Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hermione’s Tale
A great silence permeated the room. Lottie could feel it sinking into her bones, through the windows and down the floorboards. Her gaze never shifted from Lontelles’s face.
Finally, Stainthorpe spoke. “Neville.” A smile of unabashed happiness stretched across her thin lips. She moved first, breaking the static stillness that had captured the room. Arms wide, she embraced him.
Lottie and Andrea exchanged significant glances as the two adults laughed, hugging tightly. Stainthorpe explained, “Girls, this is Neville Longbottom. We went to school together.”
Andrea’s eyes grew wide under her thick glasses. “Hermione?” she repeated. “Hermione Granger?”
Lottie gasped. Hermione Granger had been friends with Harry Potter”Colm Scrivener had told her that when they had detention together in first year. But she had disappeared after the war”she was assumed dead. If Hermione Granger wasn’t dead, whoelse was hiding? “You’re alive?” Lottie asked.
Lontelles”Longbottom beamed. “Knew it was you,” he said cheerfully. “Right when I saw you. I recognized your eyes.”
“But I thought you had died,” Lottie went on. “Killed by the Death Eaters, Colm Scrivener told me. If you were alive, why didn’t you tell someone? Why didn’t you help the cause earlier?”
Stainthorpe shook her head. “Going undercover was the most I could do,” she said solemnly. “They had killed Harry and Ron. What was I supposed to do? I could help just as much this way.”
Andrea still looked doubtful. “How do we know, though? I don’t think the real Hermione Granger would abandon her friends like that.”
“I didn’t abandon them.” Stainthorpe’s”Hermione’s voice rose and quivered.
The hairs on the back of Lottie’s neck stood up. Stainthorpe had always looked just barely composed, but Lottie had never seen her break down. Now, her hair was flying in every direction; her eyes were red and watering. Now she seemed helpless.
“Once they died, they”they died.” Stainthorpe”Hermione’s voice shook. Tears glimmered in her eyelashes. “They have been dead for”for fi-fifty years. Nothing I can do will change that. This is how I can help, by teaching, by preparing the next generation to fight the battle I couldn’t win.”
Lottie was overwhelmed with curiosity. “But how did you meet him?” she asked. “Harry Potter, I mean.”
Hermione sighed and shut her eyes for a moment. “I met him and Ron when we were eleven. It was so long ago, but I still remember it perfectly.”
Lottie sat down on the cold floor. She could tell that this would be a long story. Andrea followed suit. Neville flicked a battered wand and conjured two squishy armchairs for Hermione and himself.
“I grew up a Muggle. I had no idea of the magical world or my own powers until I got my letter from Hogwarts, explaining everything. I found myself thrust into a world where I could completely reinvent myself. I didn’t have to be the ugly girl with a weird name anymore. So when I got my textbooks, I studied. I was determined to fit in, to know everything and more. I met Harry and Ron on the train ride to Hogwarts.” After a moment’s silence, she added, “I met Neville too, didn’t I? You had lost your toad.”
Neville smiled sheepishly.
“So we went to Hogwarts,” Hermione continued. “This was long before the Dark Lord had taken over, mind you. Harry, when he was a baby, had defeated Voldemort on a”” She stopped, seeing the horrified looks on Lottie and Andrea’s face. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “Harry used to make us use the name. He always repeated what Dumbledore said.”
Neville chimed in with her, and together, they recited, “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”
“Well he did have a point, didn’t he?” Neville said. “Folks today are more scared than ever.”
“And with good reason.” Hermione sighed.
Lottie shivered. The name haunted her, echoed in the back of her mind. A shiver crept up her spine. She spun around. Nothing was behind her except the peeling stretch of gray wall.
“Well, anyway, Harry had sort of defeated You-Know-Who as an infant, and was deemed The Boy Who Lived, only later to become The Chosen One.” She looked up at the ceiling. “So we met on the train, but we weren’t exactly friends then. All of us were sorted into Gryffindor, but it wasn’t until Halloween that we actually became friendly. From that day on, we were together until the end. Quite like you two, really.”
She smiled at them. Lottie stared at Andrea. She didn’t know why, but that thought made her very uncomfortable.
“We had so many adventures together,” continued Hermione. “In our first year, we rescued the Sorcerer’s Stone from Vol”sorry”You-Know-Whose clutches. In our second year”well I was paralyzed for half of it.” A smirk crossed her face. “But Harry destroyed the Heir of Slytherin’s monster and saved Ron’s younger sister from the Chamber of Secrets.”
Lottie glanced at Andrea, whose jaw hung open limply.
“In the third year, you rescued Sirius Black from the dementors,” Neville added. He had been keeping track of her adventures on his fingers.
“And Buckbeak,” Hermione said with a laugh. Lottie didn’t understand half of this, but Hermione and Neville seemed to be enjoying themselves. “In fourth year, Harry got entered in the Triwizrad Tournament. He witnessed V”You-Know-Whose rebirthing. By fifth year, nobody believed his claims that You-Know-Who was back. Poor Harry had to go through an entire year of being alienated.”
“I wonder if You-Know-Who would have been defeated earlier if anyone had believed him,” said Neville thoughtfully.
Hermione looked at the dusty floor. “We can only wonder,” she said. “We can’t go back that far with Time-Turners.” She shook her head as though to rid herself of the idea and went on. “We all went to a battle at the old Ministry of Magic. They’re just ruins now. Neville was there too, remember? You-Know-Who just escaped, but at least people believed Harry then”they had no choice.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Lottie could see the light from the window diminishing. Shadows slowly crept along the floor as silence overtook the group. Neville rose from his chair and shuffled to a dusty, off-white marble fireplace. With a flick of his wand, the log inside ignited. He watched the flames dance and lick the bottom of the chimney for an entire minute, before adding, “Harry also formed the D.A that year.”
“Oh yes.” Hermione grinned. “We formed a group”The D.A or Dumbledore’s Army. Harry taught us defensive skills. I think it’s how both of us survived the war,” she mused, gesturing between her and Neville. “Yes, the D.A really marked Harry’s beginning as the leader.”
“In our sixth year, a battle erupted in Hogwarts.” Neville tapped his wand against his knee as he remembered. “Death Eaters had broken into the school and“and that was the night Dumbledore was killed.”
“Killed by Severus Snape!” Lottie blurted, thrilled to finally know something.
Hermione nodded. “For our first five years of school, he was the Potions Master. In our sixth year, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“He was your teacher?” Andrea asked.
“We met him,” Lottie said. “Last summer”we met him when we went to Grimmauld Place. Oh! And that’s why he recognized you!”
Andrea frowned. “But if he was a teacher, why would he do something like that?”
“Dumbledore had a great trust in Snape,” Hermione said sourly.
“But how do you know what side he’s on?”
“Well that was the question. We never actually found out. Palmyitor believes that he is one hundred percent on our side.” Hermione shrugged. “After our sixth year, Harry decided he wasn’t going back to Hogwarts. He had important things to do. So Ron and I followed him. We loved him, so we went with him.”
From the corner of her eye, Lottie could see Andrea’s mouth completely open in concentration.
Hermione’s eyes started to water at this point. She glanced at the window, which was now completely dark. Lottie could hardly make out the black horizon of other townhouses against the night sky. “We followed him out of school and on a journey that would taken us Merlin knows how far,” Hermione said. “It happened at Hogsmeade,” she said in a whisper. “We were taking a break to meet with some of our old professors to ask questions and”suddenly, Death Eaters surrounded us.”
Her voice broke. “There was little we could do. We called for backups, but we were still so outnumbered. When You-Know-Who appeared, he k-killed Harry.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that. He fell so slowly”like our entire world eroding before our eyes. Once he was gone, we knew the war was over. But the Death Eaters didn’t leave without killing as many as they could.”
“Ginny died right after Harry,” Neville said solemnly. “Like she gave up the will to live, once he was gone.”
“Fenrir Greyback killed Ron,” Hermione said, dabbing the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. “And Hagrid.”
“But Grawp got him back,” Neville attempted.
Lottie raised her eyebrows and glanced at Andrea, whose mouth was now hanging so wide that Lottie thought she had broken it.
“And so many people we didn’t even know,” Hermione continued, ignoring Neville’s effort to change the subject. “One woman died with a child in her arms.”
Neville looked gloomily at the floor. “I saw Melinda Duff”you know, she was a Gryffindor a few years older than us”get hit. She looked so”sad”like she lost all the hope in the world.” Neville shook his head.
A silent moment passed between the four of them in a sort of vigil for the dead. Curiosity burned inside of Lottie, but she restrained herself as long as she could to respect Hermione and Neville’s feelings. After about a minute and a half, she asked, “So you two were both members of the Order of the Phoenix?”
Hermione smiled. “Oh yes,” she said with a nod. “We”I mean Harry, Ron and I joined right after Dumbledore died.”
“You knew Dumbledore?”
Hermione laughed. “Not quite as well as Harry did. You would think they were grandfather and grandson. But after Dumbledore died, Harry took charge of the Order.” Her faced darkened against the firelight. “It’s not that he wasn’t a good leader, he was just young. He hadn’t even finished school.”
“Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper as well,” Neville added. “But right before he died, he switched and gave Tonks the secret. It’s like he knew or something.”
“And then,” Hermione said, “when she was in danger, we switched to Lupin. We could have easily just let the secret die with her, but we needed to keep using Grimmauld Place as our headquarters. We had nowhere else to go. So after Lupin it was””
“Kingsley.”
“And I think Aberforth was the last,” Hermione said, “before you, Neville.”
“We still don’t now how Aberforth was put in danger,” said Neville. “Personally, I think he just got a bit bored of us and wanted to go back to the Hog’s Head. He mentioned something about his goats needing him. So I was the last. Once Harry died, everything got a bit quiet. There weren’t many of us left. Even after the battle, Order members were dropping like doxies”Death Eaters were hunting us down. There weren’t even enough of us to keep passing the secret around. We knew the only way to keep Grimmauld Place a safe haven for the members was to get me out of the picture. So they gave me an alias and shipped me out here. Did you know””
“That your name and address is an anagram for ‘Neville Longbottom is the Secret Keeper?’” Hermione finished. Neville looked stunned. “Andrea, here, figured it out.”
“A bit like you, is she?” Neville chuckled.
Hermione glanced at Andrea out of the corner of her eye and said, “I’m sure she’ll be rattling collector’s tins under people’s noses any day now.”
Andrea, who didn’t understand the joke at all, decided not to take it offensively, since it was clearly all meant in good fun.
“Yes, but the Order did like us to use anagrams,” Neville went on. “It was Harry’s idea”and a clever one at that because an Order member would have no problem remembering how to find me if they needed to. So, I came out here. The Delacours would check on me sometimes, but I was mostly on my own. I picked up French fairly quickly with some tutoring from Gabrielle and I lived my life as a Muggle. It’s been horrible, having to stay up here if anybody comes and decides to reform the Order. I tried a few times, but after Voldemort’s”sorry”victory, people were too scared to start a rebellion.”
“Well Fornax, Naesa and Ryan did start one. They had no idea you were still around,” Hermione said.
“My snuffbox idea didn’t work then.”
“Snuffbox?” Lottie asked.
“Oh yes.” Neville shifted in his chair. “I made about one hundred and fifty. They just looked like normal wizarding antiques, but if you performed the proper set of spells, it would open. The Order could use them to pass along the secret, if they tried to reform the group.”
Lottie looked up. “And”and what would be in it?”
“Hm… it was a parchment, written by me, that stated the location of the Order of the Phoenix and a small phoenix figurine. Clever invention that was”it grows hot whenever you’re near someone in the Order.”
“Or,” Andrea said with growing excitement, “if you put it on a map, it would grow hot around the area where an Order member is!”
“Hm, I never thought of that.” Neville rested his chin on his fist. “I suppose it would work, with the charms I put on it.”
“It does!” Andrea exclaimed. “That’s how we found you.”
“But why was it burning,” Lottie began, “that day after we visited Grimmauld Place in Palmyitor’s office?”
“Because I was there,” Hermione said. After a moment, she added, “Snape was there as well.”
Neville’s eyes grew wide. “You two visited Grimmauld Place?” he asked. “How did you find it?”
“Well, I’d found a snuffbox at the school,” Lottie explained, her chest swelling with pride. “I found it in a secret chamber, which I found using a key from the traitors’ dormitory.”
“No one’s been in Grimmauld Place for years,” Neville said, looking over his shoulder. “Did you find anything?”
“Not much.” Andrea shrugged.
“A few dead doxies,” Lottie listed, ticking them off on her fingers, “some bottles and a few other things. Palmyitor took it all, though.”
“They snuck out of the Muggle camps when they were supposed to be visiting their families,” Hermione said in a clear attempt to reassume her role as teacher. “They remind me of us when we were younger.”
“But why,” asked Andrea, struck by a curious idea, “did you keep switching Secret Keepers?”
“Because the Secret Keeper kept getting discovered,” Neville answered automatically
“But how?”
Neville frowned. “I”I’m not sure.”
“A spy!” Lottie suggested with a gasp. “Snape, probably!”
Hermione shook her head. “Honestly Rowe, sometimes I think you’re the female embodiment of Harry and Ron put together. Naesa trusts Snape.”
“So did Dumbledore,” Neville said coldly.
“But where did she meet Snape anyway?” Lottie went on. “Probably at a Death Eater meeting or something.”
“Rowe, I wouldn’t be so sure of things that you don’t fully understand. Naesa was only a few years older than us in school”he was her teacher.”
Lottie stared. “Palmyitor went to Hogwarts?”
“Oh yes,” Hermione said. “Do you remember her, Neville? She dated Marcus Flint for a month or two.”
For some reason, Lottie had never imagined a school age Palmyitor. It was as if she was born a strict, seventy-something woman with a secret affinity for pink nightgowns. “Did Maelioric and Clynalmoy go to Hogwarts too?” she asked.
“Yes, they were in the same year as Naesa. I didn’t notice Ryan much then”he was in Ravenclaw, but I remember Fornax barging into the common room, complaining loudly about Naesa.” Hermione laughed. “Made for each other, I would have said”they fought about as much as Ron and me. Naesa never seemed interested though.” Hermione shrugged. “And in his age, Fornax has gotten a lot quieter”seems to like the solitude.”
“I don’t think Palmyitor likes Maelioric much,” Andrea said thoughtfully. “Not in that way at least. I think they would argue too much together.”
“I think Palmyitor argues too much with everyone,” Lottie said wryly.
Hermione snorted with laughter. Andrea smiled nervously.
“But if Snape kept putting people in danger,” Lottie began, eyeing Neville, “we should do something about him before he finds out about you.”
Neville shrugged. “When I was younger, the mere idea of that would have terrified me. At this age, though, I wonder if he would even bother. The Order ended long ago.”
“Then you should restart it!” Lottie shouted. “How else are we going to defeat the Dark Lord?”
Neville smiled. “You’re too young,” he said. “You wouldn’t understand everything behind the movement. If I joined you”and claimed to have reformed the Order, it would be no different than how it is now.”
“That’s not true. The man in the barricade didn’t ask any questions when Stain”er”Her”erm…”
“Hermione’s fine for now,” Hermione said helpfully.
“Right. The man at the barricades didn’t ask any questions when Hermione told him about the Order, did he? It would unify the rebellion around the world with a name that everyone can recognize.” Lottie was proud of herself for her Andrea-like phrasing.
“She has a point,” Hermione said. “There could be representatives from each country that meet and give each other ideas.”
“And,” Andrea piped in, now willing to share her thoughts since the idea was approved by a teacher, “make sure they’re not stepping on each other’s toes with their parts of the rebellion.”
“Now you’re all against me?” Neville asked jokingly. “Why can’t you just let an old man live out the rest of his days in peace?”
“If you’re not going to do it,” said Hermione sternly, “then you better pass the secret along to me. This idea is too good to pass up.”
“Why would we come all the way out here if we weren’t going to do anything with the knowledge we gained?” asked Andrea, raising her eyebrows.
“What was your mission anyway?” Neville asked. “What would you have done if I turned out to be a mad old man locked up in a town house with a fascination for word games?”
“We would have reported it to the leaders and gone on with our lives,” Hermione said, patting him good-naturedly on the back. “Maybe brought you some crossword puzzles. But since you’re not insane”” Lottie raised her eyebrows suspiciously at Neville as Hermione went on, “our mission is to get you back to Alsemore safely and see what you can do to help the cause.”
Lottie looked up at him, making her eyes as round as possible. “We need somebody to be a leader and stand up for the Order.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” Neville chuckled, staring down at Lottie. “But you do raise a good point. I’ll come, but I don’t want to be a surprise when I get there.”
“Excellent!” Hermione pulled out her wand, flicked it and muttered an incantation. A silver otter burst from her wand tip, swam around her once and frolicked out the window. “Just sent word to Palmyitor,” she explained to Lottie and Andrea.
Lottie stretched and yawned casually. “So what do we do now?” she asked. “Mission accomplished on day one. We’ve still got all of July here, don’t we?”
“We do,” Hermione said, examining her fingernails. “But something tells me we’ll find something to keep us busy. Oh, here’s Naesa now.”
A silver glow emanated from the window and shone clear against the black sky. Warmth spread across the little house and tingled in Lottie’s fingertips as a four-legged creature glided through the glass. It was a cat”a big cat like those Lottie had seen pictures of in books.
“Good idea,” it said. It spoke in Palmyitor’s voice. “Reforming the Order will bring the revolution together.” The leopard seemed to grow less and less solid by the minute. Lottie could see the living room clearly through its body. It shimmered and flickered, casting an eerie white glow across their faces.
“What’s happening?” Lottie asked.
“It might be the distance,” Hermione said. “Or maybe Naesa isn’t feeling particularly cheerful right now.”
“I’m shocked,” Lottie said.
The leopard’s mouth was moving. “Sshh!” Hermione hissed. “It’s still talking.”
Lottie leaned in, holding her breath.
“Go to Beauxbatons,” it said, just barely audible. “Start uniting the cause. Get those two a dueling tutor. They could use it.”
The leopard stretched its back and paced once around the room. Lottie felt a rush of warmth as the tip of its tail brushed against her ankles. It stopped in front of the fireplace. Through the cat’s misty body, Lottie could see the flames dancing and licking the bottom of its paws. It opened its mouth. Lottie strained her ears and heard, faintly above the cackling of the fire, “Careful, Rowe.” The image flickered and faded, leaving only a wisp of silver behind.
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Thanks to TheBird for the beta job! You’re the best—even if you are a Slytherin.
In the last chapter, Lottie, Andrea and Stainthorpe arrived in Paris, only to have to fight off several Death Eaters. They travel through France and finally arrive at Lontelles’s home, only to have Neville recognize Stainthorpe for who she really is.
This chapter is dedicated to my cat, Leo, who I call my Little Leopard.