Suppression

Wolfstar

He hated traveling by portkey. No, scratch that, he REALLY hated traveling by portkey. Harry held onto Hermione as tightly as he could as the world whirled around them, becoming a mixture of colors in a vacuum. Before he could admire it any further, they were dropped to the floor unceremoniously.

"Urghhh, I hate that," he groaned out as he thanked himself for having the wherewithal to clutch Hermione to his chest and shield her from the impact. He sheepishly grinned at her when she gracefully rose off his body and helped him to his feet before turning to the small home that laid a few metres away from them.

"Willow's Wood?" Harry read out loud as he noticed a sign with the words engraved upon it.

"It's a small magical village," Hermione called before tugging him forwards, taking the lead from him.

The duo walked at a medium pace until they arrived at the doorstep to what they presumed was Moony's home. Harry noticed that it looked in rather good condition even with the paint on it being chipped off a bit. A nice little garden adorned the walkway leading up to the mahogany door. He spotted the curtain shifting slightly from the window before the door opened to reveal Remus Lupin, Moony as Harry called him, with a small smile on his face.

Harry wasted no time in dashing forward into the man's waiting arms. He turned back to Hermione and signaled for her to follow, which she did rather reluctantly.

Remus could sense Hermione's reluctance and offered her the same comforting smile and a nod of his head. Soon, both teenagers were embraced by him as he basked in their presence. He thanked the gods that his best friend's son and his best friend were safe.

"Moony, I missed you so much," Harry exclaimed once the embrace broke.

"I know, pup. It's been far too long," Remus put a hand on Harry's shoulder before shooting him and Hermione a serious look, "we have much to discuss."

"Come in," Remus called to the teenagers with a wave of his hand.

Harry and Hermione stepped into the house and marveled at the sight of its interior. From the outside, it looked unassuming enough, but the inside was decorated in the style of the Gryffindor Common Room and all of its accouterments. It felt like a home away from home. Matching smiles appeared on the teens' faces. "Brilliant," they murmured at the same time before sharing a fond look with each other.

"Harry, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Harry heard Remus speak from the adjoining sitting room. He looked over and stepped forward to reveal the presence of his godfather, Sirius Black.

"SIRIUS," he cried before rushing over to the man and nearly leaping into his arms. He heard the deep rumble of the man's laugh as his arms wrapped tighter around his back, soaking in the warmth from his godfather. "I missed you, Padfoot," he whispered, his voice muffled by the man's chest.

"Feeling's mutual, cub. And I see you've brought the lovely Miss Granger with you." Sirius winked to Hermione who blushed before giving him a small wave.

"I'll explain everything, I promise." Harry left the man's arms and padded back to Hermione to take her hand in his.

Remus and Sirius shared knowing looks at the boy's actions but filed that away for another discussion. "There'll be enough time for that. For now, let's just eat."

The teenagers looked bashfully over to the pair when their stomach's growled in response. They were met with matching grins before the adults beckoned them over to the kitchen.
———
"...and then the aurors came. There was this taller one, he had brown hair and blue eyes with a kind of Scottish accent. He was the one who told me I was under arrest," Harry finished his recounting of the events that led him and Hermione to Remus' home.

"William Fox," Sirius bitterly replied as he and Remus clenched their fists tightly. "That bastard is the one who captured me on the night your parents were killed. He wouldn't even listen to my side of the story," Sirius clenched his fist even tighter as Remus rubbed soothing circles on his shoulder.

Their motions were reflected by Harry and Hermione as Harry tensed up at the revelation of just who William Fox was. His magic flared up only to immediately settle when Hermione touched his shoulder. He shot her a grateful look and turned back to his surrogate uncle and his godfather. "I'm really starting to hate this Fox guy," he noted.

"You should. He's the minister's personal lapdog and his best hunter. His track record of success dates back to my and Sirius' Hogwarts years. If he's after you, it's under orders from the minister. Fox doesn't come out for just any target," Remus explained.

"Which is what brings us to this." Sirius slid a newspaper over to the couple.

"UNDESIRABLE NUMBER ONE?" Hermione shrieked before looking over to the adults and finding grave expressions on their faces.

"Turn the page, Hermione," Remus calmly ordered.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Harry yelled as his magic flared and chilled the room down to its core. The paper showed a picture of Hermione with three words written right above it. "UNDESIRABLE NUMBER TWO?"

"Yes. You and Hermione are now the most wanted people in magical Britain. That means Fox is now after both of you and he won't stop, not unless we give him a reason to."

Harry's anger faded quickly as his guilt washed over him. Hermione was now a criminal because of him. He had brought her into this world and sealed her fate. Voldemort was right. "Don't," Hermione ordered to him with a sharp look. "I chose to come with you. Where you go, I go." He was about to respond but her eyes were showing something far more than just determination and he found himself waving the white flag of surrender before even engaging her in an argument.

"That reminds me, Hermione. How exactly did you end up with Harry?" Sirius shot her a grin before instantly flipping back to seriousness when a pained look came across the girl's face.

Hermione recounted the events of her parents' death and Harry finding her in her home before they were forced to run to Bournemouth. She omitted the part where they had confunded an old lady to sleep in her inn for the night and ended the tale when Hedwig arrived at their window.

"Hermione, dear," both Sirius and Remus came to stand over her and placed comforting hands on her shoulders, "we are so sorry. We wish we had known. Dumbledore and us were at Azkaban when it all happened."

"What?" Harry asked from beside Hermione, looking up in surprise. He hadn't even heard of an attack on Azkaban. Not that he had any time to keep up with the news since him and Hermione were forced on the run.

"Voldemort and a few of his men attacked Azkaban and freed his former servants. Not only that, but the dementors joined him as well. It was a huge loss and we had only just learnt about you two. It would seem old snakeface used the attack as a distraction while the rest of his men attacked you two."

"Fucking hell," Harry whispered. He felt guilty for the slight bit of resentment that was festering in his heart at the thought of Dumbledore because it was now much clearer what was really going on.

"Language, Harry," Hermione corrected reflexively.

He shot her a pained smile in return and muttered an apology. They shared a look before nodding at each other. They needed to know what came next. "What's next for us then?" the pair asked in unison.

His godfather looked to his friend and smirked. "Well now, I get to show you where I live." At Harry's confused look, Sirius clarified, "I don't actually live here. This is Remus' place, not that he spends too much time here anyway." He winked at Remus who blushed deeply, a fact that wasn't lost on Hermione and Harry who shared knowing looks.

"Err...where Sirius lives is also the headquarters of an organization that we know can help you two. An organization that we, and Dumbledore, feel you're ready to join," Remus told the two, still blushing from Sirius' remark.

"What is it?" the teenagers asked once again in unison.

"The Order of the Phoenix."