"I'm fine, Fred. I don't need to see Madame Pomfrey so just leave it alone!"

"Hermione, you're not 'fine'. You look awful."

"Thanks ever so much, Fred. Now get out of the way. We have class."

"Hermione, you can't just- oof!"

Hermione stalked into their classroom full of seventh year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The students watched her warily. Her eyes were tinged with dark purple shadows and her mouth had an unnatural pinched look to it. Her face was drawn and more than a little haggard and she seemed to be walking more stiffly than usual.

Fred walked in after her scowling. His left hand rubbed his side gently. Seeing Hermione in a bad mood was relatively normal. Seeing Fred in a bad mood was outright scary.

"Miss?" a hesitant Hufflepuff girl asked. "Are you feeling all right?"

Hermione hissed softly and glared at Fred. "This is your fault," she muttered at him. Turning back to the class, she said shortly, "I'm fine. Now pull out your essays for collection."

As soon as everyone had their essays out, she levitated them to her. Usually she would walk around and collect them, but her muscles were so tense and she had a tension headache building. There was no way she was wasting movements today.

Fred said nothing, just watched her with a slightly disapproving look. He contributed to the class as they began teaching various blasting spells and counters. But it was obvious to everyone the tension between the two.

. . .

Hermione slowly made her way to the Great Hall for lunch. She had started feeling a bit more hungry than usual last week, but now she felt nauseous at just the thought of food. She couldn't tell Fred though. He was already feeling put out with her.

She didn't understand why he thought she needed to see Madame Pomfrey. It was just a bad dream. He didn't need to freak out so badly about it. She'd been having nightmares for years. They weren't just going to stop any time soon. Being so exhausted and sore was a new one, however.

Because her body was so tense and her head was pounding, she was extra sensitive to the slight push on her mind. She shut it out and continued to lunch. She could deal with an experimental student later. Right now, if she didn't get in there and force food down her throat, Fred was going to strongly consider stunning her and take her to the infirmary.

The light probe came again but stronger. She whirled around and stalked over to a shallow alcove. She shoved herself into the student's face and grabbed him by the collar.

"Severus Snape, if you continue to try to get into my mind," she said very, very quietly. "I will not react as kindly as you think I would."

He hissed back at her. "You shouldn't have been able to feel that!" He jerked himself away from her and into the now-empty halls.

Her glared turned even colder. "I've spent years building up my mind walls. Nothing can get passed them. And if I shouldn't have been able to feel it, does that mean that you've been practicing on other students?"

He sneered. "I don't have to tell you what I've been up to."

"Oh, yes you do. If you've been practicing forced mind reading, you're no better than a mind rapist and that is against Ministry Code 476 and so help me Merlin if you do not answer me right now, I'll find out the answers I need by myself."

"Fine. I swear on Merlin I did not force it on anyone."

"Did you threaten them?"

"No."

"Fine. Stay out of my head, Snape. You wouldn't like what you found there if I let you in."

"I'll find out your secrets one day, Greene."

She snorted as she walked away. "Yeah, you do that." She waved a hand over her shoulder. "But you'll never get Evans back if you keep up that way of thinking."

"What the bloody hell-"

But he never finished his question because Hermione had entered the Great Hall and let the doors slam without giving him a second glance.

Fred gave her an even stare as she sat down next to him. All of the scents from the meal just made her stomach roll even more. She forced down the acid bubbling in the back of her throat. She could eat something. She would eat something.

She felt Fred's eyes on her as she began to cut up an apple. There was no way she was going to try to bite into it normally. Her mouth and jaw were beginning to ache from her headache and the constant clenching of her teeth.

She wished Fred couldn't read her as well as he did. His big brother instincts could be smothering sometimes. She was glad that he hadn't said anything yet, but she could feel his concern radiating off him like waves. She ignored him and focused on cutting her apple which she was finding surprisingly difficult.

Her fingers kept twitching oddly. She forced herself to hang onto her knife but the twitching wouldn't stop. Her knife clattered down onto her plate and she clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles were white.

She held back the panic and said quietly, "Fred."

He took everything in immediately and stood up. He gently grasped her elbow and pulled her up. "Let's get you out of here."

"Not to the infirmary," she whispered as he ushered her out. She appreciated that he walked close enough to her that he could easily keep a hold on her but in a way that nobody noticed she was having a problem moving on her own.

"If you collapse, you're going where I take you," he growled back. As soon as they were out of sight, he pulled her up on his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulders. He could feel her breath coming in quick pants. He picked up the pace as he headed to their rooms.

Maybe he could get Madame Pomfrey to take a secret look at her if she passed out.

. . .

Two days later he came around a corner and saw a crumpled bundle in the middle of the hall.

"Hermione, you idiot," Fred muttered as he heaved her over his shoulder. He was going to have to stun her and lock her in her room to get her to stay in one spot to recover. If he found her collapsed in one more hidden passageway….

"Stop calling me an idiot," she mumbled into his shirt. She squirmed slightly. "Lemme go, we have class in fifteen minutes."

"'We have class in fifteen minutes', she says. You're in no condition to teach anything! What the bloody hell were you doing in the passage way anyways?" he demanded, sounding not unlike a smothering Molly Weasley.

"Was trying to get some food," she answered. "Let me down, I can walk. I was just asleep."

"Oh yes, because sleeping on cold stone is the perfect way to get yourself healed."

"Shut up. I was up all night."

He immediately set her down. "Was it nightmares?"

"What? No, I was working on what to say to Magorian about Friday. And the whole apparation thing." She paused a moment. "I'm going to see him alone."

Fred was so outraged by her matter of fact tone that he couldn't utter a single word. Hermione took this opportunity to stride shakily down the hall and into their classroom. Fred dashed after her. Before she could say a single thing, he spoke.

"We're giving you all today off. Meet with your house- it's every house for itself on Friday!- and discuss strategies. You'll need all the prep you can get!"

"Professor, what are we even going to be doing?" a Hufflepuff asked curiously.

"Hand up, Conal. And I'm not a professor."

Hermione stepped in with a small glare at Fred. "You're all going to be tagged so we know exactly which spells were used in case of an emergency. Certain spells will be blocked, like Unforgivables and several darker spells. Points will be awarded for how well duels are handled, creativity in spellwork, teamwork, and, of course, winning. The actual rules will be explained once everyone else has gathered together tomorrow." She leveled the class with flat look. "Any questions?"

A Ravenclaw raised her hand.

"Morris?"

"Where are we meeting you?"

"Oh didn't we tell you?" Fred said mischievously. "We're going to the Forbidden Forest. And you won't just have to defend yourself against other teams, you'll also have to keep an eye out for the creatures lurking around waiting to eat you."

. . .

"Fred, it's been three days. She should be functioning relatively well by now."

Sirius paused as he heard Madame Pomfrey's hushed voice. He had been intending on meeting up with the lovely Marina that evening, but eavesdropping seemed so much more interesting. He hadn't seen his DADA teacher since Tuesday morning. Everyone wanted to know where she had been, but no one wanted to ask Fred since he seemed so distracted. Sirius was definitely taking this opportunity to listen in.

He heard Fred shuffle slightly. "I told you, she hasn't been resting well. She's probably going to force herself out of bed by tomorrow, but she still looks just as bad as she did Sunday night."

Sirius hadn't heard anything about something happening Sunday. How many secrets did these two have?

"You said she got plenty of sleep Sunday and Monday. She should be fine by now."

Slight anger could be heard in Fred's tone. "She didn't sleep. Hermione hasn't actually slept in a few years now. She only gets about three and a half hours of actual sleep. Sure, she cat naps when she can but to say that she's gotten plenty of sleep is stretching it."

"Give her the sleep potions-"

"I told you. They don't work on her. She had them too often."

"I don't know what else to tell you without examining her then. If you can convince her to come in, I'll have a better idea of how to help her."

Fred snorted.

Sirius heard footsteps heading his way so he ducked behind a tapestry. He pressed himself into the wall as he thought of everything he had just heard. Suddenly, the tapestry moved and he was face to face with Fred.

"Walk with me," he ordered.

. . .

Pale moonlight streamed through the windows, lighting the passageway. The air was dry and cool, enough that Hermione had grabbed a light hoodie on her way out of her rooms. Her fingers lightly brushed along the stone walls as she silently shuffled her way towards the main doors. She wasn't sure where Fred was, but she hadn't been willing to risk him tagging along with her had she gone earlier.

Her pace was slow. Her muscles would still occasionally stutter. Every time they did so, she would pause against the wall until they calmed once more. She would then shove herself upright, hating that her body was still sore and not cooperating the way she wanted it to. Her left arm wrapped around herself, she forced herself to let out steady breaths. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three.

She finally reached the heavy wooden doors. She summoned the tiniest bit of magic and pushed the doors open. The chilly breeze stung her flushed face, slightly cooling off her fever. She took another deep breath and braced herself. She slunk out from the shadows and rubbed her fingers together.

The Forbidden Forest had always held a certain fascination for Hermione. There was just so much just waiting to be discovered. Granted, she had been in the woods far more than recommended, but she still felt as though she had barely scratched the surface. She knew her way around- had even become friends with several of the centaurs. But she wanted to know everything about the dark and forbidden place.

She rolled her shoulders and stretched her legs, warming her muscles up a bit. When she felt she was ready, she took off at a fast paced jog. The faster she ran, the steadier her limbs seemed. So she pushed herself and soon her short locks of hair were plastered to her head. Sweat clung to her skin. She felt the sudden chill that comes with a fever breaking. She forced herself to keep moving at the quick pace. She wasn't going to question her body's decision to cool down.

By the time she managed to get to the edge of the Forest, she was doing some serious self-reflection on the wisdom of running so hard when her muscles still weren't quite ready. Before she entered the thick, dark trees, she leaned heavily against the twisted roots. She wasn't panting, for such a distance was quite small in comparison to the lengths and time she would normally be running. Thankfully, her arms and legs were no longer twitching, but a deep aching soreness was setting in.

She bit her lip. Fred was going to kill her.

She made her way into the shadowy forest. There was no path where she tread. The moonlight that barely trickled through the patches between branches and heavy leaves was just enough to light her way. Rustling and soft scratches could be heard. Amusement flared briefly and slipped away. If she hadn't spent a good three years living in a woods similar to this one, she supposed the quiet forest noises would wear against her senses and overwhelm her.

She paused abruptly. The breezes changed, the woods were suddenly silent. She sniffed slightly.

"I wish to speak with Magorian," she stated.

Branches and twigs broke as a large form slowly made its way into a small patch of moonlight. "Human," snarled the centaur, "What do you wish with Magorian?"

"I need to make a pact. And," -her voice cracked a bit here- "I need to consult him on a matter of great importance."

Another centaur silently appeared from behind the first. At his nod, the first made way for the second, bowing his head slightly. "What business do you have with me, hum-" He stopped and narrowed his eyes.

"You do not belong here."

"I know."

He eyed her a moment more. She stood loosely, as though she was ready to fight or for flight. Her eyes were sharp, her mouth pursed. There was a stubbornness to the set of her chin and both centaurs could almost see the power rolling inside her.

This was a supremely capable witch.

He tilted his head towards her. "What is this pact you wish to make?"

She straightened her posture to that of a soldier's stance, shoulders back, feet slightly apart. "My partner and I have been put in charge of teaching the Hogwarts students how to defend themselves against the dark arts. We are holding an assignment here in the Forest in two nights."

"No." His answer, without hesitation, was firm.

Her eyes snapped. "Negotiations are not complete yet. Be silent until I have finished."

The first centaur growled and made as if to hit her but found he couldn't move. He tried to shout but his voice could not be heard. He glared at Hermione who merely glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not speaking to you."

She turned her attention back to Magorian. "We will be using the Forest. There will be certain areas I will keep the students out of, however. In exchange for keeping the students away from your young and out of your hunting grounds, I want your word that you will not harm my students."

"You know we do not harm innocents."

"Some of them are not as innocent as children ought to be. And my companion and I as well as several students have reached their majority. I want your agreement that they will not be touched."

"And if we do not agree?"

"I'm still keeping them away from your young. But you will be the first I kill in exchange."

He scoffed. "You cannot win against a centaur on the hunt, foolish human."

"You would not be the first centaur I have gone up against. And you would not be the first opponent to think that he could easily overwhelm me."

He watched her closely. The steadiness of her gaze, the strength of her stance, and the hard promises in her tone convinced him to reconsider.

"Do you know how to make a barrier?"

"I do. My partner and I were the ones who added to the Hogwarts barriers a few weeks ago. You probably felt the wards when they went up."

A faint look of surprise crossed his face. "That was you?"

"It was. And I will make sure to keep my students in a specific section of the Forest."

"You mentioned needing advice as well."

He watched her closely as an air of vulnerability settled around her.

"You know I don't belong here. How do I get back?"

He looked past the barriers she had erected around herself. Instead of a soldier, he saw a little girl playing quietly by herself. He didn't see a powerful witch; he saw a young teenager. He didn't see a strategist; he saw a girl who never had a chance to live the very life she had been fighting for. He didn't see a victim of hard choices and circumstance. He saw a survivor. And if there was one thing he could respect in a human, it was the ability to survive.

He looked up at the little bits of sky. "I cannot answer your question just yet. But we will consult the stars. Come after your little games. We will talk."

Hermione bowed low. "Thank you. I will see to the barriers tomorrow evening." She spun on her heel and strode away.

Magorian turned to his still silent companion. "Call the herd. We have much to discuss."

Impatiently, the centaur pointed to his throat, indicating that he still could not speak.

Magorian snorted. "Foolish foal, she removed the spells as soon as you stopped threatening her."

. . .