Edited and Reloaded 11-2-15

Chapter 10: Dr. Do-Little Lives in a Caddyshack

November 8

Hermione sauntered past Ron and into the classroom ignoring his insistence that she warn him if Snape was teaching Defense again today. He may just be a 13 year old boy but his whiny behavior was irksome and she was done trying to earn his respect. Ron wouldn't be 13 forever and it took time to grow up. This time she was hoping to help the boys avoid the trial by fire path to adulthood.

She listened to the class talk over each other complaining about Snape's lesson and assignment while she calmly pulled her class supplies out and set her finished essay out on her desk.

"Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

From about four seats away from hers she heard Malfoy, "But Professor," with an extra layer of extreme disappointment to his voice. "I've already finished it!" Lupin's face would have made her chuckle if it wasn't for the twitch that had suddenly developed in her right eye.

At the end of class Professor Lupin told Malfoy that he would be willing to look over the essay. Hermione quietly walked to the front of the class and set her finished homework down on the teacher's desk as well. "Thank you sir." "You're welcome Miss Granger. I look forward to reading these." She walked out of the classroom after Malfoy leaving Harry behind to chat with Lupin.

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November 13

Draco was sitting at the study table in the library that Hermione had claimed as her own. Transfiguration, Charms, and Astronomy had all conspired to set a fairly hefty agenda for his weekend. Books and parchment took up most of the table and he was running out of ink.

Hermione walked passed his chair and started looking over the new landscaping on her table. She shuffled some things here and there and then started to organize the piles by some super-efficient system that only seemed to make sense to her. Once she had cleared a space for her own work she reached into her bag and pulled out an ink pot and set it in front of him.

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November 15

Ron was in training. He had to be. A county fair eating competition where he had to defend his title. Usually she would ignore his eating habits for fear of losing her appetite. This morning she had a pad and pen next to her plate and her watch set on the table. Her paper had a start time and a running tally of what Ron was absorbing for breakfast.

More than a few people had noticed her observing Ron while the object of said attention was far more interested in his buffet spread. Harry was trying his hardest to ignore the whole thing but others didn't have quite the same survival instinct. Lavender had sat down next to her and bumped her shoulder leaning in to tease her or get the latest gossip material on a potentially developing relationship. Parvati had won the knut toss and so it fell to Lavender to approach their roommate. Hermione didn't even acknowledge her presence since moving her eyes away would lose her important data. Constant and unwavering attention was necessary when the subject being observed moved so quickly.

Lavender finally looked down at the paper and read it. Her facial expression changed to one of disgust as she glanced at Ron before leaving her post of information gathering and returning to Parvati. It didn't take long before the twins were approached by various Gryffindors wanting to make wagers on how much Ron would eat before quitting.

Since Hermione couldn't really ignore her friend, eating machine that he was, nor would it be productive to try to correct his behavior she had decided to analyze it from a scientific perspective. So here she was collecting data on day one. After seven days she could compile, analyze, and summarize her raw data and then decide what to do with it. Perhaps calculating his monthly grocery bill and sending a note of condolence to Mrs. Weasley was in order.

Perhaps she would target another third year Gryffindor boy next week. Ron was the obvious place to start of course but who could be next? Neville? No, perhaps Seamus. He had quite the appetite but it wasn't often noticed when Ron was at the table too.

She was so bored!

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November 19

Five days. It had gotten to the point where half of the Great Hall now watched Hermione Granger watch Ron Weasley eat breakfast. It was day three before he realized something was going on and now on day five he was squirming in his seat. Any rumors about a possible crush were dispelled quickly simply because Hermione's expression wasn't wistful or dreamy. It seemed to be more in keeping with watching a bug under glass.

There was one column of data on her note pad that was added on day two that made people laugh titled "Worm Food". This of course was what made it into Ron's pocket after the rat was given his tonic. Occasionally she could see whiskers poke above the surface of the table and Ron would then grab something and push the whiskers back into his pocket with the pilfered booty.

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November 20

Hermione had her nose in a book and her ink stained fingers were gently cradling the nib of her quill when a shadow moved across her peripheral vision and settled into the seat across from her. He was late. Without lifting her eyes from the page she picked up a book off the top of the stack next to her and set it in the middle of the table where he could reach it. When he leaned forward he set a new ink pot in front of her before picking up the reference and settling into the assignment. The little pot had a tag that read "Scribbage's Ever Correcting Smudgeless Ink".

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November 24

Crookshanks was laying on Hermione's bed and chewing on his new toy. A life size stuffed brown rat that Hermione had transfigured for him. There was a pouch on the belly that she could stuff little treats or catnip in to encourage more active play. One ear had already been chewed off and the tail was in great danger of not making it through the night. The toe missing off its front paw was not Crookshanks' fault though.

The toy hadn't left the room but the news about it had. Ron was back to scowling at her and Harry had simply asked her why. Her answer was simple. Crookshanks wanted a rat to chew on, would Ron prefer the stuffed one or the real one? Harry of course saw the reason to this and tried to explain it to Ron but hadn't made any progress yet.

It wasn't that Crookshanks needed any help in learning how to hunt but Hermione had discovered that her cat liked playing with her when she animated the stuffed rat.

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November 26

The Room of Requirement was a mess. It was stuffed to the hilts with all sorts of junk just piled up all over. Hermione had asked for a place to find something that was lost and it gave her a flea market nightmare. After tripping over an empty wine bottle and knocking over a pile of what-not and a few things she wasn't even going to attempt to identify she started walking further into the room. Harry's description from sixth year was turning out to be useful when she located the vanishing cabinet. Or, what was left of it. She turned around and looked in different directions thinking perhaps Harry had been turned around and hadn't remembered correctly after all. Hermione wandered off through the room searching for the large cabinet that was mated to one in less than reputable hands in Knock-knock-who's-there Alley.

After a twenty minute fruitless search she found herself standing again where she'd started. There were scorch marks on the wall behind the pile of shrapnel. "Well, that's one way to tie up a loose end."

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As they had on several occasions now, Hermione and Draco found themselves quietly sharing the table in the library to get homework done and do research. They never really talked unless it was directly class related. They had been in this holding pattern now for almost three weeks. He had never even asked her why she was taking muggle studies, just rolled his eyes while she sat there grumbling up a blue streak while working on the homework for the class.

Today the cone of silence was lifted. They were both bent over their respective class assignments when Draco quietly said "Two galleons on Ravenclaw for the win tomorrow by a spread of over two hundred points." Her instant but distracted reply of "Suckers Bet" took her by surprise and she quickly glanced up to see him put down his quill and lean back in his seat with his arms crossed and head angled a bit to the side as he looked at her. He was just starting to smirk and possibly even say something when she reached into the pocket of her book bag and then tossed something across the table to him and went back to her work.

Draco picked up the long sliver of wood she'd tossed at him. It only took about a minute and a half before he realized that he was holding a piece of the vanishing cabinet. With a smile on his face he laid it back on the table in front of her and said, "Consider it a belated Birthday present."

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When Hermione stood to pack up her papers and books Draco leaned forward and put a hand on her bag to get her attention. "Please tell me you have a plan for the rat." His forwardness left her off balance for a few moments before she was able to even think about how to answer him.

Her rather flummoxed expression was not encouraging to him. When she didn't answer he ploughed ahead. "It was never a secret that your cat was blamed for a certain pet rat's disappearance. I remember the timing was shortly before Valentine's. We need to catch him before he runs off to find Snake Face. Hermione, I will do anything to stop that bastard before he can start drawing his sycophants back to his banner. It starts with the rat. Now, what do we do about him? You've got easier access than I do."

Hermione sat back down in the chair she had just vacated and set her hands on the table clasped together and her back straightened rather primly. "Bad things happen to wizards who..."

"No. Stop Hermione. We are well passed the 'don't mess with time' crap. It ended quite badly last time and I am taking steps to avoid that future. That splinter was step one. Now, Peter Pettigrew. Between the two of us I'm sure we can come up with something."

"Why would you want to stop him?"

Draco leaned back into a slightly slumped and relaxed repose with his left hand on the table, his right elbow slung around the corner of the chair back and his left ankle propped on his right knee. "My priorities aren't exactly what they used to be. Lucius is responsible for his own actions but I'll be hexed silly before I allow him to drag my mother down with him. She doesn't deserve any of this. The man she loves disappears the instant Snake Face is mentioned. She's not a Death Eater, just a proper pureblood wife with no one left in the Black Family to help her. The entire time growing up I always heard that Malfoys bow to no-one. Turns out I was lied to. The first time I saw Lucius prostrate himself and kiss the hem of Moldie's robes I thought I must be unconscious and stuck in a nightmare. Turns out I was half right. I have other reasons as well but suffice to say that I will do everything in my power to avoid the dark end our world is currently hurtling towards."

"Do you have any idea how this happened? Why are we here?"

"I don't know. The last thing I remember...well, I'm pretty certain I died doing it." His gaze had shifted away from her face and he picked at some lint on his pant leg. At her next question he froze up momentarily and then tried to feign back into repose.

"And I'm supposed to just forget that you killed me?"

It took him a few moments to formulate an answer he thought they both could live with at this point and not dig his hole any deeper than it already was. He was finally able to meet her steady gaze again when he answered. "You were promised to Greyback after Bellatrix was finished with you. You may not be aware of exactly what that means, but I am. It was bad enough what you had already managed to live through, but that? I saw an opportunity to help you. Believe me when I say Bellatrix was less than happy that I had spoiled her plans for you."

"I see." The quiet stretched between them for a few more slightly less than awkward minutes before Hermione was able to speak without choking on her memories. "So we don't know how we got here just that we both died. When did you get here?"

"First day of classes, hippogriff day, bright and early in the morning."

"Me too. I haven't noticed anyone else really acting out of character, have you? Do you think there are others who have come back somehow?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so. Now what about the rat? I've seen Weasley feeding it something from a little potion bottle, what is it?"

"Rat tonic. Pettigrew hasn't been handling the stress of Sirius' escape very well and he appears to be very sickly."

Draco leaned forward with both feet on the floor and his elbows on the table as he starting working towards a viable idea. "Do you know what the tonic looks and smells like? If we find a potion to substitute we'd have to be able to get it passed the rat's nose. I highly doubt Weasley would notice."

"Oh! Yes, the color and odor are very similar to a potion we might be able to use but we really should research viability of feeding it to a rat."

"Which one are you thinking of?"

In her excitement Hermione leaned forward onto her elbows on the table. "The confusing & befuddlement draught. It might be able to lower his awareness to his surroundings enough for us to be able to move on to the next step in our plan to capture him."

"'Next step in our plan'? You have been thinking about this haven't you? Exactly how many steps are there?"

"Um, about 27 steps with 8 contingency plans." She answered just a little bit sheepishly before getting assertive again. "You understand though that he must be captured and contained alive in order to clear Sirius. That is non-negotiable."

Draco smiled pleasantly, "Of course. Now walk me through it."

Hermione stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Not tonight. It's almost curfew. I'll compile my notes and make a copy for you. Can we meet back here tomorrow to go through it and then start researching potion options?"

"Sure, I don't plan on attending the game tomorrow and it would guarantee plenty of time without nosey eavesdroppers."

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November 27

The game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff provided ample opportunity to use the library without any witnesses. Even Madame Pince was absent as she retreated to her quarters for a quiet afternoon before the students returned indoors.

Unlike the muggle world where various medicines and experiments were run on rats or other test animals there was no indication of how a potion designed for wizards would react to rat physiology. There was also no research into how the animagus transformation may factor into the animal versus human aspect of using the potion. Since they had managed to hit a wall in their research and Hermione was unwilling to give up her books Draco decided to create a shortcut. The research hadn't been done, that they could find, so they would do it themselves.

As the game was ending and the students were starting to migrate back into the castle the unlikely duo made their way to the third floor corridor where Fluffy used to hang out. It took short work before they had a brewing station for the potions work and a table with a couple rat cages for the experiment itself.

The research was complete before the end of the month. The results of course were still on shaky ground in terms of the animagus factor but this was as close as it was going to get without asking Pettigrew to experiment on him so that they could more effectively capture him. It's not like there was another rat animagus wandering around that they were aware of.

Hermione had acquired a duplicate bottle of tonic for the research stage and they used the bottle itself for the implementation stage. She had also gathered what she would need for the rats abduction and stored it in her new expanded purse that was hidden under her robes. It wasn't beaded but it was always with her.

Her plan was a bit complicated and Draco had helped to refine and simplify it. There were still contingencies though. Wormtail would not get away again...cross your fingers and knock on wood. Ron would keep the rat happily unaware and while his defenses were down Hermione would be able to get into the boys dorms and use a sleep bomb they had put together. It wasn't harmful but it would allow her to get into the room and get the rat secured while it was unconscious. Her experience with Rita the Beatle turned out to be helpful. Draco was far more concerned about what to do with him once they had him.

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December 5

Hermione watched with seeming disinterest as Ron closed the flap on the pocket of the bag that held the bottle of rat tonic. Scabbers was currently upstairs napping and 'recovering' from whatever Crookshanks had recently tried. The boys were setting up the chessboard and would be completely engrossed soon enough. The bottle in her pocket was a duplicate in terms of appearance and even the contents was remarkably similar in color, texture, and smell. If she staged this right then her plans (as lengthy and detailed as they were even with Draco's adjustments) to expose Wormtail and save Sirius were ready to move forward.

Five minutes later she gave a final mark to the parchment in front of her and made a show of having finished her assignment. Hermione moved over to watch the chess game for a few minutes and exchanged smiles with Harry while Ron stared intently at the board his gaze never wavering. "Ron, would you like me to look over your charms homework?" she asked.

"Erm, yeah, if you don't mind. It's in my bag." With concentration and gaze never wavering Ron picked up his bag and handed it to her with nary a thought. With a parting "Good luck Harry, I think you'll need it." Hermione moved back over to the table where her supplies were still waiting for the next assignment. She purposefully made noise rifling through the bag to find the assignment she was looking for while the replacement potion was in her left hand and ready to make the swap with no one being the wiser.

TBC