Chapter 1

"No... What are you doing? ...What? ...NO!" Harry screamed, thrashing across his bed and falling heavily to the floor. Harry sat up panting, trying to untangle himself in the sheets. Somehow he had managed to get one corner tied around his foot. He grabbed his glasses off the nightstand, jamming them roughly on his face. After working on the knot for several minutes it came undone. Harry rubbed his foot and sat up.

Sixteen and I still can't sleep through the night, Harry thought wryly. He kept having nightmares about Sirius. It was less than a year ago from when he had stupidly led his friends to the Ministry of Magic. No one blamed him for Sirius' death, but Harry couldn't help grieving and feeling guilty. He fumbled for his wand and potions book.

Padding down the stairs he entered the deserted common room. He sat close to the dying fire and opened what had become his pastime. The Half-Blood Prince's textbook was useful for nights like these. He could practice whichever spells he pleased without Hermione sniffing at him. Harry ran his thumb lightly over the cracked and peeling spine of the book. Flipping the cover open at the back, he traced the crooked signature with a mixture of wonder and fear. Some part of him wanted to know who the person was that had aided him so many times in Potions. There was a niggling fear at the back of his mind that whispered his doubts back and forth, swirling among his thoughts.

Harry turned the pages swiftly and came across the last page that was dog-eared. Turning the page he peered into the margins and found several spells, charms and incantations. He tried out a hair flattening charm, but to no avail. His hair simply repelled the magic. Sighing with frustration he flicked his wand haphazardly and murmured the spell which was cramped in corner of the page showing how to brew the Draught of Living Death. "Mensalio Firmuscindo!" Nothing happened.

Harry yawned and closed the book with a sigh. Trudging up the stairs to his dormitory like a drunken man, he collapsed on his bed. Harry fell asleep instantly, glasses on, wand and book in hand. Turning over in his sleep, the book fell with a muffled thump, under the four poster bed. Harry slumbered on, unaware that his experimental magic had worked, unaware that the cloud of magic fumes were shifting and changing.

Back in the common room, the gas had changed from clear to a neon blue, and then to a dull purple. It swirled around in the faint stirrings of air and floated up the stairwell. It continued it's upwards rise when a breeze swept the magic under a door. The colourful fog was an iridescent green now and was moving slowly towards a window, where it could disperse into the wind harmlessly. A meter from the outside world a faint swirl made it veer to the left and over a snoring girl. Rolling over in her sleep, the girl sighed deeply and breathed in; wrinkling her nose slightly as the fumes tickled her face.

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"Where the hell is Hermione?" raged Ron. Harry and Ron had been waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour for her. They were supposed to go down to Hagrid's hut and Hermione had never been this late before. Harry yawned distractedly and slumped in one of the cushy armchairs. He rubbed his temples while Ron's voice rang in his ears. Finally Harry stood up and pushed Ron into a chair. Ron sputtered, turning redder by the second. Catching a second year by the arm, he asked her quietly if she could get Hermione. The little girl turned beet-red and nodded quickly. She scampered up the stairs, much to Harry's satisfaction.

Ron grumbled and looked up at Harry. "What?" Harry said, standoffishly. "Your fuming wasn't helping much." Ron stood up quickly, his fuse already lit.

"I'm sorry, Oh Great Chosen One," Ron spat back. Harry was about to retaliate when he noticed Ron's face go slack. Turning around, Harry nearly fainted. Several Hermiones had come down the stairs and walked out the door, all different. One Hermione made a beeline to the dumbstruck pair. This Hermione had her bushy hair pulled back into a severe bun, much like Professor McGonagall's. Perched on her nose was a tiny pair of glasses and she had the eyes much like a raven's, cool, logical, intellectual. She fixed her beady eyes on the two boys and pursed her lips.

"I can see what a great help you two idiots will be," Hermione said sarcastically. "I'm afraid we've got a problem. It seems something has happened to me...us... I haven't been able identify what enchantment was used, but I think I know what has happened. It appears that something has caused me...Hermione...to change."

"Really?" interjected Ron sarcastically. "I never would have guessed, I'm just so glad that-" Ron said, before Hermione cut him off, smacking him hard over the head with one of the many heavy volumes in her book bag.

"Violence is illogical, but time is of the essence. Please don't interrupt me again or I will use a heavier one." Hermione threatened, pushing the textbook back into her already bursting book bag. "Now, it appears that every copy of Hermione has retained a certain aspect of her. I, for example am her-"

"Bitchy side?" whispered Ron to Harry. A loud thwack accompanied his remark. Hermione had swung her book bag and clonked him over the head. Ron fell backwards onto a chair and looked up dazedly. "WHAT NOW?" he yelled at her.

"Just shut up and listen," Hermione said primly. "Now, I am her intellectual part. I come out during classes, when a problem arises and so on and so forth. The Hermione that you two knew is gone. Until this is reversed, we are just parts of her. Some of us may be unwilling to go back, as Hermione doesn't utilize them often. The longer they are left to themselves, the stronger they grow. We need to find all of them, fast, and find a way to reverse it before they leave the grounds or do something worse."

"Hermione is good though," Harry said slowly, "she wouldn't try to blow up the school or anything...Would she?"

"I would predict that it isn't too far out of the realm of possibility. No one is perfect and purely good, even Hermione has negative thoughts."

Ron groaned, and massaged his head. "How many are there?" he asked quietly.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Last I counted there were roughly seven. They were all moving and milling about. Also a few left early." Hermione mused.

"Hermione, I think we should split up and find them. If there are that many out there, going as a group won't be as time efficient." Harry said. While he spoke he sent Neville, Luna and Ginny a message using the DA galleons, feeling the coin grow hot in his palm.

"Harry, you need to understand this. I am not Hermione, I am part of Hermione. Calling us all Hermione will just confuse us. We should call the copies after what they are, rather than what they were. I am Smarts. As for the rest of your plan, I will remain here. Once you find a part of Hermione, bring it here. I need to run some tests and attempt a solution; I will also be able to restrain them easier in one place than on the run after another part of me."

Ron stood up, wand out. "Let's go, we're just wasting time." Ron tried to walk by but Smarts put up a hand.

"Give me your arm," she said. At Ron's quizzical look, she conjured a watch and fastened it around his wrist. The face of the watch was just a mirror however. "Tap it with your wand and say someone's name, that person's watch will show yours and you will be able to communicate throughout Hogwarts and the ground with it. And yes Harry, I did get the idea off your father's mirror."

Harry smiled at the thought of James and accepted the proffered watch from Smarts. He also took a few extra for the DA members that were going to help, passing a few to Ron. Before leaving he slipped one around Smarts' wrist, smiling. Smarts nodded briskly at set about clearing the room of furniture and conjuring curious looking equipment.

"Ready mate?" asked Ron nervously. Harry nodded and laughed.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you and Angry-Hermione talking," Harry said, as Ron paled.

A/N: Hi Everyone! This story's been clawing at my mind for awhile now. Now stop bugging me muse! I've started a blog were you can follow my writing progress and ask questions; the link is on my profile.

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