The feeling of having a demon inside was an odd one, to say the least. After she woke up, Hermione felt Rukh inside of her, moving around her organs and stroking her muscles like mist caresses the skin in the morning hours of an autumn day, just on the inside. Every move, every breath reminded Hermione that the demon was making herself a home inside of her. When her lungs expanded, the mist moved along lazily, like stretchy cloth wrapped around her ribs.

As much as Rukh was connected to her body, her mind had yet to connect with Rukh's. Hermione felt when Rukh showed interest or was amused by something. Small emotional peaks like that came to her mind like distant memories and vanished just as fast. Especially the dining manners of Ron made the demon girl laugh in Hermione's mind, while she herself was rather put off by the way in which the redhead stuffed his roastbeef into his mouth.

Talking to the demon girl proved to be impossible. Whenever she tried to communicate she felt a barrier between them. When Rukh answered she did so unintelligible as if she talked through several layers of pillows. It frustrated Hermione greatly to be limited to the demons messages over the physical representation of her, the book. On the bright side, her messages became clearer, her sentences longer so that conversation was possible.

Those conversations circled around the only two things on Hermiones mind and whenever she thought she found an answer to them, Rukh immediately brought up another point that just shoved another layer of complexity on the matter.

On one hand, Hermione was horrified by suddenly being, at least in the eyes of the law, a dark witch and that she could face up to a lifetime in Azkaban, depending on how hard it was to exorcise the demon from her body. This alone gave her sleepless nights and made her paranoid of speaking. What if a careless word slipped her tongue, what if there are spells that could detect her, for a lack of better words, infection and what – by Merlin and Morgana – would happen if she couldn't move through the Hogwarts wards?

But then her mind twisted around and the pale, beautiful face of Rukh grinned at her.

Is creator of fear and horror? What does she fear, what makes her cower when she has power at her hands?

The words of the demon had rung in her mind since she stood up and they hadn't yet stopped. Even through dinner, Hermione thought about the sentence.

What does she fear, what makes her cower when she has power at her hands?

Hermione had to admit that she lied to herself when she wondered what the demon meant by the 'power at her hands'. Rukh had meant herself and the magic that came with her. Hermione felt it just like she felt the mist that was Rukh. Her magic was in turmoil, like a pond that got a boulder thrown into it and began to resettle itself around the boulder, making it part of the pond.

All this pondering made her worried, scared and paranoid, but also, curious. What could Rukh do? Hermione knew next to nothing about Grimoires or how they worked, let alone what living Grimoires could do. She shuddered when she realized that she also had no idea how this whole thing would change her. Would there be physical changes, maybe even visible changes?

She stabbed the last remaining piece of beef on her plate with a force that killed the cow a second time, before angrily munching away on the meat. She'd have to revisit the attic and she had to figure out what would happen. Not knowing brought upon her this mess in the first place.

"Hermione? Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes...I'm...yes." she stuttered even before she saw who spoke to her. A concerned looking Tonks faced her and it seemed like Hermione's answer didn't convince her.

"You seem distant. Is there something on your mind?" she asked. Then she looked around the room and made sure that the other people in the kitchen wouldn't listen in. "Is it because Harry is coming tonight?"

Hermione startled. She had completely forgotten about Harry's arrival. Her eyes went wide when she remembered that she had never written to him. Oh, and was Tonks just suggesting that she fancied Harry?

"No, no... I'm just..." she stuttered but couldn't get another word out. Not until the mist in her body began to move and Hermione felt it throbbing in her tung and her jaw. She tried to hold back, but she couldn't help it as her lower face was out of her control.

"Actually, yes. Do you think...? I mean... I really don't want this to get between me and Ginny."

Tonks beamed at her and waved it off. "Oh. Isn't Ginny interested in that Thomas boy?"

"I think they have some sort of... well, they like each other."

"Like you and Harry?" the pink haired Auror asked while sporting a smile from one ear to the other.

To answer that Rukh made the corners of Hermione's mouth go slightly upwards. Not nearly enough to call it a smile, but enough to tell Tonks that she was right.

"Alright then. I'm off. Moody and the others are waiting. See you later." With that Tonks left the kitchen and made her way to the front door. At the same time Rukh left Hermiones jaw and gave her tung free.

Hermione sprung up and had to force herself not to run to her room.

Harry's arrival was, to say the least, uncomfortable. Over her own problem she had completely forgotten about her friend who had to endure weeks of boredom and aversion just to be attacked by a dementor at the end of it.

The Ministry's reaction had made her angry at first. It was just another display of the flexibility of the magical law in the eyes of the powerful. Minister Fudge wanted Harry gone from the magical society and apparently had no problem with acting like a totalitarian dictator in order to make it happen. When her anger subsided, she has only been able to think about what they'd do with her if they'd ignore the laws for a case of underage magic, even if it was Harry Potter's case.

And to top it all off, both of his friends hadn't written a single line to Harry. Sure, Dumbledore had told them not to include valuable information about the Order or the intelligence they had gathered. But both Ron and Hermione hadn't even asked how he's doing. Hermione wasn't sure why Ron hadn't written. She blamed it on his naturel of forgetting about these things. It frustrated her greatly, however, that she had a perfectly good explanation with no one to share it with.

"I didn't write you because I got an 'O' on dark magicks." Now, that wouldn't sit right with him, she reckoned.

This night Hermione didn't go up into the attic to read. She lay in her bed and waited to fall asleep in order to get eye to eye with the demon. It has been a challenge to conceal her anger at Rukh. And not just her anger, also her insecurity and the constant self-doubt after the incident. She had hugged Harry tightly when the dust had settled. Sure, he was still irritated, but he quickly let her come closer. What has been her own doing and when had Rukh some part in the play that left Ginny fuming at her?

Once again she sat on the freshly mown lawn in front of the medieval cottage. The grasslands surrounding her moved slowly in the wind and the mountains at the horizon looked just as majestic as the last time she saw them.

The only imperfection was the small heap of misery that sat next to the cottage, with the arms around her shins and her face hidden between them and her hair. Her skin wasn't as perfect and pale as the last time. She had small wounds all over her body and bruises that shone blue through her skin.

Hermione slowly stood up and walked towards the demon. Rukh flinched but remained at her place, trying to become an even smaller ball.

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked in a neutral tone, even though she was a bit concerned for the demon girl.

"This one lost. Rukh acknowledges your power, creator."

"Uhm... I think I can't follow?" Hermione let go of the neutral look and instead faced Rukh with obvious confusion.

"Rukh tried to take over and creator punished her, what is there not to follow?" the demon said in anger and lifted her head to meet Hermiones eyes. One eye was swollen and the sapphire blue mixed with red as if she had received a fierce punch to the face.

"Punished you? You took over alright – and we're talking about this too – and then you stayed silent. I never punished you."

Rukh shook her head and rolled her eyes, making Hermione feel like she had just missed something very obvious. "Creator was angry at Rukh and this one tried to fight. This one thought that creator was weak, but creator is strong and beat her to a pulp."

Rukh stood up, but remained in a cowering posture. Her head still hung low and her shoulders were close to her head while her arms seemed ready to defend against an attack. "This one serves you from now on. Rukh was worried, but she is no more. How can this one serve?"

"For starters, tell me why you thought its necessary to enforce the believe that I fancied Harry."

"Creator doesn't? There is such warmth every time she thinks about the marked one. Rukh just tried to move towards the warmth." the demon answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Alright... but, don't!" Hermione ordered. "I can't start a relationship with Harry. No way."

"Why not?" the demon asked. She moved closer to Hermione, still bowed, but her face clearly lit up in interest. "Is it the same with the marked one as it is with Rukh?"

"What do you...? No. I just don't have feelings for..." but Hermione stopped mid-sentence when she saw the demon slowly raising her right eyebrow. She threw up her hands in surrender and angrily turned her back on Rukh. "Fine! Its not like there is any use in lying to you, is there?"

"No, not really. This one sees what creator feels. Whatever creator longs for is this ones surrounding. Creator may be powerful, but she is unable to hide her emotions and desires."

"Oh, what do you even know?" Hermione huffed, feeling incredibly exposed. Didn't the demon just say that she won over her? It certainly didn't feel like it.

"Rukh knows that the touch of the marked one makes her heart race. Rukh knows that creator longs for his touch. So... this one wonders, why doesn't she go for it?"

"You know that as well, I suppose." Hermione spat back. "Don't ask me questions you know the answer to."

"This one knows, but doesn't understand. Knowledge without understanding is rather useless, doesn't creator agree?"

"What don't you understand, Rukh? Is it that I can't possibly barge into this, risking my place within my second family? Is it that even if I wanted to, I'd have no chance against Ginny Weasley?" Hermione spun around and gestured at her body. "Look at me and then use my eyes to look at Ginny Weasley. And lets not forget about the myriad of other girls that... Rukh?"

Hermione stopped her rant when the demon girl suddenly collapsed before her, holding her belly. She ran towards Rukh but stopped in her tracks as she saw a puddle of black liquid soil the grass beneath Rukh. "What... Rukh, what? Are you alright?"

"This one is sorry. Rukh didn't want creator to be angry at her. This one..." but she couldn't speak more because Hermione lay a finger on her mouth and pulled her into her lap and a tight hug of her right arm. With careful hands she removed Rukh's from the wound and looked at it. A sharp intake of breath was followed by a whispered "I'm so sorry." Rukh couldn't hear it as the sensation of being wrapped in her creators arms was a rather overwhelming one. Hermiones body pressed against her own and she could feel that Hermione never meant to hurt her.

A sharp pain let her snap out of her stupor. The wound began to close like all the others before and it did so hurting as much as her previous wounds. Rukhs face twisted into a pained visage and not even the tight hug and the incredible feeling of Hermiones magic was able to distract her. Her flesh closed slowly and soon the blood stopped running from her belly. Not long after that, the wound was completely closed and Rukh was able to roll from Hermiones lap and stand up, even though her stand was rather unsteady. She collected her thought and the realization that Hermione didn't mean to hurt her let her crack a weak smile. If she couldn't take over, she at least had a somewhat comfortable home within her. Even if her creator still had much to learn. But then again, Rukh thought, so had she. Shaking off the warm feelings she startled when she thought about how close she had come to her creators core.

"Creator... m-must not touch Rukh like... l-like this again." she stuttered, still a bit shaking from the pain.

Hermione still kneeled before her, looking worriedly at her. "Why not? You seemed to calm down when I did so."

"We must not merge our essences, creator."

"What do you mean...cores?" Hermione asked slowly. She had heard of some theories she had dismissed as stuff the Quibbler would write about. "You don't mean the so called, magical cores, do you?"

"The cores of our souls, the middle of our existence, not our magic. We must not merge or else we will both loose ourselves." Rukh answered in a tone that left no room for doubt. The demon girl was serious and her look made it all the more clear.

But still, Hermione wasn't quite satisfied with this bit of information. "What are these cores, exactly? I mean... aren't you in my soul, already? Haven't we already merged?"

Rukh shook her head no. "No. This one took residence in between creators mind, body, magic and soul. Rukh becomes her fifth part, completing her. This one doesn't know what happens when the essences merge, but she is sure its nothing good."

"I see." Hermione nodded. That was certainly uninformative. "I expected you to know more about this subject, to be honest." she added with a rather disappointed tone.

"Rukh is sorry. But this one is so young, how would she know?"

"I reckoned you'd picked up on some knowledge back where you came from." Hermione replied.

Rukh looked Hermione in the eyes with a questioning look. It took a while but then the demon nodded as if she just found something out. "Creator doesn't know where this one comes from, yes?"

"You said something about the 'between' but honestly, I have no idea what you mean by that."

"It is the place between the living and the dead. There is no knowledge there, just fleeting emotions and desires in between the nothingness. My brethren and I live of the bit of mind and magic that surrounds the passing souls, but there is no learning there." Rukh stopped and looked away to the mountains. "This one can't remember how nothing felt, now that she knows how living feels. Also, this ones first thoughts were given by creator. This is why Rukh names her creator."

"So...what you're saying is that you didn't live, didn't think before I summoned you? But you knew about the cores in the first place. Its not like... Or could it be?" Hermione stopped and closed her eyes to think more clearly.

"The knowledge is within the deepest corners, the oldest memories of creators self. Rukh looked there first. There are many things creator seemed to have forgotten from her time before."

"The time before?" Hermione asked. "And what knowledge. Are you speaking about reincarnation?"

Rukh shook her head. "This one is talking about... fundamental... knowledge that is within. Rukh isn't sure how to say, doesn't understand herself."

"So all your knowledge is basically mine, just not easily accessible for me?" Hermione summarized. "That means..."

"It is what the book speaks about, is it not?" Rukh shrugged as she spoke what Hermione thought. "It is as big as its needed and forgets the spells the sorcerer and summoner wants to forget while saving the knowledge the summoner needs to remember. It holds as treasures the moments that define the summoner and keeps these memories to form the character of its owner."

Hermione nodded at the familiar words. This was it, but much – much more than she had interpreted into these words before. She had thought that the book meant knowledge in a sense of 'things the summoner had learned' but it obviously went much deeper. The knowledge of the cores was prove enough that there was something within her she didn't know of, but Rukh was able to harness. Given that the demon was honest with her.

Suddenly a wind blew over the fields and made the grasslands around them dance as waves in the breeze that quickly became a storm.

"What now?" Hermione sighed.

"Creator is being woken up." Rukh stated. "Its the girl...Ginny."

"Oh, no. She's probably going to..." Hermione started but before she could say more her eyes flew up and she looked up to a frowning Ginny. Scratch that, she looked up to a Ginny that looked like she had cried for hours.

"Tell me the truth!" she hissed with a venom. "Do you fancy Harry or don't you?" Her question was merely a disguise for the accusation behind her words. Hermione didn't register her words immediately. Being woken like that, especially when she had been inside her own mind, was disorienting to say the least.

"I... er... Ginny..." she stuttered, but her mouth was dry and the words got stuck in her throat.

"Don't you dare! You know I like him. You know how much he means to me!" she spat back, her voice still down but nonetheless bold.

This time, Rukh asked if she was allowed to handle it. The mist crept through her neck and throat but never took control. When Hermione let a simple 'No' go through her mind, the mist went back to settle down around her organs. This was Ginny, after all, she would handle it.

"Ginny! I don't fancy Harry. Period." she said with finality in her voice.

Ginny visibly relaxed but didn't move from Hermiones bed. She took in breath and then opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again with a shake of her head. Somewhat defeated looking she made her way back to her bed and laid down to sleep.

Hermione did so as well and hoped she would be able to finish her conversation with Rukh. But sleep would have to wait. The mist crept along her spine and, at least that was how it felt to Hermione, asked for entry. She allowed the mist to make her way around her brain and settle down between her skull and brain mass. She somehow knew that Rukh wasn't doing something dangerous, or harmful and it felt oddly comforting. The mind of the demon seemed to be right next to hers, listening to her every thought and whispering into Hermiones ears.

"Creator lied to the other witch. Why?" came the ethereal voice of Rukh through Hermiones mind like a memory of something she had heard seconds ago.

"Because its..." Hermione couldn't continue. Using the word 'truth' would just make Rukh roll her eyes. Of course it wasn't the truth, Hermione admited to herself. But she also knew that Ginny Weasley would never forgive her if she tried to – what exactly? She wouldn't steal Harry. They weren't together, nor even close to it. She sighed in her mind. There was no point to it anyway. If not for Ginny Weasley, then for Molly Weasley. The matriarch of the Weasley family could be cunning about it, when she wanted, but it was clear that she wanted Harry Potter as her son in law. Not for his money, not for his fame, but for the same reasons Hermione became his friend. He was kind, loving, loyal, brave and, she had to be honest with herself, he began to become quite the handsome man. She shunned herself and banished the thoughts from her mind, forcing herself to think about something different. Maybe she could continue her conversation like this?

"Rukh. About what we talked..."

"Its cold, creator. This one shivers. We should rest." interrupted Rukh and before Hermione could respond, the mist moved away from her head and back into her abdomen where it lazily surrounded her organs again.

There were no more conversations with the demon this night. Hermione slept a dreamless sleep.

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