In Perpetuum

Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Incipit

“So, did you and Sirius have a good time in Hogsmeade together?” smirked Remus.

“It was quite pleasant, thank you Remus. Except for a bit of childish petulance towards the end thanks to some bullies, but I don’t really want to talk about it. It upsets him.”

She said the last part as a whisper while looking pointedly at Sirius, who happened to be sitting a few seats down from Remus, next to James.

Remus glanced down at the sullen looking Sirius, who was pushing the food around his plate, before nodding his head in Hermione’s direction. He understood and said no more on the matter. Hermione, however, continued to speak.

“He said he wanted it to be perfect...”

She trailed off at the sound of Remus gagging and quickly changed the topic. Apparently Remus did not wish to hear about these kinds of things.

“It’s ok. He’s not spending Christmas at the Manor with us. It will give him a chance to relax and get over it, and we can start fresh after Christmas.”

Remus looked up from his dinner at this.

“Didn’t anyone tell you that ‘we’ would not be spending Christmas together either? I’m not coming over to the Manor this year. I’m needed at home.”

It was as she mentioned this that Hermione noticed the paleness of his skin and the tightly clenched muscles. She mentally added up the days. She could have slapped herself across the face when she realised that Christmas this year coincided with a full moon.

She pitied Remus because he would be spending Christmas alone and in extreme physical and mental pain, while she would be eating trays of good food smothered in tureens of gravy, singing carols and having fun. After completing some research she found that the Wolfsbane potion was not too far away, and she comforted herself with the knowledge that Remus would not have to be in so much pain, so frequently, for much longer.

Remus had grown to be a close friend. Their thirst for knowledge had brought them together and had kept them together. Many times, during the school terms, they would be among the last people in their year to go to bed, so keen they were to complete their set homework.

Hermione remembered that Remus was still sitting across from her, waiting for her reply. She snapped out of her stupor.

“Oh, ok then. I’ve still got a few things to pack, so I better get going. If I don’t see you again today, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

“Thanks, you have a good holiday too.”

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The little family was sitting around the dining table eating their breakfast. As usual, the owls came to deliver the post and that day’s copy of the ‘Prophet’.

Pops was the one to collect the mail and hand over whatever currency was required. Without a word, he disappeared behind the newspaper with a cup of coffee, only to emerge squawking a few moments later.

“Absolutely monstrous! A heinous act!”

The two children looked up at their father in alarm and even Ma set down her cup, glaring at her husband, wondering what on Earth could have worked him up so much.

“What are you going on about Charlus? What has happened?”

“This has happened,” he spluttered, and he shoved the newspaper across the table at his wife.

Almost immediately, Dorea clapped a hand across her mouth.

Hermione and James, all but vaulted themselves across the table in order to see the headline that was making their parents act in a most peculiar manner.

One word was visible to them: Murder.

The heavy black print was aligned at the top of the page and underneath was a picture of a young man. He looked no older than about twenty years.

To prevent her children spilling the entire contents of their cereal bowls across the table, Ma read the article aloud so that everyone could find out what had happened.

“Alberto Oldwin, 20, was found dead in his home yesterday evening by his wife Amelia, 21. Although there was no evidence of forced entry, the Aurors, who were the first qualified personnel on the scene, suspect that Dark Magic is at play. Little is known about his whereabouts just previous to the event. Mrs Amelia Oldwin, nee Bones, has made no comment on the incident, apparently too distraught to speak.”

The article then continued to speak about Alberto’s line of work at the Ministry, followed by speculations about whether this had anything to do with his death.

Hermione almost immediately knew that the cause of death was Voldemort.

Or perhaps he was already powerful enough to have Death Eaters doing his dirty work for him.

She made a mental note to ask Dumbledore whether ‘Tom Riddle’ had applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. This information would be crucial in determining whether the diadem Horcrux had been made.

Despite receiving the ‘Prophet’ daily via owl post, Hermione had apparently been sheltered from the true extent of what the Dark Lord had so far achieved.

Judging by this article, it was the first suspicious murder, however, what was not clear was how many ‘odd’ disappearances had preceded it.

It was not clear to Hermione just how powerful Voldemort was really getting. His proclivity for working in secret during the Second Wizarding War has proved to be part of his downfall.

Hermione mulled over whether she could use it to her advantage this time.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The last scrap of bright red wrapping paper was tossed aside and Hermione gasped rather audibly.

Beneath the sprig of Holly and the reams of paper lay the Quill set which Hermione had admired during the Hogsmeade trip several weeks ago.

She pulled the phoenix feather quill free from the coloured balls of paper that were preventing the mahogany wood from being scratched.

“He didn’t?!” she whispered to herself.

James stopped ferociously unwrapping his own presents and peered over Hermione’s shoulder.

“Who didn’t?” he inquired, eying her suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” said Hermione quickly, “There’s no card or anything like that.”

Although Sirius liking Hermione, and vice-versa, was far from secret, Hermione still felt the need to protect their outward manifestations of this.

She put the Quill set aside to be enjoyed later and she made a mental note to write to Sirius to say thank you – with her very own Mahogany and Phoenix feather quill set!

She was surprised that he had noticed how much she had liked the set, but then again, they had joked about it, so obviously he had noticed.

“Still...” she mused, “It’s not every day that a guy pays attention to you. Merlin knows it took Ron long enough to notice me.”

Hermione finished un-wrapping the remainder of her presents, her thoughts full of when she would return to Hogwarts.

NOTE ABOUT OC: Amelia Oldwin, nee Bones, is indeed the one and only Madam Bones to whom we are introduced in ‘Order of the Phoenix’. In my story she was married very young to her childhood sweetheart Alberto Oldwin, thus becoming Amelia Oldwin.

In this chapter of the story we find out that Alberto has been murdered (by Voldemort). Amelia is devastated by this and in an effort to try and get over what happened, she changes her surname back to her maiden name, hence the Madam Bones we see ‘today’. She never marries again because she very much fears losing another loved one in this way.