A/N: Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Huge thanks to lanamarymack for her help alpha/beta reading this chapter! You can find me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter sixty-one and be on the lookout for sixty-two soon!
Even though Dumbledore had refused to allow her to see Harry, Hermione knew better than to give up. While she did not think she would have any luck approaching him at school, or even at Hogsmeade for that matter, it did not take Hermione long to resolve to send him a letter.
Her first owl was returned unopened. Then the second. Then the third.
It was frustrating to realize that Headmaster Dumbledore was obviously filtering them out, trying to prevent her from speaking to her best friend since she was eleven years old, the boy who she'd bled for. She tried Ron next, just hoping to get past the wizard, but those remained unopened as well. Hermione didn't bother to try Ginny, if her message to Ron didn't get through.
She thought attempting to reach out via Neville was inspired, but the Headmaster was unfortunately, one step ahead of her once again. It seemed that nothing from Hermione Black was going to get through the wards and into Hogwarts.
Finally, when she let her ire get the better of her over breakfast, Orion gave her a sad look over his porridge. "Have you considered sending something via the owl post?" he questioned.
Oh Salazar, when he said it like that, it seemed like the most obvious option. Yes, she would send something via the public owl post rather than using one of the family's owls. And, she also decided that she should send her letter to Luna, knowing that she was the person who would be least likely to panic at receiving a letter from someone who everyone thought was supposedly dead. And, for extra good measure, she would use Rabastan's signet ring to seal the wax, just in case anyone was checking for the Black family seal.
"Regulus can take you to Diagon Alley," Orion suggested, looking at his younger son. "He'll be going to the Wizengamot today."
Hermione was glad for the suggestion and hurried to her room to get ready for the day, write her note, and then find her brother. Regulus was standing at his mirror, checking over his robes for any imaginary lint, when she barged into his room. He sported a new mustache on his upper lip, the sight of which forced Hermione to hide her smile.
"Your robes are immaculate as always, brother," she teased, before pointing to her upper lip. "But I think you might have missed something here."
Regulus's shoulders fell when he realized she was describing his new facial hair. "What, don't you like it?" he asked, his eyes catching his profile in the mirror. "I thought it made me look stately."
"If you like it, then I like it," she answered as diplomatically as possible. It wasn't that it was a bad look, but it was strange after knowing Regulus for so long without one. She wondered what it was that inspired the change.
"Father said you are to escort me to Diagon Alley on your way into the Wizengamot," she explained. "Why does he send you today?"
"A committee is meeting to discuss changes to the powers of the Supreme Mugwump," Regulus said, still distracted by his reflection. "Father thinks that I have a better mind for the laws of that matter and suggests that I speak in his place."
Hermione had never thought about it that way, but she supposed that Orion was good at identifying all of his children's strengths and he had found a way to highlight Regulus's. She was pleased for her brother and knew that the family would be in good hands should her father decide to step down from the Wizengamot more permanently.
"Shall we go then?" Regulus suggested, pressing a hand to the small of her back to guide her from his room.
She agreed and made her way down the stairs in a flurry, wanting to grab her cloak to stave off the chill now that winter had arrived. "I need to visit the public owlery," she explained, waiting for Regulus to decide their ultimate destination in the Alley.
A small part of her wanted to chafe at the idea of her having to have a chaperone or an escort when she was a perfectly capable, adult witch. Not to mention, it went against everything that Orion preached about them being untouchable Blacks who had no reason to worry about anyone going against them. But, the larger part of her knew that her family was, and probably always would be, concerned about her safety. After being sprung upon by Cygnus, she couldn't say that she minded having an extra wand and set of eyes near her.
Regulus led the way to the post office and Hermione quickly arranged for her letter to be delivered to Luna Lovegood at Hogwarts, fishing the needed sickle out of her pocket to have it delivered by dinner that evening.
"I've got a bit of time yet before I need to get to the Ministry," Regulus said. "Is there anywhere that you'd like to stop into, while we are here?"
Hermione nibbled her lower lip, knowing that it was nearly Rabastan's birthday and that she hadn't gotten him anything yet. "I was wondering if we could stop at the stationary shop," Hermione asked. She had decided to get him a nice, leather bound journal to allow him to record any Arithmancy calculations he might want to do, as he'd mentioned that he was still quite interested in the subject despite his current focus on the Wizengamot.
Regulus was happy to take her there, leading the way confidently past the stationary shop that she had typically bought supplies for Hogwarts from, towards one of the higher end shops down a little used side street. The shop had a simple wooden door painted blue that was dwarfed by the massive floor to ceiling windows on either side, but inside was toasty and warm and it almost felt like things were normal for once. She sighed, breathing in the comforting smell of new parchment, pleased to know that this heavenly place existed.
As soon as the bell rang behind them, Regulus was singled out by another one of the patrons, apparently some wizard that he knew, and they began talking animatedly about Quidditch of all things. Hermione rolled her eyes, thinking that Regulus was still very much a child at heart. It was fine, though. She preferred to look on her own, determined to select this present for Rabastan all on her own.
She found what she was looking for at the back of the shop, her fingers sliding against the cover of each exquisite leather bound book, before she ultimately found a simple, but elegant dark blue one, that she thought would look very nice with a golden L pressed into the cover of it to personalize it a bit more. Grabbing it from its place, she turned, determined to inquire with the shopkeeper about her modification, only to come face to face with a familiar face.
Perfectly painted lips quirked up in amusement as recognition came over her face. "Do try to be quiet," Narcissa Malfoy insisted. "We don't want my cousin running over here like a fool, do we?"
Hermione was not sure if she would want Regulus to come over and save her from whatever Narcissa had planned. But, she took comfort in the fact that he was still nearby, his voice carrying over the shelves as he talked about Puddlemere's new Keeper.
"What do you want?" she demanded, eyes narrowing at the blonde witch.
Unlike everyone else she'd seen thus far, it was as if age had barely touched the flawless Narcissa Malfoy. There were no worry lines on her face, no signs of grey hairs in her perfectly coiffed hair, even though she must have been in her forties at this point.
"I had to see for myself," Narcissa murmured, tilting her head to one side, really studying Hermione's face.
"See what?" Hermione demanded, a trickle of fear running down her spine. Her right hand twitched, wishing that it held her wand, even just for the illusion of protection.
"Bellatrix swore to me that the strange cousin that stood with me at my wedding was not what she seemed. That you were actually Hermione Granger," Narcissa said, sounding amused. "The young mudblood who my son could not stop complaining about year after year at Hogwarts. But I didn't believe it."
"And now?" Hermione questioned, wondering why Narcissa had decided to confront her this way.
"Well, now? Now there really is no denying it, is there?" the older witch asked, with a smirk. "Bellatrix told me about that night at the Department of Mysteries and I saw the picture in the Daily Prophet when they announced that you were dead. There was a resemblance, of course, but now it's truly obvious. It is you — the little squib who tore apart my family from the inside."
Hermione stiffened. "I understand that it was your father who did that," she countered, jutting her chin up in the air. "I wasn't even there when you were disowned. Remember?"
Narcissa was unphased by the accusation. "How curious this all is," she said with a laugh. "I wonder what Draco will think when he learns that he in fact wasn't bested by a mudblood at all. You were always a pureblood, underneath the disguise and that the Black Family blood has always been exceptional. It's no wonder that you did well."
"I doubt Malfoy will care at all," she spat. She'd not thought about Draco Malfoy in many, many months and she was not especially pleased to do it again. "Surely he has bigger things to worry about."
That had gotten Narcissa's attention. Her grey eyes widened in surprise and she looked almost aghast. "Do you know then?" she asked, her voice a stilted whisper.
"Know what?" Hermione prompted, waiting for an answer, only to be annoyed when Narcissa didn't reveal anything more. "Listen, Narcissa, I don't know what you are trying to do here, but it isn't as if we were very close back then, so perhaps we could cut this conversation short."
"Draco has taken the Dark Mark," Narcissa revealed, her eyes wide with fear.
"What?" Hermione demanded, utterly stunned to hear that — that Narcissa would just reveal such critical information to her so casually, especially knowing that Hermione and Malfoy hadn't exactly been friends. "He's still a child. He... he's still in school. Why? Why would you do that?"
"As if I had any say in the matter?" the older witch hissed back at her. "I never would have... but, that doesn't matter now. He was Marked because his father failed at the Department of Mysteries. Lucius... he..."
Hermione's head ached a quite bit when she thought of her competing memories of what had happened on the night that she'd disappeared into the past. It was Lucius that had been responsible for getting the prophecy. She swallowed, wondering just what sort of situation her former classmate was now in at the moment. Of course, she didn't particularly like Draco Malfoy, but it wasn't as though she couldn't feel empathic to the results, now forcing him to do something that he didn't want.
"What do you want with me, Narcissa?" Hermione asked, taking a step forward, pressing a gentle hand to her cousin's shoulder. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I just... I want my son to live," Narcissa begged, her blue-grey eyes haunted. "I need Draco to survive this war, one way or another." She reached out her pale hand, her fingers gripping Hermione's shoulder tightly. "The Dark Lord has given him an impossible task, one which I fear —"
"Hermione?" Regulus's voice called from around the corner.
Narcissa's face went ashen at the realization that she was about to be caught. She released Hermione's arm and turned, whirling away in a flurry of pale blue fabric.
Hermione's heart thundered in her chest and she wondered what it was that Narcissa had been about to reveal to her about Draco's task. She wasn't sure what she should do with such incomplete information or why Narcissa thought that she was worth sharing it with. Gripping her leather bound journal tightly to her chest, she schooled her features. "I'm over here, Regulus," she called for her brother. "Have you finished talking about your little game? I am ready to check out."
Regulus scoffed at being called out, but he led her to the front of the shop so that they could pay. "Would you like to come to the Wizengamot with me?" he suggested. "Rabastan might be there, but I'm not certain."
Hearing about the prospect of seeing Rabastan again was enough to release her from the tendrils of worry that had grasped her since Narcissa first found her. She nodded enthusiastically, shrinking the journal so she could hide it in her pocket.
She would tell her family about the strange interaction with Narcissa, but not yet — only once they were all together again. Surely, Orion would know what to do about it. Until then, Hermione would try not to let anyone know that something was bothering her.