Sorry for the delay. I really hate this chapter but I needed something to move the plot along.
"Thanks for coming," Hermione says. "I just need to talk through what we've got left to do before…"
"Before what?" Avery asks. "What happens when you face him? How do you kill him?"
"I think we're going to have to cross that bridge when we get to it," Hermione says. "We're almost there but we've still got some things on my list."
She conjures a blackboard and starts to write on it. "So far," she says, "we have collected the diadem, the locket and the ring. We still need to collect the cup and the diary."
"And we know where they both are," Sirius says. "So, what's the plan?"
"Ideally, we would collect the cup and the diary at the same time," she says. "I have a feeling that once we take them, we'll have to deal with it pretty quickly because…he'll know."
"We don't know that," Dumbledore says.
"I said it was a feeling," Hermione says. "But it doesn't matter because everybody who could possibly get into the Black vault needs to be at the party."
"Do we?" Bella asks. "Can't I go and get it?"
"Because you…" Hermione trails off, clearly thinking hard, and then she beams. "Yes, you can."
"How?" Narcissa asks. "Won't that raise suspicion – if Bella's not at my fiancé's party?"
"Not if you row a few days before," Hermione says. "So, two weeks before, you'll start to bicker quietly, at meals and in the corridors. Nothing big but noticeable."
"Slytherins don't argue in public," Avery says haughtily.
"Well they do now," Hermione says scathingly. "Anyway, once the seeds have been planted, you can have a loud and scripted row in a public place. Then you don't speak to each other for a few days and hey presto, perfectly viable excuse for you to be absent from the party."
"What would we row about?" Narcissa asks.
"That doesn't matter now," Hermione says. "So Bella and…Snape? Or maybe Avery, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, you will go with someone to collect the cup while I steal the diary and then we're good to go. We can destroy them all and then I can go and kill him."
"Do we have to?" Sirius asks quietly.
"Excuse me?" Hermione says.
"Why can't we just capture him?" he asks.
"He's too powerful," Hermione says, aghast.
"Grindelwald was the greatest Dark Wizard of all time and Dumbledore put him in prison," Remus points out.
"That was different," Hermione says furiously. "No prison would hold Tom. I am sure of it."
"How can you be?" James asks.
"Because I know him," Hermione says. "I know. Can't you just trust me?"
"No," Sirius says frankly. "Because I think your judgment is being swayed by how much you want revenge."
"Yeah, okay, I want him to pay!" Hermione says. "Is that so wrong?"
"But if you do this, what makes you better than him?" Sirius asks.
"I am doing this to save you!" Hermione shouts. "Have you forgotten that?"
"But, Hermione, this Tom hasn't done it yet," Sirius says softly. "He's not the same guy who killed so many people you loved."
"Oh Merlin," Avery says as the realisation suddenly dawns on him. "You're from the future."
"Great," Hermione says furiously. "That is just what I needed. You know what, if I'm such a bad person, with so much bloodlust and an outrageous desire for revenge, then maybe I'll just go. I'll do it alone. I don't need any of you anyway."
"Hermione, wait," Sirius begins, but she is spiralling now.
"No!" she shouts. "How dare you! I have lost everything! Everything that ever mattered to me and it's all because of him. And ever since I got here, I have consistently put myself in danger to save all of you. So, when it comes down to it, Sirius Black, I don't think you get a say in how I end this."
"You are losing who you are," he says. "And I can't watch that happen, Hermione."
"This is who I am," she shouts. "I will kill him to protect all of you because I can't lose any more."
"So what makes you different from him?" Sirius shouts, pointing at Dumbledore. "Both of you, ganging up together and going on about the greater good. What makes you better?"
"The only life I put on the line is my own," she says icily. "But thanks, Sirius. It's really good to know exactly what you think of me."
She storms off, hurrying straight up to Dumbledore's office and locking the door with several complicated charms.
"Miss Granger?" the portrait of Professor Dippet says. "Is everything alright, my dear?"
"What would you do?" she asks. "Would you kill him?"
"I'm sure I can't say," Dippet says. "But I can understand why you would."
"You're no help," she says, throwing herself down in an armchair. For a moment, she just looks around the room, mildly fascinated by all the trinkets Dumbledore has. Then her eyes fall on something old and worn and she knows why she ran here.
"Hello," she says, standing up and going to the Hat.
"Hermione Granger," it croons. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet. In my timeline at least."
"No," Hermione says. "It's nice to meet you."
"A Gryffindor," it says. "Was that an easy decision for me?"
"No," Hermione says. "I was a Hatstall – you couldn't work out whether I was a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw. But now-"
"But now you're wondering if you'd be better suited to Slytherin," it finishes. She blinks at it, surprised, and then nods.
"Yes," she admits. "Maybe I'm too ruthless for Gryffindor now. Maybe I've changed too much…"
"Hermione, whatever has happened in your life, it does not change what I saw in your soul," it says. "That said, if you want to put me on again and be resorted, we can keep it to ourselves."
"Really?" she asks softly. "Would you?"
"Put me on and let's just see," it says. For a moment, she hesitates and then she picks it up and puts the hat on her head. It stays unusually silent, rifling through her head, and then says, "Yes, there is darkness in your mind, Miss Granger. You have felt loss and fear and rage. But there is a good mind here, you would do well in Ravenclaw. Ambitious too, resourceful and clever, there are Slytherin traits. Patient and loyal, Hufflepuff qualities, but you don't value fair play the way they do. But you are brave and daring, Miss Granger. And your chivalry, your willingness to risk your life for your friends is the reason that it better be GRYFFINDOR!"
She sighs, relieved, and takes the hat off. "Congratulations, Hermione," it says. "In truth, I could justify sorting you almost anywhere."
"Hmm," she says. "You don't think my ruthlessness makes me a Slytherin?"
"Ruthlessness is a Gryffindor trait," it says. "Your strong sense of right and wrong, and your willingness to fight against the wrongs, is what makes you a Gryffindor."
"Okay," she says. "I need to go."
"It was nice to sort you officially, Miss Granger," it says. "Good luck on your quest."
"Thank you," she says. Then she unlocks the door and walks back downstairs. When she gets back to the classroom, everyone is still there, arguing loudly. Avery and Bella are shouting at Sirius and Remus, Narcissa and James are bickering furiously and Snape and Lily are snarling at each other. Meanwhile, Dumbledore is at the back of the room, watching everyone with interest but he stands as she walks back in.
"You were wrong," she says to Sirius. "I know who I am and I know what I need to do. I'm not going to let you make me feel bad for this. This is my plan and if you don't like it, you can get out. But if you stay, you're working for me and you've got to do what I say."
"So we can't express opinions now?" Sirius asks.
"Okay, you've clearly got some issues – do you want to talk in private?" she says.
"Fine," he says, stalking out of the classroom.
"Does anyone else have anything they want to say?" she asks icily.
"I'm on board," Avery says. "Your plan is better than anything anyone else has come up with so let's just do it." For a moment, nobody else speaks and then they all nod in agreement.
"Fine," she says. "Well we've still got a couple of days before we need to set the plan in motion so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see what the fuck Sirius is on today."
She walks out and heads straight up to the Room of Requirement – Sirius is waiting outside and when he sees her, he heads inside. She follows him; he is sitting cross-legged on a sofa.
"What the hell is your problem?" she shouts.
"Don't start having a go at me just because you want to take on the world today," he says coolly. "I'm not here to shout at you and I'm certainly not going to let you shout at me. If you can't have a conversation, I'm going to bed."
For a moment, Hermione feels her rage building. Then it all slips away and she nods, sitting down on the sofa opposite. "Okay," she says. "What is your problem?"
"I think you are losing sight of what is important to you," he says. "If you become any more like Dumbledore, we're going to have to find you a white beard."
"I think that you clearly don't understand what's important to me," she says. "All that matters – the only thing – is keeping you safe. You and James and everyone else in that room downstairs. And if I have to kill Voldemort to do that, I will."
"Hermione, when I met you, no loss of life was worth it," he begins.
"No," she says sharply. "You are wrong. When I was a baby, 11 years old, maybe I thought that no loss of life was worth it. But I have been to hell and back since then and I am not a baby anymore. I have lost more than you will ever understand and I am not planning on losing anybody else. I'm going to kill whoever I have to kill to keep you alive. And I don't feel badly about that because they have done bad things."
"Killing them is a bad thing," Sirius snaps. "You can't pull out the moral card if you're going to talk so freely about murder."
"You don't get it," Hermione says. "I am not a good person – if you still think that I am, you have not been paying attention."
"So what?" he says. "I'm just supposed to accept that you're a murderer now."
"I've always been a murderer," Hermione says. "We're in a war, of course I've killed people."
"This is different," Sirius says.
"Why?" Hermione asks.
"Because we're not in a war," Sirius says.
"Yes, we are," Hermione shouts. "He's forming an army and so am I and only one of us can win."
"Why can't we-" he begins.
"Sirius, whatever you're thinking, I've already thought it," Hermione says. "We cannot reason with this man. He will kill everyone. He will kill James and Lily and Harry and Fred and Ron and you and everyone I have ever loved and I can't just stand by and watch it."
For a moment, Sirius is silent and then he nods. "For Lily and James then," he says quietly. "But just him, Hermione – we don't need needless loss of life."
"Okay," she says.
"But Hermione…you said only one of you can win?" Sirius says. "What if that person is not you?"
"That's always been a possibility, Sirius," Hermione says. "And if I die then I die. Maybe it's for the best."
"How can you say that?" Sirius asks.
"I don't belong here, Sirius," Hermione says.
"You belong with me," he says.
"You don't even know who I am," she says sadly. "And every time you see me, you don't like it."
"I just want you to be the best you can be," he says.
"And I need you to understand that I do not care a bit about that," she says. "All I care about is keeping everybody else safe."