Chapter Thirteen

To Get Back Hope

"Do you know why your brother is avoiding me ?" Hermione turned from her seat outside the Quidditch pitch, to stare up at Lily. "Why would he be avoiding you Lily?" Hermione asked, although she already knew that Sirius had been avoiding Lily since Christmas break.

When both Orion and Walburga had found out that their oldest had been seen making friends with half bloods and blood traitors, worse of all mudbloods, they were furious. Hermione could still feel the pain of the slap across her face, she had received from her mother. That was only because Walburga didn't want her anywhere near James Potter.

Walburga threated that if Hermione didn't kill the bond herself, Walburga would have the young Potter heir killed himself. Just so that her daughter didn't end up with a blood traitor, and tarnish the family name.

Sirius was under similar threats, once his parents found out that he had befriended Lily. So after the twins went upstairs to nurse their own separate wounds, they made a promise that they would do whatever it took to protect Lily and James.

And just like Sirius had been avoiding Lily, Hermione herself hadn't gone to see James in days. She knew that he was worried, but she would do anything to protect him. Even make him hate her if need be.

Hermione stood up, picked up her books, and just looked out at the faint sunlight trying to come out from behind all the grey clouds. "Are you going to answer me Hermione, or do you agree with him?"

"I don't know if Sirius is avoiding you Lily." Hermione turned her head to look at Lily, and Lily couldn't help but feel a chill at the way that Hermione was looking at her. Like she was nothing. Maybe it was just a figment of Lily's imagination, but seeing Hermione look at her like that, really hurt the redhead.

"Maybe instead of badgering me about it, you go talk about it with him. We might be twins, but we don't always know each other's secrets." With that, Hermione walked forward, leaving behind a confused and hurt young girl.

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"Have you read the latest letter from James, darling?" Dorea Potter, asked her husband Charlus, as she sat down in their living room. Charlus walked into the room, his glasses falling slightly down his nose, a bunch of papers in his hands, he was trying to read.

"What's he writing to us about now?" Charlus asks absently. When Dorea doesn't answer him immediately, he looks up to see her look over the letter with a frown. "What's wrong love?" "You remember me telling you all about Hermione and Sirius Black?" "Of course. Walburga's eldest children. If I remember correctly, you told me you wished you could have brought them home from Diagon Alley along with James." He reminded her with a small smile on his lips. "Has something happened?"

"I'm not for sure. Our son has written before that his friendship with the twins have gotten stronger the more time they've spent together, along with another friend Remus. You know, Hope and Lyall's son.." At Charlus's nod, Dorea continued speaking. "But according to this, since Christmas break ended, both Sirius and Hermione have started distancing themselves away from there friends, James and Remus included. James is worried that something is going on, but he doesn't know how to help. Which is why he's asking for ours."

"Do you think something more is going on with Hermione and Sirius Dorea?" Dorea absently closed James's letter, and held it in her hands like it was the answer to all the unknown questions in the world. "I was a Black once. I know how that family runs Charlus. The self hatred, the fear, the pressure to be someone you don't want to be. Growing up in that family, all you end up feeling is trapped, trapped and lonely. And that's exactly what I think Hermione and Sirius are going through right now.

Being a member of the Black family is poison. And I'm not 100 percent certain, but I do think that the twins acting like this, distancing themselves from their friends, is their way to keep the poison away from the people they care about. They are simply trying to protect the people they love."

Charlus closed his eyes in anger and hatred that a couple kids had to deal with that kind of emotional upheaveal. "What do you propose we do here? We can't exactly kidnap them from their family Dorea.." He opened up his eyes and looked at his wife, the love of his life.

He could tell that she had a fire in her eyes, which usually meant that she would burn the world down to make sure her plans came true. "First, I'm going to write to James. Tell him not to give up on his friends. If anyone can keep Hermione and Sirius from drowning in that darkness, it's our son. Second, I'm going straight to Albus and Minerva, and I'm going to have a long conversation about better protecting those kids. Third, I'm going to march straight to Grimmauld place, and knock some sense into that fool headed cousin of mine, until she can't see straight."

Charlus gave her a rueful smile. This passion inside of Dorea is what made him fall for her in the first place. "Anything else dear?" "Yes, I want you to see to it that we can officially become Hermione and Sirius's guardians, and I'm not taking no for an answer." Charlus shook his head at his wife, and just watched her as she left to presumably write a letter to James telling him to stay right by his friends side.

Charlus knew that he would have done what she wanted anyway. That day Dorea had met Hermione and Sirius, Charlus had never seen a spark in her more that when she was being a mother to James. Yes, when they became parents to James, they were well off in age, compare to other couples starting off with their first child. For Dorea, he knew that this was a chance to be a mother again, and he would do anything to make that happen for her. As well as protect his son's best friends from ever getting hurt again.