A South Star to Guide You Home
“Oh…fuck it all!” Hermione said, feeling hot tears well up in her eyes.
The waiter gave her a wary look, and Hermione waved her hand, the other coming up to shield her face, as she pushed her chair back and stumbled out of the café. She couldn’t do this. She wasn’t ready.
Millicent’s mouth fell open, but Hermione was out the door before she could say a word. She felt a little guilty leaving Milly to handle it—to pay the waiter for the two teas they’d already ordered and make apologies—but it was just…she should have known better than to go to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner.
Not today, not when they were less than 24 hours from seeing Hermione’s parents again, and maybe…
Maybe.
It was just…the whole place had smelled like coming home from Hogwarts during hols…the smell of her mum’s cooking filling the house and making it feel like home. She’d wanted to share that piece of her history with Millicent, but she had overestimated her own capacity for chill, apparently.
Hermione leant against the building, sniffling, focusing on taking slow, deep breaths like the PTSD books instructed.
The night was warm and they were far enough into the suburbs that there were some stars visible. Hermione tried to find the North Star, a habit she’d taken up as a first year, to ground herself. That it took her several moments of scanning the sky without luck to remember Polaris wasn’t visible to most of the southern hemisphere, she almost started crying again. Couldn’t one thing just be as she remembered it?
But no. That wasn’t how life worked. Hermione took a fortifying sniff. Things looked different, but underneath, they were still the same.
Her parents didn’t believe her yet, but underneath, they were sitll her parents.
And they were willing to listen to her tomorrow.
“You all right, mate?” a woman said, slowing as she approached Hermione on the sidewalk. She had mala bead prayer necklace on that fell to her waist, and more beads braided into her hair. “You need anything?”
Hermione hurriedly wiped her eyes, put a smile on her face. “No, I’m fine, thank you.”
The woman stepped a bit closer, her forehead creasing as she studied Hermione’s face. “You’re a bit too far from home to be having such a rotten night, pet. You sure?”
Hermione laughed, and it turned into a pathetic little sob. “I’m fine,” she said again, sniffling. The woman reached up and put a hand on Hermione’s shoulder, her stack of golden bangles jingling as she rubbed gently, and that small gesture destroyed the last of Hermione’s control.
“It’s just…my parents,” Hermione said between a sob. “They moved here last year and I haven’t spoken to them since and they—”
“Oh, lovie,” the woman said.
She kept rubbing Hermione’s shoulder and Hermione’ kept crying, and Millicent was probably still trying to figure out what to do with Hermione’s credit card, and everything was just such a disaster, and—
“Tonight’s the solstice, you know,“ said the woman. “’Course, for us that means our days get shorter, but you’re English, yeah? So, where you and your folks are from, your days are getting longer. It’s time for your energies to grow and heal—time for reconciliations and mending. I bet your folks’ll be feeling that too. There’s hope, pet, don’t you worry.”
Hermione wiped her eyes, inconspicuously pulled a hankie from her bottomless bag and blew her nose. She gave the woman a watery smile.
“You’re right. Thank you.”
The woman smiled. Then she dropped her hand from Hermione’s shoulder and pulled a bangle from her wrist. “Here, take this—”
“I couldn’t—” Hermione began, but the woman shook her head and pressed it into Hermione’s hand, closing her fingers around it.
“It’s lucky,” the woman said. She pointed to the star and moon charms sliding around the golden bangle. “See—the stars’ll guide you. A South Star to guide you home. This is your time, pet. Make the most of it and things will come out right.”
Then she reached in and hugged Hermione, who was so stunned that it took her a moment to hug back. She pulled away, smiling, and patted Hermione’s shoulder once more before continuing on her way.
Hermione was left staring after her, her eyes still sore and puffy, but her heart a bit lighter.
“Should I be worried?”
Hermione’s heart lightened further still. No matter what happened tomorrow, she had Millicent, and Millicent was everything she needed. Hermione slipped the bangle on her wrist, turned to face Millicent.
“No, love. Just a kind stranger.”
“Very kind,” Millicent said, pointedly.
Hermione bit her lip. “Yes, very kind. Unusually kind.”
Almost…unnaturally kind. Hermione glanced down the street again, but the stranger was gone. Perhaps she’d turned a corner, or got into a taxi…
“But tonight’s the winter solstice at home,” Hermione said, looking down at her new bangle. “Tomorrow, the days start getting longer.”
Millicent came up and put an arm around Hermione’s shoulder, pulling her into a fierce half-hug. She handed Hermione’s credit card back to her, along with a receipt.
“I signed your name,” Millicent said. “My first criminal act.”
Hermione laughed, turned fully into Millicent and tipped her head up to kiss her. When she pulled away, she was smiling. “That is the darkest of lies, and I’ll never believe it,” she told Millicent.
Millicent shrugged. “Darkest of lies for the darkest of nights. And tomorrow’s your new day.”