Delicate

When Teddy, Fleur, and Andy arrived Teddy squirmed out of his grandmothers arms and raced to were his Aunt Mimi was curled up. He climbed into her lap and cuddled up close to her, babbling about seeing her earlier, and asking about the new people in the flat. Hermione smiled softly, and let Sirius go to wrap her arms around her Godson.

“Hello, Teddy.” She whispered, pressing a kiss to his head. “Did you have fun with you grandmum?”
He nodded excitedly, babbling on and on about the movie Andy had played for him, and the snacks he ate. He stopped long enough to look around before again asking about the new people in the room.

She cleared her throat. "This is your Uncle Sirius." She whispered pointing the man beside her before turning him to face her best friends parents. "And the man that looks like Uncle Harry, thats your Uncle James. The woman with red hair is your Aunt Lily. They're Uncle Harry's mum and dad." She turned to were Remus and Tonks stood, and from here she could see the tears in their eyes. "And over there, that is your mum and dad."

"But mum and dad are in a safe place in the sky. How are they here?" Teddy asked softly, turning back towards his Aunt Mimi.

Hermione smiled softly, running her fingers through his turquois hair. "Yes they were, and through magic they were able to come back to you. Why don't you go say hi." She whispered.

Teddy hesitated for a moment, before climbing off her lap and rushing over to Remus and Tonks. They crouched down to his level, letting him come to them. Hermione leaned back against Sirius once more with a sigh as the family of three reunited. It was a moment later that Teddy was hoping into his parents arms and three were in a pile on the floor. Tears falling down their cheeks. Sirius wrapped her back into his arms, adjusting the blanket around her legs. No one said anything as the reunion between the small family, including Andy, and Hermione was grateful for it. She couldn't look anyone in the eyes, and Fleur strode over to settle at the other end of the couch, her hand resting on one of her ankles in a comforting gesture. Hermione's anxiety spiked when she saw everyone begin to move around. Her hand latched onto Sirius's squeezing tightly.

"Bill, will you make everyone some tea, please?" Fleur asked softly, turning her head towards her husband with a small smile.

Bill nodded and moved towards the kitchen. Charlie moved to sit on the coffee table in front of Hermione. He didn't move any closer, and didn't comment on the fact that she wouldn't look at him.
"How did you find them?" He whispered gently.

"When Dumbledore died he left me a book. The Tails of Beetle and Bared. It did end up helping us with some things, especially Harry's family line, but through the book there were scraps of paper littered through it. I didn't really think anything of it, they had little notes on them so I just stuffed them in my bag. When the war finished, I found the scraps again. My brain couldn't let it go, and when I put the pieces together that when I figured out that they belonged together. They were all from the same piece of paper. And that they were incantations, and a location. I figured all of this out about two months after Ron and I split. I couldn't deal with it then, the possibility of going back to that life. I love Harry, he is my best friend and I would do everything in the war all over again just to make sure he made it out alive. But I didn't want to do any of it. And I had a choice this time around. But I couldn't let it go. So after Harry picked Teddy up, I decided to follow it through." Hermione whispered, her eyes locked onto her white knuckles.

The silence returned, all of them wondering just what had happened to the witch before them. Lily broke the silence once more.
"Why can't you look at us?" She asked again. Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "You said you're Harry's best friend, why can't you look at his parents?"

Her hands moved in the familiar, nervous habbit of rubbing them together. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but all that came out was a sad sigh. "I can't." She finally whispered.

"Why?" Lily pushed.

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't look at you because it physically pains me to. I can't look some of my friends in the eye, because it hurts. If you can't keep your mouth shut, get out Lily."

"I just want to know why you can't look at me. I want to know why you wont say anything."

A fire flared to life as she turned to face the red head woman. She flinched violently at her, and the fire went out. The familiar hollow feeling returned, as she stood on wobbly legs and left the room. She made it to the bathroom, before she closed and locked the door; turning the shower on and sitting in the bathtub. She wasn't sure what to say, to any of them. Red hair makes her panic rise, it triggers something inside her that keeps telling her she's in danger. Her closest friends were red head, and looking at Lily was hard. Looking at James was hard simply because of the guilt that ate her alive for the distance she kept between her and Harry. It was all too much. She was glad that she didn't have another panic attack, she was drained as it is. The water turned cold thirty minutes later, and with a flick of her wrist it was warm once more. She did not want to face them yet. She was embarrassed enough as is, she just needed to get her baring's again. A lifeless chuckle left her, she hasn't had those in quite a while. A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts, just as she was reaching for a towel.

"Hermione, are you alright in there?" It was Tonks at the door, and with a sigh, she flicked her hand and the lock turned. A moment later Tonks stepped inside and closed the door behind her. A chocked gasp left her lips as she saw Hermione. "Are all of those from-?"

Hermione shook her head. She stood, wrapping the towel around her and pointing to the purple scar that poked out just above her breast. "This one is from the Department of Mysterys." She whispered. Her hand trailed up to her neck to the small scar there. "This is Bellatrix's work." She turned her forearm out. "So is this." She pointed to the slur. "A couple slicing hexes from the battle, some were from Ron. Some are from Molly because I wasn't what she wanted a woman to be. Of course I was obliviated after those lovely moments, but with my memories back I know where they come from. Not the stories they fed me. Every single scar on my body has been reopened at some point in Ron and I's relationship. The healer at Saint Mungo's told me that they would have been able to remove the slur had it not been reopened so many times." Tears slipped from her eyes, as she put her clothes back on and redid the bun on her head. "I haven't been alright in many years Tonks." She whispered brokenly.
When Hermione was dressed, Tonks threw her arms around the young witch. Hermione began to earnestly cry for the first time in a year. She cried when she first discovered everything, but that was the only time she allowed herself to cry over everything. She wanted her parents so badly, but she couldn't fix them while she was like this. While she was so broken. Tonks shushed her softly, throwing up a silencing charm to give her some privacy. Tonks swore to make Molly and Ron pay for everything they did to the most selfless witch she ever knew.
"I don't want to live like this, Tonks." Hermione whispered again, chocking back more tears.

"I got you, Hermione. Me, Remus, Sirius, Harry, Charlie, Bill, and Fleur we got you. We're here for you, and we're not going anywhere." Tonks whispered into Hermione's curls, holding her tighter.

When the two emerged from the bathroom, Tonks cast a refreshing charm on their eyes. Hermione looked at the people in her apartment, forcing herself to look at her friends and reminding herself that they weren't like their brother. Slowly she moved closer to Charlie and held her hand out. He took it with a moments hesitation, before gently cupping it in his. A soft smile gracing his lips as he gazed up at her. She smiled softly and locked eyes with Sirius, who nodded in encouragement. She took a deep breath and looked towards Bill, and he grinned at her with his arm wrapped around his wife. Her mind screamed to run, but she forced herself to focus on the attributes that she liked about them. She reminded herself that they were good people, that they wouldn't hurt her. It was here that the exhaustion hit. She sat down besides Charlie with a deep sigh.

"I think that is our que to go." Fleur said with a small smile. "Lily and James will stay with us. Sirius you can stay here with Hermione, the guest room is set up for when Teddy stays, but you'll be fine in there. Just watch out for the toys." As the groups began to file out, she squeezed Charlies hand gently.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I can stay on the couch, but I really don't want to stay with Bill and Fleur tonight with James and Lily there." He whispered softly.

With a calculating look at him, Hermione nodded softly. Remus, Tonks, Andy, and Teddy gave her a hug before filing out. Tonks wrapped Charlie in a hug, whispering for him to keep an eye on Hermione, before disappearing out the door. Hermione told Sirius and Charlie where the other blankets where in the hall, and where the food was, before going to bed. She forced herself to use the last of her energy to place a silencing spell on her room, before collapsing onto the bed. She had a bad feeling about those two staying with her.