Scattered

Hermione rubbed a towel over her damp hair and, reaching for her wand, cast the quick styling spell she'd been using for years, drying the long curls. She hung her towel neatly and went out into the bedroom, looking around with a satisfied smile.

She missed Hogwarts. She missed the Burrow. She couldn't honestly claim that she missed her childhood home nearly as much; it had ceased to hold the same importance it once had years ago and now that her parents weren't there, it was just a house to her. She wondered what her parents' new home looked like, if they'd decorated it in much the same manner, how many rooms it had, what color it was. She wished she'd asked, so that she could picture them there now.

She couldn't help but feel regret over the places that were lost to her, but she also couldn't deny that the castle felt like home to her now, a feeling she'd missed all those weeks at the safehouse. Maybe it was knowing that she wouldn't have to leave it again, not in the foreseeable future. Maybe it was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley being there, and all the other familiar faces. But whatever the cause, she was grateful to have four walls to call her own, and a family around her. And Ron, of course. Having Ron with her since that terrible day last summer had held her together as nothing else could have.

He was outside, now, with Bill and Charlie, playing Quidditch. The look on his face when they'd taken him to the pitch, when he'd seen the makeshift hoops and the broom closet with rather outdated but perfectly serviceable brooms... Hermione had felt herself becoming slightly (and irrationally, she knew) jealous. Even the most passionate snog they'd shared hadn't put quite that expression on his face.

They'd toured the island this morning, accompanied by Mr. Weasley -- Arthur, he'd told her to call him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The castle was, as she'd suspected, quite large; about half the size of Hogwarts, she guessed, but far less complex, fewer twists and turns and hidden passageways and no floating staircases. She'd been eager to explore the building but the boys had insisted that they should take advantage of the fine weather and save the indoor wandering for another day, and she'd reluctantly agreed.

The island was beautiful, she had to admit, green and hilly, with a small forest in the center. Though the castle was by far the largest building there, she'd been surprised to see other houses, strangely contrived buildings that reminded her of the Burrow, barns and a fishery in a small inlet on the northern coast. It seemed they weren't the only inhabitants of Liath Cuan, a discovery that at first caused her some amount of alarm.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Mr. Weasley had said kindly. "Some of the houses are currently unoccupied. The McFustys live in the others. They're good people, my dear."

She'd frowned, remembering the name. "McFusty? Clan McFusty? They're dragontamers, aren't they?"

"Right you are," Charlie had replied. "Hebridean blacks are fierce but loyal creatures, and won't answer to hardly anyone but the McFustys."

"Are there dragons here, then?" Ron had asked, clearly trying not to look at all scared.

"There are two. I'll take you to see them later if you like."

"Another time," Hermione had absently answered for them both. "Mr. Weasley, have the McFusty Clan come here, well, for sanctuary? Were they in danger as well?"

Arthur had slowed his pace as they'd talked; they'd reached the top of a low hill and he'd paused there, taking in the view before answering. "Yes and no. You see, the McFusty Clan was very loyal to Albus Dumbledore. They had a bond, a connection... it's more than I should go into right now, but in many ways, this is their island as much as it was Dumbledore's, and as it is ours now. On the day of Voldemort's takeover, they received word and they came here to meet us, and to help us prepare for all of you."

"The whole Clan?" Ron had asked.

"No," his father had answered. "But several families, those who chose to leave, those who felt they might be in more danger than others."

Hermione had realized, sadly, what he was saying. "Those who'd married Muggles, or Muggle-borns."

Arthur had given her a compassionate look. "Yes."

They'd gone on to visit some of their new neighbors: Hamish McFusty, a broad and grinning man who'd reminded her of Hagrid, and his wife, Claire, who was a Muggle; their son, Andrew, who'd recently married a Muggle-born witch Hermione recognized as a former Hogwarts student who'd graduated their first year; Auntie Susannah McFusty, an elderly witch whose Muggle husband had died years before, but who said, with asperity, that she wouldn't chose to live in a world that condemned her choices in life. Hermione had smiled at that and felt honored to have met the brave old lady, and promised she'd pay another visit in the not so far future. As they finished visiting the other families, Hermione had known Mr. Weasley was right: these were all good folk.

She smiled at the memory and but soon laughed ruefully; then they'd found the Quidditch pitch, and that had been the end of their family outing. She'd returned home with Mr. Weasley and had lunch, then decided to luxuriate in a warm bath. Now, dressed and at loose ends, she thought she might give exploring the castle a go on her own.

Methodically, she descended one of the staircases to the very bottom floor. They'd left the castle by taking this route, earlier in the morning. She'd glimpsed a few things as they'd passed, but she wanted to make a more in-depth exploration.

Most of the ground floor was taken up with a hall, not a great hall, not the way Hogwarts' Hall had been, but a rather large area nonetheless, with tables and chairs and a high ceiling. To her disappointment, it was a regular ceiling and not at all enchanted. She'd eaten with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the common area, at a small table off to the side; she wondered if larger meals would take place here, and with everyone in the castle present at once. She hoped so. It would be nice to be in one place with everyone, all together, just like the previous night. It would make this empty hall seem a little less sad.

There was only one door leading off the far end of the hall. She could pick up the sound of voices chattering and pots and pans clanging and running water pouring as she walked towards the door, opening it slowly and peering in to receive quite a surprise.

"House-elves!" she cried. "Why... it's... how did you all get here?"

The elves were surprised by her outburst and they paused for a moment, then came toward her with beaming smiles.

"Can we be helping you, miss? Anything we can do to help miss, some food perhaps?" the one nearest to her said.

"No, no," Hermione muttered, still surprised. There were about a dozen house-elves here in the kitchen, all of them clearly hard at work. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"How did you get here?" she asked again. "To the castle. Where are you from? Did you live here before?"

"Please, miss, we are knowing miss, and Mr. Weezey, too. We are Hogwarts elves," one of them answered her proudly. "I am Maddy, miss. We are happy to be serving you again."

Hermione sighed. "I'm happy to see all of you." The elves beamed.

Hogwarts elves. These house-elves must have escaped from the school before Voldemort took over there; no wonder they'd come here. In fact, her heart sank a little to see how few there were. So many more must have... she couldn't think about that now. These elves needed the protection of Liath Cuan as much as she did, away from Death Eaters and pureblood wizards like Lucius Malfoy who would treat them as the lowest of the low, as absolute slaves. All the same, though, she didn't think it was right that they should be put to work here in the castle. She'd have to talk to Mr. Weasley about this, as soon as possible.

"Miss?" a small voice said from the back. Hermione turned and saw a small, neatly-dressed elf walking towards her. "Miss, are you remembering me?"

Hermione blinked. "Winky, is that you?" she asked, unsure.

"Yes, it is, miss."

The elf looked much as Hermione remembered her being, back in the days before she'd left the Crouchs' employ. She seemed self-assured and purposeful, not at all the sad, depressed creature from the Hogwarts kitchens.

"It's very good to see you again, Winky," Hermione said. "You look well."

"Thank you, miss. Winky is glad to be having so much work to do again. This place has much for us to do, and many families to serve."

Hermione nodded. She couldn't help but cringe, mentally, at that word, serve, but she had come to some terms with the house-elf situation, at least somewhat. Like it or not, she'd been forced to accept that it would be a long, slow process to liberate the house-elves. She'd had many talks with Remus Lupin about her efforts, and he'd convinced her that she needed to learn patience with the elves. They would never ask for better treatment on their own; they'd have to have it given to them unsought. Therefore the important thing now was to try to change the minds of wizards and witches, and get them to understand how house-elves should rightfully be treated. That's why she needed to make sure that these elves weren't being considered as or treated as property, as servants, even if they wouldn't see themselves as anything but. Not yet, anyhow. Not yet. But someday they'd all see the value of independence, and they'd want more out of life than just serving another. When that desire came into being, Hermione wanted the possibility for them to grab onto freedom to already be in place.

Dobby was an exception to the rule, really, she thought. He was so happy about getting his freedom, I thought they would all be the same way.

"Winky," she said, suddenly worried. "Winky... where's Dobby?"

Winky looked proud. "Dobby is with Harry Potter, miss."

Hermione felt her heart begin to race and she drew in a sharp breath. "With Harry? Now?!"

"Yes, miss. I is not talking to him in awhile, but I know he is with Harry Potter."

"Winky, I want you to tell me everything," Hermione said urgently, pulling the little elf over to a window seat. She didn't want to overwhelm Winky, but she had to know if there was any news on Harry, anything at all. "When is the last time you saw Dobby?"

"Three weeks ago, miss."

Hermione forced herself to take a deep breath again. "Three weeks ago. Winky, Harry Potter has been away for several months now. None of us have seen him, because it hasn't been safe for any of us to see him. Was he here, Winky? With Dobby?"

The little elf looked sad. "No, Miss, Winky is sorry, but Harry Potter did not come here. Just Dobby, to visit Winky and to make sure she was doing alright."

"But Dobby has been with Harry all this time?" Hermione pressed, needing to be sure. Winky nodded. "Is... Winky, did Dobby say... did he say that Harry is okay?"

"Oh, yes, Dobby is taking good care of Harry Potter, and Hagrid, and the stern wizard who travels with them. Dobby is making sure of that, miss," Winky said somewhat reproachfully, as if Hermione was a Bad Witch for even implying that Dobby would do anything less.

Hermione nodded reassuringly. "I'm sure he is, of course." She paused and then said, as casually as possible, "Did Dobby tell you where he was going when he left?"

"Back to Harry Potter, of course."

"Yes, but where?" Hermione asked.

Winky shook her head. "No, no. Dobby did not tell Winky anything about that. He said he would not be back again for a long while, and that made Winky sad."

Hermione sat back, frustrated. There was clearly nothing more the little elf could tell her. "I know, Winky," she said kindly. "It's hard to be away from the ones you love."

* * * * *

On the second floor, she went to the common room and looked around, trying to decide which passage to explore first. The one at the far end of the room, she knew, simply led to a long hallway and more stairs that would take her to the Weasley corridor and her own bedroom. There were several other doorways, however, leading away in all different directions.

She chose the one closest to her and soon found herself back in the Infirmary she'd visited the night before. Madame Pomfrey wasn't about, so Hermione turned and headed back the way she'd come. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to be spending any extra time in the Infirmary again any time soon. She tried an adjacent passageway, and found what looked like an empty classroom, without any sign of having been used in the past decade or so. And the next simply led down to the kitchens, presumably a back exit to the common room.

But the next doorway... the next doorway left her speechless, elated, relieved and thrilled.... the next doorway led to the library.

She walked around in a daze, scanning the titles on the shelves. Advanced Rune Theory, A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions, Spellman's Syllabary, New Theory of Numerology... so many old favorites! In fact, as far as she could tell, every textbook she'd ever owned was here, and a great many of the books she'd used for research. It wasn't an exhaustive collection by any means; paltry, really, compared to the seemingly endless shelves at Hogwarts. But it was lovely all the same.

Hermione lost track of time. She wandered over the shelves, her fingers lightly caressing the spines, for what seemed like hours. She pulled out a random book from time to time and stood there, drinking in the words; she couldn't bring herself to go and curl up in one of the several cozy-looking chairs scattered about the room, however, because she couldn't choose just one book and turn her back on all the others. It wasn't until she happened to catch a glance of the setting sun out the window that it occurred to her that several hours must have gone by.

She carefully put the book she'd been reading away and stood in the doorway of the library and smiled, the reddish rays of the sinking sun streaming in through the windowpanes, motes of dust disturbed by her explorations dancing in the air. She felt better than she had in a very long time.

Hermione paused in the common room. She should go looking for Ron; with the light fading, he and his brothers would finally be giving up on Quidditch and coming in, for dinner, if nothing else. She wanted to tell him about the library, and about seeing Winky, and hearing news, any news, about Harry. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and pull his lips down to hers for a long, blissful kiss, as well... but mostly, she just wanted to tell him about her day.

But there was one passageway leading off the second floor common room still unexplored. She knew the upper floors were all living space, mostly still unoccupied at this point, so in a sense this doorway represented the last unknown bit of the castle left. She hesitated only a moment longer and then, with a shrug, decided she'd feel more satisfied if she'd seen it all in one fell swoop.

The last passage was longer than the others, and low-ceilinged; there was a door at the end, left partially ajar. Hermione nudged it open and stepped inside another classroom, but this one was far from unused. Tables, stools and charts were set up in an orderly fashion; an open closet door revealed stores of jarred ingredients and already-prepared potions. Several cauldrons were steaming and a tall sturdy podium held open a large tome. And standing beside the podium, her hair in a messy bundle at the nape of her neck and her back to the door, was an old friend.

"Penny!" Hermione said.

"Oh! Hermione!" Penny turned around with a start and her face lit up in a wide grin. She carefully set down a strangely-shaped herb and moved around the table.

Hermione met her half-way and they embraced. Years ago, they'd known each other in only the most superficial of ways, two smart girls years apart in school but with a passing respect for each other. Percy had introduced them; Hermione didn't think he'd introduced Penny to any of his brothers, but he'd made a point of bringing her to meet Ginny and Hermione one day while the boys had detention. Ginny hadn't seemed all that interested, but Hermione had liked the older girl right away. They'd become friendly, saying hello in the library, and Penny would sometimes give Hermione a tip or two about lessons and professors she'd already had.

Then they'd both been attacked by the basilisk and woken up to learn they'd been Petrified for weeks. Hermione had been overwrought with worry for her friends, and Penny had been scared as well; they'd only spent half a day together in the Infirmary, at least awake, but they'd shared a unique experience. Those kinds of bonds, Hermione had learned, never went away; whether you fought a troll together, or spent a few weeks with someone else, both of you as still as stone, you never really lost that kind of connection.

Penny had owled Hermione a few times over the years; admittedly, their correspondence had dropped off a bit as the estrangement between Percy and the rest of his family had widened, but it had never truly stopped. The two girls had rarely spoken of the rift in the Weasley family, but Hermione knew Penny had always hoped it could be mended one day. And thankfully, it had -- and before it was too late.

"It's so good to see you again," Hermione said, giving the other girl a careful squeeze.

"Oh, you too. I'm so sorry I wasn't there last night when you got in, but I just can't seem to stay awake in the evenings anymore," Penny replied.

"Don't worry about it, Percy told me," Hermione said, pulling back to smile at her friend. "He also told me the good news. Congratulations, Pen."

Penny beamed. "He said he told you. I told him I'd wanted to, but he beat me to it, the prat. Did he tell anyone else?"

"No, he really didn't. He pulled me aside and told me alone, so at least you get to surprise Bill and Ron," Hermione said.

"Are you talking about me, 'Mione?" a voice called from the passageway.

She grinned. "Only good things," she called back.

Ron came around the corner looking exhausted, worn out, messy and exhilarated. Hermione watched him affectionately. She'd never really understand the appeal of Quidditch, but over the years she'd come to realize that both Ron and Harry loved it just as she loved books. Seeing that Quidditch field today had been, for Ron, what finding the library had been like for her: the return of something he'd lost, something he loved and enjoyed, something he could hold onto and feel good about again.

He came up beside her and slipped his arm around her waist, dropping a light kiss on her cheek. "Of course," he teased. He turned to Penny then and smiled shyly. "Penelope, Percy told us the good news last night," he said. "Congratulations."

Penny shot Hermione a surprised look.

"About your elopement, yes," Hermione said quickly. "I was just asking Penny about the wedding. Percy said it was in June?"

"Yes, it was quite romantic, actually," Penny began.

"Did you have a traditional civil ceremony, as well as a wizarding one?"

"Well, what we did was, we combined some of --"

Ron cut them off, however. "Sorry to interrupt the wedding chat, but I was sent to tell you both that we'll be eating in a few minutes. I need to clean up a bit first, so I'll meet you in the dining hall?" Hermione nodded and he gave her waist a squeeze, then headed for the door. He turned back just before leaving and said, "It's really great to have you in the family, Penelope."

She smiled. "Thank you, Ron. And you can call me Penny."

He nodded and left.

Penny turned back to Hermione. "Percy told me about the two of you finally, well, getting together," she said. "I said I was only surprised it took you so long."

"I know... it was worth the wait, though," Hermione said. "And he's really missed Percy, even though he'd never be able to say so."

The older girl smiled softly. "I know. Percy missed his family so much, but he wouldn't admit it, not even to himself. It was a hard time," she confessed, "for all of them. But it's over now, and we're all here together, and that's what's important."

"Yes, it is," Hermione said. "Now, what can I help you with here, so we can head off to dinner?"

"Nothing at all," Penny said. "Those two potions are going to be simmering for days, and I've set charms on all the fires." She picked up her wand and with a quick wave and flick, all of the papers tidied themselves up and the cupboards closed, ingredients carefully stashed away. Penny shrugged out of the robe she'd been wearing to cover her clothes and smiled. "Let's go!"

Hermione led the way into the passageway and the two girls headed off towards the dining hall together. "Now, back to the wedding details," she said with a grin.

"Well, it was a small ceremony, of course...."