“Dr. Aiken, thank you.”
Hermione held out a glass of warm water.
Chloe took it and offered her a polite, gentle smile.
“No need for formality, Miss Granger. Just call me Chloe.”
“No — I mean it. Truly. Thank you.”
Hermione sat down beside her, eyes reddening despite herself.
The two of them were side by side on a bench along the street.
In the dark, firefighters were still picking through the rubble not far off, the sounds of water and footsteps and a dozen other noises rising and falling around them.
The children had already been taken away by the Weasley family.
Only Harry, Ron, and Hermione remained at the scene.
“You… George must have told you about Fred.”
Hermione’s voice was soft, nearly carried off by the wind.
“Molly — George and Fred’s mother — she can’t bear to lose another Weasley. Not anymore.”
“Before she saw Victoire, she nearly fainted from crying.”
Chloe tilted her head to look at her.
This was the Hermione Granger Michael always talked about, nearly all-powerful inside the Ministry of Magic, and right now her face was worn through, her eyes heavy with grief that went down a long way.
It struck Chloe, suddenly, that this legendary witch had never truly walked out of the war’s shadow either.
Hermione drew a slow breath and continued.
“And Teddy… Teddy is the last family Harry has left.”
She turned to Chloe, and her eyes were full of something unguarded and genuine.
“Thank you for protecting them.”
In a sense, the gratitude was earned.
If Chloe hadn’t put out the ground-floor flames when she did, the door would have burned through in minutes.
Even with water in the bathroom, those three children would have died from the heat or the steam.
But she didn’t want to carry the weight of it.
She knew exactly what fear they were measuring her against.
“I didn’t really do that much.”
Chloe let out a quiet breath, her gaze drifting toward Harry and Ron, talking low a short distance away.
She had a vague suspicion the fire had been brought under control so quickly not entirely thanks to the fire brigade.
The trucks had still been stuck in traffic when she arrived.
They must have used magic.
“You did more than enough.” Hermione looked at her steadily, gratitude plain in her voice, and something close to apology underneath it.
“Molly and the others were just so frantic… there was no chance to thank you properly. Tomorrow, they’ll come find you. I’m sure of it.”
“I really don’t need,”
Chloe started to wave it off, but before she could finish, another voice cut through.
“Thank you, Dr. Aiken.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
Harry walked quickly toward them, though he stopped at a deliberate distance, close enough to speak, far enough that Chloe wouldn’t have to tilt her head back to look up at him.
His expression was full of guilt and grave sincerity.
“Is there anything I can do to repay you? Please don’t hesitate, whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
Chloe looked at that face, so close to self-reproach, and felt something in her ease just slightly.
She shook her head.
“There’s really no need, Mr. Potter.” Calm.
Steady.
“What matters most right now is getting back to Teddy. After a sudden traumatic event like this, children are likely to show a brief stress response, they’ll want to stay close to the people they trust, and they won’t want to let each other out of sight.”
Harry’s expression tightened immediately.
“Then what should I do? What do I need to watch for?”
“Don’t worry.” Chloe kept her voice even.
“George Weasley has my number. If anything comes up with the children, call me anytime. I’ll walk you through it.”
Harry visibly exhaled.
His gaze moved to Hermione.
“Go on ahead,” Hermione said, with a nod.
“The children are all at the Burrow. I’ll handle things here.”
“Boss!”
The shout came out of nowhere.
Chloe startled and looked up to find Michael jogging toward them.
Michael spotted Chloe at the same moment and froze, eyes going wide before he could stop them.
Then he caught the nearly invisible signal in her glance, and immediately acted as though he’d never seen her before in his life.
“Boss.” Michael stopped in front of Harry.
“We’ve already gotten word. Head back, I’ll take care of the rest here.”
Harry finally looked like something had lifted off him.
He let out a long breath and clapped Michael on the shoulder.
Then he turned to Chloe.
“This is Michael Maddy. Dr. Aiken, if you need anything at all, come to him.”
Chloe nodded.
Courteous.
Composed.
After Harry left, Hermione and Chloe exchanged phone numbers.
Chloe was mildly surprised that Hermione had a Muggle mobile, then thought about it for a second.
Hermione had grown up in a Muggle household.
Of course.
“Let Michael walk you home,” Hermione said, in a tone that didn’t leave much room to argue.
“That’s right, Miss Aiken. Let me take you home. You shouldn’t be out alone.”
The moment they were out of Hermione and Ron’s sight, Michael dropped it completely.
“Sis! What are you doing here?! You came to a fire scene without telling me,”
Chloe gave him a look.
“Save it. Get out that stick of yours and dry my clothes and get the ash off. I am not going home and having Maria interrogate me about why I look like I just crawled out of a burning building.”
Michael shrugged and pulled out his wand, casting the cleaning spell without further argument.
“This is so strange,” he muttered as he worked.
“Having to pretend we don’t know each other in front of Hermione Granger and the boss.”
“I didn’t expect to run into Harry Potter’s godson either,” Chloe said, frowning.
“Or end up tangled up with the entire Weasley family. Getting personally entangled with a client is a serious problem.”
She stopped walking.
“And, you’ll find out what caused the fire soon enough, won’t you?”
Michael nodded.
“We will.”
“Tell me the moment you do.”
Michael didn’t understand why.
He agreed anyway.
When they reached an intersection, Chloe stopped.
“This is far enough. Don’t let Maria find out we’ve been in contact.”
Michael let out a long-suffering sigh and stamped one foot against the pavement.
“We’re siblings! Why do we have to hide everything from everyone!”
“Just accept it, sweetie.” Chloe laughed, took his face in both hands, and pressed a loud kiss to his cheek.
“It’s our fate.”
➤ Next: Aftermath of the Fire
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