Disclaimer:

I do not own the worlds and characters featured in this Harry Potter X Final Fantasy VII fanfiction, nor do I have permission to use them. The settings and characters from the Harry Potter universe are owned and trademarked by JK Rowling and the many licensors of her work. The settings and characters from the Final Fantasy multi-verse are owned by Square Enix (I think) and the many licensors of her work. I do not make money through this story.

Trigger warning:

This story deals with dark themes and though I have tried to avoid graphic depictions, it involves violence, rape, death, and the fallout of these events. Please read with caution.

On with the story…

CHAPTER TEN

The New SOLDIER

Hermione rolled away from the fire blast, letting momentum carry her away from the flames and back onto her feet. But her enemy was fast and she had had barely enough time to raise her blade to block the downward swing coming at her head. The impact reverberated in her arms and she gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip on the handle of her katana.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Hermione snorted. A thought called on her ice magic, and her free hand glowed a frosty mix of white and blue for a second as tiny particles of ice formed above her open palm. The particles grew into semi-transparent shards of ice, each five to six inches and wicked sharp. A booted foot came up and planted itself on the man's middle, and Hermione shoved. Her enemy stood firm, taking nary a step back, but the witch used that strength to propel herself back and away from the man. Once clear, a swipe of her arm sent the ice shards flying at her opponent. It mattered little to her that her attack was stopped by a magical shield. The distraction had been enough that she had been able to move, placing herself behind her foe. She struck, her blade singing through the air. The silver-masked and black-robed man brought Masamune over his head and the two blade met behind him. And the close quarter fight continued.

A flurry of blocks, attacks, deflections, and counters. Blades and magic sung in harmony in the morning sunlight of this autumn day. Hermione was knocked back into a tree, but she got her feet under her fast enough that she dodged the next stroke from the masked man facing her. She stepped under his guard and delivered a jumping knee strike to his gut. The man grunted and stumbled a step back. Hermione swung her blade up under his arm. He pivoted and avoided the attack. She rolled under his counter, coming to her feet behind him. He followed through and she swung her arms up and back over her shoulder, placing Genesis over her back and blocking the attack.

They continued that way for another hour. By then, Hermione was panting, sweat dripping steadily from her body. But she refused to stop. Steel flashed and blades clashed, sparking. And Hermione pushed forward with all her might. Her adversary gave way and a fist came flying at her head. The witch jumped back and out of the way.

"Stop."

Hermione blinked, her sword still at the ready. The man facing her straightened, slowly lowering his guard. But Hermione stood unmoving.

"Dispell."

The trees and the clearing shimmered and slowly disappeared, making way to four stone walls, a large fireplace and two comfortable armchairs placed in front of the roaring fire. The masked man shimmered and disappeared too, replaced by Sephiroth.

"I must admit, you would have made a wonderful addition to SOLDIER back on Gaia. Your learning capabilities are incredible and your body is adapting remarkably well."

"A consequence of the Sephiroth cells?" Hermione asked as she finally lowered her weapon, her katana returning to its wand form.

"Maybe," Sephiroth edged. "Although I think that your repeated immersions into the Lifestream have probably more to do with this. Shinra proved that immersion in Mako would strengthen someone's abilities, whether or not they were enhanced to begin with."

Hermione approached her seat, slowly lowering herself into the plushy chair and relaxing her burning muscles as much as she could. The Room of Requirements had proved its worth once again. It was nice being able to see Sephiroth in front of her without the drawbacks of spending a prolonged time in the Lifestream. Sure, she didn't suffer withdrawals symptoms as much as she used to, but the drain on her magical core could still be felt, in particular if she had magic-intensive lessons afterward, like Transfiguration, Charms, or Defense.

The young sorceress had intensified her training the moment Shiva, Umbra, and Sephiroth had agreed that the Death Eaters were using sorcery themselves. But practicing the forms had nothing on actually duelling. Amazingly enough, on her next solo visit to the Come and Go Room, she had been met by an exact physical replica of Sephiroth and Masamune. And somehow, the Room tapped into Sephiroth's consciousness so that he could direct the puppet into attacking Hermione. Another time, she had been faced with Greyback and the female Lestrange, both wielding magic, including sorcery, and swords. It seemed Hogwarts was quite happy to vary her opponents, going as far as having her spar against members of the Order of the Phoenix and members of the original SOLDIER. Sephiroth had laughed within her mind and had taken a fiendish delight in helping the sorceress wipe the floor with both Genesis and Cloud.

With the assistance of Shiva and Sephiroth, Hermione had strategized to decide on the best Mako spells to learn going forward. Given the restriction on the number of active materia the young sorceress could carry, Sephiroth had decided it was rather important to get it right first time.

"I'm not sure why you worry so much, Sephiroth? If something goes wrong, I'll just create another materia and start again."

"No."

"Why not?"

"First of all, a materia is made up of energy stolen from the Planet. You're effectively killing it a little each time you create one. Second, materia grow in power with use. I would rather not stop whatever plans we set in motion simply because you need to retrain a materia. Third, even if our enemy is using sorcery, it is unlikely they will know about materia. If they see us manipulating one, they'll get curious. And some of them sound clever enough to work it out. And last, it is highly doubtful we will ever find another wand with a materia core for you to use. So we will work out your Mako spells, teach the most useful ones to your wand — or at least, those we need faster than others — create the materia we need to supplement your power base, equip them, and not touch them again until this war is over and done with."

Hermione had tutted but finally given her mentor a short nod. The Death Eaters might be crazy, but they were far from stupid. And they were bound to have supporters within Ravenclaw House. And so, she had learned. To their combined knowledge, there were no more Mako spell her wand could learn. But she could now cast a variety of them at half the fatigue cost to her magic and with no need to think about it.

"Hermione?"

Hermione blinked as Sephiroth's call broke into her thoughts. The witch watched him. He was still standing, and seemed to be waiting for her. Hermione shrugged and nodded once.

"I wanted to speak of your special attacks."

Hermione gave the silver-haired general her full attention as Sephiroth paced the perimeter of the room.

"As you know, all SOLDIERs came up with their own sets of fancy moves. I have Octaslash and Super Nova. Genesis had Apocalypse and Angeal had Rush Assault. Zack made a specialty of learning the attacks of others. Cloud developed both versions of his Omnislash based on my own Octaslash. Now that we have decided on your Mako spells, you will need to work on your own SOLDIER moves."

Hermione rolled her eyes but nodded. After all, if they were going to revive SOLDIER as an organization, they were going to need to bring back the rules and traditions that went with it.

"Very well," the witch replied.

"We also need to work out if using your summons in battle is a worthwhile option."

Hermione sighed and as she nodded. Even though she loved Umbra and Shiva, summoning while in battle could be a dangerous move. Umbra needed only a thought to come to her side, but it required complete focus to send that thought across the Lifestream. Hermione had gone as far timing the time it took her to launch her summon across magic, time, and space. And fair enough, it only took her a total of three seconds to ask Umbra to come to her, but she was at the mercy of her enemies during those three seconds, unable to defend herself or even dodge an attack. To call on Shiva required even more resources, as she needed to back the summon with a large amount of magic. And she still was unable to call on the One-Winged Angel himself.

"There's got to be a way to summon you."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"You know what I mean, Sephiroth."

"Yes. And I'm sure there is. But have you considered that maybe, just maybe, there is a good reason you have been unsuccessful so far."

"Not enough power."

"Or maybe it's just not meant to be."

"Nonsense, Sephiroth."

One of the books she had read had mentioned that some summons required more magic than others because the spirits had forgotten their forms or it had been completely obliterated from existence at their passing to the spiritual realms. And then there was the demons and elementals, the beings that were born in the spiritual world and could only cross into the physical planes if a sorcerer powerful enough summoned and bound them in time and space. Hermione suspected that the situation with the Gaian summons was different — after all, they came to Earth in an invisible rush of the Lifestream and without physical forms, and unlike Umbra, they had not found a form to claim as their own when they arrived, choosing instead to assimilate into the Lifestream and disappear within its green warmth. To call on Shiva was to actually use her powers to give her form. It required only five or so seconds longer than it took her to summon Umbra, but far more magic. Hermione suspected that it might be because Shiva's form should not exist on Earth.

"And we need new recruits."

That stopped Hermione's mind in its tracks.

"Recruits?"

Sephiroth finally took a seat in the opposing chair, one long leg rising and bending so that Sephiroth slouched back with his right ankle resting on top of his left knee.

"If we are going to re-create SOLDIER, we will need more than just you within the ranks."

"What? You want to ask Harry, Neville, and Pansy to join?"

"They are getting the training, are they not?"

Hermione huffed a breath and shook her head. "They're also children on opposite sides of a war."

"So?" Sephiroth shrugged. "They have been raised to become the foot soldiers of this war of principles. I — we — are offering them the opportunity to become more. To have a chance at really changing the tides of the battle. For better or worse, they already are warriors. Now they have a chance at becoming SOLDIERs."

Hermione sighed. However much she hated the thought, Sephiroth was right. They had all been groomed into taking responsibility for ending the war, but had been handed barely adequate weapons to do the job with. If the wizarding world wanted them to do the job for them, they should not cry at the consequences.

"You know, you lot are already so much like we once were."

"Explain," Hermione said.

"Neville is Angeal, loyal and honorable. Harry is Zack, willing to fight and die for his dream. Pansy is Genesis, conflicted in his knowledge of both sides of the coming conflict and where that leaves his own honor and dreams."

"Does that make me you? The fallen angel who sought to destroy his world…"

"I would hope not," the silver-haired swordsman blinked slowly. "Because you have the potential to succeed where I failed."

#

She continued to split her free time between her own training and that of Harry, Neville, and Pansy. She had let slipped her knowledge of sorcery during their first training of the month, when Pansy twisted her ankle during a practice duel. Her Mako-enhanced ice pack had all three of her year mates asking all sorts of questions. Hermione had explained as far as she had been willing: after her capture, she had learned sorcery and had been using it ever since to enhance and supplement her wand magic. The three seemed to have come to a common accord that they would squeeze from her every ounce of knowledge she was willing to part with about sorcery. And so, Hermione had loaned them in turn her beginner-level books and demonstrated some of her Mako spells, as well as admitted the reason why her shields were so strong was because she was layering Barrier and M-Barrier along with her Protego charm. The three took to sorcery eagerly. At their insistence, and despite her protests that the crystals were only prototypes, Hermione gave each of her trainees one of her early attempts at witch-made materia and showed them how to teach the two shielding Mako spells to their crystals.

Hermione was both taken aback and completely unsurprised when Luna and a few others started to drop in on their sessions now and then after Harry, Neville, and Pansy showed off their new shields during their Defense lessons. In an unspoken agreement, no mention of sorcery or materia were made during those sessions. Interest came and went, but over the next few days, Ravenclaw Luna Lovegood, and Hufflepuffs Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot became permanent fixtures in Hermione's training sessions. Eventually, Sephiroth gave them all the title of cadets while the three budding sorcerers were promptly promoted to Third Class.

"You do realize that none of them have any idea of what SOLDIER is. Or even that I'm a part of it."

Technically speaking, you are all of SOLDIER. Or you were…

"You know what I mean, Sephiroth."

Nevertheless.

Hermione shrugged the thought away. With the first week of December came the first snow. It was late in the season but not an unwelcome sight for the student body. It settled in a light white blanket that only lasted a few hours. But the change in temperature was felt for much longer. Hermione decided to change her routine there and then. Morning sessions were stopped altogether, the time being now dedicated to her witchcraft and wizardry studies. And she used the evenings to do her physical training, starting with a run around the lake, before the afternoon light died a wintery death. She then continued in the castle, usually in the Room of Requirements or an empty classroom. A few days later, Hermione was reminded by her friends that she still had to deal with the Slughorn's upcoming Christmas party. Harry actually asked Luna if she would go with him before they started their latest session.

"Sure, I'll go with you," Luna replied in her usual calm and airy way. "What about you, Hermione? I assume you've been invited."

Hermione made a face. "I have. And it's probably the last thing I want to be involved with."

"You could meet plenty of influential people there," Susan commented. "I know my aunt was a member of the Slug Club, although she said it was more of a necessity than a pleasure."

"Pansy, I'll give you ten galleons if you Polyjuice yourself into me and attend in my place."

"Not on your life," the Slytherin replied with a little smirk. "I'm quite happy not to rate an invite."

The banter continued through the rest of the session but as they were preparing to leave the classroom, an owl landed just outside the window, tapping repeatedly against the glass until Luna let it in. The bird flew straight for Hermione, depositing an official-looking envelope into her hands before flying off. The witch-sorceress turned the letter over and narrowed her eyes at the seal.

"Hermione?" Harry said as he approached.

"It's from the Ministry."

"What do they want?" the young man asked as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

Hermione shrugged at that, slipping her finger under the seal to open the missive. She read the content and scoffed.

"Hermione?"

"Apparently, the Ministry is worried over my continued safety. They intend to select a guardian to watch over me and my affairs until I have finished my education."

"Aren't you already an adult, legally?" Pansy asked as she approached, her right hand raised.

"I am," Hermione confirmed as she handed over the parchment. "As of last September in the wizarding world, and as of last August in the Muggle one."

Pansy frowned as she read through the letter. "Are they mad? 'Difficult situation… Past and present threats from third parties… Mental and physical damages from attack… Bring you under the protection of a respectable wizarding family… All assets to be brought under the umbrella of your guardian… marriage contract to be arranged…' Those sounds like the terms of a magical adoption."

"You mean, like they used to do in the Middle Ages?" Hermione asked. "A way to bring new blood into the wizarding world while increasing magic and wealth, but without sharing their name with the adopted."

Pansy nodded slowly. Susan came to stand just behind the Slytherin witch, reading over her shoulder. Hermione felt her lips twitch as the dark witch let their year mate read in this position. The Gryffindor knew that just a few months ago, the snakeling would not have let anyone face her back.

"They can't do that," Neville and Harry muttered in unison.

Hermione shrugged again.

"They can try. I doubt Nagnok is going to be too pleased, to be fair. After all, he was the one who trawled through the mountain of paperwork I generated for him over the summer, trying to secure every loophole he could think of as he established the House of Granger."

"It's illegal," Susan said after she finished reading. "They are effectively saying you are not of sound mind, and consequently cannot look after yourself. This call should only be made by a qualified and registered Healer. And you have not seen such person."

Hermione waved a dismissive hand through the air.

"This is irrelevant anyway. House Granger is official and by the sound of it, Nagnok has used long forgotten but still enforceable by-laws to make it near enough impossible for me to be placed under the control of anyone currently living."

Myself being the exception, Sephiroth chuckled in the witch's mind.

Hermione ignored the angel with practiced ease. She looked between the 'Third Classes' and the 'trainees'.

"Umbra."

The shadowcreeper appeared in the room, bumping his draconic head into Hermione's thigh.

"Is that a wyrm?" Luna asked as she skipped to Umbra.

Hermione was far from surprised when Umbra never protested the additional hand scratching from the Ravenclaw. The others stayed at a respectable distance though, and Hermione was quite sure the spirit would not have welcome their attentions anyway.

"He's a shadowcreeper. To the best of my knowledge, he's one of a kind although I wouldn't be surprised to learn he was responsible for the existence of wyrms and dragons."

A wave of her hand summoned the letter and she handed it over to Umbra.

"Would you mind delivering this to Nagnok? I'm not sure if he'll have received a copy, as the manager of our House."

Umbra nodded and carefully grabbed the letter with his fangs before dissipating in shadowy smoke and Mako lights. Hermione turned back to her fellow students, watching the awed expressions on Pansy, Neville, and Harry's faces, and the mixed feelings seeming to emanate from Susan and Hannah.

"I guess I should explain — or explain some more — about sorcery."

#

Hermione wasted little time after receiving that letter from the Ministry. Nagnok had confirmed he had not been informed and had in turn contacted the Ministry as the current representative of House Granger, advising them against continuing their attempts. The Goblin had told the sorceress that he had made it quite clear to the Ministry that House Granger was perfectly safe, not their problem, and nor had they a right to assign a legal guardian to any member of the House. The Ministry had not replied, and Hermione guessed they intended to ignore these points.

With the holidays just a couple of weeks away, Hermione determined to make her preparations for the time away from the school. She left her beginners' sorcery books with the Third Classes, all of them now intending to learn as much as they could about this lost art. They wanted to learn sorcery as an added talent. Hermione had warned them it might be not be possible, but agreed to refocus part of their training sessions to deal with sorcery.

With that sorted, she tried to look into magical adoptions. The subject had been somewhat touched upon in History of Magic, but Hermione wanted to learn more. The books were readily accessible in the Library, and Madam Pince was happy enough to direct her to the right section. As the Slytherin and Hufflepuff witches had intimated, the Ministry seemed to have decided that she would be better off as the possession of a wizarding family. She had no idea if they had already approached some people for the rather dubious job — or if some families had already stepped forward after planting the idea into the Ministry's collective minds. But she had an idea on how to find out. And so she visited the office of a certain Professor Severus Snape that evening.

"Not the person I was expecting," the wizard said as he watched her cross his office and take a seat opposite his desk.

"Are you waiting for someone, Professor?"

"Our Deputy Head, as a matter of fact. What do you want?"

"I would like to request access to one of the student labs. I need to practice brewing."

Snape sat there, saying nothing.

"All right. I need to brew a selection of healing potions and ointments for the coming holidays. Calming, Peace, and Invigorating draughts, Bruise and Burn pastes, Murtlap and Dittany essences, Dreamless Sleep and Pepperup…"

Snape raised his hand and Hermione stopped.

"Why do you want to open a hospital, Miss Granger? St Mungo's has always been enough before."

Hermione huffed a laugh. "That's all for me, sir. But there's something else I need to ask you. Something you might not want to tell me but I need to know."

Snape straightened, obviously noticing the change of tone. The witch in front of him gave a half smile.

"Is the Dark Lord behind the recent interest in instituting an official guardianship over my being?"

The man blinked slowly. But he said nothing. And Hermione nodded in turn. That cleared one of her questions.

"I don't suppose you intend to play along, Miss Granger. I can assure you that the Dark Lord is looking to keep you alive for as long as possible, although nothing has been said about you being comfortable during this time."

Hermione scoffed. "The only person I might agree to become my guardian would be you, Professor. I think Dumbledore and the Dark Lord both would agree on a few points to keep their spy safe from the other side. However, the point is moot considering the… legal implications of dealing with House Granger."

"Legal implications?"

Hermione settled back into her seat, considering the dark wizard facing her.

"I'll make you a deal, Professor. If you make me a list of whatever healing potions you can give me, as well as give me access to the labs and the school supplies to brew whatever else I think I might need, I will give you information that might just allow you to score a few brownie points with either — or both — of your masters."

Hermione nibbled at the corner of her bottom lip, a little smirk gracing her features as her professor's gaze snapped to her face and narrowed.

"What makes you think you have any information either the Headmaster or the Dark Lord might find useful?"

"Oh, I know that at least one of them would be interested. And I know it's something no one but myself and the goblins know, at this moment in time. Of course, I can't attest as to the… importance of my information. But I believe it would be at the very least somewhat useful to both the chess masters playing this game."

"I will allow you access to the infirmary so that you can retrieve a maximum of two vials of each of the potions you've mentioned, plus any others that might take your fancy. I reserve judgment on granting you access to the labs and supplies."

"Said judgment will be passed on the value of my first piece of information. No access, no second tip."

"Deal, Miss Granger."

The Defense Professor stretched his hand across the desk and Hermione leaned forward to shake it.

"Now, allow me to tell you a little story, Professor. Once upon a time, there was a little girl who could do magic when her parents could not. Once she turned eleven, she received a letter telling her she was a witch and she was to attend a prestigious school to learn control over her gift."

"Is this really necessary, Miss Granger?" the dour wizard huffed.

"Fine," Hermione sighed exaggeratedly. "But you do need some background. It so happens that my parents were both wealthy and proud. Proud enough that when an opportunistic goblin asked whether they wanted to open an account for their precious little girl, they spared no expense. They paid every fee and deposited enough to secure the beginning of a new wizarding line: the House of Granger."

"Is there a point to all this, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, sir. I'm coming to it. Now in the spring, I became the de facto Head of House Granger. In July, the fact was confirmed by the goblins. The situation with the Muggle authorities was straightened out real fast by my account manager. Given how close my birthday was, we decided to let nature take its course when it came to the wizarding world rather than me risking a trip to the Ministry to sign the paperwork needed. And now we come to the really interesting part.

"There are two things that will become relevant to the current situation very soon. One is that House Granger is a matriarchal line. No man can ever be appointed my guardian. You can also point out to whoever will listen that I didn't choose that, the goblins did it when they realized that I already had a magical guardian — a powerful one at that. Given the… nature of that relationship, they deemed that ultimate control of House Granger would forevermore rest with that guardian. Before you ask how you would have found this out, the existence of House Granger is a matter of public record. Anyone with half a brain can find this information through the Ministry's records or simply by asking Gringotts. This ties in with the second piece of information I want to give you."

Hermione stopped talking then, watching her professor. The wizard seemed pensive… Not that she could tell for certain, given the impenetrable mask that was his usual expression.

"You are correct that this information might be useful to my masters. However, I should ask why they do not know of this already."

"That, I can't say for sure beyond the fact that Nagnok had a claw in it."

"Nagnok?"

"My Gringotts manager. Actually, he's the manager for House Granger. I know he did something to… dissuade people from looking for any records citing the name of Granger."

"I see. Goblin privacy wards. Very good at diverting casual researchers. They would not hold under a determined investigator."

Snape said nothing more for a while, and Hermione finally sighed.

"So? Do I get access to the labs and the supplies?"

"Very well," Snape replied after a beat of silence. "I will put your name on the list of authorized users. What is your other piece of information?"

"Actually, this one is more of a warning," Hermione said as she stood. "House Granger is very much aware that the Death Eaters are using sorcery. We know this because sorcery runs in our blood. I myself am an ice sorceress."

"This is how you've done so well in Defense this year," Snape muttered.

"Yes. I've been using my recently unlocked sorcery to boost my spells. Oh, and if it comes up, that's also how I escaped wherever it was I was being held. Or to be more precise, my guardian found me and got me out after my powers awoke. But I digress. My warning is this: no one, and I mean no one, should attempt to claim guardianship. Because I already have a guardian. And neither he nor I are willing to become puppets under the control of either the Headmaster or the Dark Lord. We'll kill everyone involved before that happens. Nagnok can help you verify who my guardian is, I think. But I would be careful not to ask too many questions. I couldn't care less, personally. But my guardian values his… privacy."

With these parting words, Hermione stood and, bowing her head slightly to the dark wizard, left Severus Snape to his thoughts.

#

School life continued and Hermione let herself forget about the Ministry and their plans. She continued training with the Third Class SOLDIERs, though they still had no idea how she thought of them. As amazing as Pansy, Neville, and Harry's development had been, the three new recruits were even more so. It was as if the presence of other sorcerers during training were pushing that branch of magic to grow ever faster within its practitioners.

A couple of days before the start of the Christmas holidays, Professor Snape kept Hermione back after class. The witch shrugged at her friends, since nothing particularly wrong had happened during the lesson, and stayed in her seat as the other filed out. After the last of her classmates left, the dark wizard waved his wand, locking and warding the room against eavesdroppers.

"I think you should know a few things, Miss Granger."

Hermione straightened as her professor started to pace in front of his desk. She watched the man walked along the width of the room, deep lines furrowing the skin across his forehead and between his eyebrows.

"First of all, I have heard that the Ministry of Magic is coming on the twenty-first, along with several representatives of pureblood families, to settle the matter of your guardianship."

The sorceress couldn't help the snort from escaping. The dark wizard stopped and turned to watch her.

"I wouldn't scoff at this, Miss Granger. If we cannot prevent this, you will be placed under the guardianship of a Death Eater."

"Let them try."

Hermione watched the lines on her professor's face deepen and she smirked, pulling on all the memories of Sephiroth and letting his arrogant confidence settle across her mind.

We have little to fear from the Ministry, Sephiroth whispered in her mind. But we shouldn't discount the Death Eaters.

I know.

My question is, can we trust Professor Snape?

Hermione settled her mismatched gaze onto the dark wizard before her.

"My guardian poses a good question. Can we trust you, Professor?"

The dark wizard blinked. "No."

I like him, Sephiroth chuckled.

His amusement carried over as Hermione's lips twitched into a little grin. She let her head dropped into a small bow of acknowledgment. She finally stood and picked up her bag.

"One last piece of knowledge, professor, to do with as you wish. My loyalty is to SOLDIER first and foremost. I can never join the Dark Lord, since he seeks both my death and Harry's. And understanding more about Dumbledore now, I cannot remain aligned with him either since he seems intent on using not only Harry, but also the rest of us as a simple chess pieces in this war. He simply expects us to follow his orders, unable or unwilling to share the reasons behind his own ruthless behavior. And this has come to threaten SOLDIER."

"Soldier? Who are you talking about, Miss Granger?"

"Not who, professor, what," Hermione said as she stood straight, her eyes glowing with Mako power. "I am First Class SOLDIER Hermione, warrior, witch, and sorceress under the guardianship of Sephiroth. Head of House Granger and currently the last of my name. Protector of the Planet. And with you as my witness, I will not let anyone use SOLDIER against the Planet, knowingly or not."

Hermione casually slung her bag over a shoulder and turned to walk out of the room. As she neared the door, Professor Snape silently lowered his wards and the door swung open for her. With a parting nod, Hermione walked out of the classroom.

#

Back in Gryffindor Tower that evening, the atmosphere was rather relaxed. The end of term exams had come and gone and everyone was rather excited about the coming holidays. There was only one day left of class before the weekend and the trip back home. Hermione had spent a good hour with the rest of the SOLDIERs training, everyone but Pansy very enthusiastic. Harry and Neville had managed to tease a smile out of the Slytherin witch before the end of the session, but Hermione had taken her apart to let her know that family was more important than friendship.

"But you feel just as much family as they do," the Slytherin had muttered, not surprised in the least that Hermione had known why she was upset.

"Family can be chosen by your heart just as much as it can be given by your blood," Hermione conceded. "But neither should condemned you for your choices, however much they might not like it."

"My father is a Death Eater. He may not have taken part in your torture, but he would have joined in had he the opportunity."

"You are not your father. And in any event, given the right incentive, people can change rather dramatically." Hermione placed her hands on the other witch's shoulders. "Find your dreams and reach for them, Pansy. And above all else, protect your honor. In our situation, with the demons of war snarling at our doors, it's all any of us can do."

"And if my honor dictates that I stand by my father's side in the coming war?"

"Then we will meet on the field of battle. We might even fight. And we will do so honorably."

The Slytherin had left with a simple nod. Hermione shook her head, forcing her mind back in the present. The Gryffindors were happily celebrating the near end of term. Not that Gryffindor needed any excuse to throw a party.

"You'll never guess what I found on my bed," Harry said as he dropped on the seat next to her.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him in a move reminiscent of both Snape and Sephiroth.

"Someone left me an early christmas present."

"Really?"

"Yep. Box of chocolate. Was that you?"

"Nope. I have something in mind for you, and it's not chocolate."

"Hmmm…"

"What… No card with it?"

"Nope."

"Then I'd be careful. You never know who could have sent it."

"What? You think Voldie would have sent me poisoned sweets?"

"Death by chocolate… Not a bad way to go."

"You're a girl. You would say that."

Hermione smiled. Harry shrugged and stuffed the box in his bag.

"I'll dump them when I get back up. Now, have you decided who you're going to take to Slughorn's party?"

"Myself," Hermione replied as she slouched in her seat.

Harry nodded to himself, unsurprised even as his gaze settled on Ron who was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Ginny.

"You're going off on your own again for the holidays?"

"Yes."

Harry's gaze cut to his female best friend. "Will you be safe?"

Hermione half smiled at her friend. "Safer than you will be at the Burrow."

The younger wizard nodded once, accepting her answer. "Don't forget to write."

Hermione huffed a laugh - after all, Harry was the one who had issued with written communication over the holidays - and the two friends watched the rest of Gryffindor have their fun until it was time for bed. The following day went by as normal. In Transfiguration, they learned to dye their eyebrows. And Hagrid had the class looking at dragons and how best to approach them. Hermione privately thought that Harry could have done with this lesson a couple of years ago. As evening fell, Hermione reluctantly went back to her room to get ready for the party. Alone in the room, she pulled her SOLDIER uniform from her dresser.

SOLDIERs never had to go formal, Sephiroth commented.

Hermione smirked. "What? You never had to smooch up to the President?"

No. The little downtime we had was usually spent healing, resting, or training.

Hermione let her SOLDIER uniform drop back into the drawer. Instead, she took one of her Hogwarts uniform out and laid it on her bed. She transfigured the gray trousers into a knee-length straight skirt made of black stretchy material, and her white shirt into a tight, sleeveless, form-fitting, black top. Her school jumper became a black dress jacket with a stiff collar and simple epaulettes decorated with a single silver star; the whole thing was trimmed in silver. Her white school socks were changed into thigh-high black stockings; her combat boots into black calf-high boots, polished to a high shine. She pulled her new clothes on, along with her black gloves. She added a black leather belt with a silver buckle to secure the jacket close. A couple of waves of her wand, and she put the finishing touches to her new dress uniform: a blood red cape, and a sheath. A thought summoned Genesis from her wand, and she tucked the blade away in the sheath. Hermione stood in front of the full-length mirror tucked in a corner of the room and quickly brushed her hair into a French twist, pinning the silver and brown strands up with magic. With a final nod to her reflection, Hermione left her room.

The common room was full and once again in party mode as she made her way down. Harry, Ron, and Neville were standing by the entrance. Ron was talking to the other two, his arms moving about as he apparently tried to make his point. The redhead was in school uniform while the other two wore dress robes, as they were both invited to Slughorn's party. As she made her way through the room, Hermione drew looks and whispers which she expertly ignored. Neville looked up and blinked, gaping slightly at her. The other two turned to look and ended up with a similar expression on their faces.

"What?" Hermione asked as she drew near.

"What are you wearing?" Ron said with a frown.

Hermione held back a smirk and blinked. "My uniform?"

"That's not a school uniform."

"Ron," Hermione huffed with a laugh, "this is my SOLDIER dress uniform. Tonight's party is a public function. As a First Class, I officially represent the organization during these kinds of shindig."

"Well, you still can't go on your own!"

Hermione frowned slightly, looking to Harry and Neville for an idea of what was going on.

"Ron thinks you should take him with you. He thinks it'd be just sad if you turned up on your own."

Correct me if I'm wrong here, Hermione, but didn't he say something similar to you just a couple of years ago?

Yes.

Hermione's answer was short and in direct contradiction to the relaxed expression on her face. She breathed in deeply and walked away without a word. The three Gryffindors spent the evening mingling, fully aware that Ron would probably be in a very bad mood by the time they went back. Hermione answered many a query about her clothes and took the opportunity to put the name of SOLDIER out there, a small unit of people, Muggles and wizards alike, trained in combat and willing to fight the good fight.

When has SOLDIER ever been a force for good?

Since I decided so, as the current General of SOLDIER.

Ah… Shinra, Hojo, and the rest of them must be turning in their graves.

And are you worried about that?

Not in the slightest. Carry on.

The rest of the evening passed with no real incident. Malfoy was caught trying to sneak in and Snape left to handle it. In the end, Hermione went back to Gryffindor Tower without trouble and even managed to sneak past a sleeping Ron. Now if only she could disappear from Hogwarts tomorrow with as little trouble, she could have a perfect start to her holidays.

#

Author Note:

*gasp* It's an update! Just don't get used to it. It's taken me this long this time around and you might well wait just as long for the next chapter considering how things are going in my life.

And to those of you who managed to guilt me into writing/editing/posting this? Thank you!