One Last Try [HP Jamione fanfic]

44. You Are In Love

A/N: I'm so sorry for the last chapter D:

5th February 1978

Hermione settled comfortably back into her chair, a cup of tea cradled in her hands, thawing away the cold that seemed to have settled in her body since the end of December. An open book rested in her lap, but she hadn't read a word since she'd sat down. She let the silence of the empty room wash over her. She'd barely spent a moment alone since Dorea's funeral at the beginning of January, spending all her time with James and Sirius trying to hold them together. James had been leaning heavily on her, not wanting to burden his father who seemed truly lost without his wife, and Sirius had been in some strange state of shock for a while after whatever Dorea had said to him.

She couldn't, and wouldn't, begrudge either of them the way they coped - or didn't - for a second.

She closed her eyes to soak in the silence before Regulus and Severus arrived. She'd invited them to join her so they could plan where to start the Horcrux search. She was regretting that now she'd finally found some peace and quiet. At least they were two of the least rowdy people she knew.

She'd left Remus and Peter with James and Sirius in the head's dormitories planning some ridiculous prank she and Lily had agreed to not get angry about. This time. All four boys had been there when Dorea passed, the woman that they'd all come to see as a second mother surrounded by their love as she went. Iphemia had made it in time, and Dorea had been able to tell her how much she loved and appreciated her in person, lifting the terrifying burden from Hermione. Cassie had not been there, stuck at customs in France arguing over the emergency international Portkey she was trying to purchase. Her grief had been a horrifying thing to witness when she'd finally arrived, destroying every pane of glass on the floor as her magic lashed out.

The door to the room opened and Regulus stepped through. "Hermione." He greeted, joining her at the table and taking one of the other chairs the room had provided. His long dark waves were neatly pulled back in the low cue he normally wore his hair in, it accentuated his sharp cheekbones, and aristocratic nose and he looked eerily like a dark-haired version of Draco Malfoy. Hermione was moderately surprised by how many of the Black family features the Malfoy heir had clearly inherited when he still managed to look so alike his father.

"Regulus."

"What's going on with my brother? He's been acting really weird since we returned from the Christmas holiday."

"What do you mean?" Regulus just raised an eyebrow in incredulity at her question. Hermione huffed, "Fine. Yes, he's been weird. You must have heard, though? Didn't your parents tell you?"

"Heard what?"

"Potter's mother died. Dragon pox." Severus had entered the room without either of them noticing and joined them at the table now, a sneer on his face.

"Severus-"

"Relax Prewett, I don't need a lecture on etiquette." Severus waved a slim, pale hand at her, "Even though he wouldn't do the same for me, I will refrain from mentioning the late Mrs Potter around her spawn."

"And Sirius."

Severus rolled his eyes, "And him."

"Good."

"That's what up with Sirius?" Regulus was incredulous, "Potter's mother dies, and Sirius is all cut up about it?"

"Why are you so angry about it?" Hermione prodded, raising an eyebrow when Regulus frowned.

"Because she's not his mother?"

Hermione didn't respond, whatever she said would go in one ear and out the other; Regulus wasn't ready to hear the pitfalls of his mother or his family. Not yet. Not even after their swift disowning of both Andromeda and Sirius. He may be aware of them, but it would be hard to admit, and family was a sore subject for the Black brothers.