Who's Cormac McLaggen?
The pair decided on breakfast at Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. Hermione sighed and smiled when they walked inside to find it looking more like an average tea shop and less like a party store’s Valentine’s display had exploded inside.
Once they were seated, Narcissa grinned a little and questioned Hermione’s reaction to the shop.
“Last time I was here it was Valentine’s Day during sixth year and the decor was...let’s just say it was quite festive. I’m pleased to see it’s more...simple today,” Hermione answered quietly.
Chuckling, Narcissa replied, “I should imagine it would. Valentine’s Day fell during a Hogsmead weekend for the students? I bet everything in here was pink!”
Hermione bit her lip to contain her laughter as she nodded.
“Don’t you two just look the prize,” their waitress gushed as she walked over. “So happy to have you here today. What can I get you?”
“Thank you, Gwen,” Narcissa answered first. “We’ll start with tea, please.”
“Coming right up! Here’s the morning paper if you want to see,” Gwen dropped a copy of the Prophet on their table.
Sliding their chairs next to one another, Hermione unfolded the paper and they took in the front page. Just below the fold a banner ran across the page as though it was flying behind a prop plane, “New Section! Detailed coverage of Death Eater trials! New Section! Who is still at large? New Section! Death Eaters named at last!”
“Oh, God, this could get dangerous for everyone,” Hermione whispered, her finger running along beneath the repeating byline. “I hope Emily Limus knows what she’s doing.”
Narcissa, her hand pressed against her chest, spoke, “I think she might. Look at this, she’s detailed the results of each trial so far. And she has a list of the upcoming trials and the crimes allegedly committed by those Death Eaters. She’s reminding people we’re not really safe yet. She’s lighting her own spark, Hermione. Without outright asking, she’s raising the question of how the Ministry can be concerned about our marital statuses when they haven’t caught the Death Eaters who are still roaming free throughout our country.”
“It’s brilliant,” Hermione’s eyes moved quickly as she read. “Oh, and she, oh, no.” Hermione folded the paper in half, covering the article. Her face paled and her shoulders dropped.
“What?” Narcissa asked, looking intently at Hermione. She reached for the paper, “What is it, Hermione?”
Before Hermione could answer, Gwen returned with their tea. “Anything for breakfast, dears?”
Absently replying, Hermione requested scones, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Gwen tilted her head a bit at the combination but nodded and left to put their meal together.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Narcissa demanded quietly. “What did you read?”
“It’s, oh, Cissa, it’s Draco. Draco’s listed here as a Death Eater at large.”
Narcissa’s face nearly turned gray as she silently moved Hermione’s hand to hold the paper open once more. Hermione let go of the paper with one hand and pointed to where she had read Draco’s name. Next to it, he was marked as unarrested. His alleged crimes in a list beneath his name.
Narcissa traced the accusations with her index finger, commenting on each point, “If people think he tried to kill Albus Dumbledore, they’ll be tearing down the gates to get to him. Cursing and poisoning fellow students, an Unforgivable on Rosmerta? And...Hermione. Did my son try to..to kill you?”
“No? At least, I’ve never thought so,” Hermione said in a quiet rush.
“I don’t imagine he would be so willing to accept...this...if he had attempted to end your life. Right?”
“I agree, completely. Narcissa?”
“I see it,” her voice had taken on an icy quality. “I’m cleared, apparently. Along with Stan Shunpike and several others who all claimed to be held under the Imperius curse.”
“We need to get those interviews with Filhous started. Listing you here, like this, makes it seem as though you did something of which you needed to be cleared when it’s the opposite,” Hermione answered, her voice shaking.
“I believe Mister Flihous and Harry are meeting today, in fact,” Narcissa took a deep breath, forcing her heart rate to slow and keeping her irritation, frustration, and fear hidden behind the cold expression she was so accustomed to sporting.
“Good, then maybe you and I can meet with him tomorrow?”
Narcissa tilted her head, her eyes narrowing, “Hermione, have you not been checking your post box?”
Eyes widening, Hermione shook her head.
“I’m sure Filhous has owled you. I contacted him immediately after you left Wednesday night and he sent a message back with Paionia that he would love to write the series of interviews. We went back and forth a bit more with Ulysses so that he had a few people to contact right away and he said he would get started in good faith and sign the contract at my leisure.”
Grimacing and shrugging her shoulders, “Can we go by and check the post after Hogwarts?”
Narcissa nodded, quickly closing the paper back up when she saw Gwen on her way with their breakfast.
“I wasn’t sure if you were ordering for the both of you so if you don’t want this all I can take it back but here’s eggs and back bacon for each of you and a plate of scones to share?”
“That’s perfect, Gwen, thank you,” Narcissa smiled warmly. “Would you happen to have any clotted cream and jam?”
“Blackcurrant?”
“Exactly what I was hoping for,” Narcissa smiled again.
Gwen hurried off to collect the cream and jam for Narcissa while Hermione folded up the Prophet and set it aside. Breakfast after that was a quiet affair. The couple murmured pleasantries about the weather and who they thought might be attending the wedding that evening.
Finishing up, Narcissa made eye contact with Gwen who came right over. “Everything was delightful, of course. I’m sure we’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, lovely, lovely,” she answered, smiling widely.
“Would you be able to bill us at Gringotts? The Black family vault.”
Gwen nodded, “Of course, Miss Black, absolutely. Your cost was thirteen sickles and eleven knuts, we’ll send that bill over today.”
“Thank you,” Hermione and Narcissa said together, standing.
Gwen turned away as another table called for her attention.
“Darling, I dropped my own handbag in yours, can you get it out quickly? I’d like to leave a few sickles on the table before we go.”
“Three?”
Narcissa nodded, shrugging a bit in agreement.
Instead of summoning Narcissa’s handbag, Hermione summoned her own change purse from inside her bag. Once she took care of the tip, the women were off to Hogwarts.
As they crossed the footbridge drawing them nearer the castle, Narcissa broke the silence that had fallen between them. “When I asked if Draco had tried to kill you, your answer was that you’d never thought so. That was an odd way to answer my question. Can you please explain what you meant?”
Hermione blew out a long stream of air before beginning her answer. “It was, uh, the night of the big battle here at Hogwarts is my guess. That’s the only time any conflict between us ever escalated to the point of actually almost dying. Harry, Ron, and I were trying to finish this...quest we were set on by Dumbledore and it took us to the Room of Requirement. Draco, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle followed us in.”
“Was it the night Vincent perished? In the Fiendfyre?”
Hermione nodded, tears starting to leak from her eyes.
“So...they were trying to kill you,” Narcissa whispered, her voice a strangled croak.
“No. Only Crabbe was trying to kill us. He cast the killing curse at Ron and me after Harry ran off to find the lost diadem. When that didn’t work and he couldn’t seem to hit any of us with anything, he went for Fiendfyre. Draco actually repeatedly told him not to kill. He didn’t listen and he ended up dying. Draco was only there to get his wand back from Harry.”
“How did you all get out?” Narcissa had wrapped her arm around Hermione’s waist as they walked and squeezed the younger woman as close to her side as she could.
“There were some old broomsticks in there. We jumped on and started to fly out. We heard Draco and Goyle shouting for help and we certainly couldn’t let them die in the fire so we went back for them. The five of us barely made it out of there alive.”
Narcissa fell quiet for the rest of their walk. Finally, as they came to a stop before the gates of Hogwarts, Narcissa spoke again. “I knew Draco had a conflict that involved Fiendfyre, I knew it killed Vincent. That’s when my wand was destroyed. I don’t think I ever knew it involved you, Harry, and Ron, though. I never realized Vincent was trying to kill anyone. My son...my son made choices I wish he had never had the option to make. He took the Dark Mark. He surrounded himself with, he chose friends who would kill people. He cursed and poisoned fellow students? What else has he done, Hermione? Who is my son? Who is my Draco?”
Seeing the headmistress headed their way, Hermione turned quickly to Narcissa and placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “Look at me, please. I’m sure that hearing all these things at once must be overwhelming but stop. First and foremost, you must continue to do what you’ve always done. Protect him. Get McGonagall to agree that anything he did during his time as a student is under the purview of Hogwarts and not subject to Ministerial punishment. The rest we can speak about later.”
“Of course,” Narcissa breathed, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to Hermione’s lips. “Thank you for that.”
“Anytime,” Hermione smirked, pulling the other woman in for one more kiss. “Can you also, while chatting with McGonagall ask if we can stay at her cottage tonight?”
“Ladies, good morning,” the professor offered once she was close enough to be heard without shouting. Instead of simply opening the gates, Minerva pulled out her wand and began manipulating the wards around the grounds. “Miss Granger, pull open the gates, step through, and close them behind you, please.”
“Oh, uh, of course, Professor but, Narcissa also,” Hermione stuttered.
“It’s okay, Hermione, do as she asks. The headmistress is allowing you passage through the wards so you can enter the gates without assistance.”
Hermione pressed her lips together and followed the directions she’d been given, then watched as McGonagall began the complicated wand movements again.
“Now you, Miss Black; pull the gates open, step through, and close them behind you.”
Eyebrows raised, Narcissa did as she was told without argument.
“There, now you will both be recognized by Hogwarts,” Minerva began walking back toward the castle. “No apparition, of course, as you know but you can pass through the gates anytime you visit. If you arrive unexpectedly and you need something, call for Winky. She’ll pop down to the gates and then alert me. Otherwise, I’ll assume all of your visits to Hogwarts have an educational purpose. Questions?”
Hermione and Narcissa glanced at one another, not expecting the brusque tone of voice. “Yes, professor. Have you warded the entirety of the grounds? The secret passages? The Room of Requirement? Who can pass through the wards?”
Snorting quietly, Narcissa nodded along with all of Hermione’s questions.
“Hogwarts was always warded to allow only students to enter the castle grounds. However, once a witch or wizard became a student, they were granted permanent access to Hogwarts. That left us devastatingly vulnerable, as you know. We’ve updated the wards so that they allow only current students, apprentices, faculty, and governors onto the grounds without an escort - governors, however, will cause an alert to the House Elves on steward duty and the faculty member in charge at the moment will be notified of their presence. The secret passages we know of are also warded now much more carefully. Our one weak point is still the Room of Requirement.”
“It’s within the castle so it should be warded,” Narcissa shook her head, frowning.
“Yes. It should be. And yet, Fenrir Greyback was able to enter the castle through the Room of Requirement and he was never a student here. That shows us that the Room - “
“Is able to create a tunnel through the wards,” Hermione interrupted.
“Precisely.”
The trio crossed the grounds seeing students flying around the quidditch pitch and sitting in the stands watching. After they passed the Whomping Willow, Hermione looked down towards Hagrid’s hut to see if he was home. She spotted a student headed that way, walking slowly, all alone. He looked a bit like Colin Creevey but Hermione knew it couldn’t be him. She reached for Narcissa’s hand, unthinking.
Murmuring, Narcissa asked after her fiancée.
Minerva turned to see what had happened and followed Hermione’s line of sight. “Oh. Yes,” she sighed deeply. “Dennis Creevey. He might’ve been better off taking the year away. He seems to have found solace in Hagrid, though.”
“Hagrid has always been a respite for students who need a little extra care,” Hermione spoke from experience. Narcissa gently squeezed the hand she held.
“It helps, too, that the apprentices Hagrid has taken on are also a bit...of a hodge-podge.”
“Was Dennis a friend of yours? You seem worried for him.” Narcissa asked as they walked on.
“No, not really friends. His older brother was a year behind us and quite enamored with Harry. Colin used to follow us around taking photos of Harry,” Hermione smiled at the memories.
“And Colin? Is he a seventh year now?”
Hermione shook her head, pulling Narcissa closer, “Colin, I’m afraid, didn’t do as he was told back in May. He snuck back to Hogwarts and joined the battle instead of going home with Dennis and his parents from the evacuation site in the Hog’s Head. He didn’t survive.”
“A child,” Narcissa’s voice was anguished.
“Another child. Tom Riddle never had a problem killing children. Neither did most of his loyal followers, unfortunately,” Minerva said darkly. “Hogwarts lost seven students in May in addition to a large number of alumni who were working for the betterment of society and a staggering number of alumni who were, sadly, working against it.”
All three women fell silent, lost in their thoughts and memories about that tragic time.
As they climbed the steps to the front doors of the castle, Minerva broke the silence at last, “Miss Granger, as you know, we’ve accepted quite a few apprentices this year. As such, the professors' schedules are likely to be more hectic than usual. They’re going to meet with you today in the staff room just down the corridor.” She pushed the doors open and gestured in the direction Hermione needed to go.
“Thank you, professor. And the password?”
“You won’t need one, just tell the gargoyles why you’re here. The staffroom isn’t off limits. Miss Black, it’s quite fortuitous that you arrived with Miss Granger, there’s actually something I’d like to discuss with you. Would you join me in my office?”
“Of course, Headmistress,” Narcissa dipped her head respectfully and followed McGonagall to the seventh floor. The journey was silent. Narcissa anxiously wondered what she was in for.
“Password?” The gargoyle asked.
“Teagasg aonachd,” the headmistress responded.
“A Scottish password,” Narcissa observed, “brilliant.”
“Yes, well, Albus wasn’t the only one who had a way with words,” Minerva smirked and raised an eyebrow at Narcissa as she stepped onto the rising circular staircase.
Narcissa followed and the two made small talk as they entered and got settled in the Headmistress' office. Tea service appeared on the corner of the desk but Narcissa waved it off.
“Now, you’re a down-to-business kind of woman and I appreciate that, so I’m going to get right to the point,” Minerva started. “I find our Board of Governors severely lacking. In addition to three empty seats due to death we have an additional three sitting empty while their appointed governors waste away in Azkaban. There are two more seats that are filled but those governors are on the run, it seems. All twelve seats, notably, are held by wizards.”
“What?” Narcissa was more floored by the last statement than the ones previous.
“Yes. Disturbing, isn’t it? I don’t know for sure how long it’s been that way but it’s unacceptable. We need a balance on the Board. Witches, wizards, purebloods, half bloods, muggleborns, people of leisure, working people; a mix of governors who will bring different viewpoints to each decision.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“I’d like you to fill the seat Lucius held,” Minerva looked right into Narcissa’s eyes.
Narcissa’s eyes immediately widened and her mouth opened as if to speak but nothing came out.
“I didn’t think it would be such a shock. It’s just a school board,” the headmistress bristled.
Narcissa snapped her mouth shut and swallowed before she finally answered, “I was just caught completely off guard. Would it even be possible for me to assume Lucius’ seat? How does one become a member of the Board of Governors?”
“It seems some seats have been long held by family members of the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight. Lucius was actually sitting in the Black family seat.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“It seems the Malfoy family, though included in the Sacred Twenty-Eight, could not prove their ancestry far enough to demand a seat on the Board, so Lucius took yours. It was apparently to go to Bellatrix but she was uninterested and then sent to Azkaban. Andromeda was disowned and deemed ineligible to fill a Black family chair.” Minerva pointedly raised both eyebrows; it had become a signature look.
Narcissa leaned back in her chair, tilting her head in thought. “The seat on the Board would have gone to the eldest and then passed down in order until it could be filled by an appropriate family member and the Board deemed Lucius the appropriate representative for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?”
“It seems that way,” the headmistress replied.
“I do believe we will hold onto that chair and will fill it with an appropriate governor when formally requested.”
“You’ll be asked soon. You won’t be able to wait for Miss Granger to finish her studies if that’s your goal.”
Narcissa smirked and shook her head gently. “It’s not; Hermione, however brilliant, lacks the experience to be a Board member just yet. WIth my parents and Bellatrix gone, Andromeda is now considered a full member of the House once more.”
“I see,” Minerva nodded, smiling at Narcissa. “I look forward to one of the sisters Black joining the Board of Governors then. Now, you looked concerned when I met you at the gate. What’s going on?”
“We are concerned. I don’t want to take advantage of you or this opportunity to speak with you but I’m very worried about Draco,” Narcissa’s eyes teared up.
“This morning’s Prohpet?”
Narcissa nodded, forlorn.
“Then I’m sure you won’t think it too forward of me that I sent owls immediately to both the Prophet and the Department for Magical Law Enforcement reminding them that if they are referencing any events that happened while any witch or wizard was a student at Hogwarts they are violating that student’s right to privacy. I further stated that if they are seeking to try him or her for something that has either not been proven or has already been punished they will have an embarrassing legal battle on their hands. I also reminded the Prophet that publishing anything that allegedly happened while someone was a student without the express permission of said person is a violation of his or her right to privacy as a minor and that if I found out who was attempting to feed them information from Hogwarts that person would be fired or otherwise appropriately punished.”
“Oh,” Narcissa slumped into her seat, “oh, that’s brilliant.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do anything about the accusation that he attempted to kill Harry, Ron, and Hermione but I’m sure Harry himself is going to take care of that. He was fuming about it this morning when he alerted me to Draco’s name in the article.”
“He did? Harry did that?”
“Yes, he owled me first thing this morning and asked if we could meet right away. Of course, I agreed. We met at the gates and he was quite upset about what the new section of the Prophet said about Draco. He wanted to know what I could do about it and he told me he would take care of what he could in his interview.”
“That Harry,” Narcissa smiled. “How is he such a great person?”
“I honestly cannot answer that question. After his childhood? The struggles he’s made it through? I sit in awe of him.”
Narcissa agreed wholeheartedly. “There is, just, one more thing,” she blinked slowly.
“Go ahead.”
“Hermione and I had quite a rough day yesterday. We were out all morning and when we arrived back at her flat, Ronald Weasley was there being extremely...demanding, bigoted, and aggressive. After Hermione sent him away, we went to Black Manor and there were six Death Eaters outside doing Merlin knows what.”
“Oh, my - who? Did you report it?”
“Report it to whom? People are allowed to be on the street. Just because we found it threatening doesn’t mean whichever Auror was on duty would agree.”
Minerva dropped her head into her hands. “The Ministry is handling this all so poorly. If they would just do the most basic inquiry into each of the accused Death Eaters they could warn the public and put them on house arrest at the very least. Who was at Black Manor?”
Pursing her lips for a moment before answering, Narcissa finally gave up the names.
“The Carrows? The Carrows were at your house? The Carrows are still free? Alecto and Amycus Carrow?”
Narcissa nodded, remaining silent.
“This is quite a disturbing turn of events. What did you do?”
Bristling, Narcissa’s eyes blazed, “Everything I could to help the Ministry even though it put myself and my son at risk.”
“No, no, no, I know that. I meant yesterday. What did you do yesterday? When you found them outside.”
“Oh,” Narcissa deflated a bit, “we decided to go away for the weekend and headed to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, we would rather not spend another night at Lizzie’s Tea House. We were hoping you might be so gracious as to allow us to spend the night at your cottage again this evening after the Greengrass-Rowle wedding.”
“Lizzie? The mousy little thing who always looked at you like you made the sun rise each day?”
Narcissa groaned, “Was I really the only one who didn’t know she had feelings for me?”
“You didn’t know?”
“She was my best friend! I had never had a friend before, I didn’t know our friendship was unusually intense. I was just happy to have someone who didn’t, you know, randomly hex me.”
“Like your sisters?”
“Yes! Both of them! Andromeda was, of course, not as bad but when she couldn’t get back at Bella she took it out on me.”
Minerva bit her lip, trying to hide her smirk at the antics the Black sisters must have gotten up to as children. “So, Elizabeth confessed her feelings for you finally? After all these years? And what about Hermione?”
“Yes, last night, she said she’d been in love with me for years. She seemed to think Hermione was just kind of...inconsequential?”
“She’s obviously never seen you two together, then,” Minerva smiled gently at her former student who was fast becoming a friend.
“That’s just it! We had literally just had dinner together! Hermione and I were practically glued to one another’s sides! It was cruel. Hermione and I were absolutely exhausted and both just wanted to go to bed but Lizzie asked if we would join her for a nightcap by the fireplace. I started to turn it down but Mione, having the friendship she does with Harry, I think, was trying to make sure I also was able to keep my oldest friend and encouraged me to stay up for one drink even though she was going up to bed.”
“She is a very thoughtful person,” Minerva agreed.
“She is,” Narcissa’s eyes brightened, “So Hermione and I walked through the gardens before going inside. That should have been a bigger clue than it was.”
“Clue?” Minerva frowned.
Narcissa shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. “The garden was filled with daffodils. Absolutely filled. Every single flower. Only daffodils.”
Shrugging, the headmistress merely commented that it seemed odd.
Narcissa chuckled drily. “Not much for herbology either, are you? Do you know the scientific name for a daffodil?”
“I can’t say that I do,” Minerva answered.
“Narcissus.”
“Oh. An entire...oh. That must have been...a bit unsettling.”
“It was but I just sort of rolled my eyes. Hermione commented on it and Elizabeth simply said that daffodils had long been her favorite but she stared Hermione down as she said it. Hermione agreed with the sentiment and stared right back for a moment before going up to bed.”
“Hmm, that almost seems like Hermione gave up.”
“Well, we kissed goodnight first...a few times,” Narcissa blushed. Clearing her throat, she didn’t give Minerva a chance to comment, she continued, “So after Mione went up to bed, Elizabeth declared her intentions. She had been excited when I announced the end of my marriage to Lucius and was quite upset to find out about Hermione. I made it clear that I would not be choosing anyone else and that Hermione...was it for me.”
“And now you need my cottage,” Minerva smiled.
Narcissa looked at Minerva, hope in her eyes.
“Of course, you may use it. I’ve been invited to the Greengrass-Rowle wedding myself. Though I have another engagement in Hogsmeade this evening as well.”
“Perhaps you could do both?”
“That’s the plan,” Minerva smiled. She called for Winky and asked the House Elf to set up the same bedrooms that Narcissa and Hermione had used the previous weekend.
“Thank you very much,” Narcissa said after Winky had gone. “Now tell me, how has your first week gone? Sixty students joining after the start of term and a handful of brand new apprentices, right? Must have been a breeze,” she smirked teasingly.
Minerva slouched in her chair, dramatically dropping her head back. “Sixty-seven students to be precise. Sixty-seven additional seventh year students! This week they didn’t get a full schedule, unfortunately, we simply didn’t have time to negotiate the entire thing but next week they’ll get a full load of their choices of NEWT level courses.”
“Did they go back to their house dormitories? And the apprentices? Are they all in the towers and dungeons with everyone else?”
Minerva shook her head immediately. “No, no, I wasn’t comfortable with that. Some of the witches and wizards who came back for apprenticeships are twenty years old, I did not think it appropriate having them share living space with an eleven year old.”
“So where did you put them?”
“All of the students who are returning for additional time or for an apprenticeship found lodging in the Room of Requirement. That space is genius. It gave them a common room and separate bedrooms like spokes off a wheel instead of towers. It made everyone a bit more equal and doesn’t seem like any one dormitory over another.”
Narcissa let out a surprised bark of laughter, shaking her head at how much Hogwarts itself worked towards unity. The two witches continued discussing the Hogwarts students and apprentices through lunch and neither realized just how much time had passed until a disembodied voice interrupted them.
“Hermione Granger to see you, Headmistress.”
Surprised faces looked at one another across the desk before the Headmistress called for Hermione to be allowed up and magically opened the door from her seat. Hermione, eyes alight, walked quickly across the large office.
“You look like you’ve just won the day,” Narcissa teased.
“I did, I think,” Hermione grinned. “Every one of the professors I met with today had me do a quick demonstration of technique or understanding of material. They were all extremely pleased with my skill and knowledge and we’ve agreed that I’ll spend the next few weeks, possibly a month, communicating with them via owl and doing all the text based work while they settle into this more intense schedule.”
Narcissa frowned, confused. “If every professor simply wanted a quick demonstration, what took so long?”
Hermione grinned broadly. “Every professor except one.”
“Ahhh,” McGonagall interjected sagely. “Met the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, have you?”
“I certainly have. I had no idea Cormac McLaggen had a sister!”
“Who’s Cormac McLaggen?”
“A young man your Hermione once dated,” Minerva teased. “And he has two sisters to be precise and a brother.”
“You never told me about Cormac,” Narcissa turned to look at Hermione, surprised she hadn’t heard of this Cormac fellow before.
“I did not date him! We went to the Slug Club Christmas Party sort of together but not like dating together, just together at the same, you know what? Never mind that! He has an older sister? And she’s a professor! And she made me take forever!”
McGonagall fell back in her chair laughing at Hermione’s red cheeks and flustered voice. “What did she make you demonstrate?”
“Oh, demonstrate? A simple demonstration would have been fine. Professor McLaggen required a verbal test and. A. Duel...a duel!”
“No,” Minerva gasped, “she made you duel? Whom? Not another student, certainly.”
“Her! She made me duel her!”
Narcissa reached for Hermione’s hand to pull her onto the couch beside herself. “Darling, that’s not that unreasonable. Perhaps she wanted…” Narcissa trailed off at the glare on Hermione’s face.
Leaning forward, Hermione - without asking - fixed herself a cup of tea and started talking. “Cissa, when we practiced dueling yesterday, you started by laying out ground rules, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I thought at first you were just being bossy but when I let myself really consider why you did that it was so I knew I was safe. You and I had both spent a lot of time - you especially - in extraordinarily unsafe, stressful conditions. Laying the foundation of our duel out to have clear expectations of what could and could not be used and how to end it if necessary let me feel safe enough to even try it.”
“Yes but our situation is different. We’re not in a school. I wasn’t trying to assess your defensive skills, I was trying to assess your power.”
“But we are in a school here. There were children watching...first years. If you and I hadn’t happened to have had that practice duel yesterday, I would probably have lost control today. She wasn’t trying to assess me.”
The headmistress interrupted, “What was she trying to do, Hermione?”
“Show me up. Embarrass me, maybe. Prove that I’m just a mudblood with no real skill.” Hermione stopped speaking to sip her tea and relax next to Narcissa. “She insisted we move from the staff room to the Great Hall and use the staff dining table as a platform upon which to battle.”
“Was the Great Hall empty?” Minerva asked hopefully.
“Just before lunch on a Saturday?” She stared at McGonagall. “It started fine. I chose not to disarm her even though it’s my first instinct because I could tell that would just make her mad. I shielded and threw a few easy hexes at her. She used magic a bit...darker, in nature. As the Hall grew more crowded, however, I was uncomfortable and asked how much more she wanted to see. She asked if that meant I was surrendering.”
“Darker?” Narcissa asked, her voice a dangerous blend of silk and smoke.
“Confringo, Levicorpus, Furnunculus, Sectumsempra, you understand. I blocked them all - she doesn’t cast very well. Lots of extra embellishments in her attack. It went on for a long while and I was growing tired of it. I was about to simply body-bind her and deal with the consequences but I was distracted by Neville coming in for lunch. She got a rough one at me then, obscuro, and I thought I was in trouble for a minute there,” Hermione smirked and took another sip of her tea.
“Well? What happened!” Narcissa demanded.
“I silently cast muffliato so the students wouldn’t hear what was happening. Then I used fumos to cover us up and a disillusionment just in case. A patronus to throw her off. Impedimenta if that didn’t work. Then, finally, I very calmly used a finite incantatum followed by a very quick, very direct expelliarmus.”
Just as Minerva was about to respond, a letter arrived through the Floo. “I’ll be a moment, ladies. Excuse me, please,” she stepped away.
“Sectumsempra,” Narcissa questioned quietly. “Why do I know that one? What does it do?”
“I think Snape created it. It slices your victim open. I think...I think it was used on Draco once?”
“Oh, Merlin, yes,” Narcissa shook her head, remembering. “I heard about that much later, I think. It was during the time my home was occupied and I was not allowed out of my rooms I believe. Lucius may even have been in Azkaban still?”
“You don’t...you don’t know Sectumsempra, do you,” Hermione stated.
“No, is it bad?”
“Fatal if not healed immediately with a spell, dittany, and luck. When it was used against Draco, it was sort of an accident. The user had no idea it would truly harm him and was devastated and guilt-ridden for months.”
Narcissa started to bristle but reminded herself that it had already occurred, been dealt with, and healed. There was no reason to get upset about it all over again. “That curse could be fatal and a professor just cast it at you?”
“She did. In front of students.”
“Hmm, McLaggen, you say?”
“Yes, Samantha McLaggen,” McGonagall answered. “The eldest of four children. An unusual family, for certain. They’re most alike in their differences, if that makes any sense at all.”
Narcissa and Hermione glanced at one another before shaking their heads.
“What I mean to say is that, their most striking similarity is the way they are all somehow a caricature of their Hogwarts house. Take Cormac, for example. Where we are known for bravery, Cormac was aggressive. We are quick-thinking, he is temperamental. We show loyalty to our friends, he feels entitled to receive that loyalty. Samantha was a Slytherin and she is all the things they say about Slytherins behind their backs. Manipulative, fake, self-serving. There was also a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff who bore the same exaggerated characteristics of their houses.”
“An odd family to be sure,” Hermione shook her head. “I don’t fancy studying DADA with her now, obviously.”
Narcissa, already seated next to Hermione, put her arm around the younger woman’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple in support.
“You won’t have to. I’ve just relieved her of the duty of your Independent Study. I did the same for Transfiguration, as you know. It hardly seems appropriate for our most advanced student to work with brand new professors. Nor does it seem fair to give brand new professors that kind of scheduling nightmare. So, you’ll have both of those subjects with me. Probably Muggle Studies, as well.”
Hermione dropped her head onto Narcissa’s shoulder and bit her lip to hold back her tears. When she finally had herself under control, she thanked the Headmistress profusely.
“Your first assignment for Transfiguration, ready?”
“Yes, professor,” Hermione sat up straight.
“Read and summarize - summarize, mind you, do not give me a word for word regurgitation - the first three chapters of Emeric Switch’s A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration and a two foot scroll on what you think was Mirabella Plunkett’s greatest contribution to transfiguration. I’ll have that on the twenty-eighth.”
“Yes, professor,” Hermione smiled, eyes bright.
“For Defense Against the Dark Arts, you’ll first read the Advanced text book, chapters one through five. Then I’d like you to pick up two more books, The Dark Arts Outsmarted and Defensive Magical Theory. Read the first five chapters in both of those books. Compare and contrast all three but try to keep your scroll under five feet in length.” Minerva smirked.
“And Muggle Studies?” Hermione was sitting straight up, tea long forgotten.
“You could pass the NEWT for Muggle Studies in your sleep, Miss Granger. You can use a phone, you understand muggle currency, you can work electrical devices, you know how to dress like a muggle, and you successfully navigate the muggle world every day. You may read the Muggle Studies text book at your own rate. There are actually chapter reviews and practice exams in it that you may take as you get to them. If you want to take that NEWT now, I won’t stop you. However…”
“However?”
“However, I do have a few ideas for you if you’d like to take the course seriously.”
Narcissa snorted as Hermione nodded enthusiastically.
“I’d like you to find an area of muggle life about which you have less knowledge and study it. Research it. Compare it to wizarding life. Write about it.”
Hermione smiled, a glowing brilliant grin, and leaned into Narcissa’s side. Narcissa couldn’t help but smile, too. Hermione’s face so lit with happiness made Narcissa feel that happiness herself. Hermione rested her hand back on Narcissa’s thigh and said with absolute confidence, “Travel.”
“Are we taking muggle travel to Maison de Black in December, then?”
“For research purposes, of course,” Hermione smiled into the blue eyes so near her own.
“Of course.”