Hermione Granger and the Theft of Magic

Chapter 6: Years Like Falling Sand

[A/N: Thank you to Calamity Owl and Darsynia for beta-reading this chapter!]

After Harry left for work, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus went upstairs to remove any Tracking Charms from her possessions. She wasn't sure what she expected to find in the guest room, but she was definitely not expecting to find her clothes neatly folded on the bed and all of the books in a single pyramid in the centre of the floor that stood nearly as tall as she did.

Sirius barked out another laugh as he entered the room. "Merlin, would you look at that? I feel like there ought to be an embalmed pharaoh in there."

"You could probably fit one," Remus said.

"I needed a lot of books for school," Hermione said, heat rising to her cheeks as she spoke. "But now that I know the truth...." She stared at the pile, tears slowly blurring her view of the individual book titles. "I can't tell anyone...but I can't keep researching this and lying about it. This pile of falsehoods, conjectures, and half-truths was my whole life for the last three years." She couldn't see more than the vague outline of the huge pile by that point. "It's all worthless. This work has been my whole life since I was a teenager and it was worthless from the start."

Strong arms pulled her into a tight embrace. "It was never worthless," Remus said, then paused to spit out a bit of bushy hair that he'd inhaled as he spoke. "Your work helped push a muggle field beyond where it would otherwise have been. That there remains far more for them to discover makes your contribution no less valuable than Pythagoras's was to mathematics."

"At least mathematics really exists! All I did...all any of us did was chase shadows. We might as well have never existed for all the good we did humanity," Hermione said.

Sirius came up behind her and put his hand on her right shoulder. "I spent twelve years in prison for a crime I didn't commit," he said. "That didn't do anyone any good, but that doesn't make my life worthless. You can't...don't dwell on what you've lost, please." His voice shook as he spoke. "Your grief can never fill the hole in your life."

Remus let got of Hermione with one arm briefly in order to pull Sirius into his embrace, too.. "Lies stole those years from both of you," Remus said. "Sirius never let that define him, though, and I think he's fought through to become a better man than anyone would have given him credit for back in '81. I know you'll do the same, Hermione, and I can only apologise for the small part we've all played in those lies."

"Thank you," she croaked out, and they all just stood there together for a few minutes until she was ready to face her books again.

"I'm sorry I reacted like that," she said. "I shouldn't have even asked you to bring any of them here."

"It's alright," Remus said. "Your reaction was understandable and Dobby was thrilled to have the work. He loves Harry, but I think he's bored to tears most of the time."

"Ah." Hermione felt heat rising to her cheeks at the memory of Dobby's request to her.

"Besides," Remus added, possibly to save her embarrassment, "this way you get the option to confront them yourself. Now, what would you like to do with them?"

"Never see them again." Hermione shocked herself with the speed and firmness of her response, to say nothing of its content.

"That can be arranged," Sirius said. "Kreacher?"

The old elf popped up next to them. "Master who has at least stopped regularly shaming House Black called Kreacher?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "Please stash this pile of books in the attic."