Hermione
Flashes of violence flying by. Sparks and red streaks and green flashes collide and explode. Screaming. So much screaming. Images of Snape’s last moments. Harry's limp body in Hagrid’s arms. The bodies of those she loves. Tonks. Remus. Sirius. Fred. Dobby. So much loss. Molly fighting Bellatrix. Bellatrix. The Manor. Bleeding on the floor. Those eyes. Tortured grey eyes, a mask of indifference pasted on the face. More screaming.
Hermione jolted awake. Fuck. It's not real, she thought to herself, drenched in sweat. God. I wish the nightmares would just stop. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, she saw it was just before 8. Thank god it's Saturday, and I can go into the bookstore a little later than normal today. Slowly, she peeled herself out of bed. It's been 5 years. You’re safe. Pulling her robe on, she padded across her room to the door leading into the hidden addition and silently opened it. There, peacefully sleeping, was Noah. Her most prized secret. She had worked so hard to keep him out of the media. She tip-toed across the room and noticed the little grey ball of fuzz curled up into his side as well. He had shown up on their doorstep, and Noah demanded that they keep him. Hermione suspected it was at least part kneazle, which she found strange given that they were in a muggle neighborhood. She pressed a gentle kiss to her son's forehead before slinking back out of his room and gently closing the door. Gliding down the stairs, she took in her quaint townhouse. While she would love to live out in the country in a large, unplottable estate, this was a good fit for Noah right now. They could walk easily to the grocery and farmers markets, and there was a small park and playground for him just down the street that they visited all the time.
Downstairs, Hermione started her electric kettle for a cuppa. After the war, she found that a fresh, hot mug of lemon balm tea was just what it took to calm the last of her racing heart and anxious mind. She sent a quick text to Scarlett to let her know what time the bookstore would open and that she was welcome any time. I should get some pancakes started for Noah; he would love that.
The whistle of her kettle startled her. She got busy putting together her cuppa. She heard those little footsteps she loved so dearly start creeping down the stairs
“Mummy? You makin’ pancakes?” His cute little voice rang out across the kitchen
“Yes, baby. You want the blueberry or chocolate chip ones?” She gently asked, knowing he would want the blueberry ones; he loved going up to the roof to pick fresh blueberries from the garden. And she would never complain about him choosing fruit (though don’t tell Noah; she believed a sweet treat here and there could be quite healing for the soul).
“Bue-berries mummy!!” He started clapping his little hands together. “Go pick new ones?” He excitedly asked. And with her cuppa made and steaming in her hands, how could she say no to his exuberance?
“Of course, dear. Go grab your shoes, and we can go up right now,” She responded, watching as he ran off to find a pair of shoes. She slid her feet into the slippers she kept by the stairs and waited for her son to return. As he came waddling back, she saw he had his shoes on the wrong feet. “Baby, sit down a second, and I'll help you get your shoes on straight.” Guiding him to a chair and helping him onto it, she swapped the shoes, tightened the velcro, and sent him on his way up the stairs. Grabbing her cuppa, she made her way up as well.
He was waiting at the top of the stairs by the door for her. She had warded the rooftop to keep Noah from being able to even get close to the edge, but even still, she was very firm in her rule that he was required to have a trusted adult outside with him at all times. She pushed open the door and, felt the rush of the cool morning breeze, saw the clouds overhead. There was a close eye kept on her son as he beelined straight for the blueberry bushes. Maybe I should consider a few more bushes this fall. She contemplated in her head, seeing how sparse some of the bushes were getting.
She watched as her son picked up the little basket she had gotten for him at a farmer's market. He loved collecting blueberries and all the other produce they grew. He wandered around the roof, picking blueberries, the ones he thought would be ripest. Hermione had taught him how she identified ripe blueberries; he didn't always go by her method, though. He just seemed to always know which ones would be the sweetest and juiciest. His basket now full, she asked “Would you care to join me in the greenhouse?” He offered a small nod in return, distracted by all the plants around.
Hermione walked over to him and wandlessly sent his basket down to the kitchen. Some things, she thought are just easier done with magic. And she knew Noah would love watching her do magic.
“Mummy, I do magic too?” Noah asked curiously.
Hermione smiled. “We´ll just have to wait and see. I love you no matter what.” Hermione wasn’t always sure she wanted her son to grow up to be a wizard. She had seen so much violence as a child that maybe she wouldn’t have if she hadn’t been a witch. And she knew there was a chance he wouldn’t have magic. After all, it was a muggle who she slept with the night she left Ron. Finding him in their bed with another woman, and Lavender at that. She had packed everything she deemed valuable into her beloved beaded bag and took off. She never spoke with him again, signed the divorce papers, sent them through her attorney, and that was it.
Shaking off the past, she walked over to her son and gave him a hug, he was her world now.
After a quick trip into the greenhouse to make sure it wasn’t overgrown with weeds, they made their way back down into the kitchen. Hermione helped Noah up onto his stool at the island so he could watch her cook. Cooking was something she firmly believed was done best the muggle way. She had never had the patience to learn from Molly. Molly…What a lifetime ago. Hermione felt tears pricking her eyes for the family she had lost when Ron left, knowing her son had no paternal grandparents to dote on him. He had her parents, but the relationship between her and her parents would never be the same after she brought them back home and explained what she had done. A loud grumble interrupted her sadness, and she tucked everything back into its box in her head before her son could see it on her face. She knew she would need to deal with that box one day, but that was not today. Today, she had a hungry little boy waiting on his blueberry pancakes. “Was that a tummy I heard growling over there?” She teased. Her son giggled back at her as she quickly got to work, whipping up the pancakes.
While the pancakes were cooking, she toasted a slice of bread and added a bit of homemade strawberry jam on top to accompany her pancakes. Hermione sang and danced her way across the kitchen as she grabbed plates and syrup and got Noah all served up. She waltzed around the island with her food to sit on the stool next to him to enjoy breakfast together.
“I was thinking we’d go to the bookstore today, Noah. How does that sound?” Hermione inquired, knowing she would gladly leave the store closed just to spend the day doing whatever her child wanted.
“We see Auntie Pans and Auntie Gin-ie?” He responded. Hermione thought for a second “How about I invite them to have lunch with us, ok?”
“Yes, mummy!” He joyfully responded. He always got his way, he had his mummy wrapped around his finger, and he just knew it.
“Alright sweetheart, go get changed into some clean clothes and call if you need any help. Mummy is gonna clean up from breakfast and see if Auntie Pansy and Auntie Ginny can make lunch today.”
“Ok.” He bounded off back up to his room. Hermione grabbed her phone and shot a couple of texts off to her best friends before finishing her tea and cleaning up the kitchen with the help of a few cleaning charms. Ugh. Who would ever wash dishes by hand when there's magic
Ding. Ding ding. Her phone buzzed and alerted on the counter. Walking over and picking it up, she saw twin messages from Pansy and Ginny each, agreeing to lunch and asking where. Thinking for a second, Hermione replied, suggesting they go to the new tavern that just opened on Diagon Alley. Both quickly agreed.
—————
With a soft pop, Hermione and Noah materialized on the front step of her bookstore. Looking around, Hermione sighed to herself. Diagon never truly recovered after the war. Now occupying the small space Flourish & Blotts used to stand proudly in, Scribble & Scroll was what Hermione could only hope filled a fraction of the footsteps the store's predecessor left behind.
“Mummy!” Noah exclaimed. “We go to Weasleys??”
“Oh, sweetheart, not today. Today, we’re going to decorate the bookstore for Halloween.” She felt a wave of sadness and loss come over her at the loss of her adopted family throughout school. While Ginny had stayed by her side, and she knew George would welcome her back with arms wide open when she was ready, it still hurt to know she lost Molly and Arthur when Ron left her. Honestly. The audacity. He cheated on her. They just can't get over the fact that I have a son with no father since he´s not Rons. “I promise to take you by soon, though, ok, love?” She asked, making a mental note to reach out to George soon. Just to be sure, Ron won't be there and that I'm still welcome.
While unlocking the front door to let them inside, she didn’t notice her son looking curiously at all the empty and abandoned shops. “Mummy,” she heard him start to ask, “why´s it all empty?”
Confused, she spun around, but with a quick glance, she realized he must be talking about all the empty and destroyed storefronts. “Oh love, thats a story for when you’re a little older.” She gently told him. “But, that right there,” pointing across the cobbled street “that used to be a pet shop. That's where I got Crooks.” Crooks had still been around when Noah was born, and he had vague memories of Hermione’s beloved familiar. She suspected that the little grey ball of fur that had shown up shortly after Crooks passed was probably sent by Crooks. Smoke was both very similar and very different from Crooks.
Hermione continued to point out some of the old shops and some of the new ones, too. As she looked around, a new storefront shed never noticed before caught her eye. It had a bright blue storefront, unusual for the normal dark and dreary colors of Diagon. It appeared to have some form of artwork displayed in the windows and warm golden lighting inside. Hmm. I'll have to check it out and see what kind of shop that is. She thought to herself.
She turned around to face her store and ushered Noah inside. He took off towards the kids section, almost certainly to find himself a picture book and then go to her office where she had a little play area and reading nook set up for him. Well. It would be taking too much credit to say I set it up. Really, it was the bookstore. I still don’t know how it grows and changes and adapts without any additional magic. It's like it has a mind of its own, honestly. Hermione was pulled from her thoughts as the front door jingled open. Hermione got lost in helping connect her customers to the perfect book, occasionally checking on her son. Even though she has charms laid over the room to alert her to his every need and even a charm, she had created herself to act as a baby monitor of sorts. All she had to do was cast the spell at a blank parchment and a sort of video feed would appear of her office, and she was able to watch in live time. Some days, it was harder to shake the leftover paranoia from the war than others.
Glancing up at the clock across from her register, she saw it was approaching lunchtime. How has it been an hour and a half already? Thinking to herself, she made her way down to her office, where Noah was comfortably sprawled out on the couch, reading through one of the books he had grabbed. Satisfied that Noah was doing alright, she turned the shop over to Scarlett, her assistant, who had shown up shortly after she and Noah did. Scarlett primarily handled restocking but would take over while Hermione snuck off to her actual job, albeit part-time, ever since having Noah. Scarlett had been working at Flourish and Botts over the summer before the war destroyed Diagon; she was only 2 years behind Hermione in school, a Ravenclaw, of course. When she had seen that Scribble & Scroll would be opening, she had gone to Hermione, looking for her job back. When Noah came into the picture, Scarlett had been nothing but wonderful, helping keep an eye on him whenever Hermione was away on projects or had to hole up in her safe room.
“I’ll be just upstairs if you need anything.” Hermione let Scarlett know before slipping away upstairs to her playroom as she liked to think of it.
The room was charmed quite similarly to her son’s nook that the store had built. They monitored her basic vital signs, and she had charmed a small pendant to alert Harry if anything significant happened to her. Her chosen brother, with his recent promotion to Head Auror, had demanded she take appropriate measures for her safety if she was going to be performing any curse breaking outside of the Department of Mysteries level in the ministry. Even surprising Hermione herself, she had readily agreed. It was just the fresh postpartum hormones, she now thought to herself. Still certainly not a bad idea, but I know how to take care of myself. I saved the whole bloody wizarding world, didn’t I? She ruefully thought to herself. Shaking off the past, she pushed open the door into her playroom. Set up in three segments; she had her mini apothecary and brew station, where she kept a healthy stock of healing supplies as well as all of her potion-making supplies. She was no potion master, but she sure did like to dabble in her free time.
Up second was the large padded space. A springboard floor. Where she did most of her curse-breaking. Set up as a dueling room, she and Harry would frequently spend evenings after his Auror academy, dueling and fighting to keep their skills sharp. Nothing lethal was allowed, but they would dabble into the grey area sometimes. The other side isn’t going to play clean, why should we. They hadn’t gotten to as much since Noah was born, and Harry got busy with work and getting himself promoted. Now, the space was dedicated to curse-breaking and ridding dark objects of the dangers that surrounded them.
Finally, she had her work room. A small space crammed with bookshelves on every wall, overflowing with her personal library of rare and hard-to-find books. She had a desk pushed up against the wall, with bookshelves all around it. Littered with papers and various artifacts from her travels as an unspeakable, it was cluttered in an organized fashion. There was a small adjacent bathroom with a shower and a closet with comfortable clothes. Muggles and their workout clothes definitely far surpass any robe a wizard could produce. Quickly changing into leggings that cut off halfway down her calves and a tight-cropped tank top, she made her way into the dueling room.
She slipped on both her wand holsters, enchanted so her wands would reappear in them if they left her hands and got too far. Into the holster on her left thigh went dear old Bella’s wand. A 12.75-inch wand made of walnut with a dragon heartstring core. There was something empowering knowing that the blood purist’s wand sung whenever Hermione would use it. Into her holster on her right forearm went her own wand. A 10.75-inch vine wood wand, also with a dragon heartstring core. Her wand was familiar and comfortable, but it couldn’t compare to the power of Bellatrix’s wand.
Stepping out into the middle of the room, she wordlessly and wandlessly levitated the first item on the docket out into her space to begin ridding it of the layers of curses ensnared all over. But of course. Why wouldn’t they send me Lucius’s cane, she snidely thought to herself as the object came into view. She preferred it this way, though; not knowing until it was in front of her made it easier to face. And the ministry was never surprised if one or two objects here and there didn’t make it through the process. Sometimes curses had a nasty habit of exploding instead of breaking as intended.
Sending her basic diagnostics at the cane, she saw it appeared to be a rather simple curse layout protecting it. It would take about 45 minutes to complete, anticipating a few hidden curses to pop up along the way.
Breaking down each curse one by one, Hermione started to feel a sweat breaking out across her forehead from exhaustion. She also felt a familiar and welcome warmth in her bones and muscles from the exertion of her magic. She swore it only got stronger with use and challenge.
After 60 grueling and exhausting minutes, she deemed the cane curse broken and totally safe. It had tragically made it to the other end of the process, though not without complication. Hermione really enjoyed the jinx that would intermittently try to set her on fire throughout the whole process. Especially when it was layered towards the bottom but triggered by the breaking of the spell that would’ve dropped an ice guillotine over her head.
Checking the time, she saw it was just about lunchtime. She headed into the bathroom to grab a quick shower and change back into the ankle-length skirt and flowing blouse she had worn to the bookstore today before making her way back to her son. Finding him and Scarlett playing while the store was in a pre-lunch lull, she smiled to herself, being grateful for the community she had built for her son, even without a father or father figure in his life.
“Oh! Miss Hermione, I didn’t see you there,’ Scarlett startled. “Everything go as planned?”
“It did, Scarlett, and please, just Hermione is fine,” She reminded the sweet girl.
Nodding sheepishly, Scarlett acquiesced. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to borrow my son for lunch with Gin and Pansy. Feel free to close the shop and go grab yourself a bite as well! We should be back in about an hour.”
Turning to her son, Hermione asked if he had a good day and if he was ready for lunch. He excitedly responded while she got his shoes on and got ready to leave.
The early fall weather was lovely. Cool without being cold, a gentle breeze that shuffled around the first few leaves that had started to fall. Orange and yellow leaves on trees all around. Not yet runny nose weather, thankfully. The walk was relatively short and uneventful. Noah asked hundreds of questions, he was at that age where he was curious about everything. Every fifth word was why it seemed. Not that Hermione minded. She had no doubt she was very much the same way.
They approached the entrance to the tavern, The Drab Fox, the sign over the front door read. A cozy-looking atmosphere inside. Hermione, still holding Noah's hand from the walk, pushed open the door and heard the noisy clinking of silverware and indiscernible chatter of the patrons inside.
“How many?” The friendly-looking host asked.
“Uh, it will be 4 total; I’m not sure if my friends are already here, though. A tall redhead and an average-height brunette, uh, Ginny and Pansy?”
“I haven’t seen them yet”
“Ok. No worries then, well just take a table for 4.”
“Can do”
Getting settled in at the table, Hermione chose the seat that gave her the best view of the tavern, including the door. Just so I can watch for Gin and Pans, she told herself. And as that thought crossed her mind, she watched as Ginny walked through the door. The redhead had grown up to be tall, her hair in a loose braid that fell down the middle of her back. Muscular but in a feminine way, of course she was toned from all her hours playing Quidditch for the Hollyhead Harpies. Standing up, Hermione watched as Ginny looked around, and when they made eye contact, Hermione waved Ginny over. As she made her way through the crowded tavern, Hermione bent down to Noah, “Auntie Ginny is on her way over”
The little boy sprang to his feet, looking excitedly around for his aunt. He nearly tackled her as she approached the table.
“Ooof!” The redhead exclaimed, “Well, just when did you get so big, little man?”
“Auntie Gin-ie!!” The little boy shouted with the exuberance only a child could manage
“Hey bud, how's it going?” Gin asked
“We went to the bookstore this morning!”
“Oh yeah? How was that?”
“It was fun! I played and took a nap” The little boy responded avidly, and at that, the chime above the door jingled again as it was firmly pushed open. Hermione glanced up just in time to see Pansy. The slightly framed brunette kept her dark brown hair in a short bob. A lithe build, Pansy was a dainty lady, the last of the Parkinson family after the war. “Hey Gin, check out who just walked in” Hermione nudged her best friend. Maybe someday, the duo will stop this silly dance around each other and just admit they like each other. Hermione watched Pansy looking around for the trio, watched as she caught sight of Ginny, and watched as her eyes softened without the occlumency walls that blocked her off when she knew she was being watched. The pair waved at each other as Pansy delicately weaved her way to the table. A kiss to both Hermione and Ginny’s cheeks and a slightly uncomfortable hug with Noah later, Pansy had never quite figured out kids, and everyone was finally seated.
“So Hermione, before Pansy got here, I was about to ask how things at the bookshop are?” Ginny asked, Hermione couldn’t tell if she was prying for more yet or not.
“Oh, you know, it's the same as always. It’s comfortable and stable. I’m happy,” She replied
“And what about any new friends?” Pansy queried with a perfect arch of her eyebrow, indicating she was asking if there were any new interests in Hermione’s life.
A heavy sigh, “No, and honestly, I’m not working hard at it. I have a good life, a content life. I have my store, the house, and my son. I mean, I don’t want to mess up things for Noah.” Hermione breathed out, knowing that wasn’t what her best friends wanted to hear but also knowing it was as honest as she could be.
“Hey there, how's it going today? We ready to order here?” Everyone around the table was startled by the voice of their waitress.
“Oh! Uh, yes. Fish and chips for me, a cheese toastie for my son, please.” Hermione responded, slightly startled by the unexpected intrusion
Ginny and Pansy both echoed Hermione in ordering the fish and chips.
Lunch was perfectly pleasant after that. A little small talk here and there, but nothing of significance. As Hermione and Noah finished up their food, she excused herself and Noah, needing to head back to the bookstore. And trying to stealthily leave Ginny and Pansy alone to talk and maybe talk about their growing attraction for each other.
“Mimosa brunch tomorrow? My place?” Pansy confirmed as they did every week.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” was Hermione’s easy reply before she collected Noah and made their way out of the tavern and back over to the bookstore.