The next two days before Harry's birthday passed in pretty much the same fashion. Lucifer did properly un-silence Vernon immediately after they had returned on that first evening. The large man was absolutely furious, his veins bulging against his neck, but he chose to say nothing, even though he very clearly wanted to curse him.
Over at 'Grimmauld Place,' Hermione had successfully overseen her mental shields, but she accidentally overheard a conversation from one of the Order members assigned to watch Harry's house after the Dementor attack. The guard mentioned that Lucifer had been systematically taking him out to enjoy his days instead of letting remain cooped up in his bedroom.
Molly Weasley was torn deeply between wanting Harry to stay strictly inside for his own physical safety, and being immense glad knowing he was perfectly protected with someone like Lucifer around.
Hermione, meanwhile, felt a swelling sense of relief, incredibly glad that he had gone straight to Harry when he needed it most.
When Hedwig 'finally' arrived at the ancient house carrying Harry's latest response, she flew into the bedroom and aggressively pecked the ever-living hell out of Ron's hands for his past silence.
But once Hermione gently explained the strict monitoring situation to the snowy owl, Hedwig calmed down completely, deciding to perch quietly in the room alongside Ron and a trembling Pigwidgeon until Harry arrived.
At breakfast the morning before Harry's birthday, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Molly, and Arthur Weasley were talking casually at the long wooden table, allowing Hermione and Ron to easily overhear them from across the kitchen.
"He was explicitly told to stay home with his aunt and uncle..." Molly said, her brow furrowed as she looked down at her plate, moving her fork around nervously.
"Molly, he's currently with the most powerful wizard I've ever seen in my life. He's in perfectly capable hands... honestly, I shouldn't have sent him an owl telling him to remain put in the first place," Sirius lamented, leaning his elbows on the table.
"Dumbledore won't like it at all when he's told about this. He's been incredibly busy at the Ministry and hasn't been properly informed yet," She told him sternly.
"I don't really care what Dumbledore thinks about this, honestly," Sirius shot back, his voice rising as he got frustrated with her. Hermione could easily tell the tension was spiking. "Harry's my godson, and I need to start acting like his actual godfather. He should have been brought straight here the moment the term ended."
"Well, you know exactly why that can't happen, Sirius. Dumbledore explicitly told us why it has to be this way," Molly said, her voice dropping into a sharp tone.
"Oh, please! He'd be ten times safer lingering around Lucifer than living in that—" Sirius was cut off instantly as Molly slammed her cup down.
"Sirius!" She glared aggressively over at the kids' side of the table. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George were all sitting right there, though they were all collectively pretending to look busy and not pay a single shred of attention. "This is absolutely not the time or place to talk about that!" She said in a fierce, loud whisper, rendering her entire attempt to be quiet completely fruitless.
"With you and Dumbledore, I feel like it never will be—"
"Alright, alright, calm down now. Let's all calm down," Arthur said smoothly, figuratively stepping right in between them to diffuse the argument.
"Sirius, he's right. You need to calm your temper," Lupin added quietly, placing a steadying hand on his friend's shoulder.
"The only reason I am calm right now is because I know Harry has a friend like Lucifer there to keep him safe," Sirius muttered, eyeing Lupin carefully.
Hermione knew they were best friends to the absolute end, but even they argued every now and then when the stress got too high. She stood up from the bench, entirely done with her breakfast, and quietly excused herself as she carried her plate over to the stone sink.
She was walking down the dark corridor back to her room when she felt a sudden presence coming up behind her. She spun around quickly, her hand flying to her pocket and drawing her wand with a lethal speed she didn't once possess before her training.
"Sirius?" She immediately lowered her wand, her heart steadying.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you... remarkably nice draw, by the way," Sirius said, lowering his hands with a faint, impressed smile.
"Thanks. What did you need to talk about?"
"Straight to business. I like it," he smiled, turning to walk down the hall. "Follow me, please." He led her up two flights of stairs, passing the mounting house-elf heads until he was thoroughly satisfied with the physical distance away from the ground floor. "So, you heard Lucifer is spending all his time with Harry?"
"To make sure he's not entirely alone in this time of immense suffering for him, yes," She answered clearly.
"I get the distinct feeling you know far more than you're letting on to the Order..." Sirius said, leaning against the banister. "I'll let you in on a little secret that only my closest friends know. Being a Black, I'm a natural Legilimens. Do you know what that is?"
"Yeah, Lucifer told me all about it," Hermione said to him confidently. "And he gave me an advanced book to study up on Occlumency back in our second year, and he used his own magic on me so that I could learn to build my shields properly."
"Good," Sirius said in a firm agreement. "Well, if you ever need someone to properly test your mental shields, you can always ask me, alright? I've got incredible control over my 'Legilimency', so I won't go prodding around beyond the memories you don't want me to see."
"Really? Well, I will definitely think about it after I finish building my shields to full strength," She answered, genuinely surprised by the kind offer.
"Of course. But let me ask you one question," he said, his grey eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity. "Why exactly did Lucifer ask you to study Occlumency all the way back in second year?"
"Well... he..." Hermione hesitated, her voice suddenly locking up as she calculated her response.
"Is it about... someone currently here at Grimmauld Place?" Sirius probed.
"No," She said, shaking her head firmly.
"Someone at Hogwarts, then?" he asked. The instant, rigid shift on her face told his perceptive eyes that he was entirely right. "Is it Dumbledore?"
"Yeah..." Hermione admitted quietly, her voice dropping. "Lucifer said that Dumbledore tried prodding around inside his mind during our first year, but it didn't work at all."
"How did he study Occlumency to block Albus?" Sirius cocked an eyebrow, thoroughly fascinated.
"Oh... he may not like me telling you the details, but he's a natural Occlumens," She said a bit shyly.
"Really?" Sirius asked. She nodded quickly. "So, does Lucifer know the exact location of Grimmauld Place?"
"Of course. I was sitting right with him when the secret letter from Dumbledore arrived, and he wasn't happy about the Secrecy at all. Neither was Harry when we went to see him."
"You went and saw him before the Dementor attack?" His interest peaked at that.
"Yeah. He was locked in his room and looking incredibly thin... but we took him out of that awful house, got him some decent clothes, and treated him to proper muggle food. Even just from that one single day, I noticed a significant improvement in Harry's physical and mental health," She informed him proudly.
"I'm going to have to thank Lucifer personally the moment he arrives here," Sirius said, a genuine smile breaking across his worn face.
"So... he is definitely coming here? To Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place?" Hermione asked, her voice instantly sounding hopeful, eyes shining.
"Well, I don't see any logical reason why he wouldn't. Did you hear otherwise from someone?" Sirius asked her, noticing her sudden shift in energy.
"Ron told me that his Mum didn't say a single word about Lucifer coming here along with Harry tomorrow on his birthday," Hermione said, her speech gradually picking up in speed as her hidden frustration flared. "And if Lucifer is flatly not allowed to come here to Grimmauld Place, I will absolutely not be staying here either! That's just not going to happen, Sirius!"
He merely looked at her, not looking surprised at all to hear her talking with such fierce, protective defiance. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you said that," he said, winking at her playfully.
"Tell anyone what?" She asked, calming her breathing down a little.
"That you fancy him," he gave her a knowing, sideways smile as her cheeks instantly turned a brilliant, fiery red.
"I do... and he fancies me back," Hermione told him, straightening her posture proudly. "We are completely unafraid of hiding our relationship just because Voldemort is back. But I just don't.... understand why everyone in this house is under the impression that we broke up, or that we didn't even date each other in the first place."
"I'm glad to hear you have absolutely no trouble speaking the name Voldemort. It's ridiculous being afraid of a mere name," Sirius said approvingly. "But I don't know anything about your relationship question, though. Everyone in the Order talks as if Lucifer is simply your best friend." He pushed himself off the wall, preparing to head down. "Well, I'm going back downstairs before Molly thinks I'm corrupting you. Don't worry, Hermione, you'll see him tomorrow."
Hermione watched his retreating form disappear down the stairwell, and she instantly felt much better about her entire situation.
She walked quickly down to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her, and sorted through one of her personal drawers until her fingers brushed against a soft leather pouch. When she found it, she walked over to her bed and carefully opened the drawstring, revealing the beautiful necklace Lucifer had bought for her almost three years ago.
She had safely tucked it into the pouch alongside her protective bracelet before coming to 'Grimmauld Place', but she decided right then that she was going to start wearing it openly again.
Hermione took the necklace into the shared bathroom, locking the door, and carefully tied it around her neck while studying her reflection in the musty mirror. Her invisible pet collar remained perfectly engraved inside her body, completely hidden from the world, and would only ever be made visible by a direct order from Lucifer or if she used her own magic to explicitly display the seal.
'Of all the girls at Hogwarts... and he chose me', she thought, a soft, brilliant smile breaking across her face as she awaited his arrival tomorrow with renewed vigor.
xxxxxxx
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