DISCLAIMER: Sorry to disappoint, but I must admit that I do not own Harry Potter. I know, I know, it's a tragedy...
Wha
July 19, 1997
Hermione surveyed the ingredients set out on the long table before her. She had discovered the ingredients in a storage cupboard during one of her searches of the house. She also found the room she was currently in which appeared to be an old potion making room. She only hoped that Sirius didn't mind her using it too terribly.
She pulled her hair back into a tight bun as she walked around to the small burner. She struck a match, lighting the burner and heaving the large cauldron over top of the flames. That done, she pulled back and removed her overcoat. It was bound to get hot and she despised getting all sweaty.
She moved back to the table and scooped up some of the ginger roots and inserted them into the cauldron. She would have to let them set for eight minutes so that the juices could cook out of them. In the meantime, she could prepare the other ingredients.
She grabbed a slicing knife and a long strip of dragon hide. Carefully, she cut smaller strips about one centimetre in width and twelve centimetres in length. That done, she moved on to the black beetle eyes, smashing them in a pewter dish.
She carefully spread the smashed mixture onto the strips of dragon hide and rolled them like one would do a sleeping bag. Then, she dropped them into a bowl of salamander blood to allow them to soak for ten minutes.
She checked the ginger roots and found them to be drained of the juices. She removed the dry roots, leaving the juice in the cauldron, and placed them off to the side. She then grabbed up a handful of fluxweed and added it to the cauldron.
She stirred the mixture for nine minutes until she could add the dragon hide rolls. She placed them in one at a time, carefully stirring clockwise once between each one. When she had added seven, she peered into the cauldron- a dark red.
Good, she was right on track.
Next she inserted four drops of erumpent fluid, waiting until all the steam had rolled off before dropping in two doxy eggs. She stirred that for two minutes while pouring a gradual flow of pomegranate juice into the cauldron.
Green- almost ready.
She would have to let it sit for six minutes now before adding the final ingredient. She waited the allotted time and then added a whole flask of belladonna extract.
Black, the darkest shade imaginable- perfect.
Hermione removed the cauldron from over the flames and set it off to the side to cool for ten minutes. She wiped the sweat away from her forehead. Though the potion was relatively quick to make, it was a tedious task because if you did one thing wrong, the effects could be fatal.
She had full confidence in herself, though. Well, she was sure she knew that she had it right. After all, she had seen Snape make the same potion last year, though he hadn't known she had been watching him.
She unbuttoned a few of the buttons on her shoulder and walked over to the small window, gazing out at the grounds. She would have to be quick about this if she didn't want Sirius to find her and stop her for she was pretty sure he would try to do just that.
The timer went off. It was time to see whether she was at good at potions as she had previously thought. If she wasn't, it'd probably cost more than she'd care to pay.
She dipped the ladle into the potion and filled a plain cup to the rim. The mixture gave off a foul smell and was steaming still. She wasn't fooled. Some argued that things that looked foul tasted good and pretty things tasted foul. Not so, she thought. She usually found that foul looking things tasted just that- foul.
Closing her eyes, she tipped the cup back and drank the entire content before she could stop. When it was completely drained, she found herself shocked. It tasted of the sweetest form of chocolate one could possibly ever find.
And then the tingly sensation shot through her, causing her body to lock up and her eyes to glaze open as the cup clattered to the floor, echoing in the small room. Her body collapsed on her as her mind whirled with one memory after another…
A lone woman was walking down the corridor, the same woman who appeared in the pictures with Sirius. There came an excited shriek that caused the woman to groan and force a smile upon her lips before turning to greet the cheerful place of Hogwarts' resident Potion Master, Horace Slughorn.
"Hello, Professor Slughorn," she said in an all to pleasant voice, but of course Slughorn didn't notice the falseness in her greeting.
He greeted her with a large grin. "I have been trying my hardest to talk to you since I first heard that you came here but you are a very hard person to track down."
She bit her lips as she about said, 'Maybe because I've been avoiding you,' and instead said, "I'm very sorry, Professor, that you've went to all that trouble to find me and now that you have that I have no time to talk. I must really be off…."
o-o
The woman was now walking down the corridor with Albus Dumbledore. They came to the gargoyle that guarded his office and she waited while he stated the password.
They allowed the steps to spiral them upward, the silence descending upon them as they travelled to his office. As the steps stopped, she turned to look at the mahogany door with the white phoenix door knocker that seemed to be blazing with fury.
"It can detect loss," Dumbledore informed her. "Though you are most likely to find a red phoenix, the white phoenix does exist and their powers are slightly different."
"Different?" the woman asked softly, still gazing at the white bird that was now beating its' wings, white and gold flames shooting from the tips. The phoenix's blazing gold eyes looked as if they, too, were on fire.
"The white phoenix, so rare that it is, can detect a death that is too early for their time. It is rumoured that if a white phoenix flies above the grave of one who died before their time before they are laid to rest in the ground or cast on fire," Dumbledore went on, "that the dead will rise once again, so powerful are the tears."
o-o
The woman was with Sirius this time. They were standing in front of the wall that would produce the Room of Requirements. She waited while he walked back and forth three times in front of the wall, his head towards the floor. The door appeared suddenly and Sirius glanced at it unsure, clearly not knowing whether he wanted to go in anymore or not.
She waited patiently, but he stood still. With a sigh, she brushed past him and took a hold of the doorknob, turning it quick and fast before he could stop her. But as the door opened, Hermione stopped, her eyes wide.
She took a small step into the room, looking about her in amazement. She took a slow breath, letting it out slowly, her mouth turning up at the sides slightly. Her fingers outstretched, afraid to touch anything in the room.
As she stepped into the very centre of the room, she turned slowly to Sirius, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "Did you do this?" she asked softly, her voice trembling.
He stared at her as if he was afraid he had done something wrong and slowly nodded his head, taking a small step towards her almost timidly. She saw the fear in his eyes, the fear that she would hate it, the fear that she would reject him.
She let her eyes roam over the endless amount of books that lined the walls in tall, mahogany bookshelves. Also adorning the walls were photographs, some of them the same ones that had appeared that day that Sirius had brought her to her perfect world here. Others, however, were of them, the Marauders and her.
o-o
The woman was walking down a corridor in Hogwarts. The windows showed that it was still dark outside. She looked a little older now, and a little wiser.
"You look a little worse for wear."
Startled, the woman looked around, taking in her surroundings. "Hello Falco."
"You don't sound too thrilled for a girl madly in love," he commented with a knowing glance. The woman frowned with a glint in her eyes.
"Cut the small talk, Falco. I know you've heard, though I honestly have no idea how you could have, so why don't you just get to the point and say what you want to say."
He looked at her and smiled. "Good job."
She stared at him, dumbstruck. "Good job?" she repeated.
"Yes, I totally agree with what you did."
"You do?"
"Yes, of course I do. He had no right to order you to stay home." He shook his head disbelievingly. "The nerve of him to freeze you to your own couch like that while he went off to fight."
She automatically opened her mouth to defend Sirius and stopped. "You are a wicked, vile man Falco Aesalon," she alleged, her eyes narrowing as she stood with her hand on her hips.
o-o
"Did you and Black get into it again? Pity, I always thought that you could do better than him anyways."
The woman almost smiled at the sound of the voice, ignoring the comment he made about Sirius. He was making her job too easy. "Actually, no. I just felt like getting out and we are doing just fine, thank you."
She heard him made a disapproving sound in his throat and did smile. She also heard him order a shot of red currant rum from Tom who immediately had it sitting before him.
She turned her head to the side to stare into the icy eyes of Lucius Malfoy. "You and Narcissa get into it?"
He shook his head and shot back the rum in one swing, swallowing the liquid quickly before ordering another. "Draco is almost a year old and he still cries constantly."
She grinned at him and even managed a soft chuckle as she refrained from patting him on the shoulder. "He'll cry for a while, Lucius. In fact, he'll probably whine the rest of his life, always wanting something. That's how kids are."
He shook his head again and signalled for a third drink. "I told her that we weren't having anymore. I have an heir, I don't need any more."
She watched as he quickly tossed back another one. "You might change your mind one day," she said even as she realized that he never would.
"No," he replied adamantly. "Never in a million years will I ever have another child. Narcissa is just going to have to accept that."
She smiled at him. "What are you doing here, Lucius?"
He smirked. "Actually, I'm here because you have been sitting here for two and a half hours waiting for me to show up so that you could follow me around like the Ministry instructed you to do."
o-o
It was dark outside and the woman was running towards something. She rounded the side of one house and pulled to a stop quickly. Before her stood no less than twenty Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. They were gathered in a graveyard beside of the village, the mists swirling around their feet.
Before Voldemort was two Death Eaters, bowing low before their lord. He had his wand extended towards them and they looked as if they were about to fall over. His red eyes were trained on them as he talked in a low, menacing voice.
Then, his red eyes snapped up to meet hers and she knew that he had sensed her there, though he could not see her. He snapped at his Death Eaters and they hurriedly disappeared into the darkness, disapparating back to their homes.
When they were the only two left, he allowed his wand arm to drop down to his side. "Come out, Hermione, we are alone."
She allowed the Disillusion charm to drop and stepped out of the shadows. When she came to the edge of the graveyard, she stopped. "Not exactly the most lovely of places to hold meetings," she said steadily as she left her wand in his sight.
"Might not be," he returned, "but you must admit that no one would ever expect that I, Lord Voldemort, would hold his meetings in a graveyard."
"You'd be surprised."
He swept his arm forward to indicate that she should come into the graveyard. She only hesitated a second before stepping forward and through the short fence that enclosed it.
"I'm actually surprised that you are here," he said after a moment. He began to walk slowly towards her, his steps slow and yet threatening. "It's not everyday that I have an influential Ministry member show up here during a meeting."
"Maybe you should rethink your location. People are noticing the strange occurrences happening here and have reported it."
"And so they sent one Auror to investigate," he said, his voice full of amusement as his red eyes landed on her, measuring her. "What kind of employers intentionally send their best fighter out on a dangerous mission that could result in death?"
She appeared as if she was fighting back a laugh. "Are you serious? Do you not see the similarity between the Ministry and yourself?"
"Actually, Hermione, we are completely different. For one, my followers are not my employees. They do what I wish willingly without any promised compensation." He strode closer to her and reached out one hand to capture a lose tendril blowing slightly in the breeze beside her ear. "Second, even though I do send my Death Eaters out to perform dangerous tasks, I never send them alone."
He was right, she realized. He had never sent a Death Eater in alone to complete a mission for him…never. So what did that mean?
"I wonder," he said slowly, wrapping the wild curl around his finger, "what you did to make them mad. Perhaps you protested one too many times, eh?"
He leaned in closer. "The only question left is- who did you piss off?"
And with that, he disapparated from the graveyard, leaving her alone.
o-o
Hermione woke up with a startled gasp, her eyes wide. There were many more memories before the last but it was the one that stuck in her mind.
Her eyes alerted her to a movement in the far corner of the room and she found Sirius leaning against the wall merely watching her. She met his gaze but didn't dare to move.
"Sirius?" she questioned after a few moments when he didn't move or speak.
He didn't say anything for a moment or two as he lowered his eyes to the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. "You shouldn't have done that."
She looked away, unexplained tears prickling at the back of her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered softly, though she wasn't completely sure as to what she was apologizing for.
He didn't say anything as he shoved off the wall and stalked out of the room. She didn't look at him, she didn't move- she just sat there drowning in her tears.
AmAyAtHeGrEaTlOvEsToSiNgOfFkEy
July 26, 1997
Hermione and Sirius entered a silent dance, tactfully going about their business while avoiding each other as much as humanly possible. If she fixed the meals, she would leave him some out and he would do the same if he fixed the meal.
When he was meant to pass on a message, he would leave a short note on her door. Usually, though, she received all her information by owl since she was still getting updates from Harry.
Him and Ron had went out to find the rest of the Horcruxes without her…again. She didn't know whether they had purposefully left her behind or if someone had told them to. Either way, she was a bit miffed at them.
The hardest thing was probably the fact that she had no one to talk to. She wanted to discuss the dreams she viewed; she wanted answers.
But Sirius didn't appear as if he was going to. In fact, he seemed rather determined to just ignore the entire situation all together.
Well, she wasn't prepared to put up with his moping any longer. She needed to get out of there before she went completely insane. And that is how she found herself up in her room while Sirius was away at an Order meeting, packing a travel bag with some clothes and toiletries.
She just wanted a temporary break after all, not to leave completely.
She closed the bag and listened carefully for any sign of his return. Hearing none, she snuck down the stares and headed straight towards the sitting room where the fireplace was located.
So far so good. It appeared as if she might actually get out of there without him knowing. With them avoiding each other, he was bound not to notice her gone for a couple days and by then she'd probably be ready to return.
She looked around for the floo powder. Damn him, she cursed mentally, he had moved it! He probably had it hid somewhere so that she--
Wait, she was a witch! Bloody brilliant, Hermione, she chided herself as she drew her wand and said clearly, "Accio Floo Powder."
The large jar flew out of a small cupboard in the corner and into her awaiting hand. She carefully extracted a handful before replacing the jar.
She glanced around the room once again to make sure that there was nothing to give away the fact that she had left. Clean. Good, maybe she would get at least two good days in before he would notice her gone and send out a search party.
Now the only question that was left was- where to go?
She considered Declan's or Rachel's where she could hide out but they would get in trouble for concealing her if she was found out. No, she couldn't get them in trouble.
She guessed she could always go back to her house if she wanted to but she really didn't want to go back to all of those memories. Besides, that would probably be the first place they would search for her.
She sighed, she was really left with only one option. She could only hope that he wouldn't give her away, though she doubted he would unless it was necessary.
Picking up the travel bag, she stepped into the fireplace without a second thought. She tossed down the floo powder as she cried out destination, disappearing in the green flames.
A/N: I will tell you this: At least one of the memories is VERY IMPORTANT! Take note. It will come into play later on in the story. I know a lot of you were wondering why I killed Ginny when I could have changed it. To this I say: I hate Ginny (as I have stated numerous times)... as I hate Ron. I also felt that I had so many characters (main characters that is) at the moment that the loss of a few wouldn't hurt.
Thanks for sticking with me! Much love,
MiZZ AmAyA