She hadn't gone back to sleep. No matter how tired her body still was, she wouldn't risk another nightmare, wouldn't risk going through her past again, seeing and feeling all they had done to her, even if it was only in dreams. But she didn't want to talk, either, so she'd gone back to the bedroom she'd slept in and sat on the bed, her back against the headboard and her knees pulled up against her chest as the sun slowly came up, shone through the window and chased the shadows away.

Every time she closed her eyes, she was transported back to her cell, the memories so strong she could smell the musky air, feel the cold seeping through the stones, hear their voices as they talked and laughed, always planning what they would do to her next. When her eyes were open she could see the marks on her skin, the scars, the bruises, the burns, the cuts. How could she ever feel safe when there was no real escape from them? She had gotten away, yes, but they were still with her, every minute, every second, plaguing her thoughts and dreams, reminding her of how weak she was, how worthless, reminding her that no matter what she did, she couldn't erase the past, could never forget.

The knock on the door distracted her, and she wondered how long she'd been sitting there. If her stiff muscles were any indication, probably hours.

"May I come in?" Sirius asked, and waited for her reply before opening the door and stepping in. "I have something for you," he said, with that smile she was quickly getting used to, as he moved closer to the bed, carrying a few large bags in each hand.

"What's that?"

"It's for you," he said, setting the bags on the bed by her feet. "I thought you might want to wear something other than loose old sweatpants and shirts."

She hesitated for a second, then reached forward to peer inside the closest bag.

"I asked the store manager to send a bit of everything, but you can return or change anything you don't like."

She let go of the bag and looked up at him again. "Thank you."

He smiled and shrugged, then said, "I asked them to put a Self-Fitting Charm on everything, so sizes shouldn't be a problem. Now, lunch is almost ready, so why don't you try some of that on and come to the kitchen? Do you like spaghetti, by the way?"

"I do."

"Wonderful. I'll go back to check on it, then. Hurry."

She waited until Sirius was gone, then took the bags one by one and emptied them on the bed. He'd brought her underwear, jeans, skirts, dresses, shirts and tops. He had also bought her shoes and sandals and even pyjamas with matching slippers.

She picked some underwear, jeans and a shirt from the pile and returned everything else to the bags. It wasn't until she had taken her clothes off that she noticed the mirror by the dresser. By then, there was no stopping her feet from carrying her over to it, or her eyes from taking in what had become of her. She was thin, so thin that she felt as if her skin was just hanging from the bones, her ribs and hips jutting out, her stomach hollow. She hadn't realised how thin she was until then; she had been careful not to look. She closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and opened them again. She had to see now.

Her fingers moved to her throat, tracing the long scar the serrated knife had left there. There was another scar close to it, leftover from that night they had spent trying to see who could cast the most powerful Cruciatus Curse. Somewhere along the night her collarbone had broken and pierced the skin, jutting out horribly, covering her body in blood. She knew it must have hurt, but she couldn't remember anything other than the pain from the curses.

The puckered scar between her breasts looked worse than she remembered against her white skin. It was from one of the first nights; she had fought them, they hadn't liked it. They thought a stab to the heart would teach her a lesson. It hadn't.

There were faint pink lines all over her torso, from where she guessed Ginny had healed the scars there. There were scratches and bruises on her legs, too, but most of them she couldn't remember getting.

Then she looked at her arms. They were covered in burn scars. The first time she had tried to escape they'd caught her and thrown her into the fireplace. She had been lucky only her arms had been burned. They'd spent the rest of that week making her regret the attempt.

Her gaze wondered upwards again, to her face, the brand mark they'd left on her cheek, the empty eyes that were looking back at her. She didn't dare turn around and look at her back. This was already too much.

Turning away from the mirror, she took the clothes she'd left on the bed and quickly put them on, feeling them adjust to her body.

She wasn't hungry, but perhaps some food wasn't a bad idea, if only for the distraction it would provide. She walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her before making her way to the stairs. She was halfway down when she heard voices. She froze.

Sliding closer to the wall, she felt her heart hammer in her chest as she listened carefully for any sign of danger. One of the voices belonged to Sirius, and the other she didn't recognize, although it sounded familiar.

She was safe now, she tried to remind herself. They couldn't get to her in this house. She didn't have to be afraid. She waited for a few more moments, and then decided she would walk down the rest of the steps and go to the kitchen like she had planned. No more staying on the stairs or going back to the bedroom scared. She would be brave.

"Hey," Sirius said when he saw her, with a broad smile on his lips.

The man he had been talking to was Remus, and his smile was much more tentative when he turned to her, but still warm. She didn't see the pity and sadness that she'd seen on Harry or Ginny's faces as they'd looked at her, so that was good.

They all remained in silence for a few seconds, as if none of them was sure what to say, and then a third voice caught her attention.

"Who are you?" a child asked, his head cocked to the side as he watched her, eyes bright with curiosity.

"This is my friend Hermione," Sirius said. "Hermione, this is-"

But before he could finish the boy started running towards her, stopping barely a step away and holding out his hand. It took all her self-control not to back away from the sudden movement.

"My name is Teddy Lupin," he said, reaching for her hand and shaking it firmly. Then he closed his eyes, brow furrowed in concentration, and a second later his hair turned purple.

He opened his eyes again and reached for a lock of hair with his free hand, pulling it down so he could see it.

"You're purple," he said with a grin. "I like purple. Are you Uncle Sirius' girlfriend?"

"I told you she's my friend," Sirius said. "And what were you doing in the kitchen? You haven't been stealing any of my chocolate muffins, have you?"

"No," Teddy quickly replied, shaking his head and hiding his hands behind his back.

Narrowing his eyes, Sirius stepped closer to the boy. They stared at one another for a few seconds, then Sirius said, "You lying little devil!" and launched forward, grabbing the boy around the waist and flinging him over his shoulder as Teddy screamed and laughed and kicked, his hair changing colour wildly as Sirius carried him back into the kitchen. She hadn't even noticed she was holding on to the handrail so tightly that her knuckles had turned white as she kept telling herself she wasn't in danger, and neither was the boy, that he wasn't screaming for help, like she'd heard so many others do.

"I'm not sure which one's worse," Remus said, and she turned to him again. His smiled wavered as he looked at her. "How are you d…Merlin," he said, running his hand through his hair. "I have no idea what to say."

"It's okay."

"I just…this is such a surprise, I'd no idea…didn't know you were alive, that you were here, no one does. I'm…" He took a deep breath, ran his hand through his hair once more and tried again. "I'm so glad you're back."

"You might want to hurry, Hermione. Little devil here's going to eat everything," Sirius called just then, saving her the trouble of coming up with a response. Teddy's laughter carried all the way to the stairs.

"I should get going," Remus said, awkwardly, "Dora's waiting at home. I'm…I'm truly glad you're back."

She managed a small, "Thank you," as she headed towards the kitchen, hearing Remus shout a quick goodbye to Teddy and Sirius, and then the door closing.

"I didn't eat your food," Teddy said around a mouthful of spaghetti the second she stepped into the kitchen, tomato sauce splattered all over his lips and cheeks.

"Only because I stopped him," Sirius told her with a wink, as he motioned for her to take her chair by the wall. She wondered if perhaps he knew why she always took that chair, why she kept her back to the wall whenever she could. She didn't dare ask.

They ate in silence for a few minutes until Teddy let his fork clatter loudly against the empty plate, announcing he was done. "Can I have the muffins now?" When Sirius didn't reply right away, he added "Pleeeease?" with a charming smile.

"All right, but wash your face first, you look like you fell into the sauce pan head first."

Teddy jumped out of his chair and ran to the sink, going on tiptoes and stretching his arms as he tried to reach the tap.

"It's Remus and Tonks' anniversary, and I agreed to look after Teddy today. With all the…things happening, I forgot to tell you," Sirius said.

"Do you like muffins?" asked Teddy, as he moved his chair closer to hers and sat down again. He put a plate full of chocolate muffins between them before giving her time to reply, his hair turning purple again.

"I do."

He got on his knees on the chair and took one of the muffins, stuffing it into his mouth in a way that reminded her of Ron and Hogwarts.

"I like muffins, too, don't I get any?" Sirius asked, and Teddy took one and leaned over the table to give it to him. Then he pushed the plate closer to her, prompting her to take one, and when he looked up at her again there was a small frown on his face.

"What happened to you?" he asked, reaching forward and touching the scar on the side of her face. She tried hard not to shy away from the touch as she closed her eyes and took a small breath.

"I got burned."

"Does it hurt?" he asked, and she shook her head slightly. "And here?" He moved his fingers to her throat.

"A cut," she whispered, leaning away from him.

"I have a scar, too," Teddy informed her, pulling at the neck of his shirt to show her his shoulder, and the small white scar there. "It's from when I fell off a broom," he explained. Then he stood up on the chair and lifted the leg of his trousers all the way to the knee. "This one is from when I fell from a tree. It was the tallest tree, and falling hurt a lot, but I didn't cry. Did your scar hurt, too?"

"It did," she said. "But I didn't cry either," she added, in almost a whisper.

"Uncle Sirius has scars, too, don't you?" he asked, but didn't give him time to reply. "And Daddy, too. I only have two. When I fell from the tree Daddy said I can't climb any more, but Mummy said I can, but I have to be careful. Mummy falls a lot, too, like me."

"Speaking of trees," Sirius interrupted, "I think there's something for you in the tree house."

With a cheerful scream, Teddy jumped out of his chair and dashed for the door leading to the garden.

"I'm sorry about that," Sirius said, as he waved his wand and cleared the table. "He's just like his mother, never shuts up."

"It's okay."

"So, did you like the clothes?"

"Yes, thank you. You shouldn't have."

"Teddy likes you," he said. "He even gave you his favourite colour. He really likes purple."

"So Remus and Tonks finally got married."

"They did."

"Remus said he hadn't known I was here. I thought by now…"

"I talked to Harry, and we agreed it would be best if we didn't tell anyone for now. Until you were ready. The moment they find out you're back, and staying here…they'll blow the door away if they have to, just to see you. I thought you might not want them to-"

"Can't open it!" Teddy interrupted, as he burst through the door, making her jump, and she closed her eyes for a second, reminding herself once again that she was safe there. When she opened her eyes again she saw Teddy had a small package in his hand, and was struggling to unwrap it.

"Oh, that can't be right," Sirius said. "Have you tried using your teeth?"

The package was in Teddy's mouth in a split second, as he tried to tear the wrapping paper off with his teeth. After a few moments, he stomped his foot impatiently and tried to bite a corner off entirely. It still didn't work.

"I wonder…" Sirius said, with a thoughtful expression. "Do you still have the wand George gave you?"

With a small gasp of excitement, Teddy dropped the package onto the table, running out of the kitchen and returning seconds later with a small toy wand in his hand. He ran back to the table and pointed the wand at the package, then looked at Sirius.

"I don't know any spells," he said, with a frown.

"Well, I can't remember any either. Maybe you should ask Hermione," Sirius suggested in a whisper.

"Do you know any spells, Her…mimi?" Teddy asked, stammering over her name.

"Yes, do you know any spells, Hermimi?"

She managed a small scowl in Sirius' direction that made his grin widen, but focused on Teddy as she said, "I know one."

"What do I say?" he asked, turning back to the package and pressing his wand harder into it.

"Diffindo," she said, and noticed Sirius reaching for his own wand and aiming it at Teddy's package.

"Disindo!" Teddy shouted, poking at the package with his wand repeatedly as a few sparks shot from the tip. "I did it!" he yelled as the wrapping paper was sliced down the middle. He tore the rest of the paper off, grinning when he saw a book inside.

Without a word, he took Hermione's hand and all but dragged her out of the kitchen and into the library, sitting down on one of the large sofas and making her sit next to him. Then he handed his new book to her, his smile never wavering. "Read?"

"He loves stories, just like his daddy," Sirius said, as he walked into the room and sat in front of them.

She looked down at the book in her hands, only now reading the title. It brought back so many memories from another life, a war, the aftermath, that she wasn't sure she could do it. But then Teddy slid closer to her, resting his head on her arm as he tried to see the pictures, just like she had done so many times when she was just a little girl begging her mother to read to her.

She felt something warm inside her at the memories of her childhood, a mixture of fondness and loss, but for once her memories didn't cause fear. She looked up at Sirius, who offered a reassuring smile, and she wondered just how well he understood her feelings, wondered what kind of hell he had been through and how he managed to move on.

Her hesitation seemed to last longer than Teddy's patience did, and he reached for the book, opening it for her and bringing her attention back to the story he wanted her to read. The Tale of the Three Brothers. She took a deep breath and started.

"There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight…"