Chapter Text
For the record: Hadriyan was not hiding.
"I'm sorry," the very much not belovelent, skating towards the edge of murderous voice at the other end of the line seethed, "care to run that by me again?"
Hadriyan peeked around the edge of her sofa, cradling the new, sleek cellphone in her hand like one would handle a hissing horned tail youngling. The walls of her new home greeted her warmly- smiling somewhere in between the questionable stains and bullet holes. The peeling wallpaper had yet to be completely removed, and Hadriyan- Rin, if you would- wouldn't put it past her glorious, warlord of a best friend to melt out of the surface in a terrifying impression of The Ring.
(It didn't matter that she was in what was basically a meta-no-zone and an ocean away, or that as of this moment her location remained uncompromised: Hermione was just that good.)
"Uhhh…."
Rin drew the sound out, scrambling for time and a way out. Pinned between two towers of drywall and nesting a dangerous five feet of open space away was an arched window. The second floor was a good place to be if you wanted a decent vantage point, she thought frantically, yet not the best spot if she was interested in fleeing for her life.
Yet.
She'd fallen from higher… right?
"Don't you dare!" Hermione shrieked from the other side of the line, already one with Rin's thought process in a way even Luna could not achieve. Ron had called it the 'mother instinct' more days than not. The twins called it 'common sense'.
(Rin often in turn argued that she lived this long already so surely she must have something working for her- the expressions following that rebuttal usually ranged from mildly bemused to strung-out exasperation.)
(Draco swore she was immortal. Blaise was pretty sure she was cursed.)
On pure conditioning alone, Rin apologized.
"I wasn't."
(She totally was.)
"Hadriyan Black."
Rin winced, gritting her teeth so her soul wouldn't escape out her mouth. Full names now. Shit.
(So maybe she was hiding.)
"It would've been a small jump," she offered feebly, switching the object to the other ear and turtling herself between the couch and the wall. "Two floors: tops?"
Her voice sounded weak in her own ears- something she'd become accustomed to in their short, 19 years together. Even more accustomed was the haggard sigh over the line she'd become accustomed to in an even shorter amount of 8 years.
"Rin…" Hermione started, both tired and accepting all at once. Rin couldn't help the ease that came with the sigh and shortening. They were past the anger now. That was good.
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
(As it was, Rin did not know it, but the clarification was always nice. Hermione was amazing in many, many things, but without the ever steady presence of Ron to ask Rin's admittedly dumb questions out loud- remembering she was the sharpest crayon in the family's artbox was not one of them.)
Rin buried herself under the blankets she pulled from the couch arm- wrapping herself in a cacoon of fluff while picking at the edge of the nearest sitting cloth.
"I thought…" she started weakly, always at odds with the practice of stating selfish wants out loud despite Hermione and Ginny's insistence that she do so on the regular, "that I could maybe try… to build something here. For me."
The sigh that came after was a warm one- tired, yes, but proud. Rin couldn't help the gush of happy feelings that paraded around her chest at the sound, nor the shy pull of her lips as the reality of Hermione not really being mad at her fluttered around.
You stupid but brave girl.
Rin knew the sigh well- just as she knew the next words that would come.
"We're coming too."
They were spoken harshly, of course, coated in a layer of will that could not and would not be moved. Rin knew this, but still fulfilled her end of the 'next words to come' like an actor reading from a play.
"I can't let you do that." She argued, just as she tried to smother the delight the sentence brought her or the beaming grin that came from the small 'ping' her phone chirped.
(A quick peek showed three images from Luna- all very distinct and different rooms, with clear color palettes and design aesthetics. Rin couldn't help the anticipation bubbling up as she scrutinized each image- even squeaking when the picture of a grand and spacious library followed.)
Hermione presented the next line in amusement.
"I dare you to try to stop us."
Rin's fingers darted through her hair- a nervous tick she could never seem to completely get rid of, just like her habit of chewing on her lip.
"Oh, sister." She breathed lightly, in between the knaw of teeth. "You know how I love a dare."
The rolling of Hermione's eyes was something Rin could feel, even without her being fully present. Like the coming of thunder, she mused. Or the breath of a butterflies wings.
"Uh-huh…" Hermione hummed, the accusation near audible. "Riiiiight."
And what could Rin do to that but smile?
"I really meant it though," Rin muttered, picking at the edges of her blanket fluff and attempting to squash the near vapid growing hope on reflex and experience alone. "I can't let all of you do that for me."
Hermione was at least nice enough not to audibly scoff- returning to her uncontested position in the scene they were playing out despite knowing exactly how it would end.
"Look me in the eye, Black, and tell me you aren't currently sitting in a household big enough for all of us- bought in your name."
Rin bit down a watery smile.
"It was… in case you wanted to visit." She defended, wiping away any stray tears and soaking up the sheer love radiating over the phone. "Or bad days, maybe."
The answer earned Rin another warm- impossibly, lovingly, impeccably warm- sigh, to which Rin's breath hitched.
(It was another line of the play- one that would go left unsaid. They both knew that what Rin claimed was true: she bought the house for herself, first and foremost- with the desperate hope that her family would be willing to ignore the location and the implications around it and still visit. They both also knew that the hope in question was in of itself a compromise: Rin wasn't capable of admitting how deeply she wished to have them all together again.)
"And I can't exactly look you in the eye, you know." She wobbled. "You're an ocean away."
Hermione's answering laugh was… unsettling, to say the least: all bright and light and airy in a way that spoke of carbon monoxide more than it did sunshine.
"Oh, am I?" She purred.
Rin paled, her earlier fears coming back full force. Only a mere blink of the eye later, there was a gentle knock at the door- seven short taps in quick succession, just as Luna had always done- followed by the rattling banging that could only be procured by the side of one's fist (a sound more than capable of drifting up a flight of stairs).
"Oi! Twin!"
"Oi! Twin!"
The plank of wood and space between did little to muffle the other red-head's voice, echoing in between that and the phone in Rin's ear.
"Open up! I want to see my new house!"
"Open up! I want to see my new house!"
"Oh, Gotham really is lovely, isn't it?"
Rin shrunk into her fluff hovel, not for the first time cursing her ancestors for all they were worth. Yes, Rin was the one to make the impulsive decision with zero follow up consideration and was ultimately to blame- but surely with a few tweaks along the generational line, Rin could've been a sharper art supply?
"What's taking her so long?"
"Remind Rin I can pick locks, won't you?"
Hermione picked up the script, her voice settled into a deep, satisfied demented purr.
"Won't you open the door, Black?"
Honestly, their sharpest was too terrifying for words.
[A/N:
Aight. I'm gonna be real with you: my knowledge of DC anything comes second hand from a comic nerd brother, a hardcore Batman fan dad, and a year-long strong hyperfixation on Jason Todd that lead to many, many, MANY read fanfics.
If you're looking for comic-like accuracy, it ain't here. I got something wildly wrong? Welcome to the multiverse, lovelys: this *slaps the hood of this fic* is mine. Cool? Cool.
So. In terms of the HP universe: I'm playing loose and fast. No magic, yes meta. A very female Harry Potter that got Lily's red hair (because FUCK YEAH RED HEADS!!) and a huge fuck you to J K Rowling's trash opinion on trans peeps. Some liberties may be applied.
(Actually- many liberties WILL be applied.)
As always: I can be summoned with 💀.
(I wouldn't expect something stupidly plot heavy here either. I needed something to give me the happy brain chemicals as I wrote it and this fic volunteered. It is now at my mercy 🥰)
Pray for them]