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Andrea came out of the bedroom wearing a set of black silk dress robes and flats. She noticed that Hermione was looking forlorn and sat down next to her. “Are you going to be alright?”
Hermione swallowed hard as she looked up at her girlfriend. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Are you sure that you’ll be okay when I play that song?” Andrea rubbed her back.
“Probably not, but it’s a great way to break the ice, Andrea,” Hermione wanly smiled at her. “Please just do what you normally do in interviews, and don’t worry about me. I’ll be sitting with Harry and Ginny. They’ll keep an eye on me.”
Andrea searched her sad cinnamon eyes and gave her a sweet kiss. “Just say the word anytime, and I’ll stop the group session.”
“I know you will.” Hermione sighed before glancing at Andrea’s dress. “You look lovely, my darling.”
“Thank you, and so do you, my love.” Andrea kissed her once more before pulling them both up. “Shall we go? I want to make sure everything is set up. I hope the Creeveys get there okay.”
“I believe Harry sent himself to collect them. He didn’t trust any portkeys to take them where they needed to go.” Hermione reassured Andy. “Plus, I think he still feels guilty for Dennis’s troubles.” She raised her hand to stop Andrea’s objection. “Yes, I know, but Harry has survivor’s guilt and wishes he visited them more.”
Andrea dipped her head. “Emily, behave. We will see you later, our lovebug.”
The cat meowed before she ran towards their bedroom.
“Let me make sure that I have my phone and notebook.” Andrea checked her bag and sighed in relief. “Alright, shall we get this show on the road?”
“Yes, I will be ready for this to be over by the time you are done with the interviews.” Hermione wrapped her arms around Andrea’s waist. “Ready?” Andrea jerked her head as they popped to Hogsmeade.
Hermione noticed the crescent moon. “I’m glad that Lavender can come and not have to worry about the moon tonight.”
“Yes, it would be nice to see Lavender and Parvati again.” Andrea smiled. “They have become good friends to us both.”
“Yes, they have, and I am eternally grateful for Lavender’s help with my scars. It still amazes me that they are gone, and there is just a faint line now.” Hermione beamed. “Speak of the devils.”
“HERMIONE AND ANDY!” Parvati and Lavender gave them big hugs.
“We are so happy to see you,” Lavender smirked.
“Are you ready for this, Andrea?” Parvati looked serious. “I have faith in your abilities on this article. If you do it right, it will be your best yet.”
“Aw, thank you.” Andrea smiled at them as she opened the door to Three Broomsticks. “Hello Madam Rosmerta.”
“Hello, Andrea, Hermione, Lavender and Parvati!” Rosmerta was pouring pitchers of Butterbeer. “The back room is all ready for you. Harry and Ginny are here with the Creeveys. Warning, they looked none too happy.”
“Gotcha, and are the others here yet?”
“The Malfoys are here, Miss Sachs,” Lucius spoke behind her.
“Oh, that’s awesome.” Andrea spun around to see Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy. “We are still missing some key people, but why don’t you go back and get comfortable?”
The Malfoys walked towards the back, where they saw Harry’s head sticking out. Andrea waved at him to let him know they were there. Harry dipped and slipped back into the room.
“Who are we missing, Andy?” Hermione couldn’t recall the list.
“The Weasleys, Neville, McGonagall, Pomfrey, my boss and Andie too.” Andrea ticked them off on her fingers.
“Andromeda Tonks reporting.” Andie chimed in. “I also saw Neville and Luna coming down from the castle.”
“Good, now we just need the Weasleys, McGonagall and Pomfrey.” Andy smiled as she hugged Andie. “Will you be okay?”
“That remains to be seen.” Andie breathed. “Hello, Hermione.”
“Hey, Andie. Everyone is in the back. Are you going to be okay seeing Narcissa?” Hermione appeared concerned for her friend.
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I will channel some of my Black to get through this.” Andie wanly smirked. “See you in a minute. Are these for the interview, Rosie?”
“Yes, Andie.”
“Alright, I’ll take one for you.” Andie grabbed one and disappeared.
The door opened to have Luna walk in, followed by the Weasley family, minus Percy and Ginny. Neville brought up the rear. “Hello, ladies; Minerva and Poppy said to start without them. They will be here a bit late. There was an issue at Hogwarts.”
“Do they need our assistance?” Hermione inquired. “I could go up there with my Ministry hat on.”
“No, Minerva called Kingsley to help, but she told me to go ahead.” Neville sighed.
“And that’s what we will do. I can understand that the Headmistress and the lead Healer are busy. I will catch them a day or two later if they don’t make it down.” Andrea replied, to which Luna concurred. “Welcome Weasleys. Is Percy working?”
“He wanted to staff the office with everyone while Kingsley was busy helping Hogwarts and other minor flare-ups,” Arthur explained.
“Understandable. Let’s all go in the back room. I don’t want any issues.” Andrea arched her eyebrow.
“Great. That means that the Malfoys are here.” Ron grumbled.
“And so are a bunch of other people, but I wanted the viewpoints from all sides, Ronald, not just the Orders.” Andrea’s eyes flashed.
“Ronald Bilius Weasley, you will behave yourself.” Molly snapped at him.
“Yes, Mum.” Ron sighed as he followed them into the large room In the back.
Rosmerta followed them in with three large pitchers of Butterbeer and two bottles of Firewhisky. “Andrea, would you like me to stay? I did bring in my extra help for tonight.”
“If you can spare the time, that would be awesome.” Andrea smiled at her before clapping her hands together. “Everyone take a seat and get comfortable.” Andrea looked around the room and finally located the one couple that looked slightly out of sorts. She went over to them. “Mr and Mrs Creevey?”
“Yes,” The husband looked up.
“I’m Andrea Sachs. I thank you for coming here for this interview. I wanted all sides on this topic.” Andrea held out her hand.
“My name is Christopher, and this is my wife, Mary,” Chris pointed to his melancholy wife.
“Nice to meet you. Sorry for your loss.” Andrea gave them a soft smile. “I’m going to get this started, and hopefully, it won’t be too painful.”
“Thank you, Andrea.” Chris gave her a wan grin.
Andrea rose and went to the large table that had Weasleys on one side and the Malfoys on the other glaring at each other. “Ahem!”
“Andy, don’t do that.” Andromeda reminded her.
“Oh, right, sorry, my love.” Andrea gave Hermione a quick hug.
“It’s fine. Get on with it.” Hermione sighed as she leaned back into her chair between Harry and Lavender.
“Right.” Andrea clapped her hands as she moved to the table. She opened her purse and took out her phone, notebook, and an executive pen. Andrea looked around and noticed the tension. “Listen,” Andrea pointed to the two main families. “I don’t want any bickering between you two. The war ended ten years ago, and I want to know what and how you all handled the war without yelling at each other if we can.”
“You are correct, Andy,” Arthur replied. “I’ll try if Lucius is willing?”
“I know how to do niceties.” Lucius drawled.
Andrea sighed before flipping her phone open and searching for the song on it. She raised it. “This is my Sidekick. It’s a cell phone that normally doesn’t work in a magical area, but Hermione was able to make it work for me.” She clicked it on, and Billy Joel’s ‘Goodnight, Saigon’ started playing. Andrea didn’t speak as she let the song play. She observed everyone’s emotions as it played out. Hermione was crying in Lavender’s arms as Harry held Ginny after the first chorus. Lucius shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
When the words They left their childhood on every acre sang out, Mary Creevey hopped up, startling everyone except Andrea. “That’s right. They lost their childhood to this damn war!”
“Yes, we shouldn’t have fought in this war; I agree, Mrs. Creevey.” Harry piped in. “But I didn’t have a choice.”
“Everyone has a choice.” Mary was getting angry. “You could have told my boys not to fight.”
The Gryffindors who knew Colin and Dennis snorted.
“That would have been impossible since Colin practically stalked me ever since he went there.” Harry snorted.
“He not a stalker!” Mary went off.
“Bullocks!” Harry got up and turned to her. “All Colin ever did was take pictures of me with that bloody camera. For what!”
“Mary, Mister Potter has a point.” Chris cut his wife’s rant. “Colin did seem to have an unhealthy obsession for Harry.”
“Don’t you start, Chris!” Mary snarked at him before turning to the group. “It’s all your fault that my son is dead and my other one is in jail!”
“Dennis committed a crime, and he has to do his sentence,” Harry explained.
“But we can’t ever see him!” Marry screeched. “We aren’t magical.”
“I think we can arrange for him to go to a gaol in London.” Kingsley walked in with Headmistress McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey.
“Can you?” Mary calmed down slightly.
“Yes, considering the offence happened in London, he would go to London gaol.” Minister for Magic Kingsley replied. “I’ll talk to the Prime Minister tomorrow.”
“Mister Potter.” Minerva garnered Harry’s attention. “I want to apologise for not stepping up and protecting you from the stalkers. I should have pushed Headmaster Dumbledore out.”
“Wait, what?” Harry looked confused.
“Honestly, Harry.” Hermione huffed. “She realised that the professors dropped the ball when it came to the safety of the students. All students.”
“What are you talking about?” Harry was more confused.
“Potter, it’s this simple. We shouldn’t have had some crazy professors for our Defense class.” Draco spat out. “I mean, I don’t know what happened to Quirrell, but then we had a poofter, a werewolf who was half decent when he was there. Then we had a Moody that wasn’t Moody.”
“You better not say that Umbridge was a good one.” Hermione snarled.
“No, she was delusional and mad. Snape was good for us since she did not teach us practical stuff for our OWLS.” Draco shook his head.
“Yes, he did seem to know his stuff for the Defense class like he did his Potions.” Hermione agreed. “I don’t think I want to know what our final would be like with the Carrows there.”
“A bloody nightmare, Hermione.” Ginny chimed. “They cut out the defence part and made it all about the Dark Arts.”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s eyes grew wide.
“I’m surprised that we didn’t have more minor uprisings after the defeat of Tom Riddle.” Harry surmised.
“Tom Riddle?” Andromeda looked confused.
“Oh, he’s better known as Lord Voldemort. He was a half-blood with Salazar’s blood running through his veins.”
“He was a half-blood?” Lucius sat up.
“Yes, I spent too much time with Dumbledore my sixth year going over Riddle’s life and the dark magic that he performed.” Harry sighed as he sat down.
“We all know he killed people, Potter.” Draco sneered.
“Did you know he killed his father and muggle grandparents at the age of 16?” Harry snarked back.
“Seriously, Mister Potter.” Lucius started in.
“Mister Malfoy, weren’t you curious as to why you had a diary with his initials on it? And you gave it to an impressionable child.” Harry snapped.
“You have no proof, and was there dark magic embedded into it?”
“Yes, the darkest of them all.” Harry stared at him.
“As much as I want this information. I need to interrupt this conversation.” Andrea cut into the exchange of words.
“Sorry, Andrea.” Harry sat back. “Mr. Malfoy, I’ll contact you at a later date for this conversation.”
“I’ll be awaiting your owl.” Lucius dipped his head.
Andrea looked over to the Creeveys, “Are you two alright?”
“No, but we will be okay eventually,” Chris answered. “I do have one thing that I wished that the magical world could have done.”
“Yes, I’m listening.” Hermione turned towards them.
“After the war was over and Colin lost to it, I wish they had set up a Nonmagical and Magical support group for the families that don’t quite understand all this that went down.” Chris took a deep breath. “We were just happy to understand what our boys were doing when they did their little magical mishaps while growing up.”
“I don’t know why we didn’t do that, to begin with, BUT I do want to rectify that. Maybe we can work together with Headmistress McGonagall.” Hermione looked over her shoulder.
“Splendid idea, Miss Granger.” Minerva nodded her head. “Just owl me, and we will figure out the plan for this along with the Creeveys.”
Hermione flashed her a quick smile before turning her attention to the parents. “I am a muggleborn, so I know that my parents were the same way. I will call them tomorrow and see if they have any suggestions as well.”
Chris and Mary straightened up a bit. “We will exchange numbers later?”
“Will do, and we will get the list of Muggleborns from Headmistress McGonagall soon to work through it.” Hermione jotted it down in her notes.
“Granger, I see that you still take notes.” Draco bit out.
“It’s my notes that kept the three of us alive during Hogwarts and our run.” Hermione snarked back. Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.
Narcissa placed an arm on Draco’s arm and gave him a shake of her head. “Please go on, Miss Sachs.”
“Thank you.” Andrea smiled. “As I was playing this song from an album, Hermione started to bawl her eyes as the memories of her fallen friends and comrades came forth. I realised that I had to play it when she wasn’t around because it was giving her PTSD.”
Hermione was gobsmacked that her love would do that for her. “I wondered why I hadn’t heard that album in a while. Thank you.”
“My love, you are worth it all.” Andrea beamed at her. “But I also realised if I ever interviewed for this topic.” Andrea waved her hand. “It would make a great icebreaker.” The others nodded. “Let’s begin.”
“Headmistress McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey,” Andrea turned to them. “What was the vibe of the school, and were you aware that fateful day was going to change everything?”
“Go ahead, Poppy, and I know you need to get back to the school.” Minerva gestured for her to go first.
“Thank you, Headmistress.” Poppy gave her a tight smile. “As a healer at the school, I was seeing way too many patients for myself, and I had to ask Professor Slughorn to double up the potions.”
“I do recall Miss Weasley saying that the Carrows were teaching dark arts.” Andrea checked her notes.
“Yes, and a lot of the students needed potions for the shakes from the Cruciatus Curse.” Poppy sighed. “I would receive some potions from the Headmaster as well to help me with my students.”
“Yes, Headmaster Snape was actually a double spy for both groups. He must have insisted on being the headmaster?” Harry looked over at Lucius.
“Yes, but the Dark Lord wanted him to run the school to keep the Carrows in check somewhat.” Lucius snorted. “I imagine it was a daily conversation.”
“Yes, he told months later that it was a struggle to keep them in line and let them get away with some things at the same time,” Minerva replied.
“Headmistress, how were you able to teach during and after that year?” Andrea turned her attention to the older witch.
“Well, Miss Sachs, it was very difficult to get most of the teaching done because we, as heads of course, had to keep checking in on our students and communicating with each other. It didn’t help that some students got there at the beginning of the year and disappeared in the Room of Requirement, where those three were smart enough to hijack.” Minerva pointed to Ginny, Luna and Neville. “They kept the suspected muggleborns in there as well as the golden trio supporters.”
“God, I hate that moniker,” Hermione grumbled. Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.
“Sorry, but that’s how the Carrows called you if it wasn’t the Undesirables trio,” Minerva gave them an apologetic look.
“Forget it.” Hermione waved her off. “That year sucked for us all.” Hermione took a deep breath. “Harry, Ron and I had a rough time doing our task that Professor Dumbledore had given to Harry the previous year, and honestly, we should have enlisted some help.”
“You are right, Hermione.” Harry dipped his head. “It was so hard to do what we had to do when you truly don’t have a game plan, and it nearly broke us completely.” Harry glanced at Ron.
“Yes, I know, I screwed up, but I made up for it.” Ron sighed.
“The worst part was getting caught by the Snatchers.” The room gasped, but the Malfoys, who shifted in their seats, and the Creeveys, who didn’t understand that statement.
“What are the Snatchers?” Chris asked.
“They are foul people who looked for the Undesirables or the ‘Golden Trio.’ Most of the time, they took them to the Ministry for Umbridge to have her fun with the runaway Muggleborns, or in our case, we went to the Malfoy Manor.” Hermione shivered at the last bit. Lavender started rubbing her back.
“What happened?” Andrea softly asked. “If you can.”
Hermione looked up and gazed into her girlfriend’s eyes. She saw that she was there for her and would help her through this later. She took a deep breath, “When I realised that Harry said Tom’s name, I zapped him in the face to make it puffy. We got corralled and taken to the Manor when they realised who we were.”
Hermione paused to get a drink as Harry whispered into her ear, “Do you want me to finish?” She shook him off. “Alright.”
“As I was saying, we were at the Manor and not only were the Malfoys there, but Bellatrix was too.” Hermione started to cry.
“Let me tell them what my sister did to you, Hermione.” Narcissa interrupted.
Hermione jerked her head and curled into Lavender’s arm while Andrea looked at her in concern, debating whether to stop. “Do you want me to end this?”
“No, I’ll be fine, but I will need you tonight.” Hermione looked up at her.
“I was planning to have you stay with me tonight anyway. Emily will want to help.” Andrea gave a wan smile.
“Good.” Hermione dipped her head. “Please, if you could, finish that narrative, Missus Malfoy.”
“Alright.” Narcissa exhaled as she recalled the night in question. “At first, Bellatrix asked Draco if Harry was Harry, but Draco wasn’t about to positively identify him due to Hermione’s smart thinking. It was positive that the other was a Weasley. Bellatrix found a sword amongst their things and started flipping out. She sent the boys to the dungeon where we also had Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, and some others.”
“Bellatrix then started torturing Hermione with the Cruciatus Curse and kept screaming at her, but Hermione had no idea where they had gotten it.” Narcissa sighed.
“Which is true because only Ron and I were there when we received the sword. Hermione was at the tent sleeping.” Harry answered. “Hermione would have mostly yelled at me for wandering off and following a patronus.”
“Whose patronus was it?” Andrea asked.
“I figured out later that it was Severus Snape’s,” Harry replied.
“How did he find you?” Narcissa inquired.
“Through the portrait that we had in our bag,” Harry smirked. “Your ancestor, Phineas Nigellus Black, to be exact.”
“Where did you get that?” Narcissa was astonished that Bellatrix didn’t see it.
“From Sirius’s place, or I should say my place,” Harry replied. “We only took him because we could sometimes hear the Headmaster’s office from it.”
“Interesting, but we are getting off track.” Andrea interrupted again. “Madam Malfoy, could you go on?”
“Sorry, Andrea,” Harry looked contrite.
“Don’t worry about it, Harry.” Andrea waved him off before returning her attention to Narcissa.
“As I was saying, Bellatrix tortured Miss Granger, but then she decided that Hermione needed to be branded and carved ‘Mudblood’ into her arm.” Narcissa sighed as the Weasleys started yelling.
“QUIET!” Andrea yelled, which startled everyone at the table. “What did I say earlier?” She glared at the redheads.
“Sorry, we are protective of Hermione,” Arthur answered.
“I get that, really I do, BUT this conversation is going to have a lot of fucked up words. Let’s get through it tonight.” Andrea could see Hermione’s eyes widen at Andrea’s swearing. “Yes, I swore, and it’s going to get worse if you all keep interrupting the narrative.”
Hermione nodded in understanding and let it slide. “Go on, Missus Malfoy, please.”
“Before I do, can you please accept my apology for allowing my sister to go too far?” Narcissa shook her head. “I should have stopped her from giving it to you.”
“Yes, I accept it. Do you know why?” Hermione pulled out of Lavender’s arms as Narcissa jerked her head. “It’s because of this one right here.” Hermione pointed to Lavender.
Lavender blushed. “I was just doing what I was trained for, Hermione.”
“Lavender, you gave me back my dignity because you got rid of this.” Hermione pulled up her sleeve and showed a very faint scar on her arm.
“I’m so glad that Miss Brown was able to help you get rid of most of that for you, Miss Granger.” Narcissa felt some relief from that news. “But to finish this particular narrative, shortly after that was done to Miss Granger, the boys somehow managed to escape the dungeons to save their friend from my sister with the help of our old house elf, Dobby.”
“Who was killed by Bellatrix’s knife.” Harry spat out. “We buried him at Shell Cottage by the sea.”
“After they left, the Dark Lord arrived, and we were punished for calling him when he was busy with something on the continent.” Narcissa shivered at the memories. “It wasn’t all roses with him staying at our house, and some of the things he did while there were grotesque.”
Hermione pulled her sleeve down, “It took me weeks to recover from the torture, but we figured out the last pieces because of your sister’s rantings. We went to Gringotts and were able to steal something from her vault and escape on a blind dragon.” Hermione groaned. “I hate flying.”
“So you did have her wand!” Narcissa exclaimed. “She was livid when she realised that she didn’t have it anymore.”
“It came in handy since I lost mine at your manor,” Hermione replied, “After the bank incident, we realised it was time to go to Hogwarts.”
“How did you get in undetected?” Lucius asked.
“One of the secret passages from Hogsmeade,” Harry responded.
“Ah,” Lucius nodded.
“Neville came in one of the unknown passages with Aberforth’s reluctant help.” Ron piped up. “Neville looked a right mess.”
“I was so happy to see them, but they were being secretive and didn’t want to tell us what they were up to. Still haven’t.” Neville laughed. “The Carrows made the mistake of sending someone after my Gram. She ended up joining us in the final battle and fought alongside me proudly.”
“That’s because no one should know what he did to prolong his life as he did.” Harry shook his head.
The group started muttering to themselves as the Trio shared a look.
“Of course, Granger and Weasley know,” Draco grumbled.
“They were helping me with this, and Dumbledore prohibited anyone else from knowing. Not even Snape knew, even though he had asked multiple times.” Harry sighed at the memories he viewed.
“How would you know that, Mister Potter?” Lucius was curious.
“We were there when Nagini bit Snape in the neck. After Riddle left, I went to see Snape one last time. He gave me some personal memories to look at, including some with my mom.” Harry explained. “The other ones were a need-to-know type of memories.”
Hermione and Ron huffed because they knew that he would take it to his grave.
“Where were we?” Andrea looked around.
“We left off at the Trio, joining their schoolmates back at Hogwarts. Potter already knew that Voldemort was coming to Hogwarts and warned me to get the young ones out as soon as possible.” Minerva replied.
“That’s right, Headmistress.” Andrea smiled, “Care to continue that train of thought? How did it affect you as one of the leaders of the school?”
“I tried to help when I could, but it had to be done subtly because of the Carrows. Severus tried his best, but it wasn’t enough to stop the torture amongst the students.” Minerva went on to explain. “I did call for my fellow heads of houses, and we immediately got the younger ones out.”
Ron picked it up. “Meanwhile, Riddle finally got to Hogwarts and demanded Harry be turned over, but only Parkinson tried to do what a Slytherin does.”
“Ron!” Hermione barked at him. “Pansy talked to me the following year, and she told me that she realised that she had done the wrong thing and regretted her action afterwards.”
“Yes, Pansy was beside herself over that summer and took my advice to face the school and finish her schooling properly.” Draco shook his head. “We parted ways after our redo of Seventh year.” Draco turned to Minerva. “I want to thank you and Madam Pomfrey for allowing all students to return to Hogwarts and for your dedication to allowing some of us to have a fresh start after a couple of turbulent years.”
“You are welcome, Mister Malfoy.” Minerva gave him a tight smile. “We usually give the students the benefit of the doubt. Should there have been some expelled? I’m sure, but I don’t know the reasoning behind Dumbledore’s keeping them there.”
“We are getting off track.” Andrea kindly reminded them.
“Honestly,” Hermione huffed. “Harry sent Ron and I to take care of the snake, but we couldn’t even get close to it. Neville was finally able to lob off its head.”
“Yes, the sword came to me, and I finally felt like a true Gryffindor, and I seized the moment.” Neville sat up.
All the younger ones scoffed except Andrea.
“Neville, we have been trying to tell you for years.” Hermione chuckled at his gobsmacked face.
“Merlin, Longbottom, I might have picked on you in the beginning, but I knew eventually you would come into your own.” Draco agitated his head. “You actually impressed me after your run-in at the Ministry. You and Lovegood.” Draco gave a respectful nod. “I was happy to see that you finally got a new wand after that.”
“Yes, my esteem grew leaps and bounds after that scuffle, but it helped to be friends with these three because it helped me feel brave enough to protect not only myself but also the other students during the Carrow year.” Neville felt pride in his leadership.
“Yes, and you had help from Luna and me when we were there, but you were the glue that year, Neville.” Ginny beamed at him. “I would do it again, too.”
“But-“ Narcissa interrupted, “before Mister Longbottom killed the snake, Mister Potter came out to the forest to face the Dark Lord, and he just stood there and took the spell. He didn’t even try to battle him.”
“Sounds like Harry.” Hermione shook her head before leaning towards him. “I know what you were.”
“Of course you do.” Harry sighed, knowing that she would figure it out.
Narcissa took a breath. “The Dark Lord was knocked off his feet when he cast that spell.”
“Yes, I purposely laid there dead when Mrs. Malfoy checked on me. She asked me if Draco was still alive, and I answered yes, so she lied to him. I honestly don’t know why Hagrid didn’t realise that I was still living.” Harry shook his head.
“Mister Potter, you played your role perfectly and would have done well in the Slytherin house.” Lucius gave him props.
“The hat did want to sort me there, but I asked him not to.” Harry looked sheepish. Ron and Hermione looked at him in surprise. “And Draco went about trying to garner my friendship the wrong way.”
“I realised that later on, but we let the house rivalry get in the way, Potter.” Draco exhaled. “We did bury the hatchet somewhat after the war.”
“Yes, we did, but some people still need to learn to let go.” Harry glared at the table. “Not you, Andrea.”
‘I figured that as much.” Andrea chuckled. “Then, after you ‘died’, what happened?”
“I’ll resume the story if I may,” Narcissa asked Harry.
“By all means,” Harry waved at her.
“It was shocking to see them both down, but the Dark Lord finally regained his composure and got up. He had asked me to see if he was alive, but I was quiet enough to ask him about Draco, and I was pleased to know he was still alive. I stood up and blankly stated he was dead, and that’s when the Dark Lord decided that they had won and we were going to show off their dead prize, aka Mister Potter.” Narcissa took a long sip.
“I heard him order the wailing Hagrid to pick me up and carry me out to the castle.” Harry took a breath. “I had to struggle not to move when I heard you all screaming. I had to wait for the precise moment to ‘disappear.’” Harry looked over to Neville, “Thank you for killing the snake like I asked you to.”
“You are welcome, Harry, but I knew that you were up to no good because you were using your cloak.” Neville was ruefully distressed. “I’m surprised that they didn’t check your body for things before they showed you off.”
“I wasn’t, Neville, because he was arrogant and was practically crowing at my death.” Harry took a sip. “Someone else pick this story up, please.”
“I’ll take over, Harry.” Ginny kissed his cheek. “You know, earlier that morning, I thought I felt someone go by me, but I was focused on the injured student.”
“I didn’t dare talk to you like I did with Neville because I knew that you would have smacked me upside the head and dragged me back into the school,” Harry smirked at her.
“And I would have, too.” Ginny smacked him on his arm. “But anyways, I stuck with Ron and Hermione. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw Hagrid carry you out of the forest.” Ginny looked over to Hermione. “I had a feeling that Hermione knew more than she was telling, but I didn’t try to force it out of her because there was too much chaos and heartbreak to get into it.”
“Yes, I did, but I still won’t tell because it’s not something I really want to think about. Not anymore, at least.” Hermione shivered. “I am just grateful that we are still alive, and I am more grateful that I have an understanding girlfriend who doesn’t push for answers.”
“Never.” Andrea dropped her reporter mode to hug Hermione and whispered, “I love you always.”
“I love you too, my darling.” Hermione kissed her. “Go, I’m fine.”
“Bossy, isn’t she,” Andy smirked at Harry as she dodged Hermione’s swat.
“That, my friend, has never changed, but that’s what we love about her.” Harry gave her a side hug.
Andrea went back to her perch, checked her phone, and realised it was two hours later. “Should we take a break, or do you want to soldier on to the finish?” She looked around.
“Give me five minutes to refill the drinks and get us something to nibble on, like some cheese and bread.” Rosmerta rose from her seat.
“Let me help you, Rosie.” Andromeda got up and grabbed the pitchers.
Andrea placed her hand on her arm. “I will get to you soon.” Andie nodded before she walked out. The reporter decided to check in on the no-maj family. “Are you two alright, or would you like to go home?”
“Mister Potter needs to stay here.” Mary looked at the young man. “Who would take us home?”
“Hmm. Good question.” Andrea turned towards him, “Hey, Harry.” She waited to gain his attention. “They would like to go home, but they understand that you need to stay for this.”
Minerva was walking over to check on the couple when she heard Andrea’s words. “I’ll bring them home, Miss Sachs.”
“Are you sure?” Andy looked up at the headmistress.
“Yes, I was coming over to check on them as it was.” Minerva nodded. “Plus, I was the professor that came to see them when Colin was a first year.”
“Perfect.” Andrea looked back at them, “Will that be acceptable?” Andrea pulled up short momentarily before shaking it off.
Chris and Mary looked at each other before agreeing to the idea. “Yes, that will be fine.” They rose from their seats. “Thank you for allowing us to do this for our boys.”
“Anytime. Don’t forget to leave your number with Hermione so she can get the ball rolling on your idea.” Andrea gave them a quick hug before allowing Hermione to get the pertinent information from them.
“Headmistress McGonagall?” Hermione touched her arm. “I’ll message you at the end of the week to get those names of Muggleborn families.”
“Send me an owl tomorrow to remind me, and I will start digging.” Minerva gave her a nod before addressing the Creevey parents. “I will escort you outside, and we will sidealong to your house.”
The Creeveys said their goodbyes as they followed the headmistress out of the pub.
Rosmerta and Andromeda returned to the room with refreshed pitchers and some platters of meat, cheese and bread.
Ron started to hop up to get some food when Molly snagged his sleeve and pulled him back down, “Ronald, sit!” Ron looked at her, stunned. “It’s time you learned your bloody manners and allowed the ladies to the food first.”
“Right. Sorry, Mum.” Ron sat there bouncing his leg while the other ladies made sandwiches for themselves before taking their seats again. He waited until everyone had their fill, put the leftovers onto one platter, and started eating.
Molly shook her head but didn’t say anything because he did wait to go last as she ate her snack. “You would think that I didn’t feed him supper.”
Everyone else chuckled as Ron grew red from embarrassment.
“Miss Sachs?” Poppy waited until she had her attention. “Do note that Hogwarts was eerie and quiet the first two years after the battle. I think the main reason is because of all the people we lost during that battle, including the students like Colin Creevey.” Andrea was tapping notes into her Sidekick. “I know that the headmistress and I worked diligently to make sure that these students that did fight and survive were able to return if they could stomach it emotionally.”
“Yes, you were brilliant to make sure that we had support groups within the school, and I’m glad for, however briefly, we didn’t live in our houses, and we had a separate dormitory for my seventh year and Ginny and Luna’s seventh years.” Hermione expressed her gratitude. “I know that it was a charged year after the school was rebuilt.”
“Yes, Headmistress McGonagall was quite saddened when your class and their class graduated because they were smaller than normal.” Poppy dipped her head.
Harry held Ginny as she started to cry over the loss of her friend Colin. “It was difficult because of all the new ghosts at the school, too. Some were able to move on after they spoke their piece to the school after the sorting ceremony. I know that some students went to other schools or still had to recuperate like Lavender.”
“Yes, I was mauled by Fenrir,” Lavender explained, which brought a gasp from the group. “Hermione and Professor Trelawney saved me, but the healing process was quite long. I decided to travel and find help for myself, and in doing that, I was able to learn how to help others in the process, like Hermione’s arm.”
“Which I am eternally grateful. That weekend was a turning point for Andrea and I. We had some hiccups, but they were minor and easily handled by communication.” Hermione smiled up at her girlfriend.
“No, all we learned is that we can’t go on vacations.” Andrea snorted while shaking her head. “Anyways. Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. I am assuming you need to get back to the castle, correct?”
“Yes, I need to check on some of my students.” Poppy shook her head. “Good night, everyone.”
“That woman is a blessing for Hogwarts with her elite knowledge of how to heal us.” Lavender chimed in, and everyone agreed with her.
“Are we ready to pick it back up?” Andrea looked around and saw that most were done. She flicked her wrist, and the dishes disappeared. “No worries, they are in the kitchen cleaning themselves, Madam Rosmerta.”
“Thank you.” Rosie smiled at her.
“You are welcome. Let me see.” Andrea looked down at her notes. “Neville just killed the snake. So, what happened next?”
“I flipped the invisibility cloak on, and it caused him to go into panic.” Harry grinned. “Got myself up and into a better position before revealing myself again.”
“That gave me some hope, and I realised what I hypothesised was correct.” Hermione beamed at him. “Go on.”
“We started fighting, and the others renewed their fight too.” Harry scrunched. “Molly, you pick up the story.”
“Ah, you just want to hear about my battle with Bellatrix. Sorry, ladies.” Molly looked slightly apologetic.
Andromeda waved her off, and Narcissa shook her head. “Molly, you did what any mother would do to protect your child, or in this case, there were three battling her.”
“Yes, I had just taken down one of the minor Death Eaters when I turned around and felt my heart stop. I had lost Fred already, and I wasn’t about to lose my only daughter.” Molly glanced at Ginny. “I jumped in front of them, who were Ginny, Hermione and Luna and started duelling hard against the madwoman.”
“It was truly a sight to behold, watching Mom battle her.” Ginny was in awe of her mother. “I don’t know when she had time even to practice her fighting.”
“Ah. Well, only your father and I know that.” Molly smiled. “But I don’t know if she wasn’t prepared for a long duel or she didn’t think I was a strong duelist.”
“I don’t know, but her surprised look as you defeated her reminded me of Sirius’s face during the Ministry battle,” Neville replied. “Then Harry and Voldemort came into the school, and everyone stopped to watch them.”
“Oh, yeah. I had to explain some hard truths about our wands and what he couldn’t understand.” Harry sat up. “Thank you, Draco, for the wand.” Draco dipped his head. “Riddle didn’t know that Draco had already accioed Dumbledore’s wand, so it was really his wand. Riddle thought that it was Snape because he was the one who killed the headmaster, but the kicker was it was on Dumbledore's orders.”
“Why?” Draco was stunned.
“Because he didn’t want your soul to be damaged, Malfoy,” Harry explained. “Snape at first tried to object, but he had to agree to the plan.” He took a drink before continuing. “Plus, Riddle didn’t know that you lost that wand right when we battled at the Manor, and it was transferred to me.” Harry held up his hand further to stall Draco, “With that transfer, it allowed me to defeat Riddle because the wand knew I was its master and it couldn’t kill, it came out of Voldemort’s hand and flipped itself as he cast the killing curse and killed himself when I cast my spell.”
“Wait, you have the Deathly Hallows?” Draco sat back.
“Had.” Potter jerked his head. “After I fixed my wand with the Elder wand, I snapped it in half, but I also obliterated the stone so it wouldn’t make other people mad like it did in the story.”
Hermione and Ron shook their heads as they recalled those incidents.
“You knew?”
“Not really, Draco.” Hermione jerked before glancing at Harry. “I’m going to assume the stone was in your old snitch.”
“Yes, it was, but I had to walk to my death to get it open.” Harry sighed. “I did use it, and my parents, Remus and Sirius, came forth, and they helped keep the Dementors at bay.”
Everyone shivered.
“So, we have finally defeated a dark wizard that affected two or three generations,” Andrea remarked as she saw Andie hold up three fingers. “Yes, it would be three, wouldn’t it, Andromeda?”
“Yes, my poor Teddy is without his parents. I tried desperately to keep Nymphadora home, but she didn’t want to be called a wimp at work for not being there.” Andie started to cry.
Molly got up, displaced Ron and started rubbing Andie’s back. “Let it out, Andie.”
“Teddy is how old now?” Andy asked her.
“He’s ten now. Next year, he will be at Hogwarts like his parents, and it will feel strange to have an empty house.” Andromeda sighed. “I lost so many people during that last year of the war: Ted, Nymphadora and Remus, her husband.”
“Who’s watching him now?” Andrea queried.
“I got a local babysitter since I do live in a muggle area,” Andie answered.
“How did you handle growing Teddy?” Andrea was curious.
“I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for Harry’s help and some monies that came from the Ministry from my daughter’s death pension.” Andromeda sighed. “I had crazy drinking bouts and was barely keeping it together at first. I am thankful for Molly’s friendship because she helped me through the rough patches.”
“You are most welcome, my dear.” Molly wanly smiled.
They looked up when they heard a clatter of the chair falling. Narcissa got up and left the room.
Andrea looked at Lucius and raised an eyebrow. “Do you need to follow her?”
“No, she just needs a moment.” He heard the pub door slam. “Or two. She has been struggling a bit since Bellatrix died.”
Andrea looked around the room, “Is there anything I should add to this article?”
George stood up, “Yes, one valiant note.” Andrea nodded as George took a deep breath. “Fred died laughing at a joke that Percy said.”
“Percy said a joke?” Andrea’s eyes shot open wide, and she glanced at Hermione. “I just hope that he doesn’t listen to no-maj music.”
“Oh,” Andromeda said, surprised. “I know which song you are thinking of, young lady and I agree.”
“Right, but now I’m getting off track.” Andrea shook her head as she looked at the time. “Oh, my, I think it’s time to wrap this up. It’s nearly 2300, and we have been at it for three hours.” Andrea took a deep breath as she raised her glass. “A toast, if you will.”
Everyone stood up with their glass.
“To the fallen.”
“To the fallen!” everyone raised and drank it down.
“I want to thank you for all coming out tonight and talking about this. I know that it wasn’t easy to do, even ten years later.” Andrea solemnly watched Andie slip out. “I wanted to do this piece last year, but Luna asked me to wait until the tenth anniversary to write it. It will be in Sunday’s version since I need a couple of days to organise my thoughts and facts to write this properly.”
“Thank you, Andrea, for organising this for my paper and making sure that we had a cross reference of people for the article. I can’t wait to read it soon.” Luna cheered.
Everyone started talking as they rose from their seats.
“Miss Sachs?” Lucius drawled.
“Yes, Mister Malfoy?” Andrea gave him a level stare.
“I want to thank you for giving us a chance to tell our side. You gave me some things to think about.” Lucius praised her.
“Oh, thank you.” Andrea beamed. “You should probably check on your wife.”
“Yes, she has been gone a bit longer than I thought she would.” Lucius turned to gather their light coats. “Come along, Draco.”
“Coming, Father.” Draco waved goodbye as they left.
“I should get back to the school and let Minerva know that everything went well.” Neville hugged Andrea. “I will catch you soon.”
“Good night, Neville.” Andrea smiled as she turned to her other family. “So, are you going to crucify me for the interview?”
“No, why would we?” Arthur hugged her. “That was a masterful interview, and you kept us in line and on track, too.”
All the others dipped in agreement.
“I told you my girl was the best reporter.” Hermione hugged Andrea and whispered. “I’m ready to go home, my darling.”
Andrea gave Hermione a tight squeeze before letting go. “Molly, are you still having dinner on Sunday?”
“Yes, my dear, and I’m going to ask Andromeda to come with Teddy. I just realised that she needs more people to interact with her.”
“I agree with Molly.” Harry piped up before he yawned. “I need some sleep. Are you ready, Love?”
Ginny stretched her body and took his hand, “Yes, Harry, and it is definitely time for some sleep.”
“Andrea, I will settle up the bill for the paper.” Luna waved them out. “Go. Take your girl home and give her some tender loving.”
“LUNA!” Hermione buried her red face into Andrea’s chuckling chest.
“Lavender and Parvati, shall we meet for lunch tomorrow?” Andrea asked.
Lavender and Parvati whispered to each other and smiled. “Yes, we would love that, but can it be around one?”
“Yes, because we are sleeping in,” Andrea replied. “I already arranged it.”
Hermione sighed happily into Andrea’s arms. “Can we go now?”
“Soon, my love, I just need to gather my notes and my phone, and we can go see Emily.” Andrea kissed Hermione’s head before pulling out to gather all her things together. She checked her phone to make sure that wasn’t anything urgent, and there was none. “Perfect.”
Andrea looked up and saw that the room was deserted except for Hermione. “Ready to go home, my love?” Andrea opened her arms after she put the bag over her shoulder.
Hermione slipped into her arms and kissed her soundly. “Yes, I am.”
Andrea squeezed her arms around her and popped them home. “EMILY!”
“MEOW!” Emily came running down the hallway. “MEOW!” She bumped their legs, looking for some scritches.
“How is our favourite kitty doing?” Hermione picked her up and cradled the cat in her arms. “I have missed you, my lovebug.”
Andrea curled her arms around Hermione’s waist carefully and snuggled them both. “What would you like to do tonight?”
“Besides cuddling with you and Emily?” Hermione peeked up at Andrea. “I need a good laugh.”
“A movie with some popcorn?” Andrea asked. “How about this?” She smiled down at her lover. “We get changed into our comfies, pop some popcorn and brew some tea, grab our warm, fuzzy blanket, and we get comfortable on our couch and pick a comedic movie to watch, your choice.”
“Sounds brilliant to me!” Hermione gave her a peek before pulling away. “I’ll get changed if you start the tea for us.”
“Ginger or peppermint?” Andrea questioned.
“Ginger, please, along with my favourite cookies?” Hermione looked hopeful.
“Do you want me to skip the popcorn?” Andrea softly smiled.
“No, I still want the popcorn, my darling. You can’t watch a movie without it.” Hermione laughed as she went to the bedroom to change.
Andrea laughed at her girl as she went in, brewed their tea, and popped the bag into the microwave. She was about to open the cabinet when a pair of arms encircled her waist and pulled her back into a warm body.
“I love you, Andrea,” Hermione whispered into her ear before she kissed her neck.
Andrea moaned as she tilted her head away to give Hermione room for the kisses. “I- I- love you too, my l- love.” She spun around in her arms and crashed their lips together. They continued to kiss until the tea kettle started to whistle. Shite.
Hermione pulled away, gasping for breath before going to finish fixing the pot of tea. When she finally caught her breath, “Go! Change and meet me on the couch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Emily were already there.”
“Right. See you in a few.” Andrea pecked her cheek before hurrying to their bedroom. She had noted that Hermione was wearing sleep shorts and a tank top, so she did the same. Andy slipped on slippers and decided that they should watch My Cousin Vinny. She was in the mood for some Marisa Tomei as she walked down the hall.
Hermione had just put the tea tray down with tea, biscuits and popcorn. “Are you ready, my darling, Andrea?”
“Yes, and I know just the movie.” Andrea went to her collection and popped it into the player. “My Cousin Vinny.”
“Oh, I love Marisa!” Hermione perked up as she took a seat after grabbing the large fluffy blanket that Andrea had from her college days. “Let’s get under the blanket after we make our teas.”
“I’ll do it for you.” Andrea smiled as she poured two teas and added sugar to hers. “Here you go, my love.”
“Thank you.” Hermione took a sip and placed it on the side table. “I want to say something, and I don’t want to hear any objections.”
Andrea’s eyebrow rose in surprise. “Oh?” She sat down.
“You have nothing to fear, my darling.” Hermione squeezed her knee reassuringly. “I just want to tell you that you were brilliant tonight with the interview. Even more impressive than the one you did with Harry’s parents.”
Andrea started to puff her chest. “I tried my best, and I think it helped that I wasn’t there for the battle, and I could emotionally detach from it.”
Hermione nodded in agreement. “That’s true.”
“But there were moments where I wanted to stop it because it was hurting you emotionally.” Andrea caressed her cheek.
“I know you did, but we had to get through it in order to get the whole story out properly.” Hermione took another sip. “But it is over, and I can’t wait to read your article. I have a feeling it’s going to be your best one yet.” Hermione snuggled into Andrea’s body. “Please, the movie.”
“Thank you for having so much faith in me. It really helps me as a writer.” Andrea kissed Hermione’s head.
“Of course.” Hermione lifted her head and kissed her lips. “Can we please start the movie?”
“Yes, but we are missing Emily.”
Emily jumped up, butted their faces with hers and curled up on top of the blanket. They laughed at her.
“Never mind.” Andrea picked up the bowl of popcorn and gave it to Hermione before she pressed start on the remote.
They snuggled, ate popcorn, laughed at the movie, and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Andrea saw how sleepy Hermione was after the movie ended and picked her up to take her into the bedroom. “Come on, sleepyhead.”
Andrea had been wise enough to have pulled down the sheets before coming out for the movie earlier. Andrea laid her down and got in herself, covering them up. She wrapped her arms around her love and cradled her into her safe cocoon as Emily joined them and lay at their feet.
“Good night, my love.” Andrea kissed her forehead as Hermione drifted into slumberland. Andrea watched her for a while to make sure that she wasn’t having any reoccurring nightmares. “Good.” Andrea tightened her arms a bit and fell asleep from her warmth.