A/N: I do not own Harry Potter! I apologise for any mistakes I have made or missed. This is a very long chapter, I didn't want to break it up so I just kept writing. There is a bit of Tom at the end. However, no interaction between the two of them yet... possibly another two chapters yet. Need to get the background set.

Chapter 4: The Dig

Babylon Ruins, Hillah Iraq, 28th August 2013 Around 10am

The portkey sucked us in and pulled us through, finally depositing us in a heap on the desert ground. I sucked in a deep breath and got a lungful of sand. I coughed and wheezed trying to catch my breath while trying to ignore the nausea tugging at my insides, demanding attention.

Fuck, I hate portkeys.

What were they thinking using a rusty tin can?! How cheap could they get and not to mention the threat of tetanus. Everyone stood up looking around while brushing off the outrageous amount of dirt and sand on our clothes.

I couldn't help but smile, this is what I wanted, the freedom to discover, learn and explore. Off in the distance I can see a settlement, that must be our encampment. It looks like we are in a wide-open field. It is fairly flat and there is almost no grass, shrubs or trees of any kind. I remember reading that due to the high salinity of the soil here along the Euphrates, that not much grows in the way of vegetation or crops. I pull out my compass from my shorts pocket, the Tower of Babel is roughly to our west, with the Babylon ruins north west, both are maybe two kilometres away with Babylon being just a little further.

We've only been here for approximately 5 minutes and I already feel sweat running down my back. The heat is mildly oppressive, you can see the waves of heat emanating from the ground, making the air shimmer in a distorted haze.

"All right let's collect our stuff and make our way over towards that settlement, this heat is stifling", I called out to my colleagues.

"To right Hermione, we're British, this is unnatural for us", Tilly said as the small witch hoisted her backpack up over her shoulder, while looking on patiently as Sylvester and Elijah fiddled with their bag straps. It may not look like much, what we are carrying, but after much debate I managed to convince the Ministry to let us use the undetectable extension charm on our bags so we can carry all our equipment, plus our own personal items as well. Yes, we can just shrink everything, but that still doesn't address the limited space available in a bag or trunk. Needless to say, I got my way eventually. It's not as if they are the ones here trekking in 45-degree heat carrying all their luggage.

The four of us made our way towards the encampment in the sweltering heat. As we got closer, I reached out with my own magic to get a feel of the magic coming from the encampment. I could feel a muggle deterrent spell as well as a notice-me- not altered for muggles. We must have tripped some sort of silent alarm, because a few seconds later a group of wizards and witches appeared out of nowhere in front of us.

"Marhabaan, you are English witches and wizards are you no?", the witch who spoke appeared to be the team leader, she had a terribly thick Arabic accent I almost couldn't understand her.

I stepped forward to greet her, noticing the others in her group shifted marginally closer to her, thinking I possibly posed a threat. I raised my hand slowly so they could see I wasn't a threat and held it out for her to shake.

"Yes, we are, I'm Hermione Granger, the other members of my team are Sylvester, Elijah and Tilly. If it is not too much trouble could you show us around the encampment and where we could set up our tents? Our paperwork said there would be magical accommodation, but we brought some anyway as we have had a bad experience before where none were provided. It is terribly hot, and we are not used to this heat, it would be nice to freshen up a little bit", I realised I was rambling, but the stare this woman was giving me was reminiscent of the stern look Professor McGonagall gave me in third year as the boggart telling me I had failed all my classes. It frayed my nerves.

"'Tis ok, we will show you around, my name is Farzenah, the others are Josef, Shukir, Moh, Elias and Shara. If you need anything you can come to us or call for one of the Qazalsharqie and they will help you. Come, we will show you to your quarters", Farzenah, turned and ushered us along. The Qazalsharqie were the elves that are regional to the Middle East and some parts of Asia. They are similar in resemblance to elves we have in England, but they have more of a brown skin rather than grey, smaller more rounded ears and have their own traditional clothing they wear instead of pillow cases. I was not as naïve as I was in school, I do recognize that the elves have a place and in need of their own life purpose. I was essentially stripping them of that. I still fought for the right for them to have choices, and for that I am proud. However, I have let the need to free them die. They enjoy assisting a family, it is their home as well. Even Kreacher as ornery as he is, has perked up since Harry has essentially given him free reign to spruce up Grimmauld Place and that place needs a seriously good sprucing. I was interrupted in my musing by Farzenah pointing out the canteen tent, which was a long rectangular tent. Once inside, we could see it had one long table and benches like the Hogwarts house tables and another shorter table with currently empty platters, but at the end there was a bowl of fruit and some pitchers of juice and water. The tent must have had an advanced cooling charm on it because it felt like it was air conditioned.

"You can come and snack and have drink during the day or night any time. Jinna!", I was momentarily startled by her abruptly calling out the name. Seconds later an audible pop and a proud looking Qazalsharqie appeared, wearing some loose-fitting pants that reminded me of Aladdin, curl toed shoes and a vest with an elaborate paisley pattern embroidered on the material.

"This is Jinna, he is head elf to the encampment and will oversee the all activities to make sure everything run smoothly, breakfast will be promptly served at 6:30am, lunch at 1230 and dinner at 6pm. He will make sure your stay here is comfortable. Thankyou Jinna, you may go", the older looking elf bowed deeply and disappeared.

- "Come we will show you to your sleeping tents, they should be to your liking. While they are not fancy, they do have necessities and are clean. Two tents, one for the men and one for the women", Farzenah pointed in the direction of two circular looking tents, a dull grey and a forest green that we were walking towards.

"The tents are the same so whatever you prefer is your choice. I will give you leave for 1 hour to organise yourselves and we can meet back at the canteen tent for snack and drink, we can have a meeting about dig. Farewell", she bowed her head and turned on her heel, followed closely behind by her team members.

" Did anyone else find that weird or was it just me?", Sylvester said once they were out of ear shot. I wacked him playfully on the arm.

"Sly, stop it. It's just the cultural differences, we are guests and are being treated as such. So, don't be rude!", he smirked.

"Swot", I grinned widely.

"Ok ok stop fussing around, you two let's get our things unpacked and grab our dig notes", Tilly said interrupting our banter.

"Yes mum!", Elijah saluted as he entered the grey tent. I guess that meant Tilly and I were bunking in the green one. Tents…. they certainly brought back memories of the war, months of being on the run in the Forest of Dean, figuring out the hell to find the horcruxes and destroy them. Hopefully, I never come across one again. I am at least, well I think I am the only person to know how to make one. However, I am not completely stupid to think that there isn't something out there that is similar possibly in other foreign cultures. Maybe they weren't as dumb as Voldemort.

Our accommodation tent was fairly simple, but clean just as Farzenah had said it would be. It wasn't as rustic as the tent we had on the run from Voldemort, but not far from it - at least we had a bathroom in this one. There wasn't much to the tent, a bathroom off to the side (thank god) a separate magical toilet next to it and then the two single beds off to the other side and a small table and chairs where we could sit and go over our notes. We didn't need much really, somewhere clean and safe to sleep and a bathroom/toilet. I did a quick check of the wards on the tent, while I trust that the Ministry wouldn't send us somewhere unsafe, I still had trouble trusting people after the war.

"Hermione are you going to unpack or continually stare off into space?", Tilly remarked breaking my internal thought process. I feel heat creep in to my cheeks from embarrassment.

"I…yes sorry, was lost there for a moment", I say as I walk over to the unoccupied bed. Opening the flap to my rucksack, I pull out my trusty beaded bag. Yes, even after all these years I still carry it around. I can't help it. It's like a security blanket, I realise that to some degree it is probably unhealthy, but I just feel safer carrying it around knowing it is there at a moments notice. I regularly check it to make sure everything inside is in good condition and up to date. I shrink it down and place it in one of the side pockets of my cargo shorts. Next I dig around for my site notes and pencil case, these days I just use pencils and pens, quills are way to inconvenient when trying to make notes out at a dig site no matter if you have magic.

I pull them out and place them on the bed next to my bag, while I dug around again for my hat and sunscreen. Once found I placed my hat on my head, which I can now. Yes, I finally tamed my wild hair, I had too. It was really hard to work when it was hot, not that English summers are hot like this, but uncomfortable enough, that it forced me to do something. I couldn't wear a hat, the hair tie kept breaking, kept falling in my face so I couldn't see, then I would have to keep pushing it out of the way with my dirty hands, only for it to happen again. It was just one hot dirty sweaty mess and not in the good way. I tried many things, but the Muggle way seemed to work out the best, a chemical straightening. With magic it kept literally bouncing back after a few hours. Now my hair was pulled back in a braid, so much easier to manage, in some ways a lot less work too.

"Ready Tilly?" I asked as I picked up notes, pencil case and pump-action sunscreen container. She was folding her clothes neatly and placing them in the small chest of drawers in between our beds.

"Yep…nearly finished….there all done. I can't stand to have my clothes stuffed in my bag haphazardly". I particularly couldn't care less, I'm not out here in the desert to impress anyone. I do know that Tilly has had eyes on Elijah for a while now, but she hasn't plucked up the courage to actually do anything about it. She was short, shorter than me with blonde hair and blue eyes. She kind of reminded me of Ginny.

"I'll unpack later, I just want to get a plan in place", I said a little impatiently as I headed towards the door.

"Of course you do Miss Team Leader, that's why we love you", Tilly remarked rolling her eyes with a teasing smile.

I laughed exiting the tent.

The meeting was an awkward affair, I got the sense from the rest of Farzenahs' team that we are not really welcome here. I would probably feel the same in their situation. However, we are here because they simply do not have the resources and some of the skill to pull this dig off. The political climate of the country has been so disruptive, that most witches and wizards from this area of the world have moved elsewhere. If we want to remain hidden from the Muggles then digs like this need to happen quickly and without fuss.

I was making notes to be polite as I had already researched the history of the area. That is the Muggle history, there isn't much in the Ministry's archives on wizarding Babylon. So hearing it from some who lives and breathes this history isn't completely a waste of time. I had also made copies for my team when I compiled the dossiers.

I know that from my own research that the Muggle archaeologists believe that because of the high water table that the underground areas or chambers under the ruins have been flooded and are inaccessible. My thoughts are that there is most likely a spell keeping the passageways free from water and it is an elaborate illusion so the Muggles stay away.

"Now, we have been monitoring the magical levels in the area for some time now and they are fluctuating quite noticeably", she picks up a square box in front of her and waves it at us. A Fluxometer, like a Muggle Geiger counter the concept is the same.

"If I may Farzenah, most spots around magical communities or ancient ruins do normally fluctuate naturally, so why is this different?... sorry I don't mean to sound rude about it, I'm just curious", she gave me a hard look, at first I thought she was going to rebuke my interruption. Clearly, she thought about it but quickly dismissed it.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead as though she was trying to erase the frustration.

"The fluctuations have been steadily increasing as though something has awoken", I frowned at this, it was…. intriguing but also slightly disturbing. What the hell could be underneath the ruins?

"We have always monitored this site, because of the constant wars and invasions, we had to, to keep the ruins relatively intact from accidental damage. I would say the increased presence in the area has disturbed whatever is down there. The magical level 10 years ago was minimal at best almost non-existent. Now it is moving between high and midlevel readings. Something is definitely happening down there. The readings extend a wide radius, so we don't know where the entrance is. That is why you are here, we need help locating it and excavating the entryway. You have more experience and you could teach us".

"Ok, sure we would like that, that is what part of this trip is all about: collaboration. Do you have a rough idea where the fluctuations are occurring or does it encompass the whole of the ruins?", I asked trying to narrow down the enormous task that was becoming apparent.

"Yes, it seems to be stronger in the south west quarter. We have done some precursory digging around the walls to see if any have a 'Sirrush', that would lead to a buried set of stairs." I vaguely remembered reading a small paragraph on Sirrush, I swear to god if there is one underneath the ruins, I will have a coronary. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as Elijah asked what a Sirrush was.

"What is a Sirrush? Is it some kind of creature?", he looked wide eyed at the possibility of something living underneath the ruins for such a long period of time.

"Yes, a Sirrush or Mušḫuššu is a dragon hybrid. It has scales like a normal dragon, but its hind legs are that of an eagle and the front legs are like a lion. It has a long neck like most other dragons, horns adorn its head and a snake like tongue. It was the protector of Babylon, paintings of the creature appeared on the Gate of Ishtar, the entry to the city and the external walls. There is a piece of information that the entryway to the wizarding Babylon also had a painting of a Sirrush above it. We have been scouring the walls trying to find anything. There is not much left after all this time, so it is slim we will find it."

"You…you don't think that there is one under there do you?", I almost wanted to laugh at Elijah's nervousness, he wasn't one for animals.

"No, I would be surprised if there was underneath after all this time. The readings don't indicate that there is a biological presence there. My guess is more likely a cursed object of substantial power". Elijah appeared to relax with that information. Yay, no more dragon taming for me, inside Gringotts was enough for my life time.

"Ok shall we do a walk around and you can show us what you have been doing and what procedures you have put in place?", I put the question out there to everyone, I didn't want it to seem like I was trying to take over, I know that I had a habit of doing that. Guiltily, I thought that It was a habit I developed with Harry and Ron, more often than not I had to take over in order to get things done.

Walking around the ruins felt exhilarating and like we where in one of the circles of Hell. It was so hot, how we were going to manage this for the next few months was beyond me. The cooling charms we placed on ourselves, didn't completely rid us of the heat. I was still sweating profusely, I couldn't wait for a shower.

Getting closer to the area Farzenah was talking about earlier, I could feel a strange sensation prickle at my skin, it gave me an uneasy feeling. I brushed it off, I will analyse that later. For now I was taking everything thing in. The Iraqi team had done a reasonable job of getting started on the initial excavations. If only there was a quicker way to to look for this picture of the Sirrush. Maybe there was a way…. What if we could scan the walls looking for imperfections and layering similar to what they do to old paintings when they assess them for authenticity. It would move things a little quicker, if it worked that is. There was no guarantee, considering how weathered the walls where. But maybe the ancient wizards put an 'invisible' signature on the wall.

"Farzenah, what if we x-rayed the walls?, There is a spell that the conservationists use, to look beneath the layers without damaging the object. I think we could apply that to looking for the Sirrush. The paint itself may not necessarily be there, but if the wizards left some some 'signature' that wasn't visible to Muggles…." I trailed off hoping she was following my train of thought.

"Yes, that could work, could you teach us the spell? It may speed up trying to find the entryway." Farzenah cast a quick tempus to check the time, it was 17:45, time to get back to the canteen tent so we don't have an irate Qazalsharqie on our hands.

One Month Later

It took nearly a month to scan the walls in rough perimeter of the fluctuations using the "reteg alatt" spell to finally find what we hoped was the entrance down underneath the ruins to the wizarding part of Babylon. It was Shukir who found the outline of a Sirrush, you could barely make out the outline with the naked eye, but using the spell it was quite clearly their underneath layers of mud and sand. We all realised we had put all our proverbial eggs into one basket, but we didn't find another Sirrush anywhere, a couple of lions and an odd assortment of other animals, but only one dragon.

All that we needed to do know was work out how we were going to dig out the set of stairs that we were hoping were there.

October 19th 2013

After weeks of gruelling excavations, in the dry heat of the desert, both teams eventually uncover what looks to be a doorway leading underneath the ruins. It had taken weeks of gently moving piles of dirt so as not to damaged the walls of the ruins that penetrated deep into the surrounding soil. The stairs well, I guess you could call them steps if you used the term loosely. The doorway yes had a door, surprisingly in good condition, considering how long it has been buried. I made sure to spell the door with strength - praevalidum and a preservation spell- obiecti servabit. The last thing I needed was the conservation team yelling at me for not trying to save it and it was our duty to conserve the history of this place for many generations to come.

It's dark obviously, dusty naturally and smells almost mouldy and stale stale air. Air that may not have been breathed in thousands of years. It still amazes me, the awe of the discovery, the adrenaline rush, the excitement of uncovering something that has been locked away. I turn momentarily and look back to the others are gathered chatting excitedly. Going into a tunnel takes planning, you cannot just wander in there and hope for the best unless you want to risk being buried alive. The darkness emanating from the tunnel entryway a stark contrast to the pastel blue sky overhead. Wow sometimes this totally feels like an Indiana Jones movie.

The door was similar to the Gate of Ishtar, a brilliant royal blue, with gold paint depicting the Sirrush.

The next day when we were all well rested and had had a filling breakfast, we were ready to enter the tunnel. You could feel the buzz of excitement in the air. Today was the day, that we would finally discover what the hell was down there. I grabbed my rucksack and made sure that I had all my equipment, but I would make my team check everything in the canteen tent before we left. They knew the drill, I liked to be prepared. I patted my pants pocket to make sure my beaded bag was still concealed in my pocket.

We gathered in the canteen tent, all lined up with our bags, checking to make we had all the equipment we would need for entering the tunnel. I personally was hoping that some of the ancient spells were still holding up, but I doubted it. Thousands of years and the spells most likely would be eroded.

We were going to be using the bobble head spell to help us breathe the air down there, it will be thin and full of dust. It will coat your lungs like a second skin, inhibiting your ability to breathe. We will also take climbing gear, our back packs, wands and head torches. At times muggle inventions tend to work better than magic, having our hands free tends to make life much easier in this job.

I still got that prickle of magic just like I had the first time we toured the ruins. The feeling had slowly changed over the weeks, it wasn't uneasy more seductive. I honestly didn't know what was worse.

We let the Iraq team go first since this was technically their dig and I felt it was also polite to do so. Jinna and his colleagues Quina, Pip and Zetar, made sure we had water bottles and sandwiches to take with us. They also had set up a medical bay just in case something went wrong and one or more of us were injured. I hated watching the setup of the medical bay, it felt like too much of an omen, like I was jinxing myself. I know it's stupid, but that's how I felt.

We made our way slowly down the 'steps' in a single file, the entryway was very narrowly I doubt two people could go down side by side.

I was behind Sylvester, he always liked to go first, some sort of chivalry, I guess. We each had our head torches on, I always brought spares which I gave to the Iraq team and showed them how to use them. They were open to using Muggle means, If they did have a problem they kept their thoughts to themselves.

The tunnels were unlit, I was hoping they would automatically light up, which I presume they did at one point. But was disappointed. It was difficult to see more than a couple of metes ahead, so we weren't walking particularly fast. Eventually the tunnel ended leading to a room, no more than maybe 20 or 30 people would have been able to squeeze in here. It looked to be a foyer as four different archways branched off, there was inscriptions above them, but they were in cuneiform and I had not studied cuneiform.

"Where do you think they go? This is exciting it will obviously take more than one trip to investigate the passageways. Do you think they lived down here?", Tilly squealed excitedly beside me.

"It will, I think for this first trip we should stick together. It could be dangerous, we don't know what may have crumbled or sunk in the 4000 years this place has been buried", I had my serious face on, I was on edge. This place just felt…. off.

"Tilly, what vibes do you get from this place?", I wondered if anyone else got the creeps from this place. If there was a wand to my head, I would have said this place felt dark, not lighting wise but dark as in dark magic.

"Umm, I don't know, it feels ok to me. I mean I'm nervous, because you are right we could encounter anything in these tunnels, but I wouldn't say I'm anymore uneasy than I normally am when entering unknown tunnel ways". I didn't find that particularly comforting.

I turned back to look at what the others where doing, taking pictures and studying the cuneiform on the walls. Normally that is what I would be doing and I'm sure I will do that tomorrow,however I just wanted to this over with.

I noticed Moh from Farzenah's team wander over to the one of the archways second from the left. He was holding up the Fluxometer, looking at the readings and said something to Farzenah in Arabic pointing at the screen. She looked up and around, stopping when her eyes landed on mine.

"Hermione, we will start this tunnel, the magical readings are going what do you westerners say, wire hay or hayed wire...?", she said gesticulating with her hands.

I smiled at her attempt of a muggle phrase.

"Haywire, if that's the tunnel the fluctuations are coming from then yes, we should start with that one". I gazed into the archway behind, Moh and Farzenah and it didn't look any different to the other passageways, but it certainly felt different.

A few minutes later we were once again walking single file down the passageway. It was a little wider, barely, than the entry tunnel. There were torch holders lining the walls every couple of feet, that once would have lit up this tunnel. We noticed doorways and possible rooms that came off this passageway some were untouched with nothing in them, and some were caved in. Moh who was at the very front of the procession, started walking faster, I nearly had to run to keep up. That's when I noticed it, the magic caressing my skin, like a soft fleece blanket wrapping around me, comforting and warm. I felt like I wanted to sit down with a good book in front of a fire. Moh then slowed down to a slow walk as we approached an ornate looking door, it was black with what looked like a very early version of gold filigree covering the edges of the door and hinges. It was remarkable craftsmen ship, especially the Sirrush metal plates that were inlaid onto either side of the double door.

I could sense the anticipation in the air, the hum of excitement I could almost feel the air vibrating.

I held my breath as Moh touched the door, to push it open. It was dead quite down hear so the creak from the unused hinges was deafening. A gust of air escaped the room and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

No one moved.

It was the largest room we had encountered, this looked to be double the size of the foyer. There was a pedestal towards the back of the room with a box or a tablet sitting on it, too hard to tell from this distance and partly in the dark. Moh took a tentative step forward, nothing appeared to happen and then the rest of the Iraq team stepped into the room. Magic swelled and rushed forward, an invisible wave hitting us and knocking us off our feet.

The torches in the room flared bright and then dimmed to a dull yellow glow. I groaned pushing myself up off the dirty tunnel floor. The room seemed to vibrate like a minor earthquake tremor.

A snort? Was that a snort?

A low growl echoed around the room. Oh, this cannot be happening. A fucking Sirrush of all the things to appear, appeared from somewhere. It cannot be real. It can't. My head pounded, an external pressure pushing on it. I felt slightly muddled. Like I couldn't quite concentrate. I closed my eyes, trying to will this reality away. I opened my eyes again, I don't know if the room itself was slanting sideways or if it was just me. I heard a feminine scream and a shout. I tried to work out who it was, but I couldn't. I forced myself to focus, I gathered all my Gryffindor resolve and concentrated. The nausea rolling in my stomach was making it hard and the bile clawing at my throat was nearly unbearable. I stared at the Sirrush as hard as I could trying to analyse it. I just couldn't believe it was real. I mean it looked real, but it couldn't be. The pounding became worse in my head the more I wanted it to be fake. If I could think properly, in that moment, I would have realised the link between those two things. I didn't take my eyes of the Sirrush that was sprouting flames from its nostrils. I squinted hard. Then I saw it, for a brief moment the image flickered. It was an illusion. A pretty powerful one.

I scrambled for my wand, my hands where shaking making it much harder to get in to in my rucksack.

"It's an illusion!", I yelled as best I could in that moment, but there was so much noise. I doubted anyone actually heard a word I said. I was nearly seeing double at this point. I could barely stand with the pounding, my head felt like it was about to crack open at any moment. But through sheer stubbornness and a resolve to protect my colleagues I had to dismantle this illusion. I ripped off my head torch and threw it on the ground.

" tesaturi netesute", I pointed my wand in the general direction of the Sirrush. It was the most powerful un-weaving spell I knew. It wasn't exactly light magic, more in the grey area, but it was one that I did learn off the curse breakers. I hoped this worked, as I have never had to dismantle an illusion of this magnitude before. I threw all my remaining strength into the spell. I pitched forward once the light blue jet of light left my wand and hit the Sirrush. I stuck both my arms out to stop my face from hitting the ground. A few seconds later the ground stopped shaking and seemed to right itself. The pounding in my head reduced to just an annoying headache. I was breathing heavy and I was covered in sweat. I was exhausted, I was glad that was over.

A soft white light started emanating from whatever it was that was on the pedestal at the back of the room. I heard a guttural cry, a heart wrenching sob and a scream.

"Noo noo no no no no, Moh!", I blinked rapidly to my eyes focus at the scene in front of me. Near the pedestal I could see Farzenah clutching Moh to her chest, sobbing and rocking back and forth. I wondered what the hell happened in that illusion. Was he dead?

I managed to get myself up off the ground not caring how dirty I was. I could see that his face was covered in blood, leaking from the eyes, ears and nose. He was deathly pale. Lifeless. I could feel my eyes prick with unshed tears. I didn't know Moh all that well, but he shouldn't have died this way.

I could feel the caress of the comforting magic roll across my skin. The tablet I should go towards it, touch it, hug it, it's clearly important. I could feel the pull, it was so important that I do that. Sylvester, knocked into my shoulder, halting my thoughts. Wait what?

"Vocantem", he whispered as he walked past. I almost didn't hear it. I looked back at the tablet on the pedestal, such a pretty glow. Maybe just one touch? The magic feels….I shook my head again. Is it manipulating me? Mind magic? I can think about it later. I took a deep breath and concentrated on my occlumency shield, making sure they were good and tight. I could hear whispers on the air. Not good.

"Sylvester, what are you doing?" I called out to him. I looked around for Elijah and Tilly. They were huddled together near the doorway to leave the room.

"Elijah, take Tilly out and summon Jinna and the rest of the elves please, we will need them. Explain the situation", he looked at me with a tear stained face. Tilly was shaking in his arms.

I looked back at Sylvester. He was just staring at the tablet, not moving a muscle.

"Sylvester, look at me". I walked right up behind him and touched his shoulder. He turned to look at me. His eyes where glazed and manic looking. My heart clenched. I took a step back. He was like a feral animal that was spooked. Unpredictable.

"Vocantem", he mouthed to me. I frowned, there was that word again. He was tall, much taller than me with, sandy blonde hair and pale blue eyes. The complete opposite to Elijah, who was short, stocky, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He turned abruptly and slapped his hand, palm face down, onto the tablet. I instantly knew that was a mistake.

"Sly no-", I flung my hands out in front of me as if that action alone was somehow going to stop him.

I could see the tablet burn bright for a second upon contact. It seemed to be drawing energy from him? It looked in some ways similar to when the Dementors sucked your soul out…..

A scream caught in my throat, my eyes wide in shock. I had no idea what to do. I could see it draining him. The blood started to leak out of his ears in a slow trickle, like a bead of condensation running down the side of a glass. The tablet grew brighter, the whispers on the air calling me towards it, the soft comfortable blanket placed upon my shoulders, urging me forward.

"No, no, NO!", I yelled at the voices as loud as I could. The soft blanket turned cold and slimy. The magic wasn't nice anymore. I looked towards Farzenah, she was being drawn into the tablet too. I had no idea where Shukir, Josef, Elias and Shara were, perhaps they left while I was distracted. I hoped.

Sylvester turned, I looked on in horror. The room was once again shaking but this time it wasn't an illusion, dirt and sand fell from the ceiling like a summer snow. His face was drawn and white, the bright red blood that covered his face stood out in such juxtaposition it was jarring. His eyes were rimmed with the blood flowing out of his eyes like thick coloured tears and out of his nose. I couldn't stop my own tears from falling. This was too close to home. I thought after the war I would be done with death. With losing someone.

He looked sad, I wondered if he knew who I was amongst the fog from the tablet clouding his mind.

He looked resigned to his fate and that made me cry harder. I felt hopeless, the great Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age, war heroine, one part of the Golden Trio, was useless. I failed him and Farzenah.

I went to reach out, just to touch him one more time. He lifted his hand, I felt magic pushing me back. I tripped, skidded and rolled. It was forceful and ungraceful. I looked up from the ground. I saw him mouth something to me one last time.

"Sorry"

He turned back and covered the tablet with his body, like he was going to hug it. The room exploded with energy. You could see gaps in the mud bricks because it shook so much. Like an earthquake. The only way to describe it. I didn't care anymore, I just laid there on the ground, the dirt and sand falling on my body. I knew he was dead. I felt hollow. I could feel my cuts and scrapes burning from the sweat and dirt caking my skin.

I don't know if it was seconds, minutes or hours later but the room finally stopped shaking. The torches remained on. The tablet didn't glow from what I could tell. I sat up, looked around. Moh and Farzenah where sprawled next to each other, both dead. Sylvester was face down next to the pedestal. Tears started running down my face silently. For him, I owed it to him for protecting me, I will discover what this tablet does. Why these three people had to die from what I could only imagine is a horrible death.

I rummaged around in my rucksack, for a box to put that evil tablet in. It was a clear Perspex box, I figured we could observe the tablet without actually having to touch it. I cast a void of power spell on it. I don't know if it will work, but hopefully it will contain some of the power until we get back to the Ministry.

"inanis bulla"

Creepily the tablet was back on the pedestal. I levitated the box over in front of the pedestal. Now I can only hope that blasted thing doesn't activate when I do this. I focused my energy of the box.

"Wingardium Leviosa", the tablet hovered above the pedestal and ….nothing happened. I maneuvered it down into the box and with a flick of my wrist the lid closed. I sealed it with a protection spell and a sticking charm. I prayed that was enough. Otherwise we'll be dead by morning.

I again levitated it into my bag and hauled it up over my shoulder. I snifled and glanced around one last time. I don't think I have the emotional energy to move the bodies, as much as I don't want to give the elves the job, I know that none of us left would be able to handle it.

I walked back solemnly, dragging my feet along the ancient tiles. What do I even say to the others? Oh god what about the ministry. Ron is going to have a field day with this. I reached the final doorway and trudged up the steps out into the open. It was hot outside, the sunlight burning my eyes.

"Hermione!", I could hear Tilly yell from an unknown direction and felt impact. She flung her arms around me and squeezed tightly.

"Oh god, I thought we lost you….is Sylvester…?", the question hung in the air.

"Yes Sylvester is gone…I just want to go home. Take him home", I looked in her eyes, hoping for understanding.

"This is horrible….I can't believe he is dead. What about Farzenah?". I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"She stayed with Moh and she passed aswell. Sylvester flung me across the room, to protect me. I owe him, I don't want his death to not mean anything". She hugged me again.

"We'll coordinate with Jinna to get the bodies brought up here and prepared so we can take Sly home. First we have to inform the Ministry". I didn't want to do this, I could barely process what happened.

I sighed and walked away.

New York, New York

What in the actual fuck am I doing here? Why did I ever agree to this asinine plan. I am currently surrounded by muggle dimwits. At a frat party. Yes, that is how low I have sunk, Lord Voldemort at a frat party, trying to steal a ring which the stupid muggle brought from a less than reputable source, the ring just so happens to be cursed. If this wasn't important, I would just leave it to do its job and cull the population of idiots.

I am disillusioned, because quite frankly I am too old to be here, I would stick out like a sore thumb. Is this what these people do in their spare time, get drunk, lose brain cells and grind on each other?. Disgusting. They should concentrate more on their education.

I make my way up the stairs to where I assume the bedrooms will be. This should be easy; however, I wasn't expecting a party to be going on. Which means more than likely the bedrooms will be full of Muggles fornicating. I shudder at that thought. The note I got from Dermott was that the Muggles name was Tyler and it was an engagement style ring, whatever that means.

Thank god the bedroom doors have some names on them that by process of elimination I can narrow Tyler's room down. I quickly swerve to avoid an on coming drunkard, accidentally tripping him over. Oops… not that he will remember landing on his face in the morning. I carefully step over him and listen against the first door that has no identifiers on it. Doesn't sound like anyone is in there. I turn the door knob slowly, trying to not make it creak. The music from downstairs, is a body thumping bass, which up here would drown out most noises. I peak inside and there is no one, so I slip through and close the door behind me. I walk over to the desk to find out the own of this room. I shuffle some papers and…bingo! What luck it is Tyler's room ..now to locate that blasted ring. Where would a muggle hide a ring...? I really have no clue about these things.

Just as I was about to start rifling through his bedside table the door suddenly swings open. I hold back a groan. Two drunk idiots stumble through the door who are rather handsy with each other. Clearly drunk out of their minds, they can barely walk or stand.

"Mmm Tyyylerrr", ok so the guy is Tyler, definitely in the right room then. Uggh the noises coming from these filthy muggles is revolting. Maybe I should just stun them before they get any further, like taking their clothes off. I close my eyes briefly to regain some composure before deciding what to do. I open my eyes again….oh merlin's saggy balls!

I did not sign up for naked muggles. I need to wash my eyes of this moment, perhaps obliviate myself. I whip my wand out and send a sleeping hex at both of them. When they wake up, they'll just think they fell asleep during sex. I know I'm not supposed to use magic, but this was for the greater good. And since when does Voldemort follow the rules? I roll my eyes.

I start rifling through the bedside table just like I was going to do before I was rudely interrupted. Ah ha! A ring box. I open it and I can feel the dark magic wafting from the ring. Mmm pretty much just an average hex, nothing too dark just annoying really. Boils breaking out all over the body in an endless cycle. I'll admit it wouldn't be pleasant or easy to explain to a muggle doctor. I snap it shut and put a few charms on it until I get back to the office. I apparate silently from the room out into a dark alley near my residence and break the disillusionment. I walk on foot the rest of the way. Deep in thought about an elderly woman I met three weeks ago. I generally don't like people, but I liked her. Her and her recently deceased husband, got sent a dark object and I had to go retrieve it and investigate the matter. Surprisingly, they were both necromancers.

Not in the way you would think, they weren't the creepy dark wizards obsessed with death, that have gone insane from it. No, they did portrait magic, which I had always wondered about, but never had the opportunity to ever meet someone involved with it. She painted the portraits by hand and then afterwards they would imbue the painting with the essence of the person who had passed away. Easier apparently to do while the person is still alive, but still doable if they have already passed, hence the necromancy.

Maria and Ernest Hoehn.

Maria invites me to tea every week, says I need to get out more to which I scoffed, and received a smack on the hand and a stern look. She acts like she's my mother. My brain stutters at that thought. I get a warm feeling in my chest and rub the spot. I frown, I'm not ready to analyse that sensation yet, but I do let a small smile escape.