Chapter 3
Hermione woke up to a soft t-shirt in her mouth and the massive hand of said shirt’s owner patting her nappy-covered bum absentmindedly. She felt a muscular chest rise and fall under her, realising that she was napping on either Sirius or Remus’ large frames. Falling asleep was easier than breathing these days, and she barely noticed where and when she fell asleep. All she needed was someone to rock her or feed her a bottle full of warm milk or juice, as mortifying as that was.
She blushed and let out a groan as she sat up, noting the way that Remus’ shirt had a big wet spot from her sucking.
“Nice snooze, pup?” the man asked, using his free hand to mute the ridiculously large telly he was watching.
“My brain feels normal,” she murmured, leaning back once more to rest her head in the crook of his neck. She felt more level than she’d had in who knew how many days, sentences easier to string together than before and her thoughts moving quicker than the molasses stream they’d been stuck in since she took the serum.
“That’s good news, Hermione,” the man’s voice didn’t change too much at her proclamation, she noticed, but he did revert to calling her by her name rather than one of the diminutives they’d clearly grown so fond of. Truthfully, she hadn’t minded the names, feeling more loved than anything as they played around with names to find ones that stuck.
“I’m not little anymore?” she asked, needing answers. Her chief priority was getting answers right now, terrified that she’d revert back to a place of near-complete helplessness once more.
“Mind if I call Marley and Sirius in?” The man called for an elf when Hermione shook her head, the pair of older Gryffindors walking into the room hand-in-hand just moments later.
“Everything alright?” Marlene asked, beautiful as ever in a light pink dress and fuzzy black and pink zebra striped cardigan.
Hermione stayed quiet for a beat, letting Remus speak while she gathered her thoughts.
“Hermione just woke up from a nap and is feeling a bit more settled. She’s got some questions I thought we could all discuss together.”
“Of course,” Marlene nodded seriously, leaning forward to rest her chin in her hands. She and Sirius sat on the couch that was perpendicular to the bigger one that her and Remus were on, farther away than they’d been all week.
The little felt a bit overwhelmed at the stares of the three caregivers, not even knowing where to begin. Her emotions were all over the place, leaving her unsure of whether or not she wanted to yell at them until she was blue in the face over how they’d treated her or leave the wizarding world and never come back or crumple into a tiny ball and cry for hours. She had options, but none of them were particularly good; not until she knew more.
“I’m not little anymore?” she repeated the question she’d asked Remus before, thinking it was a decent start.
“That’s not quite accurate,” Sirius started in the gentle, warm tone that it only took her life being flipped upside down for him to start using with her. “When you take the serum, all of your inhibitions go away. Your brain gets the green light to go as little as magic has imbued your headspace to be once you take the serum, which leaves you feeling unlike yourself. When the hormones settle and the potency and newness of the serum fade away, most littles feel like themselves again, but that doesn’t mean you’re not little.”
Hermione furrowed her brow, brain still moving a bit slower than normal, but her stomach sunk with dread as she pieced together what he was saying.
“When does it go away?” she asked, wanting there to be a different answer than the one she knew to be true.
“You are little,” Sirius replied, as serious as she’d heard him. “That won’t change, not even when you’re feeling bigger. You were little before you were classified, your traits just hadn’t fully manifested before your birthday. A lot will change, but the things that matter won’t. You can still go to Hogwarts, you can still take your classes, you can still take your exams… all of this will feel normal soon, even if it feels big and new now.”
Hermione’s chest seized as she thought of going back to school, cursing herself for being so eager to do so despite everything that’d changed. What would her classmates think? She was going to be the biggest joke ever.
Nerdy Hermione Granger, barely a friend to her name, a little who no one was going to want. She was too annoying, too awkward, too much of a know-it-all, and this was going to be yet another stamp of how different and unwanted she was. Honestly, she could hardly bear the idea of being looked at as different again. Perhaps going back to school wasn’t a good idea. Maybe there was magical homeschooling?
“We want to know what’s going on in your mind, whenever you’re ready,” Marlene’s expression was sympathetically heartbroken, like she knew how Hermione felt.
She had no idea.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she frowned, pushing off of Remus to crabwalk into her own corner of the couch. She didn’t want to be near him or anyone else. “My life is going to be even worse than it already was. I just want to be normal.”
She whispered the last part, pressing shaking palms to her eyes to try and stave off the tears she felt building. How were there still tears in her left to cry? It felt like all she’d been doing lately was crying.
“What’s been going on that’s got you upset?” Remus asked, already knowing most of the pieces of the puzzle based on what Sirius had shared over the years.
What wasn’t wrong? Hermione still felt like her words weren’t coming out right, but she tried her best. “No one likes me and they like me even less the more I try. My parents aren’t keen on magic and… and they won’t like.. This. I have no friends and nowhere to go.”
Marlene had to grab Sirius’ hand, both as a comfort and an anchor. All she wanted to do was wrap the little girl up in her arms, the expression of worry and loss and shame on such a sweet, young face was almost too much to bear.
“We’ll take it one problem at a time, pup,” Sirius gave a small smile, used to the girl’s complex sentences and long-winded thoughts. “You absolutely have somewhere to go; our home is your home, Hermione. Now and always. I apologise for making you feel anything less than welcome in Gryffindor, at Hogwarts, in my classroom, in the wizarding world… all of it. I spell myself in the foot far more than any grown adult should, and this time my mistakes didn’t just hurt me. So I am sorry. So so sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s okay,” she replied immediately, looking up at the man who had glassy eyes that mirrored her own. She meant it, too. Sirius was giving up his life to take care of her, a student that he clearly didn’t like very much. But now, it seemed like that may have shifted, if only a little bit. She hoped it had, anyway.
“You’re too sweet for your own good,” Sirius swallowed, shaking his head to clear his mind. “Now, it doesn’t help, but I am here to tell you that all kids are knuckleheads. All of them. Boys, girls, Gryffindors, Ravenclaws… Once everyone starts to get classified they will grow up a bit, but until then, you can’t expect too much of them.”
Both Marlene and Hermione made noises of dissent.
“I take it both my girls take issue with that?” Sirius smiled, amused. Hermione blushed at being called one of his girls, at being looped in with someone like Marlene.
“Just because they’re kids doesn’t give them the right to be bullies or exclude their classmates. Have you been able to make any friends at Hogwarts, Hermione?”
The way the question was phrased made her flame up with embarrassment, the directness of the woman almost too much. She cared, though, and that’s what Hermione was trying to focus on. Someone cared. Three someones cared. She needed to hang onto that affection and attention for as long as possible.
“I met a friend at the library last week,” she said quietly, not having put her burgeoning friendship out into the universe yet. It was fragile, something she was scared would shatter if she shed any light on it. The school year had just started, so she knew things could change quickly. “She’s a Ravenclaw.”
Marlene beamed, “That’s wonderful, Hermione! What’s her name?”
The girl tried not to preen at the maternal praise, hating herself a little for how much she loved the trio’s fawning over her. It was far different than the way her parents had treated her, like more of an investment than anything. And now that she was a witch, it was clear that she wouldn’t be taking over their dental practice, throwing years of their academic downpayments in her down the drain. She was nothing to them, and that hurt more than words could say.
“Luna.”
“Oh! Pandora and Xeno’s daughter,” Marlene nodded. It would never not weird Hermione out, the way that everyone knew everyone in their world. “She’s a lovely girl, a second year?”
“Right,” Sirius confirmed. “Don’t sell yourself short - I know how much Harry likes being your friend, Ron too. What about your dorm mates?”
Hermione couldn’t help but curl her lip at the question, causing the adults to share a quick look while she wasn’t looking.
“They aren’t my friends, they only like boys and makeup.”
“Oh?” Sirius asked, trying to see what other information they could get out of the too-honest girl.
“Lavender said I can’t join their Monday mud mask parties because I haven’t kissed a boy. I told her I thought boys were gross and a waste of time… they laughed at me and said I could only join if I went and kissed someone in the common room,” the girl frowned, looking like she was trying to solve a complex maths problem that she didn’t have all of the variables for.
Marlene felt her heart shatter a bit, half a mind to hug the girl and the other half wanting to storm into Hogwarts and scold the cliquey Gryffindor girls who’d made one of their own feel so excluded and low.
“That’s not very nice,” the woman started, trying not to soften her tone to the point that Hermione, clearly in a murky headspace, felt she was being babied. “You don’t need to be pressured into anything in order to have friends, including kissing a boy.”
Hermione spluttered a bit, looking up at the woman with wide eyes, “I’m not going to kiss anyone! It’s gross and spreads germs… I don’t want to. Never ever!”
The pair of men shared self-satisfied smiles at the girl’s aversion to boys, knowing deep down that littles were asexual by nature, but the deep, protective paternal parts of their psyche liked hearing it out loud.
“Of course,” Marlene nodded seriously, wanting nothing more than to shoot her husbands a stink eye at their smug reactions. They were such papa bears. “Now, this has been a lot of serious talk! Why don’t we get you into some different clothes and then we can find something to do?”
Ah, Hermione had nearly forgotten the humiliation they’d set upon her.
“I’m not a baby, I don’t need…” she couldn’t even say it!
Thankfully, the adults didn’t make her say it. And just as wonderful, they didn’t laugh at her. She noticed that they hadn’t, even when she’d used it in a way that would haunt her forever, though she was never awake when she did. They’d comforted her, not making fun of her or reprimanding her for acting like a baby.
The older woman’s responding look was one of understanding. “How about us girls go upstairs while the boys find something fun for us to do?”
Hermione nodded, stomach fluttery as Marlene took her hand. The woman wasn’t a giant, but Hermione still felt small next to her. She was as beautiful as a model, tall and willowy, yet muscular like she actually worked out. Which was a weird thought, because most magical people she’d met didn’t seem to work out more than walking the long and abundant halls of Hogwarts.
“Sickle for your thoughts?” Marlene asked as they walked up the stairs, trying not to baby the girl, but still terrified that her little legs would buckle underneath her.
“You’re really pretty,” Hermione blurted out with a shy smile.
Marlene’s expression was brighter than the sun, “Thank you, sweet girl. So are you; beautiful, smart, silly and kind.”
Hermione just shook her head, “Was talking about you, not me.”
The woman laughed at that, “Well, I was talking about you! And I won’t take my compliments back.”
They entered the room right next to the triad’s, the only other one that Hermione had seen. She had been sleeping with the trio, too tuckered out to complain every night. Remus and Sirius made good pillows too, and she had found herself curled around one of them like an octopus every night. As mortifying as it should’ve been to wake up from a deep sleep to realise she’d drooled on her professor’s chest, she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Not right now when she felt like she was waking from a week’s long sleep, at least.
“Well, what do you think?” Marlene asked, cocking her free hand on her hip. Hermione looked around in shock at the room.
It was painted a light yellow with bright white furniture. The bedspread looked velvety, with yellow flowers dotted all over the grey and white backdrop. There was a white rocking chair in the corner with its own yellow pillows and a bookcase that spanned the free wall. A bunch of books were already on there, and Hermione found herself gravitating over there, stopping only when she felt Marlene’s hand tug on her own.
The woman rolled her eyes playfully, squeezing Hermione’s hand in her own. “Well!?”
“It’s pretty,” she replied, not sure what Marlene wanted.
“You can change whatever you like, but we thought it’d be nice for you to have your own space.”
Her own space? This was for her?
Hermione’s eyes were comically wide when she looked at Marlene. “For me?”
“For you,” the woman confirmed. “We want you to know you have a home here whenever you need it or want it.”
“Oh,” Hermione pulled her hand free, putting it to her head as she dizzily plopped on the floor, falling backwards and clunking her head against the wall.
“Hermione?” Marlene’s voice was loud and alarmed, one hand pressed to her forehead and the other checking the back of her head, like she could have cut her head from its light altercation with the wall.
Once she realised that the girl was in the throes of panic and not hurt from her slight fall, Marlene was content to sit silently and wait for Hermione to be ready to speak.
“My parents are going to be really cross,” Hermione whispered into the quiet of the room, knowing Marlene could hear.
“Because you’re little?”
She hated to even hear such an awful truth out loud, but she still nodded.
“Well… Would it make you feel better to know that you don’t need to go back over the summer?”
It was a calculated gamble to mention such a thing, Marlene knew, but one worth taking.
Hermione, thank Merlin, ate it up. “What?”
“Muggleborn littles don’t return back to their muggle homes for the hols, not without a caregiver with them, at least. You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to, not now, at least.”
“Where do I go?” she asked, Marlene noting that the girl was reverting back to her more childish demeanor, both the thumb that was crawling towards her mouth and the short, choppy questions being good indicators.
“You can stay here or find other fosters if you would like,” Marlene was a bit hesitant to go into that whole spiel, knowing the ministry would handle these questions and conversations on its own.
“Don’t want to go back,” she admitted, the ball of anxiety in her chest starting to unravel for the first time.
It wasn’t the same as agreeing to stay with them, but Marlene didn’t expect that level of commitment at this point. Her husbands might, but she didn’t. The girl was scared and unused to having people in her life who loved her enough to stay and cared enough to show it. They’d continue to show, not tell, the girl how much they wanted her around with the hope that she decided to stick around.
“You don’t have to,” the woman promised, moving the hand that was cradling Hermione’s head to run through her newly soft and smooth curls. “You don’t have to worry about anything at all right now… just what we’re going to eat and read and play.”
“Play?” Hermione asked, a weird expression on her face as she said the word.
Marlene nodded seriously, “Oh yes! We can make special potions or do a puzzle or play with blocks or dolls…”
“Magic toys?”
“Magic toys,” she confirmed.
Hermione barely had to think about it, the curiosity over what magic toys were like was too much for her to handle.
“I want to play.”
“Perfect!” Marlene grinned sunnily. “Let’s get you into some new clothes then we can go play.”
Oh, that brought her formerly chief concern to the fore.
“Don’t need a nappy,” Hermione’s face burned brighter than the sun as she said that. “Need to use the loo.”
It felt good to feel her hands and toes and bladder muscles again, as clumsy and out of it as she felt. Relieving herself in a nappy was embarrassing, but not knowing that she needed to go in the first place was far worse.
“Loo’s right through here,” Marlene stood up and pulled the girl to her feet as well, leading her into the en suite bathroom that was beautiful and bright and had a tub of its own, this one much smaller than the triad’s, yet still huge enough for her to picture enjoying many, many baths in it.
Hermione was antsy by this point, simply naming the fact that she needed to go intensifying her need to critical levels.
Knowing what the little leg-squeezing dance Hermione was engaged in meant, Marlene lifted the girl’s pink and white nightie off and helped rip the nappy tapes off, hefting the girl on the toilet just in time. Hermione didn’t even look embarrassed, more relieved and grateful to have made it, even if it required help.
Shoving down her need to hover, Marlene threw out the nappy and went back out to the bedroom to grab a fresh set of clothes for Hermione, walking back in as the girl flushed and went to wash her hands, standing on her tippy toes. They’d need to get a whole bunch of stepping stools, Marlene made a note to add that to their next round of muggle catalogue shopping.
“All set?” Marlene asked, trying not to embarrass the girl, but Hermione wore a self-satisfied smirk.
“I did it,” she replied, rubbing her hands against the towel. “I’m too big for nappies. Not a baby.”
This next part wouldn’t be fun.
“Good job, sweet girl. Your body and brain are still doing some funny things, though, so until we know that your headspace is fully settled, why don’t we wear some protection? No one will know, and it’ll help keep you comfy and dry.”
“No nappy!” Hermione’s voice was starting to raise, frustrated with the woman in front of her. Why was no one listening to her? She knew herself better than they did, they just met her!
“No nappy,” Marlene agreed. “Just some panties with a little help inside. Look how cute they are!”
Curse it all, Hermione’s insatiable curiosity won out. Marlene pulled the not-nappy off of the small pile of clothes she’d brought in, bringing it down to Hermione’s eyeline.
She wasn’t wrong… it would look like knickers, if not for the crinkly material that had a floating landscape of outerspace on it. Even when she was newly potty-trained her knickers didn’t have pictures on them!
“Why don’t you try them once,” Marlene suggested, sensing the girl’s deep hesitancy. “It’s just us here, sweetheart. No one is judging you.”
Marlene’s earnest expression was enough to quell her burgeoning tantrum, at least for the moment, but that didn’t mean she didn’t grumble as she received help to step into the cursed training pants and pull them up her hips.
“There we are! Easy peasy. Now, do you want another dress or sweatpants?”
Hermione thought through the two options, ultimately deciding on another dress. This one didn’t look to be a sleeping gown, but a deep orange with little white flowers all over it that screamed fall. Prettier and less plain than something she’d pick for herself, and softer than soft as Marlene helped yank it over her head.
They went downstairs, Hermione a bit insecure at walking back into the living room while knowing that the men were aware of what they’d been doing upstairs.
Her worries seemed to be unnecessary, though, as the pair beamed up at the witches when they entered. They were laying on the ground with a big blue box next to them, a moving picture on it that Hermione couldn’t quite make out.
“The pretty witches are back! I thought they left us for good,” Sirius put on a faux look of concern that had Hermione giggling and forgetting about her insecurities.
Just what the doctor ordered.
“What’s that?” she asked, eyes trained on the box.
“Why don’t you come look?” Remus pat the fluffy carpet next to him, smiling as the girl toddled over, the slight crinkle of her undergarments clear to both animagi, not that they’d ever say anything. They were impressed, but unsurprised, that their wife managed to get Hermione to agree to wearing the pullup without a major tantrum, but weren’t willing to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“A puzzle,” she breathed, eyes scanning the text on the box. “Grows as you go… what’s it mean?”
“Let’s try it out and see,” Sirius prodded, lifting the box off of the top of the puzzle and displaying medium-sized puzzle pieces that were specifically created for toddler-aged biological children and littles.
“Do you like doing puzzles?” Remus asked, watching as the girl pulled a few pieces out and pursed her lips at them.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, focused on the best way to start as she shared a bit about her past. Her parents never bought her puzzles, thinking they were a waste since they were a one-and-done activity.
She was already a bit overwhelmed, but knew she could figure it out if she worked hard enough. It was the same way that she tackled learning about a whole new world at age eleven; the more she studied and read and asked questions, even when it annoyed people, the more secure she was in her knowledge and success.
“I love doing puzzles,” the softer spoken man answered. “How about we look for end pieces? If we get the outline of the picture together, that normally makes it easier.”
Oh! Some direction. His suggestion relieved her, not knowing where to go with the puzzle, but not wanting to fail.
“What’s an end piece?”
“Good question,” Sirius responded, digging through the box to find one. “This is an end piece - it’ll have one side or two sides with completely straight edges since it’s the outer edge of the puzzle. Once we find a few of those, we can sort out the middle.”
They worked quietly for a few minutes, the men taking the backseat as they allowed Hermione to shuffle pieces around and make mistakes, sure to praise her every time a piece was put into the right spot.
Sirius could hardly handle his excitement as the girl found the first connecting piece, eyes lasered to her face as she used her small hands to pat the magic-imbued pieces together.
“Oh!” she squeaked, eyes wider than wide as she looked down. A small tuft of grass popped out from where the two pieces connected at what would be the bottom of the puzzle. She hovered her hand over it, as if wanting to touch, but looked to Remus and Sirius almost out of instinct to see if it was safe.
“Go on,” Remus prodded gently, placing his hand over her own when it was clear she was hesitant to touch it still.
“Feels real,” she said with wonder, watching the grass flicker against her fingers like there was a breeze.
“Magic, pretty cool, i’nt it?” Sirius waggled his brows, loving the girl’s enthusiastic nod.
“More,” she commanded, dumping the whole puzzle box over in her excitement and covering up the slew of end pieces they’d taken a while to collect with the middle pieces.
Neither man said anything, though, content to watch how the girl played and thought and acted, willing to step in when necessary.
Marlene walked in with Jett an undetermined time after to ply them with drinks and snacks, Hermione accepting the sippy cup without a fight, which was interesting. The girl, hardheaded and stubborn as she was, submitted to adult authority easily.
Remus wondered if it was all adult authority or just those that she grew to trust; it was something he’d watch moving forward, not wanting their trusting girl to get wrapped up with the wrong people or take everything that she heard from someone older as law.
“Three more!” she squealed, looking over to the trio. Marlene was lounging on the couch with a book in her hand, putting it down as soon as the girl spoke.
“So close!” she agreed, moving to sit up and watch them finish the puzzle.
Hermione was as careful when placing the last three pieces as she was with the others, nervous to mess everything up after working so hard.
Once finished, the puzzle stopped moving for a moment before a completed image burst out of the wooden pieces.
“Oh! Look!” she crawled a bit closer to the finished creation, eyes wide as she reached down to stroke the image.
“Know what those creatures are?” Sirius asked.
Hermione nodded. “Hippogriff. Centaur… Dragon and a kitty?”
“Good job! I think that is either a cat or a kneazle.”
“What’s a kneazle?” she asked, thinking through magical creatures and coming up short.
“It’s a magical cat, a bit bigger and a whole lot smarter,” Sirius answered.
She liked the sound of a kneazle, tucking the information away for a later date. Hopefully the library had books with pictures when she got back to school… Well, didn’t she remember, in the haze of her first few days there, Remus mentioning a library? They’d been reading her various books, and the books had to come from somewhere!
“Do you have pictures of them?” she asked, hoping they wouldn’t be annoyed with the request.
“Do we ever! To the library!”
xxx
Hermione spent the next few days in domestic bliss. She was certain that this is what a family was supposed to be like, laughing and playing and eating yummy food while talking to each other. The trio had an incredible ability to take her mind off of her classification and impending worries. She didn’t even want to go back to school at this point, not when she was getting so much positive validation and attention here.
She didn’t like everything they did, though, even after the adults calmly explained when they were doing what they were doing. They made her sleep in nappies, which she hated until she woke up wet three days in a row. Sirius had held her in his arms while she sobbed each morning at her mortifying reality, singing a quiet song until she calmed down. The padded knickers weren’t her favourite either, and she’d only had two accidents.
They weren’t her fault, either; Remus and Sirius would ask her to play games or read, and get just as caught up as she was. It led to her wetting herself, something she always realised immediately, with sobs that built up and poured out of her.
She felt helpless, she felt like her life was being turned upside down, she felt like she didn’t get a fair shake of things. But when she was given bubble baths with toys that she was allowed to pick out and had help from Remus on her homework or had her curls braided into beautiful styles by Marlene every morning when she woke up, it didn’t sting as much.
“Hermione, it’s time to wrap up,” Remus called into the room gently. Hermione was in the library with Stevie the elf, the small creature overjoyed to show the girl all of the children’s books that she’d missed out on. The colours and magic imbued in them were remarkable, and she couldn’t get enough of the bright images and silly stories.
“One more page,” she called back, not looking up from the picture book she was reading about a brother and a sister who were on an adventure with a house elf and a centaur. Reluctant to leave her book but aware that the man had walked further into the room the longer she took, she shut it. “Keep it out please, Stevie?”
“Of course, little miss!” the elf saluted, patting one hand on Hermione’s bare knee.
“Need to use the loo before we go say hello to everyone?” Remus asked, trying not to trip over Hermione as she glued herself to his hip and nodded her curl-covered head. The girl liked to stay close to them and over the past day or so, had taken to touching them at random moments, grabbing a hand here or nearly curling up on a lap there. It showed just how far the girl had come in the thirteen days she’d been at their house; Remus and Sirius had gone back to work, both doing the bare minimum with the professor foregoing his office hours and additional Hogwarts responsibilities to be with Hermione.
Remus was transitioning to a new role as Department of Magical Law Enforcement’s Chief Investigative Officer, a leadership position that’d give him a larger staff and more flexibility than he had heading up the Department of Intoxicating Substances. He had so much time racked up that the DMLE’s resources team begged him to take time off. He’d done just that, but wanted to save enough time up for the holidays, knowing that Ophi and, hopefully, Hermione would be home with them.
As soon as Remus heard the sink turn off he moved to the doorway of the loo Hermione had used, shocked by the way she pulled on his shirt and looked up at him with insecure eyes. He lifted her into his arms, letting out a grunt at the way she squeezed his neck between her arms before burrowing her face into his neck.
He knew that his colleagues weren’t here to hurt Hermione or take her away, but his instinct was to growl and bare his teeth like the wolf he transformed into. Sirius and James had made fun of him for turning into a fearsome creature when they’d achieved their animagus forms back in seventh year, but it was moments like this one that made it clear just why he was a wolf.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, holding her tightly against his hip as he walked to their formal sitting room. It had less comfortable couches and no televisions, but it was right off the home’s main entryway and Floo foyer, which made it ideal to welcome guests that weren’t considered family.
The hum of conversation paused as they walked in, eyes roving over Remus and the tiny girl he was carrying. Marlene had a sympathetic look on her face, clearly worried about the witch they’d all come to love, while Sirius looked just as protective as he was. It was a wonder Sirius hadn’t shut the Floo off so that the ministry officials couldn’t get in.
“Well hello there,” a deep male voice sounded.
Achieving the desired result, Hermione peeked an eye out in curiosity, but stayed nestled in Remus’ arms as the man sat down on a sofa.
“We’re feeling a bit nervous,” Remus explained, more for Hermione’s sake than anything.
“Me too,” the same booming voice repeated, a frisson of humour in it this time.
She had to look up at that, hoping someone would ask why the man is nervous.
No one bit, so she did what she had to.
“Why?” she asked in a quiet voice.
The man used a hand to flick a strand of his long, golden hair behind his ear.
“I’m sitting right across from one of my meanest professors,” he whispered as though no one could hear him.
Hermione tried to piece together… what? No way!
“He’s not mean!” she defended, face scrunched in a cute, angry, kittenish expression that Sirius wanted to tattoo into the tiny bit of free space on his right arm.
“Oh-ho, yes he is!” the man argued right back, tone playful, not that Hermione picked up on it. “He made me do homework! Can you believe it?”
That’s why he didn’t like Sirius?
She giggled, covering her mouth with a sweaty palm that she removed from where it was still nestled on Remus’ shoulder. The man took a deep breath once his throat was released.
“Everyone gives homework! It’s how you learn!”
“Hm… Are you sure?”
She nodded vigorously.
“Well then, I guess I’m not nervous anymore! As long as you promise you’ll protect me if Professor Black tries to give me homework.”
“Promise,” she agreed.
“Don’t think I like you turning my girl against me,” Sirius narrowed his eyes, hiding his amusement well.
“We’re all friends here now that I know you weren’t giving me homework just to be a big old grumpy goblin. My name is Thorfinn, but you can call me Thor.”
She gave him a slight wave after he gave her one with a massive hand.
“Alastor Moody, Little Welfare Division Chief, DMLE,” a grizzled older man barked out, voice far less friendly. Hermione didn’t know what any of that meant either, though she had no desire to question the man. Her curiosity only went so far.
“Good afternoon, thank you for spending time with us, Hermione. My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt, I’m Undersecretary for Education and Classifications. The three of us are some of the Ministry of Magic’s staff tasked with making sure littles are happy and healthy and able to continue their education at Hogwarts without trouble. We have some questions for you today, but want to start by apologising. Healer Prewett was supposed to join us, but is stuck in an emergency surgery. She hopes to see you soon. Now… Would you like to speak to us alone or would you like for Marlene, Remus and Sirius to stay here?”
“They stay,” she answered immediately. She didn’t know these men, speaking to them without anyone else was not something she wanted to do.
“Great,” Kingsley nodded with a smile. “Thorfinn?”
The youngest man nodded, “We’re all friends here, and nothing that’s said by you or anyone else will leave this room, okay?”
She nodded.
“So I wonder what you think about Hogwarts. Were you surprised when a professor came to your house and told you that you were magic?”
Her nod intensified.
“What did you and your parents talk about after you found out you’d be attending Hogwarts.”
That was an easy one.
“They were sad I couldn’t become a dentist.”
“A what?” Thorfinn asked.
“A dentist,” she repeated, slower this time.
“Tooth healer,” Remus explained from behind her.
“There really aren’t dentists? I thought Ron was lying,” she frowned.
“No dentists,” Remus explained. “Tooth healing is a specialty, though, they help people grow new teeth and remove baby teeth for young witches and wizards. A lot less painful than what muggles go through.”
Wow, she had no idea! Ron lied to her about so much, she expected this to be a part of that long list.
“We all learned something new today. Now, your parents were sad you couldn’t be a dentist. Did you feel sad too?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I was excited… I wanted to find people like me who wanted to be friends and liked to learn as much as I do.”
“I bet. Since you’ve gotten to Hogwarts have you been happy? Have you made friends like you’ve wanted to?”
This is where it got difficult. She stuttered through an explanation of what she’d already told Marlene, Sirius and Remus, asking them to continue speaking for her when Mr. Thorfinn asked frustrating questions about her feelings that she didn’t want to answer. Sirius picked up immediately, having a good understanding of her current predicament thanks to his position at the school.
“Thanks for sharing all of that with us. Now we’ll get to the tough stuff. You ready?”
She just stared at him, gaze wary.
“What did you think you’d be classified as?”
“Neutral.”
“That was a quick answer! Why did you think you’d be neutral?”
“I like school… I want to work after Hogwarts… I’m not very good at loving people.”
The last one was admitted with little more than a whisper.
Remus, Sirius and Marlene called out immediately to say that that wasn’t true, the arm around her waist squeezing her tighter for a moment.
“I heard from some trusted sources that the last one may not be true,” Mr. Thorfinn winked, and Hermione could only blush. “Why do you think you can’t work?”
She shrugged. She didn’t really know, honestly, just assumed that people who acted like children wouldn’t be allowed in the workplace.
“The good news is that you can work. Most littles don’t like to, truthfully, but there are no statutes against it. Speaking of, how are you feeling about going back to Hogwarts?”
She twisted her lips to the side.
“Nervous and sad.”
“Those are two valid feelings,” he nodded sympathetically. “Do you know why you’re feeling that way?”
“Don’t want to leave… Don’t want to be laughed at.”
“Why would someone laugh at you, lass?” Mr. Moody spoke up for the first time, his voice rough.
How did she explain the way that she was treated by her classmates?
“I don’t like boys and now I’m… different.”
“Are these your roommates?”
She nodded her assent.
“They muggleborns?”
She shook her head.
“Then they know that littles are gifts from magic; there’s nothing to make fun of, not without finding themselves in a world of trouble with their parents and professors.”
While the words sounded great and she desperately wanted to believe them, Hermione couldn’t picture a world where Lavender and Parvati were nice to her. Especially about something like this.
But she stayed silent, which she’d been doing for over two years now. No adults needed to know what she was going through, even if they asked nicely.
“Moody’s right, it’s something that all children who grow up with wizarding parents know… Littles and caregivers are sacred in our society and blessed by magic. Now, speaking of, school is going to change a bit when you get back. Do you know what changes for littles at Hogwarts when they’re classified?” Mr. Thorfinn interjected, taking the lead once again.
“No…”
“Well, you know how Hogwarts is a little old and rusty?”
She smiled. A little old was an understatement!
“We have a whole special dorm for littles at Hogwarts, and it’s pretty cool. They even have tellies!”
“I thought that the school’s magic didn’t allow for electricity?”
The man shrugged, “Well, the little dorms have electricity all over! There’s a big playroom with all the toys you can think of, bedrooms for everyone who lives at the school, and other rooms you’ll just need to wait and see.”
Mr. Shacklebolt chimed in next, “Thorfinn’s right. We worked hard to ensure that you can feel comfortable at Hogwarts, and what we’ve found over the years is that staying in a separate dormitory makes that far easier.”
Her stomach sank. “I can’t stay in Gryffindor?”
“You’ll still be a Gryffindor, you’ll just stay at the little’s dorms when you sleep at Hogwarts. Many little students will go home at night to their caregivers or foster family and then come back either before breakfast or before classes, but the little’s dorm is there any time you need it.”
Now that was a thought. The constant reminder from her trio of caregivers that she could come back was ringing in her ears. Before she even realised what she was doing, she turned around and cupped a hand to Remus’ ear, trying to invoke a bit of her supposed Gryffindor courage.
“Can I sleep here?” she asked, breath shaky.
“Of course, sweetheart. We meant it when we said it,” he replied just as quietly, patting a hand on the girl’s slightly padded bum in reassurance, which she didn’t even care about. Not now that she knew she was welcome here. Someone, three someones, wanted her, and it was so freeing.
“Everything okay?” Mr. Thorfinn asked with a raised brow.
Hermione just looked at Remus with wide eyes that screamed ‘you say it.’
The man, calm as ever, spoke. “We hadn’t discussed the littles dormitory with Hermione, but have let her know that our home is her home, for as long as she’d like to stay with us. She just asked if she could spend evenings here once she’s back at school, and I let her know that we would love that.”
“I’m glad you brought that up,” the big man nodded. “I understand that Healers Prewett and Davies made the choice of who your fosters were. You are more than welcome to stay here, but know that whether it’s some of your classmates or another established and approved foster family, you’re able to switch your accommodations at any time.”
It took her a moment to understand what Mr. Thorfinn was saying, and as soon as she did, she narrowed her eyes at him, returning her arms to their deathly tight chokehold around Remus’ neck. They’d have to drag her out of here kicking and screaming. Which, she would. She finally found adults who told her they cared about her and wanted to keep her, there was no way that anyone was going to take her away.
“No one’s trying to take you away from us, puppy,” Sirius’ expression was equal parts amused and loving at her reaction, and she trusted his words, but kept her stronghold on Remus’ neck.
“Looks like you’re in good hands, little one,” Mr. Thorfinn smiled. “Now, you need to make me a promise.”
She just looked at him warily, waiting for the terms of the promise.
“When you meet my sister, Oiva, in the little’s dorms, you’ll give her a squeeze from her big brother. Promise.”
Hermione giggled at that and smiled.
“I’ll say hi.”
“I think you’ll be fast friends,” the man promised, knowing based on what Sirius had reported back to Mungo’s and the Ministry that Hermione was about three in her headspace, the same age as Oiva. It’d be good for the newly classified little to have a friend, and his sweet Hufflepuff sister was going to welcome her with open arms.
“Thank you for having us,” Mr. Shacklebolt said, standing up from the couch. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Hermione. I look forward to seeing you again soon. If you have any questions in the meantime, I’m just an owl away.”
“Good luck, little lass,” Mr. Moody saluted. “Keep an eye on your professor, he’s a lotta trouble.”
Hermione laughed loudly when the man pointed a wagging finger at Sirius, wondering what he knew about him.
“Oi, I’m a perfect angel!”
“Perfect, right, that’s why you got kicked out of auror academy,” the man stormed out of the room at that, Sirius’ wounded cry sounding in his ears.
“Low blow,” Sirius pouted. “I need Hermione hugs to make it all better.”
He dove onto the couch they were on, pulling Hermione into his arms and pressing kisses all over her face as he rolled over so that he was hovering over her.
“Stop!” she squealed, trying to pull away and squirrel out from under him.
“I can’t stop!” he cried just as loud, one hand holding her safely against him and the other moving to tickle her tummy.
“Gonna pee!” she warned, squirming against the couch.
“Can’t have that,” he crowed, lifting her into his arms and running. “To the loo we go!”
Marlene and Remus shared an exasperated, yet overjoyed, look at their husband’s antics, relieved at how well things had gone. They were past another hurdle in their journey to welcome Hermione into their family, and it couldn’t have felt better.