The Safehouse

Thanks to Lupinswolfie for betaing, who found a hell of a lot more mistakes than I would like to admit to. Someone remind me to stop writing just before bed, lol.

The next day, Hermione was still sad but no longer despondent, the visit from Harry having done her a world of good. She wrote letters to Ron and Ginny, as well as one to the entire Weasley family expressing her sorrow over the loss of Fred.

Dudley had spent the morning in his room lifting weights. After lunch, which was made by Hermione and Petunia, he decided to spend the day with her and away from his father. The man had gotten him alone for a few minutes after lunch and proceeded to yell at him about how he was a disappointment, how he had better get his head straight, and if the thought of a repeat of the previous night ever crossed his mind that he would be beyond sorry.

Having overheard Vernon's rant as there was no way around it, Hermione asked Dudley what his father was talking about. When he told her what had happened, she gave him a hug, telling him how much it meant to her. The majority of the afternoon he convinced her to take a break from reading to watch the telly in his room. Even just based on a few of the shows, it surprised Hermione to learn that by spending all but a few weeks a year in the wizarding world, she knew very little muggle current events and trends.

After a few hours of the two of them watching the flickering screen while laying side by side on his bed, Hermione fell asleep. When Dudley noticed, he continued watching the program, but not before covering her with a blanket.

Her sleep didn't last long, as it wqas soon time for dinner. The meal was strained but uneventful and Hermione and Dudley were relieved to get away and go up to her room to read. Technically, she was studying and he was engrossed in a comic book, but they were reading nonetheless. She was going over the section of concealing charms when she had a sudden thought and pulled over her notepad to voice it. "Dudley, when you came here, where did you tell everyone you were going?"

"Dad told his work that mum had been left a rather large house in Austrailia in the will of a long lost uncle under the condition that we live there, so that's what I told the couple of friends that I had kept in contact with over the summer."

"What is going to be your reason for coming back?"

"We're going to say that we lived in it long enough that it was ours, but that it wasn't until then that we learned of all the back taxes. In order to pay them all we had to sell the house as quickly, and therefore cheaply, as possible. And so we came back to England."

"Smart plan."

"Yeah. Your 'Order' came up with it." They ended up spending the rest of the night talking before Dudley reluctantly left for his own room.

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The next day went pretty much the same until they sat down cross legged next to each other on Dudley's bed to watch the telly. This time, instead of serialized programs, they tuned into the Manchester United game. When Hermione became confused on some of the technical aspects, having not been exposed to football since before she had gone to Hogwarts, Dudley spent the commercial breaks explaining all of the rules of the game to her, as well as tidbits on both teams and their players.

When he drew her a diagram of a particular play that had just been performed, she leaned into him as she looked at the notepad in his lap. Still confused as to why that had been the play chosen since it had been quite risky, she looped her arm under his and leaned her forearm on his thigh, taking the pen out of his hand and writing down her question.

Dudley turned to her, inadvertently moving her hand so it was resting on his knee instead, and animatedly answered her. He stopped dead when he saw a short, pudgy, red-haired woman who was a bit older than his mum in the doorway out of the corner of his eye. Hermione turned to follow where he was looking, only to find Mrs. Weasley gazing shrewdly at the two teens on the bed.

Hermione smiled at her as she got up, using Dudley as a brace. She walked over and shared a tight hug with her friends' mother. "I'm sorry about Fred," she mouthed as a single tear made its way past her rapidly blinking eyes when she pulled away.

"I know, dear, I know," Mrs. Weasley responded, trying to keep back her own tears while she moved a lock of Hermione's hair behind her ear. She then turned her attention to the other teen, a slightly hostile and protective look coming over her features. "You must be Dudley. I'm Mrs. Weasley. Harry has stayed with my family for the past six summers; I've heard quite a bit about you."

Dudley stood up and shook the proferred hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sure you've heard many things about me and I'm sure most are true. I just want you to know that I'm not the spoiled bully that I used to be. I'm sorry for how my family treated - Harry - and I'm glad that he had your family to support him. Also, I'm sorry to hear about your son and your friends. They shouldn't have had to die, but know that there is at least one muggle who knows and cares about the sacrifice they made to help make the world better for us all. I'll just leave you and Hermione to talk."

He started to leave the room, glancing at Hermione's dumbfounded face, but didn't even make it a step before he was pulled into the tightest hug of his life. When he was finally let go there were tears streaming down the older woman's face. "Thank you very much, Dudley."

When he was gone, Hermione having stared at him the entire time, she picked up her notepad. "I had no idea he could be so eloquent," she wrote of his impromptu speech.

"He seems as though he's grown into a nice young man," Mrs. Weasley commented as her hopes of having Hermione as a daughter-in-law started to ebb away. Thinking of how the two looked at each other despite the fact that she could tell neither could see it, left her slightly sad and let down.

"He has," Hermione mouthed, the smile on her lips reaching her eyes and making them sparkle.

"But as to the reason I am here. We have decided to have a joint funeral for Fred, Remus, and Tonks because they are all being buried at the same graveyard. There will be a service first; Arthur will come to get you and he will help with your glamours. You are to stick with Ginny since if you were a distant cousin you would be more likely be most comfortable with her rather than Ron and Harry. Obviously you can be friendly with them, but it must seem as though it is only the first or second time you have ever met Harry."

Hermione nodded her head, sad that she couldn't really help comfort Harry, but understanding the reasons and happy that she was allowed to go at all. "When is it?" she wrote.

"In four days. I believe that will also be the next time someone comes to check on you. I must be going now, though. I'll give your regards to everyone." Hermione nodded and hugged the woman goodbye.

~~~@~~~~@~~~~@~~~~@~~~~@~~~

Each day their mornings were spent apart but after lunch they were always in one another's company. They talked, they read, they watched the telly. They also did their best to stay away from Vernon, though Petunia put in some effort to get to know Hermione better, it having become routine for the two women to cook both lunch and dinner together.

The day of the funerals, Arthur showed up bright and early at eight thirty. Vernon stayed away, but both Dudley and Petunia sat at the kitchen table as the older man stood on front of Hermione, casting spells that slowly but surely made her unrecognisable as herself. In fact, if they didn't know any better, they would say the two red-heads were related.

When Hermione and Arthur were preparing to apparate away, Petunia came over and laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder in a comforting manner. She didn't say anything before leaving the room, but Hermione was touched at the gesture. When her shoulder was freed, Dudley pulled her into a tender hug. When he pulled away from her, he left one hand gently resting on her upper arm, the other smoothing back her long ginger hair as he looked into her blue eyes. He spoke low so Arthur could just barely make out what he was saying. "When you get back, if you don't want to be alone, let me know. I'm here for you."

"I know," she mouthed, pulling him into another quick hug and breaking away hastily when Arthur cleared his throat.

As soon as the two redheads arrived in the Burrow, Hermione was enveloped in many pairs of arms, Ron being the last to pull away. Still having half an hour before leaving, the quartet of Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny secluded themselves in Ron's room. After they didn't stop staring at her for a few minutes, Hermione splayed her hands in the air, a baffled look on her face. "What?" she mouthed.

"Sorry, Hermione, you just look funny as a Weasley is all," Harry told her. They all ignored the way Ron's face burned red at the innocent comment. They sat on the bed, the boys listening as the two girls spent most of the time catching up on the year. Ginny was dying to hear about Dudley, whom Hermione had mentioned in her letter, but not knowing any specifics, she didn't want to bring up the subject in front of her brother.

It seemed like no time had passed at all before Mrs. Weasley came to the door, dressed in long black robes and a black, lace-veiled hat that covered her face, in order to collect the group.

The service was held in an open field adjacent to the graveyard. Hermione sat next to Ginny, the two girls leaning against one another, dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs. Throughout the service, Harry noticed how Ron kept glancing over to the two girls, his wish to be the one Hermione was leaning against evident on his face to those who knew of Hermione's true identity. To everyone else it looked as though he were worried about his sister and cousin.

A few people spoke about each Fred, Remus, and Tonks, sharing light-hearted anecdotes. George had the entire group laughing through his tears as he shared memories of pranks the two had pulled. After Andromeda sat down from speaking about her daughter, Harry stood up and walked down the aisle to the front. "I met Remus Lupin as my Defense teacher third year. When I had problems being near the Dementors that were surrounding Hogwarts, Remus took the time to teach me how to cast a Patronus. From our time spent together, I learned that he had been friends with my parents and eventually I learned the legacy of the Marauders."

"Since that time, I became friends of sorts with him and Sirius; aside from the Weasleys, they were the closest family I had. He took Sirius' death very hard, as did I. In that time, Tonks was his one shining light, no matter how much he tried to deny his feelings for her. When I learned the two of them had gotten married, I was so overjoyed that he had given in and accepted her love."

"When he learned of her pregnancy, he did not take the news well. He was so afraid that his child would either be born a werewolf or would be persecuted because of its parentage. I was rather harsh with him over it, and it took a good friend to help me understand his actions, but if the way I acted towards him helped send him back to his wife, then I would do it all over again."

"Theodore Lupin is the living legacy that Remus and Tonks left behind and, as his godfather, I intend to be sure that even if he doesn't remember his parents, he grows up knowing who they were and how much they loved him. I implore each of you to do the same."

"So, I guess all that's left to say is, Remus Lupin, you will be missed, but we will keep you in our hearts with everyone else we have lost, and as long as out hearts beat, you will never be forgotten." With tears in his eyes and clapping all around him, Harry made his way to his seat on the other side of Ginny, who took his hand and squeezed it. He gave her a wan smile as he turned back to the service, holding her hand in his lap.

Soon, everyone walked over to the platform that Fred's casket was elevated to and said goodbye before the wizard undertakers said a spell that caused the coffin to sink into the ground, the platform changing into a shiny tombstone, engraved with the Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes logo above Fred's name.

Even as the group moved to where Remus and Tonks were to be interred together, the grass around Fred's tombstone turned into a small field of wildflowers. The process was repeated again for the last of the Marauders and his young bride. When the crowd started to disperse from the grave site, a piercing cry was heard. Hermione turned around to see Teddy wailing in Andromeda's arms as the woman had started to walk away from the daisy covered grave. 'It's as though he knows it's his final goodbye to his parents,' she thought just as Ginny voiced it, fresh tears streaming down each of their faces.

Seeing Ron move to comfort his crush, Ginny placed an arm around Hermione's shoulders and led her across the cemetery and to the floo station that was disguised as a mausoleum. Back at the Burrow, dinner was served. Afterwards, everyone was poured a glass of firewhiskey that was held up in a toast to those that had been lost. Not too long after, the foursome detached themselves from the group and found their way to the den.

During their conversation, they came upon the subject of looking for the remaining Death Eaters. As always they weren't being told anything, despite the fact that Harry himself had been the one to kill Voldemort. Through the use of Extendable Ears they had learned that Kingsley believed most Death Eaters to have either fled, gone underground, or continued their lives as the upstanding citizens that they had always been believed to be. The plan was simply to wait a while and see if anything at all happened that would oust them. Until it was deemed safe, every member of the Order that was currently in any sort of hiding, even if it was just as simple as their house being under Fidelius, was to stay in their current situation.

Hermione wasn't surprised since Harry and McGonagall had pretty much told her as much the previous week. Ron asked how things were going with the Dursleys, his voice laced with sympathy as he thought of them through Harry's childhood stories.

"Pretty good. Petunia's warming up to me. Dudley and I spend a lot of time avoiding his father, though," she wrote on her notepad.

"Yeah, Harry told me what he did. Just shows he's just as violent as always, but without Harry to beat up on, he's moved on. You really should be careful, Hermione."

In response, Hermione slammed her hands down on the arms of her chair and stood up, glaring at Ron as she stormed out of the room. At the bottom of the staircase, she ran into Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, Hermione, I was just coming to fetch you. We need to take off your glamours and get you back." Hermione was nodding her head when she heard Ginny thundering down the stairs and calling her name.

"Hermione, he didn't mean it." At Hermione's disbelieving look, Ginny relented. "Okay, he did mean it, but Harry's setting him straight. Come back upstairs," the girl requested plaintively.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but it's time to get Hermione ready to go home." As Hermione followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen the other girl went back up the stairs to let the boys in on the newest development.

The three came back downstairs to find everyone but family gone; George, Percy, Charlie, and Bill talking in the living room, and Molly and Fleur cleaning up the kitchen while Arthur was removing Hermione's glamours. "Hermione, I'm sorry for upsetting you. For his sake, he better have changed like Harry says; if he ever touches you, all his muscle and bulk won't be able to help him."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked to Harry, who shook his head slightly, saying he had not shared the suspicions everyone who had seen the two together held. For her part, Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head at Ron. She pulled out her notepad and handed it over after finishing her response. "A bit overzealous, but thank you for the sentiment. However, I never want to hear of you picking a fight with him."

This time it was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "Only if he hurts you." Behind their backs, glances were being exchanged, worried over what would happen when Hermione and Dudley gave in to their feelings, everyone in the room considering it a 'when' and not an 'if.'

"Done," Arthur pronounced, conjuring a mirror over so Hermione could inspect herself. When she grinned up at him and gave him a thumbs up, he told her that it was time for them to go. She went around to everyone, giving them all hugs, George's being the longest, and promised to write Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

After being dropped back off at the safe house, Hermione went and took a long shower, which gave ample time for all of the emotions of the day to come crashing back to her. After changing into pajamas, she made her way to Dudley's room where she found him playing video games. Upon her opening the door he immediately shut off the console and held out his arms, which she willingly went into. She handed over her pre-written note, to which he responded, "Of course you can stay here tonight."

Less than an hour and a half later, she drifted off to sleep snuggled in his arms while he soothingly ran his hand up and down her back. It took him quite a bit longer to doze off, contemplating the witch whose head was resting on his t-shirt clad chest.

Next chapter~ Vernon walks in on the two of them in bed together.

And thanks to everyone who is keeping up with this story, despite how often I don't post new chapters, I appreciate you all.