A/N: Just a reminder, I don't own these characters or locations. I'm just playing with them. Since I'm playing around with them… Voldy never came back, there was no battle, Death Eaters are either in Azkaban or "reformed", obviously the ones who died in the battle of Hogwarts are still alive, without Death Eaters for parents, most of the children aren't prejudice against muggleborns, Harry never went to the Dursley's he was raised by Sirius and Remus, Ron isn't Harry's best mate, Ron is mostly self centered and because of this no one really likes him as much as he thinks, Dumbledore is alive and as manipulative as ever for his own entertainment… and now onto the story.
Ch. 1 - Discoveries
She stood staring at the door for what felt like hours. There was nothing special about the door. It was only an old, plain, wooden door, but she could feel the wards and charms placed over the entire room behind that door. That was why Hermione Granger stood alone in a long forgotten and abandoned corridor in the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tilting her head slightly to the right she made her decision. She would break into that room if it took the entirety of her 6th and last year at the school.
Everyday for two weeks Hermione would sneak away from her Heads Dorm that she shared with Head Boy Draco Malfoy. It sounded easy enough, but Draco was more observant than anyone gave him credit for. After the fourteenth night, Draco casually asked Hermione where she was sneaking off to every night after they completed their rounds. To say she was shocked at his blunt question would be a gross understatement. Hermione took a few moments to ponder the consequences of confiding in her new friend and decided to go for it. Hermione explained about the warded door, leaving out it's location so that if anything happened he would have some sort of deniability. To his credit, Draco listened to everything Hermione had to say before he opened his mouth. Thinking that he was going to call her an idiot for letting a door turn into an obsession, Hermione was surprised to hear Draco wish her luck with dismantling the wards and also in not finding anything dangerous behind that door.
Six weeks and three days after first setting eyes on the old wooden door, Hermione took down the first ward. She had taken a total of three charms off the door in the previous weeks. A Repelling charm, a Notice-Me-Not charm, and a very nasty little shocking charm that she never knew existed. It was quite curious that the Repelling and Notice-Me-Not charms didn't seem to work on her. Now with the first ward out of the way as well, Hermione could feel multiple layers of wards on the room and door. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Hermione called it a day and headed back to her dorm for a nice hot soak in the insanely large bathtub of her shared bathroom.
"Mi, you're back later than usual. I'm guessing you made some more progress." Draco commented without looking up from his homework as she walked through the portrait.
"Yes. The first ward is down. I felt at least five more. There has to be something incredible in there Draco. There's no other reason for this much security. These wards feel old, not ancient by any means but old. Probably decades have past without these wards being disturbed." Hermione replied as she sat down on the large sofa in front of the fireplace. Draco, who was settled on the floor with his homework spread out around him, finally looked up.
"Will you be working on them again tomorrow? I'm having company and I still haven't come up with a plausible lie as to where you are at that time of night. I suppose I could always tell Harry you have found some blokes bed to warm." Draco smirked.
"Ha ha. If you tell him that, he would never believe another word from your mouth. I'll think of something. And you're supposed to be the Slytherin here." Hermione said as she stood from the sofa. "I'm going to bed. I'll make sure to come back extra late tomorrow if you will remember the silencing charm. I don't want a repeat of last time." With a shiver, Hermione made her way to the bath before retiring for the night. Draco went back to his homework and hoped Hermione got through the rest of the wards quickly. While he supported her curious mind he was a little worried about what would be so security locked away.