Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: May or may not be able to update next week. I don't think I won't be able to, but just so you're all aware, I'm mentioning it now in the case I can't.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Until the next chapter,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~daughter of briganti~

~meet me in the woods~

~chapter 13~

2 September 1995
Hogwarts, Scotland, Great Britain

There was silence in the room after Hyleth, with the occasional help from Ginny and Theo, finished up her tale.

Luna's expression had not changed throughout the past few hours, the time slipping by until they were already into the next day. She was still serene, but there was another emotion there which Hermione hadn't recognized until now: love.

Even without really having ever known Hyleth up until they'd apparently started exchanging letters this past summer, the few that there were, Luna loved her. Completely and utterly, for reasons which went beyond her having been raised with the expectation she would become one of Hyleth's spouses.

The other occupants in the room had had much different reactions than the blonde-haired girl, and they were now. Tonks' hair had shifted through so many colors throughout the story; it had since settled on a strange yellow color which Hermione would've only been able to describe as a representative of a sort of melancholic surprise, if someone had asked her to. Cedric's face was pale, practically the color of bone, as were the three present Weasley brothers'. It was impossible for her to tell what they were thinking: for once, Fred, George, and Ron, usually open books for her, were shut.

And, as for Hermione herself –

– She didn't want to talk about how she was feeling, what she was thinking.

If she did, even to herself, she had the feeling she would fall apart.

"You – you really are pregnant?" Ron choked out after several beats of silence.

Ginny nodded shyly. "Two weeks," she said. "Our due dates are in mid-May. So...you'll be uncles then."

"Blimey," breathed Fred.

"Mum really is going to kill you," said George.

Ron, from the looks of it, was quickly deciding to do the same – with Hyleth. His face rapidly went to red as he glared at her. "You – "

"Please don't tell us that you're about to blame for something which isn't her fault, as we've said multiple times now," Black interrupted him. He was smiling, but it wasn't a nice one. "If Hyleth hadn't accepted me or Ginny, she would've had to have done it with somebody else by now or shortly after – "

"But that person wouldn't have been my twin sister!"

"That doesn't give you the right to tell her what she can or cannot do," Black retorted smoothly. "Ginny is your twin sister, but she's a flesh and blood human being with her own mind and heart, the ability to make her own choices. She did. Sure, you don't like it, but how would you like it if she told you what you should or shouldn't do in the wake of a life-altering decision and didn't leave you room to tell her 'no?'"

"I – "

"No, don't answer me now," Black said. "Whatever answer you're about to say, it's fueled only by your anger. I don't want to hear it. Actually think about it, if that's something you're capable of doing, then get back to me." He turned his head, as if to prove that he wasn't going to listen.

Hermione frowned. She didn't like how Black was talking to Ron. He had a point, yes; that was not an excuse to be so viciously cruel about it.

Ron redirected his focus to his older brothers. "Why aren't you angry about this, too?"

"Well, it's not like being angry will undo any of it, will it?" George asked rhetorically. "Hyleth and Ginny are bonded for life now, and she'll make a fine addition to the family. There's nobody else we'd trust as much with Gin-Gin." Fred nodded in agreement.

Hyleth smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys."

"Besides, when you or Mum are around, you get angry enough to represent the entire family. There's no point in it."

Tonks snorted.

"One thing," Cedric spoke up faintly. "This Pritchard bloke said you could tell 'closest friends.' I'm glad you consider me a friend, Hyleth, but are we really that close?"

"Oh, come on, Cedric, you've got to have figured it out," Fred pitched in. "You might not be that close now, but you could be a lot closer soon enough."

It was clear he had put together that possibility before then; he simply wasn't willing to admit it.

"No, I didn't call you here to ask that of you. I'm not asking it of you, period," Hyleth insisted, her cheeks flaring pink. "And we might not be that close, but Pritchard also said friends I 'would trust with my life.' That is you. You were there along with me the night Voldemort returned. You saw him come back. You helped get us out of there as much as I did. And...you deserved to know why I survived the first time he tried to kill me, and why it allowed him to be able to come back these many years later."

Hermione was just about to point out – rather anxiously, she might add – that no, they hadn't actually been told why that had made Voldemort able to come back. Why Hyleth had survived the Killing Curse, yes, but –

"I'll do it."

The attention of the whole room was diverted.

Hyleth became pained. "Tonks – "

"You need thirteen spouses, and you only have a handful of slots chosen and over half of them are 'maybe's,'" the metamorphmagus said, her arms crossed. Her hair had gone back to its bubblegum pink. "It'd be good for you to have another hard 'yes.' Consider me it; I haven't applied to the Auror Academy yet, since the deadline is in December. But it can wait a few years."

Hermione opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

"You two are cousins," she said.

Tonks shrugged. "So?"

"We're all related, Hermione," Black took it upon himself to explain. "Well, maybe not you, but everyone else in this room is, to some degree. Magical people can inbreed more without repercussion than muggles. Of course, when somebody has an illness like mine or something else, that can lead to problems – "

"Please, think about it," Hyleth requested of Tonks, her voice uncharacteristically small. "Not just a few days. Give it a week, maybe more. It's not like we don't have time."

"Right, because you're getting married to Luna this month."

"Next Saturday, to be precise," Luna said dreamily, much to Theo's mixture of amusement and happiness for his cousin. "We did agree on the ninth. Each of you are invited. The non-binding ceremony will be here in the castle chapel, at eleven o'clock."

Hermione, much to her own surprise, hadn't known that there was a chapel inside Hogwarts. She'd never been to it, seeing as how she hadn't been raised in a religious family, and it hadn't been mentioned in Hogwarts: A History.

Tonks was obstinate. "I'm not going to change my mind, though."

"If you don't, you don't," Hyleth said. "I just want you to be sure."

Cedric shifted in his seat. Hermione almost half-expected him to make his own declaration to marry Hyleth. He had dated the theta Cho Chang briefly last year, after she'd asked him to the Yule Ball. Their relationship hadn't lasted long: they'd broken up by the time the Second Task had come around. Hermione didn't know why, and honestly, it didn't really matter.

Teenage relationships, for the most part, were meant to be trivial things. Short. Not to last for one's whole lifetime.

Alas, Cedric kept his mouth shut.

Ginny looked at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace and winced. "It's almost two o'clock in the morning. No wonder I'm feeling so tired, especially since we've been a few hours ahead of here. Sorry," she said. "Can we cut it off here tonight, for the most part? If you still have questions, we can answer them later."

Almost everyone agreed. Tonks and Cedric were the first to go, getting to their feet and bidding their adieus. Ron walked out with a huff, pointedly not looking at Hyleth or his sister. They were hurt, albeit they did their best not to show it.

"Give him some time, Gin-Gin," George advised. "You know how he is."

She laughed. "Better than most."

"We'd hope so, since he's your twin."

Hermione hung around for a moment. She knew she should catch up with Fred, George, and Ron. Her feet, however, seemed to be rooted to their spot.

She watched as Luna flounced over to Hyleth and placed a kiss on her cheek. Hyleth appeared to have been somewhat expecting it, yet her flush returned with a vengeance. "Goodnight, Hyleth," Luna said.

"Goodnight, Luna."

"Goodnight, Theo, Ginny."

"'Night Luna," they said in almost unison.

The Ravenclaw skipped out of the room, leaving Hermione with the mated trio.

She noticed how Ginny and Black were looking at her, almost...with a sort of expectation, one that Hyleth didn't have. "Did you decide you wanted to talk with us tonight?" Ginny inquired hesitantly.

"It can wait for another day. I'm tired, too," Hermione said, and she was. But it was a lie all the same. She did her best to smile; she had a feeling the tears beading in her eyes belied it. "I just wanted to say...I'm happy for you, as long as you are."

"I'm not happy about what my mum did to me, but I am happy that it brought me together with Ginny and Theo," said Hyleth. "And Luna, too. The more I get to know her, the more I like her."

"And we are most certainly happy," Black nodded.

"Good," Hermione replied. She cleared her throat. "I'll see you later at breakfast."

She did not wait for them to respond as she left the room.

Ron was long gone by the time she got out, but Fred and George were there waiting for her. Neither of them actually spoke to her as they flanked her on either side; they talked over her about various things, like if Cedric was going to decide to become one of Hyleth's mates (their answers were undoubtedly yes, and they placed bets on how long it would take for him to decide on it), Fred's plans for his date with Angelina on the first Hogsmeade trip of the term, some preliminary gossip they'd learned, and etcetera, and etcetera.

It was, perhaps, the nicest thing they'd ever done for her.

But their company could only be a distraction for so long. Once they got back to Gryffindor Tower, they went their respective ways. Hermione went to the dormitory for the fifth-year omegas and beta (or unpresented) girls, and found the other four occupants – Lavender, Parvati, Seamus, who had settled into being an omega since his disastrous presentation in their third year, and Emma Vane – asleep.

Hyleth's and Ginny's now former beds were still in the room. The house-elves must've not been alerted to the female alpha having presented over the summer break, as they typically were for omegas and betas. Hermione's breath caught, seeing their beds.

She went to her own, not bothering to get undressed besides taking off her school robes. Pulling the curtains shut, she threw a Silencing Charm over them.

It was only then that she allowed herself to fall apart. Laying down in her bed, a hand placed over her mouth despite it not being necessary, she sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking.

She didn't stop for a long time, not until sunlight began to appear over the horizon. By then, the time for sleep had long since passed, so she quietly got out of her bed and went into the bathroom. Her throat was parched from all of the water she had lost. She got herself a glass of water, downed it quickly, and refilled it. Then, her wand in her hand, she began to use the few healing spells that she knew and were relevant on her face.

If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that she wasn't going to let anyone know she had spent so much of the night crying her eyes out, let alone the reason why.

When Hyleth, Ginny, and Black came down to the Great Hall, Black said his goodbyes to them quickly prior to him going over to sit with his friends at the Slytherin table. He had to, as while there weren't any classes today due to the weekend, the professors were passing out their time-tables. It would give the first years time to figure out how to navigate the castle and the general area where their classes were.

The seating arrangements were probably a good thing, anyways. Zabini, Greengrass, Davis, and Runcorn looked like they would've pounced on Black, had he not joined them.

"You might want to read this," Hermione said in lieu of a greeting as Hyleth and Ginny sat down across from her, sliding that morning's copy of The Daily Prophet across the table. The headline read: HYLETH POTTER: MAGICAL BRITAIN'S MOST ELIGIBLE WITCH NO MORE! MARRIED TWICE-OVER AT AGE FIFTEEN!

Hyleth grimaced. "At least it's not Skeeter. Still, how did they – ?"

"A student must've told them," Ginny muttered.

"They found the records of our marriages in the Ministry files," Hyleth said as she skimmed through the article. She rolled her eyes at a few things. "They like that you and Theo are both purebloods, and that Theo comes from a Dark family."

"Of course they do."

"And they're wondering how I presented, since I wasn't an alpha during the Triwizard Tournament, although they think maybe I was using scent-blockers at the time."

"They can just keep on wondering, then."

They'd only been married for two weeks, and yet they acted like they'd been far longer.

Some of their fellow Gryffindors looked as if they wanted to ask Hyleth and Ginny questions, and there was no deterrent in the form of Hyleth's Slytherin mate as there was last night. But they were fortunately stopped by the arrival of Fred, George, and Ron. The Weasley brothers sat down, Ron next to Hermione, and Fred and George next to Ginny. "'Morning, Ginny," Fred said.

She said her greetings back.

Ron did not say anything, and kept his eyes on his breakfast once he helped himself to the spread. This was far better progress than how he'd previously acted when he got very upset, and was probably evidence of the elder Weasley twins having talked to him before they'd come downstairs. Nevertheless, Hermione decided to count it as a win. Hyleth and Ginny appeared to agree with her, as they didn't poke the proverbial bear.

It wasn't like they didn't have something else far more important to worry about: the arrival of Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Hyleth and Ginny became increasingly reclusive from the conversations going on around them throughout the meal, and they started to pick at their plates more than they ate from them. Professor McGonagall coming over to hand them their timetables did nothing to help.

"A few things, Ms. and Mrs. Potter," she said. "Professor Dumbledore has informed me that your parents, Mrs. Potter, will be arriving at nine-thirty this morning. Your meeting with them will be held in his office. He suggests you get there by nine-fifteen, forty-five minutes from now."

"Joy," Ginny deadpanned.

"He has also told me that you both are to report to the Hospital Wing tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. I trust you know the reason why."

Dumbledore must've not told her about Ginny and Theo being pregnant yet. Maybe he had decided to wait for the Weasleys to find out and/or for Madam Pomfrey to do whatever she needed. Hermione knew she and their other professors would soon enough. They had to, most of all with McGonagall being their Head of House.

"Yes, Professor," said Ginny.

"We were going to go anyways," said Hyleth. At their professor's raised eyebrow: "For Theo, since he has to see her at the start of every year."

"I see," Professor McGonagall replied. "I wish you luck in both ventures, whatever the reason may be for the second one."

After she left, Hermione gently asked, "Are you going to tell your parents about…that?"

Ron scoffed wordlessly, poking at his eggs.

"There's no point in hiding it," Ginny mumbled. "What are we going to do? Wait nine months, then pop home and surprise them? 'Mum, Dad, I know we didn't tell you, but – '"

"Ginny," Hyleth moaned.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I'm just...worried."

Hermione did what she could to redirect her: "What about everything else?"

"My dad should've told them anything else they need to know," Hyleth said.

"Well, it could be worse."

Ginny huffed. "Not by much."

At nine o'clock precisely, the two girls got to their feet, the redhead looking extraordinarily pale. There was one last question Hermione had: "Is Black coming with you?"

Hyleth craned her neck towards the Slytherin table. "No, he said his friends would probably want to talk with him. And you can call him Theo, by the way. He won't mind that much."

"Good luck," George spoke up.

"You'll need it," said Fred. He wasn't joking.

"What are you doing?" Ron muttered a few minutes after they'd left.

Hermione's lips pursed. She stared down at her piece of parchment. "I'm making a list."

"'A list?'" he repeated incredulously. "Wait, you mean for that? 'Mione, you can't seriously be – "

"Tonks had a point last night," she said. "And the 'candidates' they've been considering...they're mostly for political reasons."

"What other 'reasons' are there when it comes to – ?" He stopped himself at the last second with a thick swallow, as one could only imagine how bad it would be if anyone else besides his brothers overheard them.

She didn't say anything in reply.

In truth, Hermione needed something to put her mind to task. It was what she did best in times like this one. She'd spent most of her time in primary school reading books when the other students had ignored, if not outright bullied, her. She'd done her research into the basilisk in her second year and the Triwizard Tournament for Hyleth last year when their lives had been in danger, rather than dwelling on her worries and fears.

Negative emotions were better dealt with for her by working around, rather than through, them.

She started with Ravenclaw. Besides Luna, there weren't many more potential candidates in their year – and she was starting with their year first, because it was the lowest age she was willing to consider. Fifteen was bad enough, and she was only allowing it because it was their age; no person should be married off at fourteen, much less younger – from there. Padma, maybe. The other beta and omega girls still at Hogwarts in the House, Lisa Turpin, Sophie Roper, and Morag MacDougal more likely than not weren't viable, due to their bullying of Luna. Sue Li had left Hogwarts for private tutoring at the end of their third year because of her dueling championships.

Hufflepuff was next. Susan was a good candidate for more reasons than one; she put down Hannah, in spite of Hyleth having said she wasn't interested in her. Just in case. Megan Jones was the daughter of the Order member Hestia Jones, albeit Hermione didn't know much else about her. Sally-Anne Perks was a very kind girl; she was a Muggleborn, and from what Hermione knew of her, religious. The latter fact would probably make her unlikely to so much as think about being one of Hyleth's spouses, as was her right.

The Slytherins were more unknown. Pansy Parkinson was a definitely "not," as was her good friend, Millicent Bulstrode. Of Theo's friends, only Greengrass and Runcorn could be potential candidates. Neither of them had ever said anything bad about Hyleth, as far as Hermione was aware, nor were they the types to call Muggleborns "mudbloods" to their faces. That didn't necessarily mean they weren't the types to do it behind their backs.

"Hey, where did Hyleth and Ginny go?"

"Cedric!" She looked up, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry, they went to go have that meeting with her parents."

"Oh." He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Do you know when they'll be...done?"

"I'm afraid not."

"That's a shame," he remarked. "Since you're likely to see them again before I do, can you tell Hyleth that I, ah...want to talk with her?"

Fred and George didn't bother to be subtle about it: they exchanged their money above the table. The flash of motion caught Cedric's eye. His face went the color of a tomato.

"I will," she promised.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys around."

"'See you."

She gazed after him briefly, chewing her lip.

"You're missing Malfoy, you know."

Hermione blinked. "What?"

Lavender giggled beside her. Usually, they didn't sit close to each other, as Neville, Padma, Seamus, or Dean were more likely to sit next to her than Lavender, but today was an exception to the rule. The other beta girl pointed down at her sheet of parchment. "You're making a list of the beta girls and omegas in our year. I'm not going to ask why, you can keep your secrets like you always do," she said. "But you're missing Malfoy. Rumor has it this morning that he presented as an omega over the summer."

Word Count: 3,560