Chapter 43

A/N: Welp. It's been awhile. I wish I could say there was some grand reason why, but mostly? I got writers block. I wrote half of chapter 44 and hated it. 3 pages of writing in and I just... wasn't feeling it. And so every time I tried to come back to it I would just... not. And so last night as I was laying in bed I realized what was I actually want to take this story for the next couple chapters. So you shoul dsee more regular updates until that thought train ends. Thank you so much to my lovely beta AlaskanAppaloosa who is a GEM. And to all of you who read this story, even with my weird update schedule.

The day had come. She knew it had, but that didn't stop the dread slowly seeping into her brain. It had to be done. Without this woman's support... it was doubtful that her goals would ever be met. Intellectually Hermione knew this. She knew that without Augusta Longbottom... her wonderful orphanage would never happen, let alone the laws she needed to completely reform to make the Wizengamot and Ministry safer for not fully human inhabitants... Yet somehow, somehow that motion of throwing the floo powder into the fire place and calling out for Neville's home still seemed impossible.

For fifteen minutes now, Severus, her escort for this trip out of the Manor, had been standing there patiently. Hermione could actually feel his tension building as she dithered. "Hermione." Severus sighed, turning dark eyes to her. "This is not productive. Are we going? Or are we staying here and brewing?" It was clear which Severus preferred, but at this Hermione sighed deeply, steeling herself and dropping the powder, whisking them out to the Longbottom home.

Neville was there, waiting for them. "Hermione. I was starting to get scared you weren't coming." He said in relief as he gave her a tight hug.

"You're not the only one." Hermione whispered. "I honestly wasn't sure I was coming until Severus suggested brewing instead. But this has to be done. We can't live like this forever. It's not healthy."

"You have no idea how much this means to me, Hermione." Neville stammered a bit before he continued, "I know you don't see it, but she is torn up inside. If she had known..."

"She didn't check, Neville. It never occurred to her to check. She had her heir for her house, and that's all that mattered to her. But we are going to let by-gones be by-gones. I need her, and she seems... willing to make an effort at least. Anyways. Tell me about your greenhouse."

The next several minutes of walking through the Longbottom ancestral home were taken up with Neville and Hermione animatedly talking about the new variants he was working on, including several types of medicinal plants interbred to create stronger versions. Severus was particularly interested in these and how they would change the potions brewed with them. By the end of the walk, both Neville and Severus were fully engaged in conversation, which was something Hermione honestly never thought she would see. It was amazing to see Neville forget his terror and rather engage with Severus as an adult and an expert in his own rights.

They spent several minutes standing outside the door, continuing their conversation about aconite variations before Augusta's elf opened the door and loudly cleared her throat, interrupting them. "Mistress Augusta will be seeing you now." The little elf said imperiously, clearly frustrated with them.

"Oh. Right. Grandmother." Neville blustered, ushering Hermione and Severus into the sunroom Augusta had chosen for this particular conversation.

Augusta seemed quite tense this time as well, but for the first time, Hermione saw some vulnerability as well. This was a woman who had spent some time thinking about this moment, and had worried for it. With that, Hermione decided to put forth the effort. If Augusta was going to genuinely try... then it was the least Hermione could do to do the same.

"Augusta." Hermione smiled, awkwardly dipping into a curtsy and then reconsidering halfway through it, jerking upright.

"Sit, child." Augusta smiled, laughter shining in her eyes. "You remind me of your mother. She never quite knew how to greet me either."

Hermione hesitated for only a moment before asking the question that had burned at her, "Tell me about them, please."

Augusta seemed to drift for a moment before her eyes met Hermione's. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything. Everything."

Augusta took a moment to consider before speaking. "I didn't expect the conversation to go this way, so forgive me, my dear. Your father... was an intense child. Fiercely independent. He wanted to do it all himself. He seemingly had no fear, and that translated into his teenage years as near recklessness. He loved sports and made friends in the village to play muggle sports with..." Augusta drifted into silence for a moment before continuing.

"Your mother was his equal in every way." A small smile graced Augusta's face. "I was opposed to her at first, you know? No one was good enough for my Frank. But Alice... oh Alice gave me as good as she got. You'd think Frank would end up with someone meek and mild to balance him out... but instead he got Alice. Fierce and bold and smart as a whip."

Hermione smiled softly, "Were you upset he chose a human mate?"

Augusta looked almost shocked at this question before shaking her head. "No, my dear. See, Franks' father and I, we're human." At the puzzled look on Hermione's face, Augusta continued. "If you have drackens in your ancestry, the dracken gene can present itself at any time in your offspring, just as full-blooded drackens can birth witches or wizards or even muggles. When Frank was born and we discovered he was a dracken, we were shocked. In many ways, Frank taking a witch as a mate was a capitulation to me and his father."

Hermione nodded slowly, taking a deep breath before asking the question that had been hanging in the air between them. "Why didn't you check. Why didn't you look for our bodies? Why did you just... leave."

Augusta took a studdering breath before she spoke, seeming to steel herself against the flood of emotions such questions caused. "That night... that night was the worst night of my life, Hermione. Imagine. We're sitting for tea, relaxed and happy-" For a moment Augusta's eyes glazed over, clearly remembering the tender moment, but were soon dark and stormy. "And then they came. I felt the wards trigger first. Then everything... moved so fast. Frank was everywhere all at once, wings spread and furious. I grabbed Neville and Alice grabbed you, and we tried to apparate, but they had to have been planning for awhile, just outside the wards, because we couldn't..." Augusta's eyes filled with tears at the rememberance. "That was when I started to panic. Alice, bless her heart, wanted to stand and fight, but a snarl and an order from Frank sent her running for our escape tunnel, you in her arms. I heard, rather than saw, the men enter the house. There were so many. Frank was glorious, fighting with all his considerable strength... but in the end..." Another deep stuttering breath. "In the end, he was killed. I felt it, I swear I did. I felt the moment he died in my heart. I died that moment too."

Here Augusta paused for a long moment before continuing. "We ran. I was ahead with Neville, and Alice..." Pain filled Augustas eyes. "I don't know when I lost her. She was right there... and then she just... wasn't. I didn't even hear her get-... She was just gone, and you with her."

Augusta's tear-filled eyes met Hermione's. "You must understand. I had to get Neville to safety. I had no way to stand against them, I was no dracken, and they had already taken Frank. I had to save who I could... and God forgive me, but I couldn't save you."

Full-on sobs wracked Augustas frame at this confession, and Hermione fought the urge to envelope the older woman into a hug. After a moment, Augusta steeled herself and continued. "At the time, I assumed they were death eaters. It was the middle of the first war... and Frank and Alice had been particularly active in it." Pride shone in the formidable lady's eyes at the remembrance of her family standing against the darkness. "It didn't occur to me until much later that I had heard muggle gunshots. Death eaters would never lower themselves to use muggle weaponry. But by then... you were gone. I assumed killed. So I focused on the child I had left. Raising him, loving him."

Severus' hands descended on Hermione's shoulders, massaging slowly as Augusta collected herself. After a moment of dabbing away tears and straightening her shoulders, Augusta's eyes met and held Hermione's. "I cannot apologize enough for not looking for you. I have no excuse save a mother's broken heart. What I can do now is help you. I know that our family is... uniquely powerful in the wizarding world. We are respected by old pure blood families, for our wealth and our supposed 'purity'... and yet are a light family to the core. We have the votes you will need to enact any sort of reasonable change..." For a moment Augusta's eyes softened. "And. As a grandmother... I am not a soft woman. But I would like to know you. I would enjoy... meeting your mates, your children. Perhaps what was broken... can be mended, to a point."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Severus before standing. Neville, knowing what was coming, broke into a smile as she took the few steps to enfold Augusta in a hug. "I cannot promise that this relationship will ever be... what it could have been. But I have had no family for a long time, it would be ridiculous of me to reject now that it has reached out to me."

Augusta was shocked by the hug, but for a single moment wrapped her arms around Hermione, her fingers twining the younger woman's hair before she coughed and pushed her away. "Yes. Well. Thank you. I believe that would be sufficient."

Neville chuckled and wrapped Hermione in a full hug, twirling her gently. "Yes, I believe it will."

A few more minutes of small talk went on between the newly united family, but it was clear that everyone was too emotionally drained by the interactions that had taken place to really enjoy one another's company just yet.

Lucius eventually rescued them, sending his stallion patronus to request their presence at home. Augusta was given another awkward hug, and Neville a more snuggly one and a promise to come over for dinner soon before Hermione and Severus disappeared through the floo. Her mates were calling her home.