Chapter Text
The sinister presence of Grimmauld Place 12 loomed over the street. She slowly closed the front door behind her and crept through the gloomy corridor. A rotten smell dwelled in the air. Dark Windows, golden-framed paintings and dusty furniture that could’ve been displayed in a museum lined the walls. The house laid in utter silence, save for the creaking of the old floorboards beneath her feet, the soft movement of a cobwebbed chandelier above and the beating of her own heart. Suddenly, she saw something move in the shadows.
“Who’s there?”
No answer. Where the hell were the other members of the Order? Her wand at the ready, she carefully approached whatever had just moved. Something rustled. She sent a ‘Lumos’ towards it and found a mean looking house elf squinting back at her. This one was particularly ugly with a snout-like nose, huge ears and ashen skin. When she dimmed the light a little, his bloodshot eyes widened in shock. He bowed deeply.
“Kreacher welcomes Mistress. Kreacher at your service.”
“Oh, uhm... hi? Could you tell me where everybody is?”
“At the hospital.”, he croaked. “Kreacher is alone. What does Mistress wish?”
“Please don't call me that, just Hermione is fine. Do you have any news on Mr Weasley’s condition? How is he doing?”
“Kreacher does not know.”
“Right. Could you... Wait, is there a library here?”
A slow nod. He tentatively took her arm and with a soft ‘plop’ they reappeared in a small library. Hermione had hoped for something more grandiose, considering the power of Sirius’ family, but this would do, too. The walls were completely covered by books and more shelf lines stood proudly in the middle of the room. She tentatively ran her fingers over a few ancient spines of leather. Well, she was rather curious about what secrets lay in here.
"Thank you, Kreacher."
He bowed deeply before disappearing again. What a strange house-elf...
Hermione lit a handful of candles at the writing desk, browsing the shelves in the flickering light. A few books she recognized from the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library, some she had faintly heard of and others were fascinating rare editions. They all had ominous names like Magick Moste Evile, Blood Curses of Black or Secrets of the Darkest Art. Undoubtedly the works that dark wizards and witches studied. Hermione didn’t let this deter her. In her opinion, magic couldn’t be inherently bad, only the people who used it for evil purposes were. These were the kind of books she had to read to find a way of defeating Voldemort.
Not keen on wandering the gloomy house or falling asleep alone in here, she spent the entire night reading. The passage of time was only marked when one of the candles burned down and she had to light a new one. Soon, the sun began to rise outside. Hermione didn’t know how much time had gone by when the front door opened and an immense noise filled the dead corridors. Druella Black’s painting started yelling senseless insults at the family until someone managed to close the curtain before her face. Snapping her book shut, Hermione went back downstairs to greet the Weasley clan plus Harry. Sirius appeared from some dark corner as well.
They all looked rather exhausted but hugged her as if she was a part of the family. Mrs Weasley started preparing breakfast, her kids setting the long table in the dining room. On Sirius’ order, Kreacher helped with the cooking, even though he muttered to himself about blood traitors the entire time. Hopefully, he wouldn’t poison anything... When everything was ready, the house elf bowed in front of Hermione before vanishing in the shadows again. Fred noticed and shot her a confused look to which she just shrugged. Luckily, he let it go.
Breakfast with the Weasleys was a loud and messy affair. They were probably trying extra hard to distract themselves from the prominent bandage Mr Weasley had wrapped around his head. But it felt good to have the family around again. Hermione was sandwiched between Ron and Harry, practically able to hear the cogs stirring in her best friends’ heads.
After silently observing the twins cause mayhem, she noticed Sirius grinning at her. “Hermione, I’m sure you’re happy to know that Grimmauld Place has quite the library. Reading isn’t really my thing so I’m never in there, but I’m sure you’ll find something enjoyable.”
She nodded enthusiastically. Hermione was about to tell him of her successful earlier visit, but because she’d just taken a rather large spoonful of pie into her mouth, she could only chew awkwardly. Speaking with food in her mouth was a no-go. Her parents had taught her table manners that far surpassed Ron’s.
“Unfortunately, most of the books there are cursed...”, continued Sirius. “My wretched ancestors made sure that any of their precious dark knowledge would be guarded by wicked curses.”
Hermione finally managed to swallow. Her mind went to all the spines she’d run her fingers over that day. Luck must’ve been on her side. She couldn’t suppress her dark curiosity about what incredible and awful things the ancient curses could do.
“What exactly would happen if someone touched them?”
“That depends on the book. If you’re not a pure-blood, then it’s not looking good. Some inflict a stinging pain onto its reader, some make your hand rot from the inside out, some just straight up murder you. There are even a few that curse anyone who doesn’t have Black blood. My family prides itself with cruelty...”
“Would you mind pointing the dangerous ones out to me?”
“Yeah, sure thing.”
The rest of breakfast flew by in a rush. The Weasleys fussed over Arthur, Harry complained about Voldemort and Sirius watched him proudly. Meanwhile, Hermione got lost in thought. The question wasn’t how many books she’d touched in that library but how many she hadn’t touched. It wasn’t her fault that she needed to feel things with her hands instead of just looking at them. Had she miraculously left out all the cursed ones? Or did some of the curses just take very long to activate? It would explain why she wasn’t feeling any of their effects yet.
Maybe she should tell Sirius. But Hermione really didn’t want to look like an idiot because she just couldn’t help herself sneaking a look into forbidden books. How embarrassing would that be? How stupid would they think she was?
When everyone had finally finished eating, Hermione quickly sprung up to go to the library, much to Harry’s and Ron’s amusement. Sirius led the way, though he really knew next to nothing about the works of the place. Apparently, he’d never entered the library voluntarily. Merlin, why were all Gryffindors but her so resistant to reading? Then, Sirius did tell her which books he knew for sure held a curse, pointing out about a dozen that Hermione clearly remembered browsing. She took close notes.
“What curses do those hold? Are they instant or... more delayed in time?”
Sirius gave her a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Hermione. But to the touch of a muggleborn, those books would immediately hex or even kill you. No chance of getting to St. Mungos in time...”
“Do they have counter curses?”
“Probably, but that’s not my area of expertise, truly. So please be extremely careful. The most common detection charms should be able to show you which books you can safely read but... Oh, you made a list already?”
“Obviously. Thanks for showing me, Sirius.”
“No problemo.”
The young witch waited until he had left the room, before approaching an old tome that she’d perused earlier. Blood Curses of Black. Upon casting a detection charm, she came to the conclusion that this book would kill anyone deemed unworthy instantly, as Sirius had told her. According to her notes, it would boil one’s insides to a temperature so hot that the victim would quickly burn to death on the inside. Except if one was a member of the Black family.
Hermione was a great many things. A bookworm. An insufferable know-it-all. A reckless Gryffindor if the time called for it. But she was not stupid. She clearly remembered reading Blood Curses of Black earlier that day, being equally intrigued and repulsed at its secret contents. With a trembling hand, she pulled the tome from the bookshelf and flipped it wide open.
Nothing happened.
Well fuck.