After getting Harry some new clothes and properly fed for the day, they went back to '4 Privet Drive', with Lucifer 'Apparating' them to the backyard to not arouse much suspicion.
Hermione, being her 'first' time apparating, handled it rather well.
Vernon Dursley ran out to the backyard to see what the racket was about, "Back are you? 'You're' kind are really starting to---" he stopped when he realized he was being ignored.
"Harry, I know we didn't go into much detail while shopping and just enjoying the day for the past few hours, but Hermione is going to wherever Dumbledore wants her to go, and she's going to pretend like she can't tell you anything about this," Lucifer explained to him, "I'm going to visit you twice a week until your birthday, which by then you should be able to go 'Number Twelve, Grimmauld place', as well as myself... maybe."
"Maybe? You mean you don't know if you'll get to go?" Harry asked him.
"It's possible..."
"GET OUT!" Vernon raged at them.
Lucifer's eyes glowed red as he waved his hand in Vernon's direction, silencing the man completely, "Your uncle is loud and obnoxious."
"You don't know the half of it..." Harry said, smiling a little bit.
"Right, well, if you need me for anything, just Owl me and I'll 'Apparate' here the second I see you need my help," Lucifer said and the three of them walked towards the House, with Vernon still yelling, even though no sound was coming from.
Lucifer unsilenced him and managed to grab him on the front of his wide neck, "You listen to me, if I find that Harry is being mistreated one more time, I will return here, and it will not be pretty," his voice was threatening as the air got dense around him, "Don't give me a reason to return."
He let go of Vernon, who began gasping for air and fell backwards, holding his throat. He turned to Hermione, who was looking at him, but not disapprovingly, "Ready to go back at Lux?"
"Yes," She said and smiled, then turned to their friend, "Bye, Harry, I'll see you again after your birthday." .She waved to him and grabbed Lucifer's hand, 'feeling' herself be pulled through a small tube, and appearing back at Lux's Top floor.
She let go of his hand and suddenly embraced him, resting her cheek on his torso, "I will not stay there if you aren't allowed to go too... I will come straight back here, do you understand me?"
She felt him kiss the top of her head, "Of course, Hermione. No one can tell you where you can and can't stay, except for your 'family."
"Yeah... I love you, Lucifer."
"I know," he said and they let go of each other. They spent the rest of their day reading, practicing spells, or just cuddling on the chair enjoying each other's bodies against one another; this of course was achieved by Hermione sitting on his lap and leaning back against him as his arms snaked around her midriff.
She had decided she would reply to Dumbledore tomorrow, "Hermione... there's something else I think you should know..."
"What's that?" She looked up at him.
"Dumbledore is Master at Legilimency. It lets a Witch or Wizard enter another person's mind for information."
"What?" Hermione's eyes widened.
"He might try and gather information from you without your knowledge. So, I think for the rest of your time here, you should make your shields even stronger... and I will increase my own level of 'probing' into your brain than past normal wizards."
It was a lot for her to take in, but she was eager to make herself better for him, "Alright, let's start right now."
xxxxx
Next day Hermione was set and ready to go to 'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.' She didn't want to, but Lucifer urged her to go, so decided in the end, she was going, "I'll see you in a couple of weeks hopefully...."
"You will, whether it's back here, or at 'Grimmauld Place', you'll see me again," he smiled and kissed her. Lucifer quickly added, "If in doubt, about your 'Occlumency,' just avoid looking Dumbledore directly in the eye. Eye-contact is what keeps the connection."
Hermione smiled and nodded, and took one last look around Lux; so much had already happened in her short time there, and she was leaving. She grabbed some floo powder, stepped into the Fireplace and said, "Leaky Cauldron," before throwing it down.
Once she arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron via the Floo network, she stepped out of the fireplace, brushing the stray flakes of soot from her denim jacket. Looking around, she saw that the pub was mostly empty today. It was still early morning, so she didn't expect much activity of the sort.
She sat down at one of the many empty tables in the corner and pulled out a heavy book—the only book she had taken from Lucifer's private library at Lux: 'A Guide to Advanced Occlumency.'
She knew she just needed to concentrate hard and never let her mental shields down. With Voldemort back, her thoughts were no longer safe. It was to her surprise, however, that it was not Professor Dumbledore who came to collect her from the pub. Instead, the heavy wooden door swung open to reveal Molly Weasley, accompanied by someone else.
It was a witch Hermione didn't recognize at all, sporting a vibrant mane of plum-purple hair.
She closed the book with a soft thud, slid it securely into one of her bags, and stood up to greet them. "Morning, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione extended her hand, and Molly shook it warmly.
"Morning, Hermione," Molly said, offering a kind smile, though her eyes looked tired. "I know it must not be easy, leaving both Harry and Lucifer out of the loop like this, but Dumbledore assured everyone it's for their best interest at the moment. Ron's been incredibly eager to see you, er, all of you again," she quickly corrected herself, a nervous flicker crossing her face.
'Oh, I'm sure he did, and I'm sure Ronald has', Hermione thought dryly to herself. Given how horribly Ron had behaved during the tournament, she couldn't entirely understand why he would be so eager to see her now.
"Right, of course," She nodded, forcing a polite wave of false understanding. "Er, I don't mean to sound rude if it comes across that way, but may I ask who you are?" she asked, turning her gaze to the other witch who had shown up.
"Name's Nymphadora Tonks, but call me Tonks. I absolutely hate Nymphadora," Tonks said with a bright, infectious grin. She extended her hand, which Hermione shook firmly.
"Nice to meet you, er, Tonks," Hermione said, her voice faltering slightly. She wasn't used to straight-up calling an adult by their last name. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Oh, I know exactly who the 'Brightest Witch of her Age' is," Tonks said cheekily, winking at her. "Remus Lupin has called you that several times at the place we're heading."
Hermione felt a sudden, fierce heat bloom across her cheeks, her face burning with embarrassment under the praise. She quickly cleared her throat to change the subject. "Well, I'm all ready to go. How are we getting there?"
"Apparition," Tonks said simply. "You'll be doing a side-along with me. Have you ever done it before?"
"Once..." She lied smoothly. In reality, she had done it twice—once back to Harry's residence, and then again when fleeing to Lux with Lucifer. This would technically be her third time 'Apparating, but she preferred to keep her personal excursions to herself.
"It gets easier, don't worry," Tonks smirked, offering her sturdy forearm. Hermione grabbed onto her tightly, bracing her core. A second later, the world vanished, and she found herself slammed once again with the suffocating feeling of being squeezed through a hopelessly tiny rubber tube.
With a sharp 'crack,' they materialized on a pavement. Hermione blinked, steadying her dizzy vision as she looked around. They were standing outside a row of old muggle houses at Grimmauld Place. There were no Muggles around to see their sudden arrival, thankfully.
Hermione's eyes instantly swept the brass numbers on the doors. She saw Number Eleven and Number Thirteen, but the space between them was blank. "So, Number Twelve is hidden normally?" she asked Tonks, her analytical mind immediately deconstructing the magic.
Tonks laughed, looking thoroughly impressed. "Blimey, you really are the Brightest Witch of your Age, aren't you? When Ron got here, he spent an hour shouting that there was no way we could be at the right place and that there must be some massive mistake."
'Sounds exactly like him,' Hermione thought, suppressing a sigh. "How do you get it to show up?"
"A couple of ways, and this is one of them," Tonks said. She drew her wand and waved it in a specific, fluid motion. Before Hermione's eyes, the brick walls of Number Eleven and Number Thirteen began to grind and swell, moving physically apart.
A grimy, musty front door numbered Twelve emerged from thin air, building itself between the two structures the farther apart they got. Soon enough, the entirety of 'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place' was standing solidly before her, while the Muggles inside Eleven and Thirteen remained completely none the wiser.
The building looked incredibly grimy, its musty windows layered with years of dark soot compared to the two clean houses beside it.
The three of them walked up the stone steps to the front door. Molly stepped forward, placing the tip of her wand carefully against the heavy oak wood, muttering a silent spell that indicated absolute secrecy. For a brief second, Hermione almost thought she was about to be initiated into some bizarre ritual for an induction into a secret society, but she knew better.
From deep within the house, the metallic sound of multiple locks clinging, clanging, and unlatching echoed out, followed by the heavy clattering of a security chain.
"Let's get in quick," Molly whispered urgently, pushing the heavy door open and ushering Tonks and the younger girl inside. "I'll show you to your room. Be remarkably careful to not touch anything or make a single loud noise," she informed her, before hurrying off toward the lower levels of the dark residence.
"Can I ask why?" Hermione asked, looking around the dim, narrow hallway lined with what looked like severed 'house-elf heads' mounted on the walls, she scrunched her nose.
"Mmm, better to not tell you right now," Tonks muttered, glancing back briefly as she stepped gingerly around an umbrella stand shaped like a troll's leg. "I'm sure Sirius will explain the whole messy history at some point anyway."
"Sirius is here?" Hermione whispered, her eyes widening as she followed her up a flight of creaking stairs. "Am I right in assuming this place is significantly more than just a temporary place for him to hide?"
"You would be entirely correct," Tonks murmured.
"So... does this entire house belong to Sirius Black?"
"If I didn't already know you were a genius, that definitely would have given it away," Tonks said, turning around to smile at her. "Yes, this place belongs to Siriu—"
Before she could finish the name, Tonks's boot caught the edge of a loose stair carpet. She tripped violently up the stairs, throwing her arms out and knocking a heavy, decorative vase. She let out a loud, colorful string of swear words as she staggered.
Instantly, the most awful, blood-curdling sound erupted from the lower hallway. It was a woman's shrieking voice, yelling venomous profanities in an ear-splitting scream that echoed off the high ceilings.
Heavy velvet curtains across the hall flew open on their own, revealing a life-sized portrait of a wild-eyed old woman.
"FILTH! SCUM! BY-PRODUCTS OF DIRT AND VILENESS!" The portrait roared, her canvas face contorting in absolute malice. "HALF-BREEDS, MUTANTS, FREAKS, BEGONE FROM THIS SACRED PLACE!"
The painted eyes locked onto Hermione, and the woman began to screech directly into her face. "HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE NOBLE HOUSE OF MY ANCESTORS WITH MUDBLOODS TOO! HAVE YOU ALL ABSOLUTELY NO RESPECT FOR THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK!?"
"I've told you to shut up!" A sharp, commanding man's voice barked through the din. Hermione turned her head to see Sirius Black running up the stairs toward them, his face pale and furious. "Shut up, you old hag! Shut up!"
Bracing his weight against the wall, Sirius struggled with great difficulty against the portrait's dark magic, grabbing the edges of the heavy black curtains and forcing them to be pulled closed.
Before her face was completely hidden away, the old woman unleashed one final, deafening yelp at Sirius. "YOOOOOOU! BLOOD TRAITOR! ABOMINATION! SHAME OF MY FLESH!"
With a heavy, suffocating snap, the curtains finally closed her away, plunging the hallway back into a tense, ringing silence.
"Sirius..." Hermione said, taking a long, steady look at him as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Was that... your mother?"
"It was," Sirius said, looking thoroughly surprised as he turned to face her. "How on earth did you guess that?"
"I mean absolutely no disrespect to you, Sirius, but it was the face," She explained matter-of-factly, gesturing vaguely to her own features. "You and her share very similar, sharp skeletal structures."
Sirius blinked, and then a genuine laugh broke through his exhaustion. "Oh, no, it's an unfortunate biological fact, isn't it?" he said, shaking his head. "How have you been, Hermione?"
Before the girl could even begin to answer, Molly Weasley came bustling back up the stairs, her apron strings flying. "Now, Sirius! She literally just walked through the front door. Let the poor girl go unpack her things and say hello to Ron at least before you two begin to catch up?"
"Don't worry, I won't take long," Hermione said politely. But the moment Molly turned her back to lead the way, she caught sight of Sirius making a hilarious, mocking face behind the Matriarch's head.
The display was so perfectly childish that Hermione barely held her laughter in, burying her face in her hand to stifle a snort.
She walked further up the dark staircase with Molly and Tonks, stopping outside a bedroom door. Pushing it open, she entered the room she was assigned to share with Ginny.
"Hello, Hermione," The youngest of the Weasley children greeted her from where she was lounging on a small, iron-framed bed.
"Hey, Gin," Hermione said, dropping her heavy school bag onto the empty mattress opposite her. As soon as Tonks and Molly closed the door to leave them to unpack, she turned back to her friend. "How long have you all been trapped here?"
"Since the very first day of summer break, it feels like," Ginny said, her tone dripping with a distinct hint of loathing. "Oh wait, that's probably because it 'was' the first day of break."
"Oh, I can see how that would be incredibly frustrating," Hermione said sympathetically, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
"It's significantly more than just frustrating," Ginny groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "Mum won't get off my case about a single thing. We aren't allowed in the meetings, to know anything, and she keeps treating us like children."
"What exactly is she having you do?" Hermione asked.
Before Ginny could utter another word, the bedroom door flew open with a loud bang. Ron appeared in the doorway, his chest heaving. "Hermione!" he said loudly, his eyes widening as he hurried over into the room, stopping right in front of her.
Hermione didn't stand up. She didn't rush to hug him. She simply raised her right hand and gave him a slight, brief wave, coolly acknowledging his existence. "Hello, Ronald."
Ron stood there entirely awkwardly, his arms slightly extended as if he had been expecting a massive, emotional reunion. But the bushy-haired girl remained sitting perfectly still on her bed, her expression entirely unreadable behind 'Occlumency' shields, leaving him hovering in a painful, silent vacuum.
xxxxxx
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