Chapter 3
Remus made his way down the stairs only a few minutes after Hermione slipped away. He wanted to make sure Harry was settled and didn't need anything, before going to check on her. He knew something was wrong, knew that something had caused his cub to retreat. He found her curled on the couch, his favorite throw blanket wrapped around her tiny body. He knelt down in front of her, it was then he spotted the tear that clung to her cheek.
"Oh, Little Cub." He whispered, as he wiped it away. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She shifted in her sleep, a soft sigh escaping as she settled once more. He moved over to his favorite chair, picking up the novel on the end table, and waited.
It was an hour before she began to stir. Remus remained where he was, but now no longer reading. He simply waited for Hermione to wake.
"Remmy?" Her whispered question a little raspy.
He closed the novel and slowly moved to kneel in front of her once more. "How was your nap, cub?"
She rubbed at her eyes sleepily. "Good." She whispered, only to cast her eyes away from his.
"Mia, you know you're not going anywhere right?"
"But why? You have Harry now, you don't need me." She whispered, clutching the blanket to her tighter.
Remus took a deep breath, steadying breath, before continuing. "Hermione, you are as much as my cub as Harry is. Harry needs me just as much as you do. Besides, his parents wanted me to take care of him from the moment S-Padfoot was sent away."
"But I'm not your kid." She whispered brokenly.
His heart constricted at her words. YET! The beast howled in his head. "Mia, you are my kid. As long as you want to be, you are mine." He flicked his wrist and from the kitchen flew in a piece of paper. "I talked to someone last month, to help get these. One day, Harry and I will have a similar conversation; once he's more settled into life with us. However, I want you, my smart cub, to think about me being your forever dad."
"Forever dad? You mean, a-adoption?" Mia asked.
"Yes. I know it's only been a few months, Mia, but you are my kid. I never want to give you up if I don't have to. However, you're a smart girl, I want you to think about it. Ok?" Remus asked, when she nodded he scooped her up into his arms and held her close. He pressed a kiss to her hair and snuggled up with her on the couch. "I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too, Remmy."
Life at the Lupin Cottage only seemed to grow. Harry, much like Hermione, slowly emerged from his shell. It took Remus a while to break Harry of the habit of getting up and immediately cooking breakfast for them. He had gathered both of his cub in his arms and held them tightly on the couch to prevent the rage from taking over completely when Harry managed to stutter through an explanation. Then, just as things seemed to level out for him and his cubs, something goes wrong.
Remus opened the door one night, five months after Hermione had first come to live with him, and three months since Harry had joined their small family. The social worker and a police officer stood on the other side.
"Mary, officer, what can I do for you this evening?" He asked.
"Mr. Lupin, can you step out and talk to us for a moment. I'm afraid this is a delicate matter." Mary responded.
Remus turned his head, making sure Hermione and Harry were thoroughly occupied, before nodding and stepping outside; cracking the door behind him. "What is it?" He asked lowly, analyzing the pair on his doorstep.
"I'm detective Swayer. We managed to locate Hermione's parents. We know they were the cause of her injuries, so she isn't being removed from your care. However, we found several DNA samples in the place she was held. We need to ask Hermione some questions." The officer explained.
Remus looked at the two. "Can I ask what kind of questions? She's just managed to settled fully here."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin. However, you can be present during the questioning, we do need to talk to Hermione. If not, we will have to get a court order. What she says could be important to the case." Detective Sawyer responded.
Taking a deep breath, he nodded and let them inside. "Harry, could you go upstairs to your room please? It won't be long." Remus said, moving over towards Hermione and sitting down beside her. He waited until Harry was upstairs, and heard the door click shut, before focusing fully on Hermione. "Hermione, they need to ask you about somethings from before you came to live with me. Is that ok?"
Hermione looked back and forth between the adults, before slowly nodding. Detective Sawyer settled into Remus's favorite chair and smiled softly at her. "Hi, Hermione. My name is Sawyer. Can I ask you some questions?" When Hermione nodded her head again, Sawyer began ask his questions. He pulled out a picture from a manilla folder in his hands. "Have you seen this girl before?"
"Yes, that Cousin Katie." Hermione replied.
"Can you remember the first time you met Katie?"
Hermione thought back for a moment. "They brought her home one day. She was sleeping. Then later she was talking about her mommy and daddy. She kept crying. He hit her a few times. Katie kept leaving and coming back. Then she left for good one day."
Sawyer pulled out another picture. "What about him?"
Hermione smiled brightly. "That's Cousin Tommy! He was really nice. He helped me sneak candy one time. He stayed the longest, before he left too."
One by one, Hermione identified other kids from Sawyers folder. Each one she recognized. Each one were also kids that had been killed by her parents. It finally came to a head when she began to cry at the last image. "What about this one?" Sawyer asked.
"T-That's Cousin Bailie." She whispered. "He's the one that helped me get away."
"How so?" Sawyer asked.
"Bai-Bailie and Carly came back early. He was hitting me, cause I was trying to get something to drink. Bailie got so mad. He attacked him. He yelled at me to run, and they forgot to lock the door again. I ran. That's when I went to the woods. It's how I met Remmy." She croaked. "I heard a loud bang when I ran."
A cold chill settled in the room. After a moment, Sawyer wrapped up the questions and stood to leave. Remus wrapped the throw blanket around Hermione, before following them to the door. "Please tell me she doesn't have to testify." He breathed.
"Since Bailie managed to recover, he's willing to testify. His only condition was that Hermione doesn't. However, that won't prevent a seppina from making her testify. Mary will keep you informed. Good day, Mr. Lupin." Sawyer said, before they were off. When he went back into the living room, he spotted Hermione curled up into Harry and crying softly.
They were sentenced to 465 years in prison.
For the charge of child abuse they received five years for each account (there are nine in total). For the charge of murder in the first degree they received sixty years for each account. In total they received 465 years for their crimes. Mary was the one to deliver the news. One month later, Hermione and Harry were both legally adopted by Remus. Throughout all of this, Remus opened a little bookshop just around the corner of Diagon Alley. He sold both magical and muggle books (the magical having a separate section of course). Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't.