To a Better End

Chapter 65

July 1st 2013

There was nowhere else Hermione wanted to be. Sure it took some time to expand on their home, but they managed it. She never wanted to be in a large manor. She never wanted to live near the bustle of the city. The Hebrides did it for her. It was calm and beautiful and the perfect place to raise their children.

"Cassie!" Hermione called from across the house. "Have you finished packing your bag?"

Alphard Malfoy walked in, shaking his head. "She's still fussing over her hair."

Hermione sighed and nodded her head understandingly. It was an unfortunate event that her daughter had her wild curls. It had taken Hermione years of trial and error to find the best routine for her own hair. The journey was a right of passage when one had curls like that.

"Are your bags packed?" she asked her son.

"I packed my bags last night," Alphie said in response.

Even though her children were only eight, they were (mostly) very responsible and ahead of schedule. They were ahead of everything really. With Hermione having studied wandless magic, she was able to teach it to her own children so they could practise without interference from the ministry.

"Go check on your father. I think he's stuck on a potion he's been brewing for Aunt Lav."

"Is it the wolf potion?"

She patted his black wavy hair. "Yes, dear. But this one will be different because Aunt Lav has a baby in her belly. She's too sensitive for the other potion. Tell your father he has ten minutes."

"Yes, mum."

Hermione walked into Cassiopeia's room and found her daughter giving up on whatever she wanted to do with her hair and pulling her silver curls into a bun on top of her hair. She watched from the doorway as Cassie glared at her own reflection, obviously upset.

"You know," Hermione began, "You could be just as unlucky as your Uncle Harry."

"How is he unlucky?" she asked, quirking a brow.

"He still can't get his hair to cooperate."

Cassie giggled at the joke and got up to examine her open suitcase on the bed. She was the last one to finish packing for the stay at Nott Manor. Theo and Reggie were putting on a forever family celebration in honour of their adoption going through and invited people to stay the week. They heard of a little girl in a muggle orphanage that made strange things happen. It was Minerva that led them onto it. Tabitha fit right in, immediately. She had already been living with them for a year, but the ministry just finalised everything. Leave it to the government to take their time.

Minerva was the first person outside of the families that they told about the deaths that never happened. She was shocked at first, but considering she was heavily involved in Hermione's first Time-Turner experience, she accepted the idea quite quickly.

With the help of Draco, Harry, and Shacklebolt, they were able to fabricate a story of a girl from a wizarding family who had a vendetta against Hogwarts. How she created traps that pulled people from their timelines. Mina Black died in the cave saving Regulus. And Regulus ran. He was a terrified boy who went to seek refuge in the castle and got pulled as well. The traps didn't discriminate. Everyone believed it. And people would come forward with stories about Mina Black, even the Death Eaters that were imprisoned had stories about the pureblood witch that held more secrets than the library held books. Hermione changed her hair back for the sake of the story, but she knew in her heart that she would always be a part of the Black family.

"Mum?"

"Yes, dear?"

Cassie closed her suitcase and turned to look at her mum. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She shrugged, looking around her room. "I was just thinking about Uncle Reggie and it kind of hit me today. You and Dad did so much for us. You did so much for our family."

Secrets were fine for the rest of the world, but for her family - her family deserved the truth. Just then, Draco came up behind her, snaking an arm around Herminone's waist. He nuzzled his head into her neck, making her giggle.

With a broad smile on her face, Cassie said, "You two are gross."

Yes, they were. And they would be gross together until the very end.

**Author's Note**

Thank you for everyone that read this. It was a silly idea that I couldn't let go of. I have plenty more works on AO3, but don't have any plans to cross post at the moment. I'm going to be taking a step back from fanfic while I work on my original novel. That doesn't mean I won't write, but I'll just write less.