arm around Hermione's shoulder. "We can sort it out later. What matters is you're alive. Let's get you and Liam back to England and we can sort it out."

"I can't. The Death Eaters. They'd come after Liam. Because he's Harry's son," Hermione started. She had believed that for more than a decade. That couldn't be a lie too. It would be too much to bear. If she was hiding for no reason.

"Harry deserves to know—"

At that, Hermione's head whipped up. She felt like her world finally shattered. "Harry. He's alive."

"Of course. He's never stopped fighting you. Despite everything, he's never quit. Let me take you to him."

Hermione was shaking her head at the idea. It couldn't be true. Harry couldn't have been alive this whole time. The panic of it all was closing in on her. What had she done?