章 39: Result
Hermione couldn't cry anymore, she had no more tears left. The old her had heard the stories from Harry, from Sirius, from Remus, but she'd never really had an immediate link to James and Lily's death. All of the stories she'd heard focused on Lily protecting her son in the upstairs bedroom. Very few of them spoke of the man who'd waited downstairs, trying to act as a buffer between his family and evil. Lily's love saved Harry. She'd heard that over and over again, but now she wondered. Hermione Potter thought that these memories showed that both parents had played specific roles in the protection of their son. Most of the really old magic required a balance of masculine and feminine magic. It only made sense that Lily and James had combined their power to save their son.
Why? Why is this happening to me? Why am I seeing this? Why now?
I think it's my fault.
Your fault? You weren't a seer.
Yes, but I, we, you, whoever—came back to restore balance. I belonged here. I am you, or you are me, oh hell. Anyway, you need this to restore balance. I never knew half of what Harry knew. The prat always held his cards very close to his chest. He worried about upsetting us, I think. If this is the kind of shit he was seeing, I can sort of see his point. I think this seeing thing is an important piece, it will give you information that will help you. I mean, we're not letting James die this time, right?
NO! Not James!
Right, see I was paying attention earlier. So you being a seer will help you save his life.
Sure, if Voldemort doesn't use me as a play toy first.
What are you talking about?
Seers are incredibly rare, incredibly valuable, and often don't live long if the right dark wizard comes along. I suspected…but I only had weird flashes here and there that I put down to your memories, but lately…there's no way you remember any of this.
Uh, no. God no. No wonder Harry and Sirius had nightmares. I feel bad now for all the times I yelled at Sirius for drinking. Hell, I feel like a drink.
Doesn't this strike you as a little trite? I'm a seer? Boom! A new magic power?
Not really. You have to realize that right now you have forty years worth of experience wrapped up in a sixteen year-old body. Would you find it as odd if we were talking about a forty-year-old witch?
Maybe not. Well, except for the seer part. That usually happens fairly young. I remember pitching a fit about Divination, and my parents gave in almost right away because I never asked for anything. I don't remember why I didn't want Divination, I just knew it was a waste of my time. I just don't remember any visions…not until lately. Why now?
Okay. I think I know the answer to that actually.
So? Could we share please?
It starts now. It all starts now. From now on, it's war.
Hermione started shuddering and she couldn't stop. There were no more tears, but her body shook with dry heaves. Lily pounded up the stairs and stared at her blood-sister, her best friend.
"Hermione?" She whispered. Her hand was tingling, but Hermione seemed locked inside herself. Almost like convulsions. This appeared to be very bad. Okay, then…time to expose some of what they had tried to keep hidden for the love of her sister. She didn't care if she was breaking the law. Hermione had carefully taught both Severus and herself how to nonverbally cast a patronus message. She had explained that in battle, it was necessary to do things quickly and efficiently.
"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Hermione is sick, and I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to floo her, I can't apparate and I'm worried that an owl will take too long. Oh! And, um, the house is sort of warded so you'll have to wait and have me let you in." Lily said clearly and quickly and then her doe was racing toward Potter manor.
The Potters and Sirius were all sitting down eating lunch when a silvery doe cantered into the dining room. She was beautiful and graceful and picked her way toward the head of the table where Mr. and Mrs. Potter sat. James had dropped his fork and stared at the patronus messenger. His eyes almost popped out of his head when Lily's worried voice echoed in the dining room.
"Dad, did you know you could do that?" James asked as soon as the patronus vanished. Mr. Potter blinked at his son.
"Er…no. Uh, I had debated the idea with Dumbledore, actually, but it was just an idea," Mr. Potter said slowly. He looked gobsmacked.
"Who cares about magical theory? Hermione's sick!" Dorea Potter jumped up from the table and the three men followed her. They apparated to Lily's house and all four people stared at it for a moment.
"Sort of warded?" Sirius snorted. "Sort of warded? This place makes Gringott's look lazy."
Lily opened the door and hurried out. Her face was pale, and fear lurked in the depths of her eyes. They could see that her wand was in her hand, hidden by her sleeve. She looked at James, and seemed to steel herself mentally.
"What happened at your parent's house this last Christmas?" she asked coldly. He blanched and glanced at his parents.
"Do we have to talk about that now?" He said weakly. She tossed her hair.
"Standard operating procedure," she muttered at him. "Answer the question or I assume you're hostile."
"Fine! We kissed under the mistletoe. Happy?" James hissed at her.
"Yes, actually. I will take you, and only you inside the wards," she said coldly. "Come on."
"I like her," Charlus observed fondly. Dorea and Sirius stared at him as thought he'd grown an extra head.
"Um, Mr. P, you might have noticed that she seems a little crazy paranoid?" Sirius pointed out carefully.
"That's why I like her. She's taking the protection of Hermione very seriously," Charlus observed.
James came out of the house, pale and grim-looking, Hermione clutched to his chest. She seemed to be shuddering or twitching, her eyes were open and staring. Lily's eyes were huge in her face, fear flickering there. Dorea took a step forward.
"Do you know what's wrong with her?" she asked urgently. Lily stuffed a fist in her mouth and shook her head frantically, tears streaking her pale cheeks. "St. Mungo's then, Charlus. James, let your father take her."
"Thank you, Lily," Charlus said gravely. "Later, I'd like to talk to you about your patronus."
"Of course, sir, but it's just a standard messenger patronus. Hermione taught Sev and I how to do it." Lily said innocently, confusion evident in her features.
"Standard? Like your sort of warded house?" Sirius couldn't help himself, this was getting weirder by the moment.
"Oh. Well, I don't know anything about wards. Severus took care of that for me." Lily explained wringing her hands. She couldn't talk about Lucius. That wasn't supposed to be common knowledge.
"Why would you do all of this?" Charlus asked in confusion. Lily looked at him oddly.
"To protect those I love, sir," she said with quiet dignity. She retreated into the house and shut the door. The four of them stood staring at one another for a minute before they left for St. Mungo's.
HP/HG/HP
"Jamie, damn it, I'm not going to break! Knock it off!" Hermione's screeching could be heard all over the manor. Dorea and Charlus Potter just looked at one another and sighed.
"It's your turn," Dorea observed quietly. Charlus rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but if I have to immobilize one of our children, it is not my fault," he muttered as he headed upstairs toward Hermione's rooms.
"It would be best if you just did both, dear," Dorea called after him, a slight smile playing about her lips.
"Now," Charlus said firmly from his daughter's doorway. "What, exactly, is going on in here?"
"Father, I am not an invalid, nor am I mentally deficient," Hermione began hotly, a becoming flush in her cheeks.
"My Own, you were at St. Mungo's for a week! You need to be careful," James argued just as hotly. Hermione shrieked with rage and pulled out her wand.
"Princess," Charlus said warningly. Hermione visibly tried to calm down and put her wand away. "Now, James, while I respect your concern for your sister, I cannot help but agree with her that you are taking things just a bit too far."
"But, Father!"
"He was trying to carry me to the facilities. Again!" Hermione's voice was getting more strident again, revealing her irritation with her brother.
"James, we've spoken about this. At length, son," Charlus said firmly. James had the grace to flush.
"What if they're wrong?" James' voice was anguished, and he'd turned away from Charlus and Hermione. Sirius moved toward James and touched his arm.
"What if who is wrong?" Charlus asked.
"The healers," Hermione said flatly, her chin rising as she prepared to fight.
"Ah," Charlus said in understanding. "James, Hermione is fine."
"Jamie," Hermione sighed heavily and moved toward James and Sirius. She hugged her brother, and to her surprise—Sirius became a part of the hug as well. She could of sworn that she felt the feather-light presence of his lips in her hair, but she ignored it for the moment.
"It'll be okay, Prongs," she heard Sirius mutter for James' ears. Probably not, but I'm not going to argue with either of you if I get to use the facilities by myself.
HP/HG/HP
"They're acting oddly, have you noticed?" James asked Sirius quietly in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express.
"Who?" Sirius looked up from his current girlfriend to stare at James with glazed eyes.
"Them. Lily and Severus and Hermione," James said.
"Oh, them. No, not really. A little intense maybe on the greetings, but that was it." Sirius whispered something in the girl's ear that made her giggle in a way that grated on James' nerves.
"They smelled of fear," Remus whispered quietly to James, frowning slightly.
"Who did?" James asked, just as quietly.
"Lily and Severus reeked of fear, I could smell them before I even saw them, but once they saw Hermione, and they were able to touch her…I don't know it was weird. Once they had each hugged her, they were calmer." Remus tried to explain the complex scents and emotions that he'd witnessed earlier on the platform.
"Why would they be afraid?" James muttered, thinking aloud.
"Her illness?" Remus shrugged. He wasn't certain, and he hated guessing.
"Hmm. Maybe," James said thoughtfully.
"Are you ever going to tell your sister? You know, about everything," Remus asked urgently. James glanced at Sirius, who had a hand up his girlfriend's shirt and his tongue down her throat and rolled his eyes at Remus.
"Are you okay with that?" James asked with a frown. Remus' well being was very important to him.
"Yeah. For Hermione, yeah. She's always been my friend, always stood up for me," Remus said softly. James frowned.
"Maybe we should," he said cautiously. "She probably won't be very happy to find out we've kept it from her for almost a year."
"We can talk about it once we're in the dorm room," Remus murmured, glancing at the girl with a moue of distaste. He wasn't a virgin, nor was he a prude, but some of the girls that Sirius chose to associate with made all of his lupine senses shudder with distaste. James nodded, a similar irritated look on his face.
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