Love is Hope: Life after fifth year

***

The next morning at Grimmauld Place was a very surreal experience for Hermione. For the live of her, she couldn’t discern any changed behaviour between Tonks and Lupin. No stolen glances, no blushes when they looked at each other, no ‘accidental’ touches, however innocent. Lupin maybe was a bit more teasing and sarcastic then usual, but then again, he was that way yesterday, too, though he stopped calling Tonks Nymphadora, at least as long as Hermione was there to hear it.

Tonks was back to normal, in every meaning of the word. The bad curse had stopped to affect her, and it showed by her considerably light mood, and flashy yellow spiked hair. She was a lot more cheerful, but not suspiciously so. Hermione was left with a lot of questions. Were they a couple now or not? Did they decide to keep it as a one-night thing? Were they going to have a secret affair? Why would they do that? By the time breakfast was over she was left thinking maybe she’d made it all up.

That was until Harry asked what her notes had been doing there: “I thought you were going straight up to sleep”

“I... my throat felt dry, I must have forgotten them when I went for some pumpkin juice”

At that she felt Tonks’ gaze on her, and Hermione started blushing. Professor Lupin had faltered a bit in his movements noticing the blush, but went about his business without letting on. Harry just looked dubious that she would let her notes lying around for no reason.

Hermione desperate for a change in conversation: “Harry and I were thinking about brewing some potions, but we haven’t got enough ingredients. Would it be ok to get some at Diagon Alley?”

“I’ll get them for you,” Tonks intervened, “I’m making progress and I wanna get back to work but I’m on leave at least ‘til tomorrow. So make your list so I can get a bit of fresh air”

A bit disappointed to miss an opportunity to go to Diagon Alley, she saw the same feeling written on Harry’s face. At least she’d gotten to go at the start of the summer, with her parents. She couldn’t remember the last time Harry’d gotten around to go there. Hermione of course had her list ready, and before she knew it, Tonks was gone.

In the wait for their ingredients, they set Harry’s cauldron and everything up, revised what they’d agreed on doing the night before, and started with the little amount of ingredients they already had. Remus Lupin had made himself useful by showing them how they could regulate the fire underneath the cauldron with a special magical device, because they couldn’t use wands to manipulate a fire.

Hermione had been astonished at Harry’s performance. It seemed that, with a bit revising and without Snape glaring down at him, Harry was a very decent potion brewer. She had to control herself not to help him and restrain herself to remarks on how to correct little mistakes. Her hands itched to take over from him, but she clenched them around her Arithmincy book. With him doing better than she expected, she thought again about her farfetched idea. It seemed doable, at least to try. She just had to convince Harry of that...

Time flew for Hermione, especially when she felt comfortable enough to let Harry handle his potion, and she became lost in the pages of the Arithmancy text. She was startled when Tonks came into the drawing room with their ingredients.

The Auror scowled at Harry: “Got a call from the office. New assignment... I’m to keep an eye on you all summer. Seems like I’m locked up here like the rest of you,” Tonks eyes suddenly lit up, “Or maybe you could, I don’t know, sneak out or something, then I’d have to come after you...”

Hermione scoffed: “You sound like...” Belatedly she realized what she was going to say, but said it anyway, only a little softer, “Sirius”

Hermione didn’t know what to expect from Harry, but it wasn’t the wistful: “Yeah”

Tonks tried to safe the situation by changing the subject: “Yeah, lunch will be ready in a jiffy; I’ll yodel, ‘kay?”

Hermione nodded looking at Harry.

After Tonks had left she didn’t know what to say. Feeling that no matter what she’d say would set him off, she chose silence. Setting her book aside she went over to the bag with the purchases. Using a cabinet of the room, she put the ingredients in a fashion that would be most efficient for their uses. Afterwards she went to Harry’s cauldron and checked his work.

It hadn’t been an easy potion, and she hadn’t helped him at the end, but it seemed perfect. Hermione knew that, it had to be tested before pronounced really perfect. Though she didn’t feel a hundred percent safe, she thought it would be a real boost for his confidence. So feeling a bit reckless she chose two more ingredients. It was a camouflage potion, actually one Aurors used. It was a combination of hair and eye colour change, and when brewed correctly, there would be subtle changes to facial features, enough to make you unrecognisable, but not look like your head didn’t belong on your body. For example the result wouldn’t be a Goyle body, with a Malfoy face...

The last ingredients were for her chosen hair and eye colour. According to how many drops you added of each, you’d get a new colour. Before she changed her mind, she chose quickly and downed the potion. Her head pounded, and she felt shots of pain going to her scalp. Her nose itched uncontrollably and her lips seemed to stretch. Harry had been watching her wide-eyed that she had drank his potion.

After what seemed longer then a couple of minutes the pain subsided. Hermione went for the bathroom in the adjacent room, but Harry showed her a mirror in the room. He hadn’t said anything but his expression was priceless. Hemione almost gasped when she saw herself. She’d chosen dark hair and blue eyes. But the face staring back at her was definitely not her own. She could barely tell the differences but obviously they were there. Her nose was a little pointier, her lips thinner and darker, her barely noticeable freckles had disappeared completely. She thought she might look a little paler, but that could be because of the contrast with her darker hair.

Unfortunately the potion didn’t straighten her hair, but because of the deep dark black, with an almost blue shine to it, the bushy pack seemed smaller, and hadn’t the effect of being an Afro-wig. Her eyes were the softest blue she’d ever seen, standing out with the long dark lashes surrounding them.

“Harry, this potion is perfect! You really did it! Wow! Come on!” Taking his hand she dragged him towards the kitchen. “Tonks! You have *got* to see this! Professor Lupin!”

She almost tripped on the stairs in an effort to get there as soon as possible, dragging a sheepish Harry with her. Barging into the kitchen she barely noticed the flush on Tonks cheeks, and the fact Remus seemed to straighten his robes.

She stood beaming in the doorway, looking at two confused adults. “Hermione?”

Nodding vigorously she said: “The camouflage potion, and I didn’t help him!”

“You did, too, Hermione” Harry argued from behind her.

Turning to him: “I only gave you some pointers Snape should’ve thought us since our first year! You did it Harry, you made it perfectly”

Remus was looking proud, and Tonks butted in: “Well there’s only one way to know if it really is perfect, it should last 24 hours, but that rarely goes wrong. The real test is to have the counter potion made of it”

Hermione knew what Tonks was getting at. You could brew another potion to counter the effects, but the real test of the original potion was converting it into a counter.

Not one for wasting time she pulled Harry back upstairs and showed him what Tonks had meant. Looking a little flustered he followed Hermione’s instructions and watched her take for the second time a vial containing his potion.

Before she could down it all, Tonks stopped her: “Wait, Hermione, we should record this moment,” holding up a camera, she shot a picture of them before they could stop her. “There, drink up now!”

A couple of moments later Hermione was back to her old self and almost bouncing up and down from excitement.

***

Days were filled with studying at the Grimmauld Place. Tonks took care of Remus after his transformation; he had bitten himself all night and howled in agony. The silencing charms couldn’t help the rest of the house to not hear the werewolf, and nobody had slept much that night.

Hermione was now sure of the fact Remus and Tonks had some kind of secret affair going on. They kept it well hidden, though. She didn’t see the need for it to be kept secret, but didn’t want to but in. Hermione didn’t know if Harry suspected anything and if he did, he didn’t let on.

Order members occasionally called in, stayed for lunch, or dinner, but never stayed long, and didn’t have much to say. Dumbledore had come one day for Harry’s Occlumency lessons, which Hermione wasn’t permitted to witness, not that she dared ask anyway. Harry had seemed very pensive after the meeting, and she started to wonder if Dumbledore informed him of the goings-on of the Order. If that was the case, she felt a little hurt about staying in the dark, but she understood the importance of being on a need-to-know-basis.

Mr. Weasley, Bill and the twins visited also, and were happy to function as mail transporters for Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione. It was a relief to not being forced to write in code or limit the information in letters. Things at the Burrow seemed tense, but they seemed to keep faith everything would work out.

Just when Tonks was starting to get restless about being cooped up, she was called to the Ministry. It was the sixth day of Hermione’s stay at Grimmauld Place. Remus had recovered fully and was waiting for word to come through. In the late afternoon it came in the form of Albus Dumbledore. Shortly after his arrival several other members showed up together with Tonks.

Moody, Professor McGonagall, Mr. Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones and Sturgis Podmore were seated around the kitchen table with Remus talking to Dumbledore in the background, when Hermione and Harry came down. She expected to be shooed back upstairs, but was invited to stay by Dumbledore. Harry, though, didn’t seem as surprised as she felt.

“An important event has transpired at the Ministry today, and you’ll read about it in the paper tomorrow anyway. We have been trying all summer to calm the chaos at the Ministry. I had thought that allowing to replace Fudge as Minister would do more harm than good, but it seemed the situation required a change in plans. As of effective tomorrow, the Head of the department of Law-enforcement is going to lead the Ministry, until the current threat is dealt with, or until there is enough order to hold an election”

Hermione felt elated, this was good news! “However, we shouldn’t let us guard down! The reason I suggested the reinstatement of this old law at the Wizengamot could still form a threat to peace. It seems that an esteemed member of the Wizengamot, Mr. Gerardo Galfadus has his eye on the position of Minister of Magic. Though always an avid supporter of Fudge, he changed his course of action and made it plain he was ready to take over”

Hermione frowned, Galfadus? Wasn’t that Percy’s future father-in-law? She should’ve known there was a political reason Percy had allied himself with that man.

Dumbledore continued: “For now, Madam Amelia Bones will run the Ministry, but Mr. Galfadus has made it clear he doesn’t expect this arrangement to last long, and is already preparing for an election. While Madam Bones is a just person, I do not know how long she will hold under the pressure of her burden”

Several shouts were heard, but McGonagall’s was heard clearest: “Madam Bones is a tough one, she’ll be up to the challenge. I expect the Order will support her in any way possible, we should be able to keep some peace at the Ministry from now on”

It went on and on like this until it was time for dinner, some of them left, others stayed, and Mundungus came around for the first time this summer. Being a lively animation at the dinner table, he’d left shortly after having eaten. He’d spoken to Dumbledore in hushed voices before, and Hermione saw Dumbledore nod at Harry. The two excused themselves for Occlumency lessons, but this time Hermione was sure there was more then just that to the meetings between Harry and Dumbledore.

She saw Professor McGonagall getting ready to leave and quickly asked for a moment of her time.

“Miss Granger, if this is about your booklist, the letters will be ready in a day or two”

“No, professor, it’s not that. I was just wondering, about Advanced Transfiguration, is there a possibility to have Animagus training?”

Her Head of House seemed taken aback for a moment: “We do cover the theoretical part of the subject, and we will train to transfigure yourself in a chosen animal, and how to get your natural form back on your own without consequences. But the transfiguration at will... I could give you training as an extra-credit project, but Miss Granger, your schedule will be quite full as we speak”

Seeing the look on Hermione’s face she added: “We’ll only get to that part of the curriculum after Christmas break, and if you feel convinced you’ll be able to handle the extra work, I’ll be honoured to see if you’re destined to become an Animagus”

Hermione’s expression showed her excitement, but McGonagall warned her: “Not everyone is able to perform this kind of magic Miss Granger! Don’t get your hopes up prematurely!”

Hermione thanked her professor anyway, and skipped upstairs to finish her History of Magical Europe tome.

***

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