Hermione found herself outside the Tavern for the first time since she arrived. She saw miles and miles of sandy deserts in one direction and a shadowy dense forest in the other.
"Where are we?"
"Some would call it limbo I presume," Gregor answered.
"Gregor how did you find me at Hogwarts then. There's nothing but, well there's nothing here!"
"Well miss, back before that school was there, that's where I used to live. Us Spirits like to occasionally go back to where we came from and see how it's changed on without us. Okay here's the spot."
Hermione noticed that this spot looked exactly like every other spot but kept quiet. They all held hands and when she touched Caelin's there was a light spark and he was looking at her quizzically. She bent her head and waited for whatever was supposed to happen.
After about a minute of just waiting there, Hermione was about to open her eyes and ask what was going on when she felt the ground shift beneath her. Next thing she knew she was back in her bedroom at Hogwarts. She looked around in awe. It felt like a hundred years had passed since she had been there and it no longer felt like home. Caelin put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
"Come on, we got work to do and we got to do it fast. Where is her journal?"
The last place Hermione remembered putting it was at the bottom of her backpack. She looked around the room and saw it lying in the corner in large pile of her clothing. Angela wasn't very neat. She walked over to it and rifled through the bag. Luckily her hands wrapped around the tarnished object and she picked it up. "Here it is!"
"Excellent," Caelin said. "Hand it over here." When she handed him the book, he started flipping through the pages earnestly.
"What are you looking for exactly?" Hermione asked.
"Angela's life source. She had to have written down a clue for us somewhere. Aha! Listen to this."
As my transformation became complete, I experienced the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. My human body felt like it had melted off slowly and it felt as if needles were draining the blood out of every vain I had. I held the picture of Caelin close to my heart knowing I was doing this for him, for us.
He stopped reading and looked up expectantly. Hermione looked confused and said, "How does that help us?"
Gregor was hopping on his feet in anticipation. Caelin sat down on the bed and said, "The only picture she had of me was in her locket."
Hermione's eyes grew wide. "Of course! I don't know how I didn't think of that before!" She looked around her room and a sick feeling crept into her stomach as she realized it wasn't there.
Caelin and Gregor had followed her lead and twenty minutes later they couldn't find it.
"She probably has it with her no doubt," suggested. "We need to find her and fast. We don't have too much time left."
Caelin looked at her with such endearment. He really wanted to help. He thought Hermione was sweet and couldn't bear the thought of this happening to her. As much as he would have liked to get to know her, Hermione didn't belong in that world. Or with him."
Hermione led them towards the Great Hall hoping to catch a glimpse of Angela there. She went through the large doors and searched the Gryffindor table. She didn't feel like she was a part of them anymore. A few days as a Lost Spirit and she had already felt like that part of her life was meaningless. She pondered what would happen if they couldn't destroy Angela in time. She hoped Gregor and Caelin would stay with her. Caelin seemed like the type to be romantic and sweet and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have him around. Gregor was funny and thoughtful. He would make a very good friend.
Just then she saw Draco off alone at the Slytherin table. Nervously, she walked over to him and saw that he was reading Hogwarts A History. She smiled to herself knowing that he was only reading it because it was one of her favorite books. Hermione sat next to him on the bench. She could smell his scent of peppermint and it almost made her cry. She missed the feel of his breath on her neck and the look in his eyes when he saw her. Hermione wished more than anything in the world to for him to be able to see her again. She reached out her fingers and gingerly touched his hand lightly. Draco shot up and all of sudden their eyes met.
"Her…Hermione?"
Hermione was shocked. He can see me how is that possible?
"Draco can you…can you see me right now? Can you hear me?"
Draco continued to stare at her in amazement. "What happened to you?"
"Draco listen to me, Angela, she took my body. She's here now and if we don't find a way to kill her I'm going to be stuck like this forever!"
She felt herself grasp Draco's hand with all her might. She willed him to believe her, to help her. Draco ran his hands through her hair and looked at her. Something that had been missing for the last few days was right there in front of him again and he knew that she was Hermione. His hand felt frail almost non-existent. She would be lost in limbo soon enough.
She looked at Draco earnestly. "We have to find Angela's locket Draco".
"She never takes it off," he said. "I know where she is now. Why is this happening Hermione?"
"There's no time to explain."
Caelin and Gregor walked into the Great Hall and they eyed Hermione warily. "We found her," said Gregor. "But that evil witch knew what we was and cast a spell to ward us off. This doesn't look good Hermione."
Hermione noticed that Caelin was staring directly at Draco and to her amazement Draco was staring right back.
"Uh, Draco this is Caelin and Gregor. They are helping me," she said.
Draco gave Caelin a nasty look and said, "What kind of help is that exactly?"
Caelin growled. "I am trying to get rid of Angela. You are wasting time."
"Easy now boys," Gregor said. "This laddy here can help us. If we can't get to Angela, he can."
Caelin did not look pleased to hear this. For some reason he had wanted to be the one to save Hermione.
They followed Draco out the Hall and Hermione saw Angela looking out the window. Caelin grabbed her and forced her back into the Great Hall. "If you get too close she will sense that you are there."
Hermione watched as Angela wrapped her arms around Draco. He seemed to have forgotten that it was an imposter because a second later they were in a very heated embrace. She felt the anger in her rise. Caelin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing anything else. "Just look away Hermione."
Hermione noticed that Caelin didn't look too upset. Draco and Angela began walking and she noticed that Draco had turned to wink at her.
"Come one we got to follow them," Caelin said.
They were on their way down the hall when Hermione suddenly felt her knees give out. Her body was shaking and she couldn't stop it. "Caelin, what's happening to me?"
"Shit we're running out of time. If we don't get that necklace destroyed soon you're going to be stuck like this." He picked her up gently and ran her down the hall till he found an open classroom. He placed her on the teacher's desk and ran his hands over face. She was beautiful to him and seeing her in pain made his heart break. She took his hands in hers and squeezed. Caelin couldn't help himself. He bent down and kissed her. To his surprise she delicately accepted it and kissed him back. When he finally broke the kiss Hermione had stopped shaking. She looked relaxed but scared and confused. Immediately he regretted doing that.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know why I did that."
Hermione looked a little hurt. She realized that she was attracted to Caelin in some foreign way. He helped her off the desk and they saw Gregor looking at them with amusement on his face. He didn't say a word and they left the classroom to look for Draco and Angela.
"Hermione," Caelin whispered. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
Hermione turned to him shocked. "You didn't upset me; I was just surprised is all." She gave him a feeble smile and new that if she did not destroy Angela quick, she would fall for Caelin. But was that really so bad?
"We need to go back to our world for a bit. You're not strong enough to stay here for too long," Caelin said darkly.
Hermione nodded solemnly. "But Caelin, what about Draco?"
"He knows what he has to do. We will come back soon, I promise."