Chapter Text
Someone had set off the portrait of Walburga Black again. This was not unusual, or cause for concern. Or at least it wouldn’t have been if Harry didn’t know that nobody in the house was near enough to Mrs. Black’s portrait to make her start yelling. He and Ron shared a quick glance before pulling out their wands and approaching the front door.
Grimmauld Place was under the Fidelius Charm and so nobody who didn’t know the secret should be able to get in, but nobody who knew the secret should be visiting then. And as evidenced by his parents, the Fidelius wasn’t fool proof. Harry had a stunner on his lips as the intruder emerged from the entrance area, only to stop in his tracks.
“Hermione?” He asked in disbelief. He hadn’t seen his friend since the battle at the Ministry over a week ago. Still, better safe than sorry. “What spell did I use to distract the troll?”
Hermione gave him a little smile, “You didn’t use a spell at all. You shoved your wand up it’s nose for some reason. Why did we discover Fluffy?”
Ron answered, “Because we were going to have a wizards’ duel and you followed us to snitch but ended up getting locked out with us.”
Then the three of them rushed together and embraced. “It’s been so long!” Ron cried out as he spun Hermione around.
“I know!” Hermione said, giggling as Ron set her down. “I was allowed to complete my OWLs over the past few days and decided to use my extra time to come visit before I get summoned back.”
She showed off a small piece of metal with the auror insignia on a chain, “It’s a portkey.”
“All Os I expect,” Harry nudged Hermione, who scowled. “Come on, let’s head upstairs to talk.”
“Good plan, I’ll likely be summoned back within the next handful of hours.” Hermione grimaced at the house elf heads on the stairs as she ascended. “How has living with the extra guests been?”
She was referring to Draco and Theo of course, who were staying at Grimmauld Place as a result of both their fathers dying. Their circumstances were a little different, as Draco and his mother were seen as true traitors to the Death Eaters while Theo’s father had been killed- accidentally- by Harry himself and his only show of loyalty to Harry had been at the Ministry fight.
“Gloomy lot, they are,” Was Ron’s opinion.
Harry rolled his eyes. “Draco killed his father two weeks ago, of course he’s upset. And Theo’s not gloomy, he just doesn’t shy away from the dark things happening right now.”
“Yeah, it’s gloomy.”
Hermione huffed, “Boys. You never change.”
“And you love us anyway,” Harry retorted as he pulled open the door to his room. “Come on in.”
Shutting the door behind them, Hermione sat at Harry’s desk chair. “I was supposed to visit my parents after taking my OWLs, an approved family visit.”
“Why didn’t you?” Ron asked.
Hermione sniffed, “I did. But they just don’t understand what’s happening, can’t comprehend that the wizarding world just doesn’t have the same laws as the muggle one. I was so scared for them, I had to do it. I- I had to. Someone would have found them otherwise, and they could have been killed or, or tortured. I had to.”
“What did you have to do?” Ron rested a hand on her shoulder.
“I obliviated them,” Hermione said miserably. With fake cheer she told them, “They never had children, and finally got to follow their dream of moving to Australia.”
Harry’s stomach dropped. Hermione had had to remove her parents' memories and have them move to another continent just so they would be safe. What would happen to all of the muggle families who couldn’t or wouldn’t move, would they be killed just for the crime of producing a magical child? Here was his best friend, forced to potentially never have her parents recognize her again for their own safety.
“I’m so sorry Hermione.” Harry hadn’t known his own parents. It must be even worse to know them and be made to cut them off. “I promise, as soon as it’s safe we’ll all go bring them back together.”
“‘Course we will. You don’t have to do this alone, Hermione.”
There was a choked sob, and Hermione pulled them both into another hug. “Thank you,” She whispered, wiping away her tears. “So what have you been doing here?”
Harry took the change in subject in stride. “Nothing much yet. The Order hasn’t had any meetings here so far, at least none that I know of. We’ve been tracking the attacks in the newspaper though, and there have been a few people trying to send letters to us that get caught by the mail ward and Fidelius.”
“Then you’ve noticed the number of attacks has gone up, and the amount in crowded areas. I’m worried that I won’t be able to go back to school in the fall because they’re going to want to maintain the level of aurors ready for combat.”
“Do they know why he’s been increasing attacks?” Ron asked.
“It’s because the Dark Lord wants to cause fear after his loss at the Ministry.” Ron swore in surprise as Theo opened the door. “Sorry for eavesdropping, but you forgot the silencing charm and nothing else interesting has happened so far.”
Harry rolled his eyes, “You’re not actually sorry. Come sit then. Why do you say that?”
“It’s rather obvious. The Dark Lord appeared weak at the battle in the Ministry and so he wants to maintain everyone’s impression of his power. If there are a lot of attacks and some happen in populated areas then nobody feels safe, and since they don’t feel safe they won’t question how strong he and the Death Eaters are.”
“I hate that he’s smart,” Hermione complained.
Theo raised a brow, “Dark wizards who aren’t smart don’t get very far. Unless they manage to find a Dark Master to protect them, which has allowed the Crabbes and Goyles of the world to survive.”
“Point conceded. Do you think he’ll continue increasing the number of attacks over the next few months?”
“Only slightly. He doesn’t actually have the manpower for that right now. He’s lost quite a lot of manpower to Azkaban insanity, and it takes time to earn the alliances of other magical species. I’d expect that he’s working on gaining the trust of the werewolf packs and likely the giants right now. Those were some of his big supporters last time, and other magical creatures will follow once he has their support.”
Harry sighed, it seemed like Voldemort was always one step ahead. He had alliances and a large group of followers and their power, not to mention his ability to resist death. Their side had numbers in the form of aurors, yes, but the majority of them were less experienced than the Death Eaters. What they really needed to do was disrupt Voldemort’s power in every area of magical life. His grip on the Slytherins students meant that many of them would go on to support them, either willingly or out of fear. His power over various old families meant that he could influence Wizengamot votes. His attacks had every individual feeling their impact and getting caught up in the fear, thinking themselves incapable of action.
“I wish we knew what the Order was doing to fight back right now. Then it would be easier to at least think we have a chance, and to support them.” Harry glared at the door. While he was able to sit in on the meetings since he was technically an adult, they seemed to have avoided this loophole by hosting meetings where he was not present.
There was then the sound of Walburga Black’s portrait screaming as the front door opened again. Harry cast a quick tempus and beamed. It must be Stan returning from work to take Harry back to the Crash House. “That’ll be Stan. I’ll ask him if Ron and I can stay a bit longer to talk-“
Harry cut himself off, as the necklace Hermione wore began to glow blue. “Damn, thought I’d have a bit more time. Goodbye, I’ll keep sending letters!”
There was a strange sucking noise and Hermione disappeared. “Barely gave her any time, the bastards,” Ron grumbled. His fingers twitched a little, like he was tempted to summon something to break.
“We’ll see her again,” Harry comforted his friend, despite feeling melancholy himself. “Before September if we’re lucky.”
“We’re never lucky, mate.”
“On the contrary, I think we have extraordinary luck to have survived this far with all the crap we get up to.”
“Gryffindors,” Theo said in exasperation. “I’m going to speak with Draco, talk to someone who has at least some self preservation instinctions.”
“Don’t act like you haven’t done reckless things too, Theo.”
He huffed, “Everything I do is a calculated decision.”
Considering the fact that Theo had meticulously planned on murdering his father for years, Harry could believe that. “Alright, go talk to the supposed voice of reason.”
“I wouldn’t call Draco a voice of reason,” Theo retorted. “I think that title goes to me.”
“Yeah, yeah, get out of here.”
Theo left, and Harry looked at Ron before bursting into laughter. None of them were entirely reasonable, no matter how much Theo and Draco liked to pretend. “Come on, let’s go greet Stan.”
“Sounds good. No offense to Sirius’s creepy ass house elf but my mum makes way better food.”
Harry groaned, “Oh, don’t say that Ron, if he hears he’ll be especially bad out of spite.”
“Too bad, he’s not my godfather’s elf. And it’s not like you’re eating here much anyway. Don’t you cook at home?”
That was true, Harry did enjoy cooking with Stan more than staying to eat dinner at Grimmauld Place. However Sirius would frequently request that Harry stayed and had a meal with him, and Harry couldn’t refuse the man who was still so lonely with Remus out on his long mission.
They entered one of the sitting rooms and found Stan speaking quietly with Sirius. “Hello boys, how was your day?”
“It was interesting. Hermione visited, she just left again.”
Sirius frowned, “Was she the one who set off my dear old mum yelling again? I thought I heard her earlier.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“‘ow is she?” Stan asked. “She just took ‘er OWLs, right?”
Ron answered, “She did. Probably got straight Os as well.”
He did not mention that Hermione had obliviated her parents. Harry examined his friend’s determined expression and decided to follow suit.
“Are we leaving now?”
“Yup, come on Ron, I’ve got to get you back too or your mum will ‘ave a fit.” Stan guided Ron onto the front step.
“Bye Harry, see you soon!” He called, before disappearing.
Sirius pulled Harry into a hug, one that Harry easily returned. “I’ll visit again tomorrow,” he promised.
“You better.”
“Ready to go?” Stan asked, reappearing on the front step.
Harry nodded and took Stan’s arm. The door of Grimmauld Place closed in front of him, and Harry could almost pretend that everything was okay. He was just going home with his big brother after visiting his godfather and friends for a day, and there was no war or friends fighting in one.
But that wasn’t true.