the_debt_of_time

manoeuvred around the table of food. He had a plate balanced in one hand as he shoved
a chicken leg in his mouth with the other. Some people were still watching him anxiously.
"I'm worried he's going to make someone angry and undo all the hard work I did to get
him back."
Remus laughed, leaving her to make his way through the crowd that had gathered
around his best friend.
"What the bloody hell did you do?" Ron quietly said from the room's periphery.
Hermione turned to see him, still wide-eyed, staring at her. "You're supposed to be
on my side," she reminded him.
"I am on your side!" he insisted as he quickly approached her. "But I didn't know
you knew how to bring people back from the bloody grave!"
"Language," she scolded him. "And keep your voice down, Ronald. For your
information, I don't know how to bring back just anyone. I can't reverse a Killing Curse.
That's how I found the spell. Harry wanted me to look for a way to bring back
Dumbledore. I knew it was pointless, but I wanted to maybe find a way to protect us when
we go off on this mission. I stumbled onto the spell, made the connection, and asked
Remus and Tonks to go with me to the Ministry because Tonks is an Auror and could get
me in."
Ron exhaled and ran a hand through his hair, still shocked by what Hermione had
done. "Bloody hell."
She smacked his arm. "Language!"
Ignoring the assault, he laughed. "Can you imagine the look on Harry's face when
he sees him?"
"That's almost all I've been thinking about." Hermione smiled as the imagined
image of Harry and Sirius's reunion returned to her mind. The happy feeling, however, was
quickly replaced by a flood of apprehension, and she felt her eyes prick at the rise of
emotion. "If we have to go on this hunt, this is it. This is the end; I can feel it. I needed to
give this to Harry. He needs us, and he has us, but.. ." She wiped a tear as it fell down
her cheek. "Harry needs his family. He needs to have something of his own to fight for."