Witch Snakes and Werewolf * Repost*
Harry looked down at the card that read Anita-Michaela Po, late that night in his flat with Susan Bones after he had called her to ask her for the number for her godfather, a man she called Rupert Giles. The young wizard never met him but Hermione spoke of him often. He was what was called a Watcher, a member of a secret society that battle supernatural phenomena by using young women that were called slayers. They find them teach them and support them in the fight that they were born to engage in. Hermione trusted him implicitly and she said he was the man she talked to when she had a supernatural problem since her family really did not have expertise in that area. It was Rupert Giles in fact and his ex -wife Roberta, who was Hermione’s godmother that told Hermione she was a witch before the representative from Hogwarts arrived. The wizard was told that if something should happen to her then she wanted him to call Giles and he would contact her family with a plausible cover story to protect their secret. Hermione was estranged from her family, but Kingsley was right, they were family and it was the honorable thing to do.
Harry picked up the phone and made the call that he wished he did not have to make. “ Hello, may I speak to Rupert Giles?
*****
The next morning
Hermione was in King Cross station sitting on a bench contemplating what her next move would be. Hermione has been in this area of town since she was a young girl yet it felt so alien to her now. The witch felt like she was in a bubble were everyone was staring at her, she needed a place to collect herself and figure out what to do. She looked over at her rose doll and recalled her disorientation waking up earlier that morning and the shock at what she saw. The last thing she remembered was getting her things sorted out for her fourth year at Hogwarts next thing she knew she was a woman. Gone was the skinny girl with big teeth and awkwardness. The woman who confronted her in the mirror was 6 inches taller with perfect teeth, full figured and stood there confidently. She also noticed a small scar on her neck that she didn’t see before. The brunette looked around and saw that she was in a hospital room in Saint Mungos and nearly screamed with shock when she saw the date on a discarded newspaper February 3 ,2000
How could it be that she lost nearly six years of her life? It had to be a trap of some kind and there was no way that Hermione would give up any information on The Order of the Phoenix that easily. She was also confused to the doll she found in her bed, a doll she owned a long time ago, made for her by her cousin Gregory. It might be a trap but Hermione could not bear to leave the doll behind. She dressed in a purple suit and jacket and gloves that was in the wardrobe and sneaked out the back way.
She sat on the bench in the station wondering where she should go. She could go home but if it was a trap of some kind she risked her parents, brothers and sisters if she did. She needed to be safe without causing trouble. She felt something hard in her pocket and she took it out and it was a boat key chain. Of course why didn’t she think of that? She grabbed rose and went on her way.
****
Draco left Saint Mungos the next morning slipping away while Tonks and Kingsley were giving the healers a piece of their minds for allowing Hermione to walk out without anyone noticing. Truth be told his uncle scared him at times but he was willing to see him if it meant helping Hermione.
He never thought that he would give Hermione the time of day when they first meet, now they were good friends. He did not deserve her kindness over the death of his father and presumed death of his mother, he was not so kind when she lost her parents. However at the end of the war after he lost Pansy, Goyle and Crabbe, he lost everything and was at a time in his life where there was no point in fighting anymore. They managed to form a strange kind of friendship with each other that managed to last. He would never be friends with Saint Potter but they were on civil terms as he was with the rest of her friends and boyfriend.
Now he was in the place he feared the most to get information that he hoped would save her.
His uncle entered as defiant and haughty as he remembered giving him a nod of recognition.
Draco looked him in the eyes and told him plainly why he was there, “I will not insult you with false tidings. I need to know what you and Hermione spoke about.”
“It is not important, Draco. Leave it be.” Answered Rabastan with an unreadable expression
“Yes, it is important, Uncle. It is the only lead we have to know why she is ill.” Pressed Draco
He appeared surprised at that. “What happened?”
“No one knows. She collapsed without explanation right after she saw you. That visit is all we have to go on,” he replied.
“What do you think ?” asked Rabastan
“I honestly don’t know what to think uncle. But I am willing to keep an open mind for her sake”
“That is the type of reasoning that will probably will show you things that you wished you never knew.”
If you want to save her Draco you should contact Cordelia Rose”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Draco replied
“Be careful Draco and good luck “he said as the blond left.
“You’re going to need it” replied the older wizard to himself as he rubbed the tattoo of a strange rune on his right forearm.
****
Cho went to see her cousin the following morning determined to get an answer from him no matter what it took. She was certain that he was involved with what happened to Hermione that morning and could possibly know where she ended up. She knocked at his flat door and was honestly shocked to see Mrs. Zabini open the door in a state of undress and let her in. Cho heard the shower the only place that Akira could be. Mrs. Zabini appeared to feel at home and even offered Cho tea while she was waiting. Well it was not her business and if she did not have urgent business she would have already made a discreet exit. Cho sipped her tea as Akira came out of the shower with a towel around his waist exposing the tattoos on his wrist, back arm and ankle presumably marks of protection. The tattoo on his wrist was odd compared to his other tattoos it looked like a rune rather than the other traditionally Japanese markings. When he entered the other witch used the bathroom dressed and left.
“I told you to leave it alone Cho, why do you insist?”
“ I insist because she is gone! She disappeared this morning when you said you would be watching her! Do you hate me so much that you will let me get killed over your precious secret?!”
He looked genuinely surprised and said
“Cho there is no reason to overreact…”
“In most cases I would agree with you, as you well know she is a mate to a werewolf! He is a good man but in his grief he may give into his instincts and tear apart the most available person to blame things on, who by the way happens to be me!”
“Have you seen him?”
“Remus? Not this morning, the last time I saw him was at St Mungos being told his mate was dying”
Akira looked at Cho for a long time then said “ I will tell you what I suspect if you promise never to ask me how I know these things”
Cho nodded her head in agreement then he said
“I reason there three possible causes to causes to her affliction, The first is that she suffered a mental breakdown of some kind over the stress of the war and keeping the secret of the wizarding world. The second is the possibility of a curse that was in her blood that never was expelled, a curse called the black hand. The third would be a combination of the stress, the drug she could have used to make herself forget and how the curse affected it”
“ Is there a way to sort out the cause ?”
“ I suppose it can be sorted out by process of elimination, but you would have to use Max Horton to do the psychological examination, Hermione does not trust any doctor except for her”
At that Cho slowly began to understand “Hermione is the one that you called Neko”
“Yes”
“Merlin I had no idea” said Cho her tone a mixture of wonder and sympathy
“Not many people do” replied her cousin
“Does she know?”
“ I don’t know .I lost regular contact with her after the death of her sister Alex and when she began Hogwarts. It would explain however if she did know where the stress would be coming from”
“ If you had to guess where Hermione would have gone where would it be?”
“ I don’t know what her state of mind is, if she remembers the fights that occurred or if she remembers nothing at all.She was always close to the Torres family, Then there is her godfather’s family the Giles family, or she still has a presence of mind if she choices to throw us off she could run to a brother or sister. She also could be with our cousin Li who takes care of her business end of her affairs. Then again she could have run to Ethan Rayne, they were very close at one point. She quite honestly be anywhere”
Cho finished her tea and said “thank you I will let you know if I find her, if you promise to do the same”
“Agreed” he replied simply
“Sorry that I interrupted you and you’re…friend. I will see myself out” said Cho as she finished her tea and left her cousin lost in his thoughts
***
Allegra entered her flat when she saw a discarded cigarette lighter that could only be Ethan’s and and …herself in the bed. She went to the bed and roughly shook the imposter awake.
“What are you doing?!”
“Oh, hello. I um was making sure that Ethan did not suspect anything “
“Why would Ethan suspect anything?”
“Since you spent the night with Akira Chang” answered the other woman with a hint of tartness in her voice
“Not that it is any of your business but I was lending him support. Hermione Granger collapsed mysteriously yesterday. He was always fond of her” said the real Allegra.
“I know, I felt it when it happened. I never knew Akira and Hermione knew each other” replied the other witch as she got out of bed and stretched like a cat
“Yes that is a rather long story that is not mine to tell” replied Mrs Zabini as she gave the other woman her clothing.
“How did Ethan take the news?” she asked herself as she dressed in her own clothing.
“Not very well, He down played it but I know he cares for her and is upset by it all”
“I know it may be a sore subject but perhaps it would be only fair to tell your cousin about it. They are friends.”
The faux Allegra dressed and said “I will think about it,” and left without another word.
***
Hermione is sitting on her stool at her dressing table in a simple pink nightgown with a matching robe brushing out her hair, and Remus could not help but stare at her. She was beautiful and she was his, and his heart could not help but swell up with pride. He could sense joy that they were going to be wed in a church but he could also sense sadness.
“Darling what is the matter?”
He asked as she came to bed.
“I am happy we are to be wed, but it also makes me think of the fact my mother and father will not be there and the other members of my family that are no longer with us”
“My dear sister Alexandria would have been so happy for us. It is a shame you never meet her “
“Is that the sister that died before your first year?”
“Yes she was”
Remus felt there was something he had to ask her, and the question seemed to come out of nowhere
“Darling did you have a sister named Cordelia?”
She looked at him with a strange look on her face before she answered, “Yes she was the oldest of my siblings. I don’t really remember her she died when I was two years old”
“You have other siblings?”
“Yes, my father was married four times before my mother. There was a gap in our ages, we never really were that close with the Granger children. I was closer to my mother’s children that is until the friction that occurred when she died”
Remus held her close to him needing to feel her body beside him. He had the irrational fear that if he blinked that she would be gone.
“Please tell me what is troubling you, my love.” Asked Hermione as she traced his facial scars with her fingers
“ I honestly do not know darling. I just have this fear that you will leave me. Absurd I know I really don’t have a reason to think that way”
“Yes it is” she pointed to the scar on her neck, the mark that told the whole world she was his.
“I accepted this, accepted you a long time ago. There were plenty of opportunities for me to leave before I took the mark but I didn’t. Now I am preparing to take vows before God to that effect as well. There is no reason for me to leave”
He sighed and pulled the covers over them “Goodnight love” she said
“Goodnight” he responded but when he looked down on her the nightgown and robe were all that was there
Remus jolted awake from the dream on a sofa he did not recognize and felt a strong hand on his shoulder and comforting words. His vision cleared and he recognized the flat that Tonks and Kingsley and at one time Sturgis Podmore and he himself shared together. It was different now with the added touches of Kingsley’s live in girlfriend Cho.
It took him a few moments to recall that he practically threatened by wand point by Tonks and Kingsley to get some rest before he attempted to find the woman he considered his wife.
He wiped his eyes and gave a nod to indicate that he was alright and lay back down. He tried to reach out in their link and found that it still very weak. It was strong enough to know that she was still alive and confused but he could sense little else. Well at least she was still alive, it was the only point that mattered.
He did know everything about her , how she was afraid of flying and of failure, how she never went to primary school because she was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age, he knew that she always relied on books when she had a question about something, and he knew which pleasure points were her favorites. It occurred to him that he knew very little about her family a subject that he sensed was a rather complicated one. Other than her mother’s maiden name of Wyatt, He knew her father’s name was Balthazar or Brad, and her mother’s name was Thomasina known to the family as Tommie Dee. He knew that Hermione was born in Selby but was raised in Devon and her childhood home was in that area. It troubled him that he never recalled a conversation about her sisters Cordelia or Alexandria. Was it a dream where he recalled something he had forgotten or was the universe trying to tell him something?
He thanked Kingsley for the hospitality and returned to Grimmuald Place the house he and Hermione called home. He changed his clothes and was going the steps again passing the photographs and paintings of her family that she put in the entryway when he ran into Draco.
“Hello Lupin”
“Hello Draco”
“I know you don’t like me and I don’t blame you. But I hope you know that I have Hermione’s best interests at heart. I went to see my uncle Rabastan this morning to hear what he had to say. He told me that to help Hermione you would have to contact Cordelia Rose” once he finished what he had to say he left not noticing the look of pure shock of the older wizard behind him. Across from the picture of Alexandria Constantine was the picture of the man he knew was Hermione's father on a boat that said ‘Cordelia Rose’
Harry picked up the phone and made the call that he wished he did not have to make. “ Hello, may I speak to Rupert Giles?
*****
The next morning
Hermione was in King Cross station sitting on a bench contemplating what her next move would be. Hermione has been in this area of town since she was a young girl yet it felt so alien to her now. The witch felt like she was in a bubble were everyone was staring at her, she needed a place to collect herself and figure out what to do. She looked over at her rose doll and recalled her disorientation waking up earlier that morning and the shock at what she saw. The last thing she remembered was getting her things sorted out for her fourth year at Hogwarts next thing she knew she was a woman. Gone was the skinny girl with big teeth and awkwardness. The woman who confronted her in the mirror was 6 inches taller with perfect teeth, full figured and stood there confidently. She also noticed a small scar on her neck that she didn’t see before. The brunette looked around and saw that she was in a hospital room in Saint Mungos and nearly screamed with shock when she saw the date on a discarded newspaper February 3 ,2000
How could it be that she lost nearly six years of her life? It had to be a trap of some kind and there was no way that Hermione would give up any information on The Order of the Phoenix that easily. She was also confused to the doll she found in her bed, a doll she owned a long time ago, made for her by her cousin Gregory. It might be a trap but Hermione could not bear to leave the doll behind. She dressed in a purple suit and jacket and gloves that was in the wardrobe and sneaked out the back way.
She sat on the bench in the station wondering where she should go. She could go home but if it was a trap of some kind she risked her parents, brothers and sisters if she did. She needed to be safe without causing trouble. She felt something hard in her pocket and she took it out and it was a boat key chain. Of course why didn’t she think of that? She grabbed rose and went on her way.
****
Draco left Saint Mungos the next morning slipping away while Tonks and Kingsley were giving the healers a piece of their minds for allowing Hermione to walk out without anyone noticing. Truth be told his uncle scared him at times but he was willing to see him if it meant helping Hermione.
He never thought that he would give Hermione the time of day when they first meet, now they were good friends. He did not deserve her kindness over the death of his father and presumed death of his mother, he was not so kind when she lost her parents. However at the end of the war after he lost Pansy, Goyle and Crabbe, he lost everything and was at a time in his life where there was no point in fighting anymore. They managed to form a strange kind of friendship with each other that managed to last. He would never be friends with Saint Potter but they were on civil terms as he was with the rest of her friends and boyfriend.
Now he was in the place he feared the most to get information that he hoped would save her.
His uncle entered as defiant and haughty as he remembered giving him a nod of recognition.
Draco looked him in the eyes and told him plainly why he was there, “I will not insult you with false tidings. I need to know what you and Hermione spoke about.”
“It is not important, Draco. Leave it be.” Answered Rabastan with an unreadable expression
“Yes, it is important, Uncle. It is the only lead we have to know why she is ill.” Pressed Draco
He appeared surprised at that. “What happened?”
“No one knows. She collapsed without explanation right after she saw you. That visit is all we have to go on,” he replied.
“What do you think ?” asked Rabastan
“I honestly don’t know what to think uncle. But I am willing to keep an open mind for her sake”
“That is the type of reasoning that will probably will show you things that you wished you never knew.”
If you want to save her Draco you should contact Cordelia Rose”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Draco replied
“Be careful Draco and good luck “he said as the blond left.
“You’re going to need it” replied the older wizard to himself as he rubbed the tattoo of a strange rune on his right forearm.
****
Cho went to see her cousin the following morning determined to get an answer from him no matter what it took. She was certain that he was involved with what happened to Hermione that morning and could possibly know where she ended up. She knocked at his flat door and was honestly shocked to see Mrs. Zabini open the door in a state of undress and let her in. Cho heard the shower the only place that Akira could be. Mrs. Zabini appeared to feel at home and even offered Cho tea while she was waiting. Well it was not her business and if she did not have urgent business she would have already made a discreet exit. Cho sipped her tea as Akira came out of the shower with a towel around his waist exposing the tattoos on his wrist, back arm and ankle presumably marks of protection. The tattoo on his wrist was odd compared to his other tattoos it looked like a rune rather than the other traditionally Japanese markings. When he entered the other witch used the bathroom dressed and left.
“I told you to leave it alone Cho, why do you insist?”
“ I insist because she is gone! She disappeared this morning when you said you would be watching her! Do you hate me so much that you will let me get killed over your precious secret?!”
He looked genuinely surprised and said
“Cho there is no reason to overreact…”
“In most cases I would agree with you, as you well know she is a mate to a werewolf! He is a good man but in his grief he may give into his instincts and tear apart the most available person to blame things on, who by the way happens to be me!”
“Have you seen him?”
“Remus? Not this morning, the last time I saw him was at St Mungos being told his mate was dying”
Akira looked at Cho for a long time then said “ I will tell you what I suspect if you promise never to ask me how I know these things”
Cho nodded her head in agreement then he said
“I reason there three possible causes to causes to her affliction, The first is that she suffered a mental breakdown of some kind over the stress of the war and keeping the secret of the wizarding world. The second is the possibility of a curse that was in her blood that never was expelled, a curse called the black hand. The third would be a combination of the stress, the drug she could have used to make herself forget and how the curse affected it”
“ Is there a way to sort out the cause ?”
“ I suppose it can be sorted out by process of elimination, but you would have to use Max Horton to do the psychological examination, Hermione does not trust any doctor except for her”
At that Cho slowly began to understand “Hermione is the one that you called Neko”
“Yes”
“Merlin I had no idea” said Cho her tone a mixture of wonder and sympathy
“Not many people do” replied her cousin
“Does she know?”
“ I don’t know .I lost regular contact with her after the death of her sister Alex and when she began Hogwarts. It would explain however if she did know where the stress would be coming from”
“ If you had to guess where Hermione would have gone where would it be?”
“ I don’t know what her state of mind is, if she remembers the fights that occurred or if she remembers nothing at all.She was always close to the Torres family, Then there is her godfather’s family the Giles family, or she still has a presence of mind if she choices to throw us off she could run to a brother or sister. She also could be with our cousin Li who takes care of her business end of her affairs. Then again she could have run to Ethan Rayne, they were very close at one point. She quite honestly be anywhere”
Cho finished her tea and said “thank you I will let you know if I find her, if you promise to do the same”
“Agreed” he replied simply
“Sorry that I interrupted you and you’re…friend. I will see myself out” said Cho as she finished her tea and left her cousin lost in his thoughts
***
Allegra entered her flat when she saw a discarded cigarette lighter that could only be Ethan’s and and …herself in the bed. She went to the bed and roughly shook the imposter awake.
“What are you doing?!”
“Oh, hello. I um was making sure that Ethan did not suspect anything “
“Why would Ethan suspect anything?”
“Since you spent the night with Akira Chang” answered the other woman with a hint of tartness in her voice
“Not that it is any of your business but I was lending him support. Hermione Granger collapsed mysteriously yesterday. He was always fond of her” said the real Allegra.
“I know, I felt it when it happened. I never knew Akira and Hermione knew each other” replied the other witch as she got out of bed and stretched like a cat
“Yes that is a rather long story that is not mine to tell” replied Mrs Zabini as she gave the other woman her clothing.
“How did Ethan take the news?” she asked herself as she dressed in her own clothing.
“Not very well, He down played it but I know he cares for her and is upset by it all”
“I know it may be a sore subject but perhaps it would be only fair to tell your cousin about it. They are friends.”
The faux Allegra dressed and said “I will think about it,” and left without another word.
***
Hermione is sitting on her stool at her dressing table in a simple pink nightgown with a matching robe brushing out her hair, and Remus could not help but stare at her. She was beautiful and she was his, and his heart could not help but swell up with pride. He could sense joy that they were going to be wed in a church but he could also sense sadness.
“Darling what is the matter?”
He asked as she came to bed.
“I am happy we are to be wed, but it also makes me think of the fact my mother and father will not be there and the other members of my family that are no longer with us”
“My dear sister Alexandria would have been so happy for us. It is a shame you never meet her “
“Is that the sister that died before your first year?”
“Yes she was”
Remus felt there was something he had to ask her, and the question seemed to come out of nowhere
“Darling did you have a sister named Cordelia?”
She looked at him with a strange look on her face before she answered, “Yes she was the oldest of my siblings. I don’t really remember her she died when I was two years old”
“You have other siblings?”
“Yes, my father was married four times before my mother. There was a gap in our ages, we never really were that close with the Granger children. I was closer to my mother’s children that is until the friction that occurred when she died”
Remus held her close to him needing to feel her body beside him. He had the irrational fear that if he blinked that she would be gone.
“Please tell me what is troubling you, my love.” Asked Hermione as she traced his facial scars with her fingers
“ I honestly do not know darling. I just have this fear that you will leave me. Absurd I know I really don’t have a reason to think that way”
“Yes it is” she pointed to the scar on her neck, the mark that told the whole world she was his.
“I accepted this, accepted you a long time ago. There were plenty of opportunities for me to leave before I took the mark but I didn’t. Now I am preparing to take vows before God to that effect as well. There is no reason for me to leave”
He sighed and pulled the covers over them “Goodnight love” she said
“Goodnight” he responded but when he looked down on her the nightgown and robe were all that was there
Remus jolted awake from the dream on a sofa he did not recognize and felt a strong hand on his shoulder and comforting words. His vision cleared and he recognized the flat that Tonks and Kingsley and at one time Sturgis Podmore and he himself shared together. It was different now with the added touches of Kingsley’s live in girlfriend Cho.
It took him a few moments to recall that he practically threatened by wand point by Tonks and Kingsley to get some rest before he attempted to find the woman he considered his wife.
He wiped his eyes and gave a nod to indicate that he was alright and lay back down. He tried to reach out in their link and found that it still very weak. It was strong enough to know that she was still alive and confused but he could sense little else. Well at least she was still alive, it was the only point that mattered.
He did know everything about her , how she was afraid of flying and of failure, how she never went to primary school because she was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age, he knew that she always relied on books when she had a question about something, and he knew which pleasure points were her favorites. It occurred to him that he knew very little about her family a subject that he sensed was a rather complicated one. Other than her mother’s maiden name of Wyatt, He knew her father’s name was Balthazar or Brad, and her mother’s name was Thomasina known to the family as Tommie Dee. He knew that Hermione was born in Selby but was raised in Devon and her childhood home was in that area. It troubled him that he never recalled a conversation about her sisters Cordelia or Alexandria. Was it a dream where he recalled something he had forgotten or was the universe trying to tell him something?
He thanked Kingsley for the hospitality and returned to Grimmuald Place the house he and Hermione called home. He changed his clothes and was going the steps again passing the photographs and paintings of her family that she put in the entryway when he ran into Draco.
“Hello Lupin”
“Hello Draco”
“I know you don’t like me and I don’t blame you. But I hope you know that I have Hermione’s best interests at heart. I went to see my uncle Rabastan this morning to hear what he had to say. He told me that to help Hermione you would have to contact Cordelia Rose” once he finished what he had to say he left not noticing the look of pure shock of the older wizard behind him. Across from the picture of Alexandria Constantine was the picture of the man he knew was Hermione's father on a boat that said ‘Cordelia Rose’