Chapter Text
Hermione thought it worked out reasonably well that most of the people with whom she normally met each week were unavailable between Boxing Day and the New Year, since she didn't really feel like seeing anyone, either. The only exceptions were Neville, Sirius, and Remus, all of whom were missing someone just like she was and seemed to instinctively understand that she wasn't feeling particularly jolly that year. As Harry's absence stretched into a second week, though, she had to owl her apologies to the various professors and ask to skip that week. They all replied with polite letters indicating they understood and hoped Harry returned soon, and so the silence Hermione had worked in her whole life settled in around her.
She hated it. She loathed it.
Silence was fine for her studio flat or her dorm room before that. She'd valued silence then, stolen it away from too-loud neighbours and fellow students whom she recognized in retrospect were reaching out to her but at the time she saw only as nuisances. This house, Harry's house, was unfit for such silence. It deserved his soft breaths, the turning of pages in his Quidditch magazine or that DADA monograph of which he'd commissioned a translation, or the creak of his chair as he got up to make them a delicious dinner.
It deserved him.
She mentally berated the silence for its mere existence for a solid five minutes before she discovered there was something worse: the floo bursting to life with the sound of an unfamiliar voice saying, "Hullo? Is anyone home?"
Hermione clutched her wand so tightly she worried it might break but otherwise made no sound, no response. She didn't even breathe.
After a moment, the voice spoke out again. "Wronski!"
The flame cut off, only to return again a moment later.
"No? Hmmm…seven?"
The same thing happened to the flame and the voice made a little noise of irritation.
"Phooey. He must've changed the theme of his floo passwords. I suppose that's only fair. His life has changed a lot since he bought this house. Something else must be more important to him."
She paused for a moment, then said, "Family."
The flame cut away, then flared back. "No?" she asked. "But I was so…hmmm…I know. Godric's Hollow."
The flame once again cut away and returned. "Only one more guess this hour," the voice said. "What else changed? Oh, of course! It's so simple. Winter."
Terror gripped Hermione as a young blonde woman tumbled out of the floo and landed in a seated position. "Hullo," she said, staring calmly down the length of Hermione's wand from the next room over. "I'm afraid you have quite the wrackspurt infestation."
"You…you need to go," Hermione said. "I won't let anyone in here without Harry's approval. I'll call the pol…Aurors if I have to."
"Harry has never disapproved of me visiting before," the woman said. She was still sitting on the floor and made no effort to rise to her feet or draw the wand that was currently holding her wavy blonde hair in a messy bun.
"I'm not really in a position to evaluate the truthfulness of that statement," Hermione said, trying to sound calmer than she was.
The woman stared at her for a moment with her slightly protruding grey eyes. "Yes," she finally said, "definitely wrackspurts. You used to have quite the infestation, didn't you, and it's coming back?"
"I…I'm sorry, but what on Earth is a wrackspurt?" Hermione asked.
The other woman cocked her head at Hermione and stared at her for a solid twenty seconds.
"Are you unwell, Miss?" Hermione asked.
"Mrs." the woman said absently. "Mrs. Luna Lovegood Scamander. That name is quite important to me, mostly because of how new it is. I suspect I'll get used to it one day, but I admit I kind of hope I don't. It's so nice that it's mine now and I don't want to let that feeling go. However, I don't think my name is nearly as important as your name, is it?"
"I…um…don't know." Hermione didn't even bother to hide her confusion.
"I think I do," Luna said. "You sound like Harry, you know. That's what gave it away."
"Wait, if you really know Harry, you'd know our voices sound nothing alike," Hermione said, giving her wand what she hoped was a threatening little twirl.
"Not your voice." Luna's tone dripped playful condescension, like she was talking to a four-year-old. "Your words. Harry's the only other person I know who would say 'what on Earth?' because he's the only person I know who was raised as a muggle. Magicals would say 'what in Merlin's name?'...or Morgana, if their name is 'Sue' or they're trying to avoid the wrath of a 'Sue.'"
"Oh…" was as far as Hermione got before her subconscious started shouting "This! This is why you always lose at poker!" at her. "I just know a lot of muggles."
"I would imagine you do," Luna said seriously. "I'm much more interested in how you know Harry, though." She raised her eyebrows. "That silly boy didn't break the Statute, did he?"
"Lumos," Hermione said.
As the tip of her wand lit up, Luna's hand shot up to her hair. Hermione didn't even have the chance to think the word "Nox," much less say it, before her wand was flying out of her hand and into Luna's.
"There we go," Luna said as calmly as ever. "Now we can have a nice conversation without worrying about any accidental hexing." As she climbed to her feet with a wand in each hand, she continued, "I had a feeling implying Harry might have done something wrong would induce you to defend him, since the only time the wrackspurts slow down around you is when I mention his name. So I just waited for you to cast before I drew my own wand."
Hermione glared at her, holding tightly to the anger bubbling inside her chest so she didn't give way to the fear tying her stomach in knots, instead.
"If it makes you feel any better," Luna said as she walked into the living room and plopped down on a chair, "I'm one of only two people her age or younger ever to out-duel Sue in a best-of-three set while she was at school, and the other one owns this house."
"That…does make me feel a bit better, yes," Hermione said. "So you're really Luna? Sue, Nev, and Harry all speak highly of you."
"I really am," she said. "Of course, arguably my additional name makes me slightly less Luna than I was before through simple dilution, but I feel more like myself than ever. There's also a bit more of myself in me than there used to be, but that will resolve itself in another seven months or so." She smiled dreamily.
Hermione blinked. "Oh. Oh! Um…congratulations! I mean, congratulations are in order, right? Or did you mean something else? I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't—"
"You certainly should have," Luna said, her quiet voice somehow still forceful enough to break into Hermione's rambling. "And thank you. We're ever so excited. I'd have written home to everyone, but I wanted to tell them in person. You're the first person I've told in Britain besides Daddy."
"Thank you," Hermione said. "I won't tell Harry unless you want me to."
"It's alright." Luna twirled the two wands. "He and Sue already know."
"Wait, what?" Hermione asked. "You've seen them?"
Luna nodded. "I learnt of the earthquake on the 28th. We were deep in the temperate rainforest of Gribbell Island seeking the lost city of the spirit bears. They hide their civilization by pretending to be normal bears, you know."
Hermione most certainly did not know.
"Anyway, once we heard about what had happened," Luna continued, "my dear Rolf wanted to help, so I led us to Banda Aceh. Daddy told me about the magical community there once and I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with Harry."
"Wait, how did you know Harry would be there?" Hermione asked.
"Harry is always where the situation is worst," Luna said in that same calm tone, as if stating a fundamental truth of the universe. "This time was different, though. Instead of just his usual wrackspurts, he had a whole flock of them." She paused and fixed her eyes on Hermione. "For the first time I can remember, Harry didn't want to be there."
Hermione nodded. "I know," she said. "I was there when he argued with Sue about going. Now, if you don't mind me asking, what are wrackspurts?"
"You don't understand," Luna said, the dreaminess in her voice falling away with each syllable. "He's always wanted to go before. That's where he thought he belonged. Now, he doesn't."
"Um…is that a good thing?" Hermione considered pressing the "wrackspurts" question, but Harry was a higher priority for her.
"Good?" Luna smiled. "I would have danced with him right there if we hadn't been in the midst of the most horrific devastation I've ever seen. I asked why, but there were other British Aurors present besides Sue and I guess he didn't want to say. I think I understand now." She looked very seriously at Hermione. "Don't worry; your wrackspurts are all male and his were all female. I'm sure they'll pair off and fly away once he returns home."
Somehow, this discussion of whatever on Earth 'wrackspurts' were was making Hermione blush. "I hope so." Hermione thought that sounded like a good thing, and based on Luna's nod, it probably was. "How are he and Sue doing?"
"And so we come to the reason for my visit." The dreaminess in her voice turned sad, like a memory of Hermione's long-dead grandparents in a dream she knew she'd forget in the morning no matter how hard she tried. "They're dreadful, as is R…my husband. I convinced them to leave by tomorrow, took Rolf home and put him to bed, and hurried over here in the hopes I was right about Harry having someone waiting for him."
"Were they hurt?" Hermione asked. "Are they sick? I know a lot of sewer systems were breached, so I don't even want to think about what's in the water down there. And all of the debris might have—"
"They're fine physically," Luna said, "just exhausted. They…well, let me put it like this. Imagine you were on a sinking lifeboat and had time to create only one portkey to help up to five of the twenty people on that lifeboat escape. What would you dream of that night: the faces of the four people you took with you or the fifteen you didn't?"
"Oh, God," Hermione fell back against the sofa. "It's that bad?"
"Whole fishing villages are just gone," Luna said. "Just bits of wood and docks to remind you that families lived there. A few buildings survived in Banda Aceh, though getting hit by ships didn't help matters there."
"Wait, getting hit by ships?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think you understand," Luna said softly. "It's not a wave like what breaks along the shore at Brighton. First, the sea is sucked away, and then it comes back like a tide. It doesn't break; it just keeps coming like the ocean itself is rising to swallow the land. I met people in four-storey buildings who heard their coworkers drown one storey below."
Luna looked down at her lap for a moment, and tears glistened along her eyes when she looked back up. "I'd like to call the sea 'vengeful,' but the truly horrifying thing is that there's no intent at all. It just…happened. The sea ripped untold thousands out of their homes and then went back about its business like nothing was amiss. I think that's what shook me the most. I've dealt with Dark spells before, dangerous things I wish no one at all knew of, but at the heart of them all is the intent to maim or kill. The sea is empty of intent and still capable of slaughter beyond the wildest imaginings of Riddle himself."
Grey, glistening eyes fixed Hermione with a stare. "I will never give up my love of magical creatures and cryptozoology," she whispered, "but it will be many years before I can again face the sea."
Hermione's heart broke for the woman and she instinctively held out her arms. Before she could process how strange it was, Luna lunged over to hug her, dropping the two wands on the coffee table as she passed and planting herself in Hermione's lap.
After a few minutes, Luna spoke again, her voice muffled by Hermione's shoulder. "I thought it didn't hit me as hard," she said. "I've been trying to stay strong for Rolf, Harry, and Sue's sake. I guess it was there all along."
"It's OK." Hermione tried to ignore how far off the rails this interaction now was and focus on the grief-stricken blonde woman in her arms. "Thank you for helping Harry and Sue. I wish I could have gone, too."
"They're why I came," Luna said. "I got sidetracked when the horror of the last week caught up with me, but they're why I came here. Rolf is safely in bed now with a Calming Draught to help him sleep, but I can't take care of Harry and Sue, too. I…it's too much for me, and I'm starting to fear for the baby. Based on Harry's behaviour, I guessed that he'd have someone waiting for him or something here that would let me contact that person, so I came here to see if they could help. I'm so sorry, but can you ensure he and Sue rest and don't blame themselves?" She hung her head. "Merlin, I don't even know your name and I'm asking you to take care of two of my best friends. Is impending motherhood already making me selfish?"
"Harry would never forgive himself if anything happened to your baby because you were overexerting yourself on his account and you know it," Hermione said. "My name is Hermione Granger and I'll take care of Harry, and Nev will take care of Sue."
"I have no doubt you will, Hermione Granger," Luna said, "but I fear Sue will forcefully decline Nev's assistance and that poor boy isn't likely to press the issue."
"Then I will." A plan was already forming in Hermione's mind. "Take care of your husband and yourself, Luna. Don't worry about Harry and Sue."
Luna thought for a moment. "You give good hugs," she finally said. "Harry and Sue are two of the most important people in my world, but you give such good hugs that I have no doubt they'll be safe with you."
"Thank you," Hermione said. "I didn't…it's been a long time since I've had friends like this. They mean the world to me, too."
"I understand," Luna said, and snuggled further into Hermione's embrace. "Can you…teach me how you hug?" she whispered. "Daddy loves me, but he has trouble expressing it with normal things like hugs. This is the most sincerely I've been hugged since my mother died when I was nine and it's how I want my children to grow up being hugged. I've just…" her whisper fell away to almost nothing, "...forgotten how."
Hermione hugged her even tighter and tried not to cry. "My governess taught me," she said. "She never held anything back when she hugged me. For each of those moments, I felt like I was her whole world."
"Your…governess?" Luna asked, still whispering.
"Y…yes," Hermione managed to get out in a whisper of her own.
Luna's arms tightened around her ribcage and pulled her into a crushing hug of her own. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so, so sorry."
"It's OK," Hermione whispered back.
"No, it's not," Luna said. "It wasn't then and it isn't now. Never forget, though, that you didn't let your parents snuff you out. You're the one who chose to take the embers of love your governess gave you and keep them lit your whole life, then shared them with others who needed that love, too. Those embers are going to keep my children warm for the rest of their lives if I have anything to say about it, and just like they will for your family."
"My…family." Hermione had gone from chronically single to hopelessly in love so quickly she hadn't stopped to think of that phrase. It sounded huge and impossible, yet inevitable.
Her stomach started to knot up.
"Yes," Luna said firmly, as if hearing Hermione's thoughts. "My mother…not long before she died, I asked my mother what the most amazing spell she'd ever created was. She hugged me, just like you did, and said it was me." She looked down toward her stomach. "I understand now. I promise you will, too."
Hermione shook her head. "I…I don't know any—"
"Hush." Luna looked up and put one finger over Hermione's lips. "You know how to give a proper hug. That's the most important thing. You'll figure everything else out."
"But it's just a hug!"
Luna smiled sadly. "You know that's not true."
"You're…" Hermione hugged her tightly again. "You're right. Thank you. Thank you so much."
"No, Hermione Granger. Thank you." Luna hugged her back before gently rising up from her lap. "I should get home now. I'm exhausted from travel and I'm not sure when Rolf might wake, but I'm ever so curious about who you are. Is there a short answer?"
Hermione shook her head. "I only wish."
"I understand," Luna said. "Could I come over for lunch in a week or two? I'd like to learn more and I'll bring my notepad."
"Notepad?" Hermione arched her eyebrows.
"My father publishes The Quibbler," Luna said. "It's the number two paper in magical Britain. If you're who I think you are, everyone is going to want your story when you're ready to tell it."
"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready," Hermione said.
"Then someone else will tell it for you," Luna responded. "The Daily Prophet won't hesitate to make stories up to meet public demand and our libel laws are such weak tea that it might take you years to recover a pittance if you sued them. The only way to beat them is to establish your own narrative first."
"If I don't pass my O.W.L.s, it's not going to matter what they say," Hermione said.
"I was wondering what you were studying," Luna said. "Well, then, I'll just have to help you. Do you need any tutoring?"
"I would love more help," Hermione said. "I already have weekly sessions with Professors Flitwick, Tonks, and McGonagall, as well as Remus and Nev, but my Transfiguration isn't what it needs to be and I find that harder to practise without a teacher's help."
"Then I'll help you in Transfiguration," Luna said. "I didn't have that much planned for after we returned home, in part because I hoped I'd be a little further along by now, so all I really need to do is help out around the house and write articles for Daddy about our expedition."
"Thank you," Hermione said. "That you would want to write about me feels unreal, but you're not the first person to tell me I'm likely to be famous or dead by next winter. At least I know you'll write the article properly."
"Dead?" Luna raised her eyebrows. "We're going to need to do a whole series on you, aren't we?"
"Lovely." Hermione sighed. "I'm going to be the star of my very own serial."
Luna nodded. "You get the most interesting fan mail from those, too. Why, just last year while we were doing a serial on Daddy's hunt for the Mongolian Death Worm we had two separate readers write Daddy to ask him whether he survived being trapped in the lost Tomb of Temujin by a man-eating tribe of Almas."
Temujin? That name sounded familiar, but there was a more pressing issue with that statement. "You mean they wrote to your father to ask him if he was still alive?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Luna said. "I suggested he respond 'no' just to see how they would react, but he doesn't like to lie to his readers, no matter how obvious."
Hermione giggled. "If they were silly enough to inquire like that, they might not have found it quite so obvious."
"That's fair." Luna picked up her wand. "I should be off now, but I'll owl you about coming over. Good luck with Harry, Nev, and Sue."
"Thank you." Hermione rose and retrieved her wand as she spoke. "Good luck with Rolf…and yourself."
"Thank you," Luna said.
As the other woman turned to take a pinch of floo powder, Hermione suddenly realised what was bothering her. "Wait!"
Luna turned back to her and arched her eyebrows.
"Temujin…your father found the lost tomb of the man most of us know as Genghis Khan?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, but he preferred Temujin," Luna said. "Daddy said his ghost told him the whole Chinggis thing was more of a legend his sons built up around him to solidify their empire."
"That's…that's amazing! It would be the archaeological find of the century!" Hermione said. "Has he told the British Museum where it is?"
"Absolutely not," Luna said. "Daddy said Temujin was quite put out at how his descendents fell to infighting and doesn't want to see any of them again until they get their act together. After he saved him from that pack of almas, Daddy says he owes him one."
Hermione just stood there.
"Don't worry," Luna said. "I'm sure they'll earn Temujin's respect back in a few centuries and he'll drop the Notice-Me-Not Charm he had placed over the tomb."
Hermione could only nod.
Luna waved and disappeared into the floo. After she left, Hermione stood there for a few more minutes before shaking herself out of her stupor and picking up a piece of parchment and a quill.
"Dear Sue," she wrote, "I just met Luna. You were right about everything. Fondly, Hermione"
She put the parchment and an owl treat in the postbox outside the back window to wait for the nightly post owl, then poured herself a half-shot of leftover tequila from Halloween.
"To you, Temujin, wherever you are," Hermione said, and drained the glass. It burned going down and made her head spin a bit, but she couldn't deny she felt a little more capable of facing the rest of the day afterward. She had some planning to do.
Augusta Longbottom was probably not going to like that plan, but both Hermione and her tequila agreed the Dowager Lady could go fuck herself. Hermione had friends to help.