A/N: Only the plot's mine, as always.

As Hermione's eyes flew over the pages, she immediately began trying to contact Remus. She knew she shouldn't; he said it would be dangerous. But she had to let him know that they were close to solving this, and that meant they were close to rescuing him and the others.

Remus, I…

But as Hermione closed her eyes and began to try to speak to him, she felt herself falling… falling through the dark. Her descent didn't stop, but now it wasn't just a dark void. She was seeing flashes of things; flashes of Remus's memories, she deduced.

Remus was 9, swinging on a tire swing, and there was a large dog approaching him from behind….

Remus was 11, and meeting James, Sirius, and Peter on the Hogwarts Express.

Remus was 12 and being helped to the Shrieking Shack on a night with a full moon.

Remus was 15 and holding a shiny new Prefect's badge.

The falling sped up and Hermione could not tell what was going on for quite a few seconds. Then…

Remus was staring at Hermione at Grimmauld Place.

Remus was standing in the kitchen with Molly and Tonks.

"I wish Bobo could have seen that," Tonks said in between breaths.

"Who's Bobo? Remus thought to himself. I'll have to remember to ask the girls later…" Remus's thought echoed loudly in Hermione's mind.

Then Remus was holding Hermione, they were kissing, and…

Quite as suddenly as she had begun this falling sensation, she stopped and found herself back in her own room. She shook her head, and tried once again to contact Remus, but could not get any response.

Just then, she heard a knocking on her entrance painting.

XXXXXXXXXX

Harry had rushed back up the many flights of stairs towards Gryffindor tower. He hurriedly breathed the password, and the Fat Lady, who had been dozing, swung her portrait open with a grimace. There were a few curious faces turned in Harry's direction as he hurdled over books, pillows, and even two first year lying in the floor playing Exploding Snap, but he did not care. He went to Hermione's portrait and banged on it unceremoniously. When she didn't respond, he decided to let himself in. He muttered "Moony," and entered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hermione was surprised to see Harry burst into her room. She had in fact been on her way to open the door when he decided to enter on his own.

"Hermione," Harry panted, "I think…I think that someone is pretending to be Dumbledore."

Hermione was standing with her hands on her hips and giving him a skeptical look, but all of a sudden, a light bulb went off in her head.

Bobo… that's what Ginny heard Tonks calling Dumbledore that night at Sirius's house… But that's also what Remus heard Tonks referring to Snape as in the kitchen when she was talking to Molly!

She pulled Harry toward the couch. At the same time she had her wand drawn and was silently saying "Accio parchment" and "Accio quill." The objects flew to her quickly. She scribbled down the details of the experience she had just had, and the connection she had just drawn.

By the time Harry got to the bottom of the parchment, his eyes were burning and beginning to water because he'd forgotten to blink. When he looked up, they shared a look of excitement at having figured out this much.

"This all fits, 'Mione! Remus said that Dumbledore was there with him and Sirius, but at the same time, we have a "Dumbledore" running around here, too. And isn't it strange that Snape just so happened to disappear at about the same time? AND now that I think about it, I am positive that a bit ago I saw this fake Dumbledore have… well, black eyes, just like Snape's, but he changed them back to Dumbledore's blue when he thought nobody was looking. Do you think he's using Polyjuice?"

Hermione nodded quickly.

"And this falling sensation and seeing all of these flashes of Remus's memories… well, it sounds a bit like Legimens to me, doesn't it to you?"

Hermione was for once taken aback; she had yet to think of it that way. She hastily scribbled, "IS that what it's like? You've accidentally done it to Snape before and all…"

"Yeah, it sounds about right. The only thing I don't get is that usually with Legimency, you have to have eye contact." He paused, and then glanced at Hermione's glowing necklace. "But maybe that thing made it possible."

At the mention of her necklace, Hermione's head jerked up and her eyes clearly said "OH, how have I forgotten!" and she reached onto the ground to pick up the book entitled "Divine Blessing and Curses" that she had recently discovered on her very own bookshelf.

Harry was perched on the edge of the couch watching Hermione thumb through the pages. With a smile on her face, Hermione carefully handed the ancient, tattered book to Harry and gestured for him to read the indicated passage aloud.

"Artimpasa," he began, "is known as the Scythian goddess of both the moon and of love. The most commonly circulated legend concerning this deity is that she fell in love with a mortal. The man died at the hands of his enemies, and Artimpasa shed a single tear in grievance for him. From that point forward, she became very bitter towards mortals, most specifically against mortals who went out of their way to harm others. The Tear that she shed is a mythical object that has been searched for off and on for thousands of years. One wizard claimed to have found it in the late 1100's in a ravine in the jungles of South America. He described it as being roughly the size of a walnut and having a pearly, iridescent color. Unfortunately, the wizard was attacked in the middle of the night, and when he regained consciousness, the Tear was gone.

"In researching deities, it is important to note that many are known by different names around the world. While it is very difficult to prove which deities are known by other names, it is not impossible. In fact, there have been documents dating back to the 500's discovered in South America linking the Scythian Artimpasa to the South American Auchimalgen, the moon goddess and the protectress from evil. The documents (rumored to have been scribed by the goddess herself), suggest that Artimpasa chose to be called Auchimagen after the death of her lover; she wanted to be "reborn," in essence, and to no longer identify as a goddess of love, but instead as a protectress from evil. (The original documents are under protection. For further information concerning their whereabouts, please contact Fernandez Biezo). However, Artimpasa was incapable of severing her ties to the moon, being that it was the direct source of her power. And while she outwardly decried love, the suspicion is that she secretly never did, completely. She turned the single Tear she shed into a pearly stone, and endearingly kept it with her at all times in memory of her love. At night, the stone was rumored to glow in reaction with moonlight. However, in the early 900's, a massive war broke out locally in the muggle world. She became so enraged and was reminded so vividly of her lover's brutal death that she is rumored to have cast the Tear away and to have left the earthly word.

"This brings us back to the discovery of the stone by an unnamed wizard in the late 1100's. His discovery of it in South America only strengthened the assumption that Artimpasa and Auchimalgen were the same being; not only is there documentation, but the actual location of the Tear supports the theory.

"The belief is that the Tear contains powers of all aspects of this deity. The moon, love, and protection are all believed to be contained within it. The combination of all three of this goddess's powers in one object would make it one of the most powerful objects known to mankind."

Harry looked up, excitement evident on his face. "Do you know what I think this means?"

Hermione nodded with a slight smirk on her face.

"A trip to visit this Fernandez Biezo seems to be in order."

Hermione again nodded, but then they both seemed to realize that they had no idea where he was, or if he was even still alive.

They sat in silent contemplation for a few moments, but then Harry's head snapped up, success gleaming in his eyes. "I know what we can do! We can use the Marauder's map to find him!"

Hermione gave him a look that was soaked with "I seriously doubt he is in this school."

Harry shook his head as he stood up and headed for the door. "No, the map has other features that even Fred and George didn't know about. Remus showed us," he paused at the door, "it's how we found you that night…" again he paused, and then threw her a typical "Harry" grin. "I'm going to go get the map and get Ron. We'll be right back!"

The bond between these two teens had always been strong, but in that moment, it seemed to positively fill the room. Harry hurriedly left the room, leaving Hermione to her own thoughts. She tried to contact Remus. She did not get any response, but then again she wasn't expecting it.

Instead, she stood up and walked to a mirror hanging on the wall. She pulled the necklace out from underneath her shirt and studied the reflection of herself and the Tear.

It was still red, as it had been ever since she and Remus had taken their relationship to the next level.

It was still glowing, and swirling, and looking altogether… powerful. She puzzled over the discoveries of the past hour in her mind.

This stone. Moon, love, protection. Very powerful. Moonlight, obvious connection, love, obvious connection, protection, again obvious… but there's something else. We're missing something, something simple. Let's take each branch of its magic into consideration. Moonlight is Artimpasa's power source. So it makes sense that it reacts to moonlight. Also, the fact that Remus is a werewolf ties the whole moon element to him, and therefore to me, all the more. Protection… Dumbledore told me when he gave it to me that it would protect me when necessary and the Tear is instilled with Artimpasa's desire to protect the innocent from those who would harm them. Love… well obviously Remus and I are in love, and she was once the goddess of love, and this Tear was shed as a result of a lost love…

Just then, Hermione had an epiphany. LOVE. "The power that the Dark Lord has not." The reason that Harry survived that night as a baby when his mother sacrificed herself. The reason Hermione and Remus were essential to Harry's ability to defeat Voldemort. When Dumbledore went on and on over the years about Harry having the protection of love... he was referencing his parents' love but he was also talking about this! Harry had a goddess's power on his side! But how to use it…

All the more reason to hurry up and find this Fernandez. Hermione thought.

Ron and Harry appeared a few seconds later, interrupting her train of thought. She quickly wrote what she had just figured out.

Harry looked surprised. "Well, I suppose that makes more sense than just my parents' love for me," he said matter-of-factually.

Hermione wrote that she believed it was a combination of the strong familial and the Tear's love power. I mean, there has to be real love involved in order to use its power, wouldn't you think? And for some reason, that has to be me and Remus.

Meanwhile, Ron had opened the map. He tapped the right spot and the search for Fernandez Biezo began. The map "scrolled" around the world for a bit, before zooming in on a little town called Corazon in Paraguay.

"To Corazon then?" He asked.

"To Corazon." Harry affirmed.

The three of them stood and began making preparations for their trip.

They decided that they had to tell somebody where they were going; the results of Hermione's solo excursion were still at the forefront of their minds. So they unanimously decided that the only person to tell would be McGonagall.

They hurried to her office and knocked on the door. A rustling of papers was heard just before a very stern "Come in," was said.

The three of them entered her office with a bit of apprehension. McGongall was an intimidating figure, never mind the fact that she was their Head of House and a trusted member of the Order. Harry took the initiative and began to sketch out what they knew, all the way from the beginning, including the fact that Snape was pretending to be Dumbledore. When Harry would grow tired of talking, Ron would take up the explanations. Hermione stood to the side, giving her Professor assuring looks that this was the absolute truth whenever she glanced her way.

McGonagall momentarily looked distraught. However, she quickly regained composure. "Are you quite certain of this?"

When all three of them nodded vigorously, she exhaled heavily. "Well then, I suppose you three better hurry and find out whatever you can from this man in Corazon." She paused. "I'll have to make up an excuse for Severus as to your whereabouts…"

"But Professor, he can read your mind! What if…" Ron said worriedly.

She cast him a bemused look. "Mr. Weasley, do you honestly think that I am incapable of defending myself against such things?" she chuckled softly, but only for a second. "I really do need to alert the rest of the Order about this. If Albus, Remus, and Sirius are all really being held captive, and if Severus and Tonks are really spies…"

"But that's just the reason that you can't tell the rest of the Order!" Harry exclaimed a bit loudly, resulting in some of the paintings muttering about the unruly youth of the day. "There is no way to inform the others without Tonks catching wind of it. If Tonks knows, she'll alert Snape that we're on to them, and then…"

"Yes, yes, you are right of course." She gravely looked at each of them in turn. "Our success lies in our ability to act. As long as we act as if we do not know what is going on, we still have a chance. So, you three hurry to Corazon, find this man, and find out whatever you can. I will stay here and keep things under check. Be careful, and hurry back. That is an order."

The teens were already wearing their heavy cloaks, and each had their wand in hand. The Marauder's map was tucked in Ron's pocket and the Invisibility Cloak was tucked in bag on Harry's back. They walked quickly out of the castle, careful to avoid Filch, ghosts, and most importantly, Snape.

Once outside, they sprinted to the gates.

"So, we're going to apparate to Corazon. Hermione, you can apparate alongside me." Harry said quickly.

Ron nodded; he still wasn't very keen on the idea of apparating other people.

They all three looked at each another. Each face, so very different, but each etched with determination.

"Let's get cracking then." Ron said as he disapparated with a "pop."

"Right," Harry whispered under his breath. Hermione took his arm, and they too disapparated with another "pop."