Chapter 9
Stunned silence.
Stunned silence. That was all that filled the Great Hall, which was usually a hustle and bustle of noise. The last time it was this quiet was the memorial of Cedric Diggory.
"Hermione," Harry's soft voice, soft from shock, sounded like a yell within the deafening quiet that had overtaken the Great Hall, with the exception of soft crying from the siblings' reunion.
Hermione turned to look at Harry. "Hey, Harry, " she answered, still with a small smirk on her face.
Harry and Ron were still looking at her in shock, along with many other members of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall was gently dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief, tears of happiness appearing in her eyes at the sight of one of her lions - that many, including her, were beginning to think was either dead or captured – having reappeared. Dumbledore's twinkly eyes perked back up after being dull from the disappearance of one of his students. Even Snape showed his shock visibly on his face; he had been aware, as had the Order, that Voldemort hadn't taken her as Snape had been to Death Eater meetings since her disappearance, and Voldemort never bragged about having captured 'Potter's mudblood friend.'
The first to break out of the shock was Dean. He gently placed Mary down and ran straight to Hermione, picking her up and spinning her around, his gratefulness so palpable it could almost be touched. She laughed, a light sound, a happy sound, a sound that, unknown to everyone in the room, she never made as a child.
That was enough to break everyone else out of their shock. Harry and Ron also ran over and joined the hug that Dean had yet to break, a hug in which Dean was continuously muttering, "Thank you."
"Mia," the young voice of Mary is what broke the hug. Hermione turned and softly smiled at the 3-year-old.
"Mia?" Dean questioned.
"I said she could call me that," Hermione replied, waving it away as she walked towards the Gryffindor table to sit and eat, as while she had eaten while preparing to rescue Mary, she hadn't eaten as much as was recommended, only eating light meals and snacks to focused on the task at hand.
Across the Hall, everyone, even the Slytherins, were all leaning or even standing to catch a glimpse of the returned Gryffindor Princess.
Dumbledore stood up and came around to the podium. "We are all thankful for the safe return of Miss Granger and of young Miss Thomas. If everyone can refrain from pestering them with questions. If Miss Granger, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Mr Thomas and young Miss Thomas will join me in my office after the feast." He then returned to his seat giving a nod to members of the Order so they were aware that they should join the conversation.
Hermione was walking alongside Dean, Harry and Ron towards Dumbledore's office, Mary asleep in Dean's arms. She was walking in silence thinking about how she was going to explain this. She knew that she might have to reveal the truth, a secret that she had kept since starting Hogwarts, but she knew that she would do it all again. No child should have to suffer what she went through. The Boys kept throwing looks at her concerned by her silence and wondering just how she knew where to find Mary.
They finally reached the entrance of the Headmaster's office and ascended the revolving stairs. As they entered the room Dean was surprised to see the same mixed bunch of people that had questioned him the night Hermione had left. Even Harry and Ron were surprised to see the multitude of Order members that had congregated in Dumbledore's office, including Remus Lupin, Tonks, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Mad-eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and the recently exonerated Sirius Black. Plus, Professor McGonagall, Snape and Hagrid. Hermione was the only one who seemed unsurprised to find them all gathered.
After proper introductions were made to Dean, who last time was not actually introduced to those in the room that he did not know, Hermione was hugged within an inch of her life by the Weasley parents, as well as Sirius, Remus, and Tonks giving her their own hugs and everyone was sat down.
"Miss Granger", Dumbledore began to speak, "How did you know where to find Miss Thomas?"
Hermione stayed silent, contemplating how to answer this question. The truth or a lie. Reveal something that could make people she actually liked realise she was a monster. A murderer with blood on her hands. Or lie. Come up with a believable tale that could explain everything. How? What could she say that would explain her knowing the location of a kidnapped child that the aurors were unaware of? What could she say that would explain her going and rescuing Mary alone without telling anyone where she was going?
This was the hardest choice: the truth or another lie.
Sirius Black was worried when he was told Hermione Granger had vanished. Not just because she was friends with his godson. But because she was the reason he was alive, that he was a freeman and Harry would be staying with him when the summer began.
The Order had arrived to assist in the Battle at the Department Mysteries. Harry and Sirius were duelling Lucius Malfoy on the dais by the Veil of Death. Harry blasted Lucius back and Sirius surprised him by calling out, "Nice one, James!"
When Bellatrix Lestrange's cackling voice cried out, "Avada Kedavra!" The vibrant green spell was heading towards Harry and Sirius, not that either noticed; Sirius focused on where their opponent had been pushed back to, and Harry gazing at Sirius, basking in the compliment. A strong force collided with them from behind and both hit the ground, the spell colliding with the arch.
It was Hermione. She had pushed them both down and landed on top of them. Everybody accountingthe strength of taking them down as a result of adrenaline. Harry just looked at Sirius's still form on the ground, turned and ran off after the cackling Bellatrix, who was sing-songing, "I killed Sirius Black!"
Hermione had instinctively checked Sirius's pulse and knew he was alive, just unconscious and started to shout after Harry before just shaking her head and deciding not to bother. Remus ran over to them, "He's fine. Just knocked out." She reassured him.
After the Battle was over and Sirius was once again conscious, aurors began to approach, intending to take the wanted fugitive into custody to deliver the dementor's kiss. Hermione stepped in front of Sirius and tore into them. She refused to move and verbally lectured them with enough lawyer talk to leave them scratching their heads.
Eventually, Amelia Bones, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement and Cornelius Fudge wandered over and thus Hermione turned her verbal evisceration over to the pair of them. Other members of the Order and the teens were looking at her in surprise. By the end Sirius Black was declared an exonerated man, and - despite Dumbledore's initial attempt to protest - granted custody of Harry on the condition that he visited both healers and mindhealers to undo the damage caused by his time in Azkaban.
Now he watched the girl that saved him. A girl that had rescued another person, a child that had been kidnapped. He had recognised a debt to her when she freed him because that's what she did.
Watching her now, he was scared, scared that her face was blank, with no emotion – it reminded him of the pureblood mask that his family forced upon him when he was under their roof. She was doing it better than he ever did. What could make her act like this?
Severus Snape was not an emotional man. Nor was he easily surprised. Hermione Granger had managed both.
When he first met her as an 11-year-old child, he dismissed her as a know-it-all with no emotional masking capability. Over the years, he had seen glimpses that maybe there was more to her than he expected. One thing that came to mind was her delivering Umbridge to the centaurs. He had seen Potter afterwards, and he, despite hating the women, seemed slightly disturbed by what they had done. Hermione Granger, however, seemed utterly unfazed and remorseless about what they had done.
When she disappeared, he felt a flicker of concern that the Dark Lord had captured her. However, after the first Death Eater meeting, where he told the Dark Lord that she had vanished and he was unaware, that concern grew as now they had no way of knowing where she was.
Her reappearance in the Great Hall with Mary Thomas was a shock. Sure, they suspected that she knew something about the child's disappearance with her promise to Mr. Thomas about getting him his sister back, but for her to retrieve her was a surprise. Snape had always assumed that she was a good knowledge base for her friends but wasn't as capable alone. This proved him wrong, and he prided himself on being able to read people; it was necessary as a spy.
Now he watched her face, searching for even a hint of her emotions, but nothing. She was masking her feelings better than anyone he knew, even the Dark Lord. He misjudged her.
Finally, Hermione Granger opened her mouth to speak.