It's been… too long if I'm honest. I've had a bit of burnout mixed with a resurgence in caring about my Game of Thrones works but now that FFN seems to be fixed for the time being I'm eager to get back on this story's back and continue on with Year 6. I'm not as far ahead as I wanted to be but this is perhaps the push that I need to carry on!
I'm using the (presumed) film location for Hermione's house given that the author hasn't actually given us an address and that's the only one on the wiki, and it works very well for my story. I enjoy the fics that have Hermione live in Crawley as I've been there many a time and could certainly see her living in some of the streets down there, but the film location works better for this chapter in particular.
I hope you all enjoy this and don't come at me with too many pitchforks for the time away!
The summer holidays were usually Leo's favourite time of the year. He could take advantage of the few weeks of nice weather in Scotland by swimming in Loch Ryan or going out for walks or trips out with his Mum, and they could usually catch a couple of Wigtown games before Leo had to travel back to Hogwarts, so a summer of cleaning out dark artifacts felt completely alien to him, though there wasn't too much left to do. Thankfully that was offset by getting to pick his room out and decorate it. He had picked one on the third floor, the same one that Fred and George had apparently stayed in the year earlier judging by some of the leftover ingredients and failed joke items.
It would have taken longer to decorate had Sirius not been around. While the actual adults were constantly in and out of the bottom levels on Order business, Sirius took as many chances as he could on the first few days to escape and magically help Leo. He changed the wallpaper colour to crimson in an instant, and actually had a good design sense of where to place Leo's bed, books and pictures. Three days after getting back from Hogwarts and the 16-year-old had a room to call his own.
"It's not Scotland, but it's still good." He teased Sirius, who simply laughed and clapped Leo on the back.
While being secluded in a London townhouse wasn't perfect, it did have its perks. Information was easy to come by given the different types of people that were involved in the Order, so he got the true scoop behind the vote of no confidence in Fudge, as well as the truth behind the Daily Prophet report on an argument between Dumbledore and the new Minister for Magic, and Leo didn't blame Dumbledore one bit for not letting the lion-maned Minister Rufus Scrimgeour speak with Harry to try and force some positive publicity...
The final thing to be glad about appeared in the entrance hall on the second Tuesday evening of the holidays. Leo had been reading the article on Harry being the chosen one when a knock at the door sounded, and Sirius appeared.
"Is dinner ready?" Leo asked.
Sirius shook his head, a light smirk on his lips. "Not for a while… but we've got a visitor you may want to see."
Curious, Leo leapt off his bed and walked down three flights of stairs, not noticing the mane of bushy brown hair until he got down to the ground floor and looked into the kitchen. "Hermione!" He exclaimed.
Hermione smiled, although it looked forced. She had a single trunk behind her and her cheeks were pink, presumably from carrying both the trunk and the cat carrier that was currently in her hands. "Hi, Leo." She greeted.
"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not pleased to see you, we just weren't expecting you yet…" Leo stumbled over his words, causing a light chuckle to escape the brunette as she placed the cat carrier on the ground and let Crookshanks out.
"I'm only an hour on the tube… muggle underground train." Hermione corrected herself to put it in terms the pureblood would actually understand. "Near Barnet."
From further down the table, Alastor Moody grumbled. "Stupid girl, you should have called for an escort. It's not safe out there, especially for you."
Hermione nodded. "I know, and I regretted the decision as I got to Angel tube station… I just needed the space."
Leo wasn't totally oblivious and he could tell that something was the matter, though he had the decency to wait until after everybody had eaten and after he had been asked to help Hermione take her things up to her room on the first floor. He pushed the door so it was barely open an inch before he began the questions. "Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.
Shaking her head, Hermione sat on her bed and took a deep breath. "You're a pureblood, aren't you?"
If the question surprised him, Leo thankfully didn't show it as he sat down on the bed that had belonged to Ginny when she had stayed in Grimmauld Place the year before. "I am, although I'd still be considered a blood traitor by most." He explained. "Grandad never believed in that nonsense and openly spoke against it last time." He thought that was why his mum had been attacked so brutally at school personally, though he didn't dare share that thought with anybody. "But yeah, the MacDonald's are considered Pure Blood, but I'm not one of the Sacred 28 like Neville or Ernie…" He trailed off. "Or maybe I am now that I'm a Black…"
Hermione laughed, wiping a tear away. "You've still grown up with magic. Your parents went to Hogwarts, your Grandparents did and so did their parents before them and so on." Leo nodded in agreement before she continued. "I don't have that. My parents understand the idea of school and even a little of magic from what they've seen from Professor Sikander, the old Muggle Studies teacher, when he came and handed me my letter." She smiled. "They were so proud when I told them about my prefect badge because it's something they actually understood, but how are they going to understand it when a troll breaks into the school? Or that I was petrified for almost a month?"
Leo honestly had no idea. "They're still your parents…"
"They are, and I love them dearly." Hermione nodded. "But it's a different world. We went to France just before third year and I spent most of my time studying French wizarding history rather than enjoying the beaches or the pool. Mum and Dad indulged me of course, but I could see they were lost when I started talking about Beauxbatons and the like." She sighed. "I already couldn't explain the basilisk properly to them and then it just spiralled. I'd write back about classes being good or the interpersonal relationships, but never any magical details like Harry facing a dragon in a task that he was magically forced to participate in, or the fact that the serial killer they'd seen on TV was actually a really nice wizard that I had spent a good amount of time with, or that my teacher was a werewolf." Hermione sighed again. "Now I'm a completely different person to the girl I was when I got my Hogwarts letter. Magic is my future and I could never go back to just being a muggle, and yet we're about to be dragged into a war on a scale Muggle Britain hasn't seen in fifty years. How do I tell them that? That I'm going to be fighting in a war when I'm only sixteen." She shook her head as she reached into her rucksack and grabbed some tissues, blowing her nose. "Even this summer, my ribs are still painful so I couldn't hug them properly but I can't tell them why now without spiralling into everything and then inevitably getting pulled out of Hogwarts because they are so scared that I might die there."
It was a lot, and Leo really didn't know what to say to make it any better. "I think you're incredible, do you know that?" He told her softly. "To be going through all that and to still be as brilliant as you are… it's a wonder you don't explode."
Hermione chuckled. "You remind me of a talk I had with Harry and Ron earlier in the year about Cho." She smiled. "They didn't know how girls felt so much all the time."
Leo shrugged. "It does sound exhausting." He tried to be funny, and thankfully there was the feintest glimmer of a smile on Hermione's lips. "But seriously, if you need someone to talk to your parents then my mum can…"
"That's not my point." Hermione interrupted shaking her head as her smile disappeared. "I almost want them to be oblivious now because it makes their lives easier, but being there in a muggle house with everything going on, hiding the newspapers… I'm not the same person as I was before I realised that I was a witch, I just can't stay there and still be myself. That's why I've told them that we're going on a trip to magical Italy this year but that muggles aren't allowed." She sniffed again as a tear dropped. "I hate lying to them, but I can't do anything else."
Tears were starting to fall freely now, and Leo quickly jumped to his feet to sit next to her on her bed. "I'm sorry." He said, silently kicking himself for not being more comforting. "I really wish I could do anything to stop you feeling like that."
Hermione chuckled again. "Thanks, I mean it. But there's nothing to be done. I've said my goodbyes to them for this year and I'll see them again at Christmas for the first time in a few years. Other than that, my life is in the magical world."
"Then I'll just have to distract you to make you feel better." Leo grinned, hoping that his next tactic would help her feel better. "I want to learn a lot more about the political power that the House of Black have had in the past…"
That worked, as Hermione wiped her eyes for one last time. "I saw a book in the library last summer about the history of the Wizard's Council, the dissolution of which is something that we'll be covering in History of Magic this year and I'm sure that a Black had some part in it…" And she then spent the next five minutes going on a little rant about some of the famous names she could remember like Nicholas Malfoy and Ulick Gamp. She was just about to talk about how Leo's ancestors fit in when she suddenly stopped and threw her arms around him.
"What's this for?" Leo asked, not complaining as he returned the hug.
Hermione pulled away with a shrug. "For helping." She told him. "Come on, I want to show you this book!" She exclaimed, completely ignoring the dumbfounded Leo as she began almost skipping her way to the library.
Leo and Hermione spent their mornings in the Library while they were the only two students in the house. With the house basically cleansed of everything that they could deal with and the Order becoming busier and busier with increased Death Eater attacks, they were more than happy to just stay out of the way. With Sirius' permission, expressly given in the close vicinity of the portrait housing Leo's eternally screaming Grandmother, Hermione was given free rein to reorganise the library as she went along, while Leo was more content just slowly flicking through the books that interested him. He was currently flicking through a copy of The Dark Arts: A Legal Companion and reading a particularly nasty chapter about the different levels of Muggle Baiting and the line of where legal action could be taken. Leo ended up throwing the book down in disgust. "I know the Blacks were those sort of wizarding family, but this stuff is vile."
"I don't know why you're so interested in the dark side of your ancestry." Hermione admitted as she sorted books into dark and light sections. "Neither Sirius nor yourself are anything like that."
Leo shrugged. "It's not that I want to be like that, it's just that I need to know what I'm going to be walking into if I want to make a difference. If I'm leaning on a name known for their past pureblood supremacy views to get me ahead then I want to know what the law-making Blacks have been up to so I'm prepared to face whatever gets thrown at me."
Hermione shook her head as she put half a dozen books straight into the dark section. "I'm never one to counsel against a good bit of research, but don't you think learning about it all might… impact you somehow?"
Leo frowned at that comment. "I'm not going to turn dark because of some words on a page, Hermione."
"No I know!" Hermione protested. "I… I don't know what I'm saying, forgive me. My mind's a bit preoccupied today."
Standing up to stretch his legs, Leo walked over to her. "What's wrong?"
"Harry." Hermione sighed frustratedly, noticing Leo's brow narrowing. "Oh don't be like that, please."
"What does he want?" Leo asked.
Hermione shifted her body so she was sat with her back leaning on the bookcase. "Professor Dumbledore is collecting him personally and they have a task to complete." She explained. "Then he's coming here early Saturday morning."
"Ah." Was all Leo could say, not meaning to sound so glum about the prospect despite the fact that he honestly felt a bit disappointed.
"You're still cross with him, aren't you?" Hermione asked, though there was no sense of annoyance on her part.
Leo nodded, letting out a huff in frustration. "Of course I am! I don't like people making my decisions for me. I know it was dangerous, but I should have been told what was going on and been given the option to help…"
"I agree with you." Hermione stopped him in his tracks.
"I mean he doesn't know what it's like!" Leo began, before her words truly registered within his mind and he turned back to her in surprise. "You do?"
Hermione nodded. "Of course. You're right, it's your family. If there were decisions about my parents being made without me when I knew I could help I'd be cross too."
Leo felt a warmth rising in his chest as a brief silence settled over the pair of them. "I thought you'd stick by Harry." He admitted bashfully, running a hand nervously through his hair.
"What, because he's my friend?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Harry is a lot of things, but perfect he isn't. He's moody, and sullen, and he tries too much to do everything himself. And then when people are in danger he's adamant that it has to be him that risks his life to protect them, nobody else. He's got a bit of a saving people complex."
The memory of the second Triwizard Tournament task came to Leo's mind. "The Delacour girl." He muttered knowingly.
"Not just that, but Ginny in second year too, then obviously how he rushed to the Ministry." Hermione shrugged. "No, Harry is the closest thing I'll ever have to a sibling and I love him for that, but he's not always right." She then sighed. "And he knows that, Ginny wrote to me last week… apparently they've been writing to each other this summer and she wanted to know how I would stop making him feel guilty about Mr Weasley…"
"That wasn't his fault." Leo said quickly.
Hermione smiled fondly. "And that's Harry, taking blame where none is needed." She held her hand out for Leo to help her up, and he duly obliged. "Just… can you promise me you'll try and go easy on him at least? With everything going on and having him already feel guilty… he doesn't need added stress."
Leo felt blackmailed, but as he looked into her eyes once again he found himself nodding. "I know it's unfair and he was just wanting to keep me out of danger." He said, though the words felt like lies in his mouth. "I just don't want to be left out again." He chuckled. "It sounds childish, like someone's kept a toy from me."
Hermione shrugged. "It's a fair feeling, though I would actually think more on what it was you think you missed out on. It wasn't one of Fred and George's parties, it was really dangerous…" She said simply, her fingers tracing the area that the curse hit her. "Come on, we better go and sort his room out for him."
Nodding, Leo placed the book he had thrown earlier straight into Hermione's dark pile before following her out of the library, thinking a lot on what she had just said.
Harry in fact arrived much earlier than anybody anticipated and instead of his alarm clock Leo was awoken by the sound of a screech coming from downstairs at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. Groaning but not getting out of his pyjamas, Leo groggily made his way downstairs wand in hand only for Hermione to race down the flight below him. As Leo reached the second floor he spotted Harry, also barely awake, standing in the doorway bemused.
"Alright?" Leo greeted, seemingly surprising Harry by being civil.
"Leo. Hi." Harry greeted back.
"You got in alright then? We weren't expecting you for another couple of hours."
Harry nodded. "Yeah… Dumbledore just wanted to take me to recruit some old teacher." He shrugged. "It was easier than he thought, I got in about 1."
"Fair enough." Leo shrugged. "What was all that about?" He asked.
Harry didn't have a chance to explain though as Hermione came running back up the stairs. "They're not here yet!" She was exclaiming. "Are you absolutely sure Professor Dumbledore said today?"
"Yes Hermione." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Oh no…" Hermione groaned, as she started jigging nervously on the spot. "I know I messed up Ancient Runes at least once, probably more. And then there was Defence…"
"Hermione." Harry stated bluntly but calmly, catching the attention of the girl immediately. "Relax."
It didn't seem to have the desired effect, however. "Relax?" Hermione snapped at him incredulously. "How can I relax when our results are coming today?"
Harry shrugged at her nonchalantly. "Fretting won't change them, will it?"
"Oh shut up Harry." Hermione snapped again before she caught the grin on Leo's face. "And you, stop enjoying this! This is our future… this affects everything! All our plans…" She looked down the stairs again. "I'm going to check again." And with that she ran down the stairs once more leaving the boys stood there in their pyjamas bemused.
"Have you heard from Ron much?" Leo asked, not wanting to push whatever budding relationship with Ginny too much in case he wasn't actually meant to know about that. "Mum's been going round regularly but she doesn't want me straying from here too often so I've not had a chance to visit." Not that he'd have known what to say, he kept that part to himself though.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, G… I've been told that Mary's been invaluable." He caught himself. "Bill has moved back in to the Burrow with Fleur which is helping to keep everyone's mind off of things, I don't think Ginny likes her too much but Mrs Weasley needs the help and seems grateful..." He looked at his feet sadly. "I did ask Dumbledore if I could go there for a bit first, but I was told they need time."
Leo understood completely, remembering the feeling from when his Grandad died. "Sirius was talking about setting up a fund for them, and paying for Ron and Ginny's books and stuff this year."
"They won't like that." Harry stated.
"They can't live off Bill's wages, nor on Fred and George's." Leo countered sadly. "And the Black fortune is too big for just us, I don't think no will be taken for an answer."
"Too right and all." A voice from the top of the stairs sounded, and Sirius was walking towards them dressed smartly in a suit that cost far more than it needed to, as usual.
Harry grinned. "Sirius." He greeted, moving forward to embrace the Black.
"Good to see you, Harry." Sirius said. "Although I had hoped for a bit of a lie in. What's the noise about?"
Leo smirked. "Results. Hermione's worrying."
"Pffft." Sirius scoffed. "She's got nothing to fear. Smarter than your mum was, Harry, and Lily passed all ten of her O.W.L.s."
"She did?" Harry asked, his eyes immediately lighting up at the mention of his Mother.
Sirius nodded. "8 O's I believe it was? Never let us forget it." He smiled reminiscently.
"THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!" Hermione almost screamed from the Kitchen, causing Leo's grandmother's painting to start screeching once again.
"Oh shut it you old hag!" Sirius roared, waving his wand to silence the portrait before turning back to Leo. "Go and get your results, I'll sort her out and grab your mum."
When they arrived downstairs Hermione had already set the envelopes out in three separate places before sitting down. She held the envelope in her hands nervously. Leo found his one and sat down opposite her, beside Harry. The three students sat there in almost complete silence, with the ticking of the clock on the wall the only sound as Leo swapped his gaze between both Harry and Hermione constantly.
"On three?" Harry asked, finally breaking the nervous tension in the room. Leo went to answer, but his mouth had suddenly completely dried out and he could do nothing but croak. Embarrassed, he shut his mouth again and instead just nodded, and thankfully Harry ignored the noise and began counting. "One… two… three."
Leo snapped the Hogwarts wax seal and opened it up, pulling his letter out. Unfolding it he took a deep breath before reading.
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
PASS GRADES
OUTSTANDING (O)
EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)
ACCEPTABLE (A)
FAIL GRADES
POOR (P)
DREADFUL (D)
TROLL (T)
Leo David Macdonald has achieved:
Arithmancy E
Astronomy E
Charms O
Defence Against the Dark Arts E
Herbology A
History of Magic O
Muggle Studies E
Potions E
Transfiguration O
Three Outstandings, five Exceeds Expectations and only one Acceptable in Herbology which Leo was expecting anyway. Grinning, he read the results through a couple more times before setting it down on the table and letting out a large breath of relief. He looked around at Harry and Hermione, noticing that Harry looked relatively pleased with himself and Hermione… she had turned her back to them and had her head bent so Leo couldn't judge.
"How did you do?" Harry asked, and Leo handed him the results. A moment later and Harry added. "An O in History? Even with my…" He trailed off awkwardly at the reminder of the fainting fiasco and what followed afterwards.
Leo shrugged with a grin. "I like History, I was basically done by then anyway. How did you do?" Harry handed over his parchment and Leo immediately noticed a P and a D in Divination and History, but the O next to Defence Against the Dark Arts was impressing him. "Well done mate."
"Thanks." Harry grinned back. "Hermione?"
Hermione swivelled her chair back around, and she looked almost sullen. "Not bad." She said quietly. "I got an E in Defence." She told them, and she actually looked disappointed.
Harry leant over to see her sheet. "And O's in literally everything else." He chuckled.
"Congratulations, that's incredibly good considering how many subjects you were doing." Leo told her, and Hermione finally put a little smile on her face.
"Only one more than you…" Hermione trailed.
"Which was Ancient Runes." Leo shook his head amusedly at her downplaying the achievement in such a difficult subject. "You did brilliantly, you are allowed to admit it."
She didn't, but at that moment Mary and Sirius came into the kitchen and the Scottish woman immediately made a bee line for Leo. "Well?" She asked expectantly.
Leo held up his results with a big grin. "9 O.W.L.s." He told them. "Only one A."
Mary screamed in delight, setting off the portrait in the hallway once more. "Oh well done." She shouted over the noise, smothering him in kisses, and Leo's squirms were only making his classmates laugh louder. "That's brilliant! We need to celebrate!" She turned to Harry and Hermione after that. "And what about the pair of you?"
"Seven." Harry said happily. "And Hermione over there has ten, only one wasn't an O."
"Ten?" Mary gasped. "Not even Lily got that many O's and she was utterly brilliant. Well done dear. And well done you Harry, your parents would have been pleased."
"Definitely." Sirius agreed, ruffling Harry's hair. "I tell you what, after breakfast we'll go out shall we?"
"No." Mary stated firmly. "We'll do it here. Go and get changed boys and I'll whip up some breakfast. We'll see if Ron is up for celebrating too, aye?"
Nodding, Leo raced up to his room to start putting on some clothes. Looking at his results he realised that the only subjects he couldn't continue with into N.E.W.T.s were Herbology and Potions, two that he wasn't planning on taking on anyway. Feeling extremely pleased with himself, Leo thought he'd race down and see if they could make some of their Christmas pancakes in celebration.
Reviews:
SkepticPrinceArthur: I'm glad you like that! It's my first truly slow burn I think so I'm glad it's working. I personally would ship her with Harry (a true guilty pleasure when I read fics is Harmony) but for this story with the characterisation I had in mind for Leo it just made complete sense. There will be some Cormac drama, though maybe not as much as canon given Leo's growing importance and his friends… There also is 100% going to be more Leo and Harry drama, Leo won't forget that easily and Harry still will find it hard to trust more people openly.
Dante687: I hope you still are excited and will enjoy!
Lightningscar: As mentioned above that friendship isn't completely repaired and likely never will be so watch this space… That's a realty fun head canon though and maybe something I'll have to include when I do a more light hearted scene with them two in it!
Walkerlone: Thank you so much!
