Delicate

Hermione knew things were not ok. That didn't stop her from locking herself away from everyone she's ever cared about simply because, she has a secret. A secret that destroys the little sense of balance she has maintained since the war ended. Technically she has two secrets, but the big one concerns the two most important people in her life. Harry James Potter and Teddy Remus Lupin. She stared at the scraps of paper that she had meticulously taped together. Three sets of spells were listed at the top of the page in familiar handwriting, followed by a location. The handwriting she hasn't seen since her sixth year; when her former headmaster was still alive. Her Godson was sprawled out on her bed taking his afternoon nap, while she sat in the kitchen debating on if she should follow her headmasters instructions one last time. She glanced at the clock, Harry would be here soon to pick up Teddy. Sighing, she picked up the paper and stashed it in a nearby drawer. Later. She would think on this later. Not a few moments later, the fireplace roared to life and her best friend stepped out, waving his wand and getting rid of the ash that collected on his robes.

"Hey, Mione. How are you?" Harry greeted her with a small smile, striding forwards and wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm good, Harry. Teddy is still napping, he should be up soon." She responded, stepping away from him and going to make some tea.
"Hermione." Harry followed after her, immediatly noticing something was off with his best friend. He has known for a while now that she wasn't as ok as she kept telling him she was, and he was determined to get to the bottom while she wasn't pushing him out the door after he drops off or picks Teddy up.
"Yes, Harry?"
"What's going on?" He asked, leaning against the counter edge his arms crossing over his chest.
Hermione shook her head. "Don't push this Harry."
"What is going on, Hermione?" He pressed on, more determined than every to get to the bottom of why she had closed herself off from everyone. "Ron and Molly were asking about you, they said you should come back to the Burrow and stay with them."
She immediately shook her head. She was not going back there. She turned and saw Harry's face more from confusion to worry and back again. "I'm not talking to either of them." She stated.
"Why? What happened, Hermione?"
Silence settled between them for a moment, as Hermione contemplated on telling him exactly what had transpired between her and the two Weasley's. She sighed. "I can't tell you, Harry. All I can suggest to you, is getting a full Healer's Exam."
"Why? What happened?"
"When the war finished, and Ron and I started dating, I started having these blanks in my memory. You know how I am about my memory, especially with what happened with my parents. Remember when Ron and I moved in together? We weren't together longer afterwards. I woke up to the living room destroyed, I had blood running down my face and the scar on my arm was open and bleeding. I thought I had another night terror, so I went to Saint Mungo's to get checked over. The medwitch waved her wand over me six times before I had an entire team hovering over me. All of them told me that I had been obliviated and cunfunded several times in the past three years. Then then proceeded to tell me that I had several potions in my system that are illegal, love potions, complacency potions, attatchment potions. All of them where made by one Molly Weasley and keyed to one Ronald Weasley." Hermione sucked in a breath. She knew it was too late to go back now, but she couldn't stop the hesitancy. Harry had a pattern of choosing Ron over her, even if he knew she was right. She would never be someones first choice, and she knew that, but this was going to be the end of their friendship. So, Hermione sucked in a sharp breath and continued. "They kept me in the hospital for three days. I told them not to contact anyone and that I would simply say I went to check on my parents. They worked day and night, flushing the potions from my system and restoring my memory. They wanted to spread it out, that doing it all at once could make it worse; but you know how I am. I couldn't do that. I needed to know. Once the potions were out of my system I wasn't attracted to Ron anymore. And I blamed everything on Molly. She had told us that she got Arthurs attention by slipping him a mild love potion to move things along. Then they worked on my memories." She moved the kettle off the fire and poured the tea, busying her hands. "And he knew the entire time, and it was so much worse. It wasn't me that destroyed the living room the day I went to Mungo's."
Harry stood where he was, watching his best friend and processing what she said. When it hit him. How could he, of all people, not have noticed?"
"No." He whispered, eyes widening when it finally sunk in. "You're not saying-?"
She nodded, glad she didn't have to say it, but knowing this was gonna get worse. "Yes."
Just at that moment, Teddy began to cry. Hermione hurried towards her godson scooping him up into her arms and cooing softly. "That's right, Teddy. Your Uncle Harry is here to pick you up. You take good care of him." She whispered softly, as he babbled gently into her shoulder his hands tangling in her hair. Flicking her wand she packed Teddy's things and walked over towards Harry. She handed everything over and corralled them towards the Floo. "I'll see you guys next time. Get checked Harry, I mean it. And take Ginny with you. Be careful with my godson." She threw the powder down, calling out Harry's house  and shoving them through. She sealed the Floo when they were gone. She knew where she was going next. Summoning her beaded bag, and packing anything she might need, and grabbing the little piece of paper out of the drawer. She stepped out of her apartment, she walked down three streets before slipping into an alley and apparating away. Just as she apparated she felt someone tackle her from behind, as they turned and appeared in Godrics Hallow.

She fell forwards, palms out as the ground raced to meet her; a heavy weight landing on top of her. She groaned at the pain that flared through her body. She looked up and immediately saw red hair out of the corner of her eye and panic rushed through her body. She flailed her arms and legs trying to squeeze out from underneath him.
"Whoa, Hermione, calm down. It's ok." She froze at the voice, one that she had only heard a handful of times.
"Charlie?"
"The one and only."
Hermione rolled her eyes, and shoved at his body, glaring daggers at him. When he finally moved off her, she stood and walked away. "Go home, Charlie." She called over her shoulder. She ignored him the whole way, pulling out the piece of paper and walking towards the address that is listed at the bottom. And now that she thought about it, this was Dumbledore's childhood home. Ignoring Charlies frantic calls, she glanced around to make sure she was in the clear, before pulling her wand out and saying the first set of incantations. When she was sure she did it right, did she step through the front gate. Only when Charlie didn't follow her did she realize that he couldn't see the house. Filing the thought away for later, she went up to the door and slowly eased it open. Only then did she mutter the second set of incantations. A long golden string appeared, trailing through the hallway and through the living room and into the kitchen. Gathering her courage, she followed the golden trail. She found it oddly ironic it was gold considering her new nickname. Upon reaching the kitchen, she saw the light disappear through a white door across the room. Her whole body protested, as she dragged her feet towards the door. She knew she wasn't strong enough to face a threat should it appear. She was still recovering from everything Ron and Molly had put her through in the last three years. And it was only a year ago, but to her it was still yesterday. Her mind and body unwilling to move forward and stuck in this endless pain that she wish she could escape, but can't. Shaking the nerves away, and gathering her magic, she opened the door and walked down the stairs and into the basement. once she reached the bottom of the steps and turned to face the room fully, she pointed her wand and said the third incantation. A shimmer appeared in the room, and a vail of magic was removed. Only to reveal what looked like a compacted version of a home, it was the people inside that made her freeze.
"Hermione." Remus breathed, standing from his chair at a rounded table and making his way closer. Only to be stopped by a barrier. She kept her wand pointed, glaring intensely at the group.
"Who are you?" She growled.
"We are who we look like, Kitten. Now, how did you find us?" 'Sirius' said, leaning back into his chair to peer at her.
She growled lowly again. "How is this even possible?"
"Dumbledore." 'Lily' spoke up. "He brought us here. Each time he brought someone, we were knocked out and would wake up to someone else in the 'house'."
She wagged her wand at the Tonks look-a-like. "We lived together for a summer, I told you a secret. What was it?"
Tonks smiled softly. "You had suspicions about Dumbledore and Molly. You said that there were things that didn't add up with what they were saying and that if Harry's blood wards were based on what he considered a place to be his home, then he never should have gone back to the Dursley's. And that Molly ignored everything the twins had been trying to tell her about Harry's home life. You never talked about it after that, now that I think about it."
"Let's just say I was hitting home and they interfered in that regards." Hermione hissed, before moving onto Lupin. "When you showed up at headquarters while we were on the run, I told you something very specific about your werewolf side in regards to your wife and child, what was it?"
Remus swallowed harshly, before answering. "That Tonks was my mate, and leaving would kill both us and Teddy. That's why I was drawn to her even though I had my reservations about the situation then."
She moved on to Sirius, and took a deep shuddering breath. "I heard you, the day you came to the Ministry, when you found me. What was the last thing you said to me?"
Sirius sucked in a harsh breath. "That you were the only reason Harry had made it this far, and I had to stay alive to make sure he got to have the future his parents and I always wanted for him."
And with those last words, she said the final incantation and promptly fell to her knees. Remus, Sirius, and Tonks rushed forwards to help her, only for her to flinch back and try and keep some distance between them. It was Remus that asked the question. "What happened?"
She shook her head. "A lot." She whispered.
It was then that loud footsteps were heard on the stairs and Hermine flinched harshly, unable to control her reactions with how exhausted she felt. Bill and Charlie appeared at the bottom of the stairs, wands raised. Only to freeze at the sight before them.
"Who are you?" Bill growled.
"Put your wand down, pup. We are who we look like." Remus growled.
"It's true." Hermione whispered, glancing at them over her shoulder, flinching at the bright red hair and turning away quickly. The action did not go unnoticed. Tonks and Lily slowly walked forwards, and helped Hermione stand up. Hermione leaning heavily against Tonks and not looking at Lily. Hermione couldn't tell if it was her eyes or the bright red hair, but she couldn't look at her, or James for that matter. As Tonks pushed and pulled at Hermione's arms, she felt her sleeves slowly being pulled up, and moved to push them back down. She had more scars than just the ugly slur on her arm now. The only people that knew about the slur didn't think twice at her movements, the others were now more concerned than they were a moment ago.
"Where is Teddy?" Tonks asked softly, changing the topic.
"Either with Harry or Andromeda. Depends on if Harry took my advice." Hermione whispered, flinching at her words.
"What advice?" Sirius asked slowly, he knew how Hermione's brain worked. More so than the other adults thanks to many late nights talking about the past.
"To take Ginny and get a full check at Saint Mungo's."
Silence, then all hell broke loose. And it was then that she realized the anti-apparation wards had fallen and with her panic growing, she promptly disappeared. She collapsed to the floor of her apartment, trying to focus on the stinging in her arms and legs, and evening out her breathing. The cold floor pressing against her cheek. Anything to stop the panic attack from coming on. It was only as the dark spots grew did she realize it was far to late for that.

The group in the basement stared in shock at the empty place Hermione had been. Something wasn't right with this. Then what she said to Tonks during her security question did something click for Sirius Black. "How long has it been since you last saw Hermione?" He directed the question to the two Weasley boys, watching them closely.
"Not since she and Ron broke up. Mum said something about that girl being crazy for denying Ron, and Ron was pissed because Hermione didn't give a reason for the breakup. She went to check in with her parents for a couple days, and when she came back she was different. She broke up with Ron, and moved out of their flat. Haven't seen her since." Charlie whispered.
"Come on, we're going to check on her." Sirius hissed, understand now ringing clear in his ears.
"What's going on?" Bill asked.
"Hermione knew your mother and Dumbledore shouldn't be trusted, she knew in her fifth year while we were all at Headquarters. But after we talked about it, the next day she acted like that conversations never happened." Tonks whispered, horror appearing on her face, her hair turning white. Charlie, knowing what that color means, was even more concerned.
Bill and Charlie stepped forwards, gripping onto each person and apparating to Hermiones flat. It took Bill three hour before he was able to dismantle Hermione's wards. He was coated in sweat, but managed to send a patronus to his wife requesting her presence at Hermione's place before they filed through the door. Sirius found her laid out on the kitchen floor unconscious. He gently rolled her onto her back, and checked her pulse. He sighed in relief before scooping her up and heading in the direction of the couch, laying her down and pulling the throw blanket down to cover her up. The group watched on, the Potter's not used to seeing Sirius like this to someone, while the others were confused on why he acted like they were so close.
"I didn't know you were close with Hermione, Sirius?" Tonks whispered.
"Hermione and I grew close over that summer. We had a lot of late night talking sessions, mainly over Harry. Sometimes she would let me relive our Hogwarts years, others we both cried over the loss of her childhood. I don't think people realize how taken for granted she really is, until it's too late." He whispered, tucking the blankets underneath her feet, knowing they were always cold while she slept.
Fleur walked a moment later, hurrying towards her husband, and looking sadly at Hermione. "I just got a message from Ginny. She and Harry are at Mungo's. She said that something big happened but was not allowed to tell her mum. She would tell me more when they get out and that Andy has Teddy. Harry wanted Hermione to look after him, but it looks like his parents will be able to step in." She whispered to him.
Bill and Charlie had a sinking feeling in their guts before nodding.

It was hours before Hermione woke. Only to be greeted with the sight of Sirius and Fleur hovering nearby. She squeezed her eyes shut, only opening them to glare at them. "How did you get in here?" She whispered.
"You do know, my husband is a curse-braker right?" Fleur responded with a small huff.
Hermione rolled her eyes, wincing at the sharp pain in her temple. Sirius handed her a glass of water and a pain potion. She was cautious at first, glancing at the potion bottle for a moment before throwing it back and sipping at the water.
"Why did you tell anyone?" Sirius whispered softly.
"I figured you would be the first to figure it out." She whispered harshly.
Sirius scowled at her, and shook his head. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because the one person that figured it out was obliviated and is now being treated for the same things I was in Mungo's."
Silence. "Harry figured it out."
"Yes, then Molly and Ron obliviated him and I and proceeded to push potions down our throats." She starred at Sirius with a fixed expression.
Hermione slowly sat up, pushing her body in a position where she could see everyone, the blanket draped over her legs. She noticed the people that were gathered and where they were. She shifted uncomfortably when she saw the twins. She had been avoiding them specifically for a reason.
"So, when were you going to tell us, Mione?" Fred piped up, leaning back in his chair.
"Tell you what Fred?" She bit back.
"That George and I were right."
She was silent. Staring at her hands, as her mind began to drag her through the memory that had been lost until last year. Only to be snapped out of it, by a large tattoo covered hand gently covering hers. "Because I didn't remember until just before Ron and I broke up."
Slowly, Sirius moved to sit beside her, watching her body tense and not moving any closer. Even though her body tensed, she took comfort in the fact that Sirius was here. He was the only person that knew her darkest secrets. He knew everything. Well, everything from just before he 'died'. Slowly, she forced her body to relax. Leaning back against the couch, she didn't meet anyone's eyes.
"What do you mean, you didn't remember?" George asked softly.
"Molly and Ron had been obliviating and potioning me for years. I only found out when I woke up with the living room of Ron and I's apartment destroyed and I was bleeding from every scar on my body. Ron was no where in sight. I went to Saint Mungo's and before I could get anything properly treated after the first scan, I had a team of healers looking me over. I told the healer to send a letter saying I was checking in on my parents. Three days later, I was waking up to memories from fifth year I never knew I had. That I knew everything I still suspected of Dumbledore and Molly was right, even after they started to take my memories. That Harry found out and when talking to me didn't work he confronted Molly. Only to have both our memories wiped. My mind was the one thing that never failed me, then everything came crashing down after that day. So, I stayed away. I'm not here all the way." She whispered, squeezing Sirius's hand gently.
Charlie swore under his breath, keeping it together so not to scare Hermione. Harry and Ginny were getting checked out now. What exactly happened all those times when his mum and Ron would just casually mention things about the future. How they had these grand plans for the family. It all made sense, but he didn't want to believe it. How could he believe it? Until it dawned on him that every time anyone did something she didn't like, she threw a tantrum. Fleur, The Reserve, Sirius, the Joke Shop, their hair, everything she didn't like she threw a fit. All of it.
"I'm gonna go check on Ginny and Harry. And then I'll bring Teddy over afterwards. Should I bring Andromeda?" Fleur interrupted, standing from her seat and moving towards the door. She directed the question to everyone, but she was looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded slightly, but didn't speak up again. She stepped outside before apparating away. Unconsciously, Hermione leaned back against Sirius, comforted by the familiar gesture. Sirius, slowly and cautiously, moved his free arm to wrap around her shoulders. She shuddered softly but inevitably relaxed completely against him. It was then that Lily and James made their way over. She turned her head and buried it into Sirius's side.
"Why won't you look at us?" Lily whispered.
She shook her head, throat clogging up and unable to speak her reasons.
"Leave it be, Lily." Sirius said softly, but even Hermione could hear the edge in his tone.
Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "She won't look at James and I, I want to know why?" She demanded.
Hermione violently shook her head, shuttering at the tone and volume. A low growl came from Sirius and Remus, causing James to pull Lily back and away from Hermione. "Leave. It. Alone. Lily." Remus hissed.
Tonks stepped closer to Remus, wrapping her arm around his and pressing a calming kiss to his cheek. While Hermione clutched tightly to Sirius in a death grip, Sirius glaring daggers at the female red head. The silence settled in once more, causing awkwardness to hit where no one wants it. The only thing was clear to five people in that room, Hermione Granger was broken and they weren't sure on how to put the pieces back together.