Dsiclaimer: ... I Q-Q every night knowing I don't own a lick of HP.
AN: So far so good on keeping the pace. The promotion at work is owning me but I'm trying my hardest. Again I really ty and appreciate everyone who is alert+, faving, or following myself or this story. Keeps me writing!
NevemTeve – ... I am so happy I wasn't drinking something when I read your review. I laughed quiet a bit.
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Chapter 28 – The Compulsion
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Hermione stared mutely at her display. The answer was there she just wasn't thinking clearly. She had already extinguished the light in her room to expand the display. Images of secluded parts of the body floated before her. Starting at the beating organ that kept the human body going she glared. It couldn't be that simple. If it were as simple as ripping out a wizard or witch's heart to find the magic it would have been found by now. "Where are you hiding?" She muttered to the empty room. Her eyes centered in on another picture of the human body. It was faded out thick red lines ran over the display. Shaking her head again she discounted the blood. It seemed obvious but she would never let herself admit that the pure-bloods had a point. Again too simple to be the true answer.
"Command does not compute." The display chided back at her. She growled at the crystal rigged device. "Disregard." She hissed her mind circling itself in this endless loop. Where was Neville when she needed him to stay something completely irrelevant but useful? She hadn't seen him since he had deck Malfoy last week. Something about his punishment not that she was to concerned. Harry was looking out for him. Staring numbly down at the biology encyclopedia in front of her she tried to clear her mind. She needed to bounce ideas off someone but who could she call on?
Telephone. Her brain followed this stray thought with all the desire to ignore her current problem. She could call her parents, she knew there was some students muggle enough with enough money to afford cell phones. What would she say? Things were still strained, improved for sure, but still strained. Her mind continued to follow the stray path of telephones and communications as her eyes trailed down to the bracelet on her hand. More stray thoughts bubbled up, things she had read during the school orientation. She thought of the communication spells on the bracelets. Deciding it couldn't hurt to attempt to call Neville she huffed fighting her agitation.
With her anger slowly dwindling away as she counted to ten. She didn't want to 'call' Neville and have him worry she was cross with him. She really wished he was more sure of himself. He had seemed to have become confident last year, but after the war he and gone right back to normal. Meek, average, decidedly un-Gryffindor. Shaking away those arrogant thoughts she nodded to reassure herself. Flicking the wristband she glanced down at the Clan Norms symbol flashing a soft emerald shade every time her breath ran over it's surface.
"To Neville Longbottom, It's Hermione, I need your help on my project." She stated shortly wondering how this would work. Would it be like an answer machine? Or maybe Neville would be terrified and doing something dangerous. She cringed at the thought of being the instrument of his death. What if he was flying on his broom and his bracelet making noise startled him off? Fretting she brought her hands to her mouth ready to chew her fingers off in dread. Where was he at the moment? She had to track him down her project be damned.
"There see. Now that we said her name she will hear us. Come on speak." Lizzy's voice filtered out of her bracelet that had turned an attractive crimson hue. "Oh- er... 'Mione I can be there soon. What do you need?" Neville's voice followed seconds later.
"I need to run some thoughts by you. I'm stumped," She paused thinking, "you can bring Lizzy to if you like." Not that she disliked the girl, but if she could avoid her she would. She was an experiment and experiments didn't make good friends. Tapping her nails against the desk the display was sitting on she mused for a moment on her other projects. She was still waiting for the polyjuice potion, Lizzy's hair sitting patiently in a test tube.
She couldn't wait to see the results of that experiment. Would she be able to change her features at will like a normal metamorphamagus? Or would the ability not transfer over with the potion. Did the potion change a person complete or just physically? She had studied a bit about DNA and was very curious to know if when changed her DNA would be the same. The effects were temporary, why? A potion, like food, stayed in a persons body for some time. For potions being such an exact science there were still so many questions.
"Why are there no answers?" She muttered to herself. Was it just because no one cared to ask them. Perhaps it was even worse, no one thought to ask them. Did they call her the brightest witch of her age because she was smart, or so muggle-born she actually had a different thought process. They never said that about Harry, but he had grown up knowing it better not to ask questions.
"Command does not compute." The display chirped again. She slammed her hands on the table the interruption by the display irritating her in a way that Ron often did.
"Not every thing I say is an order to you!" She hissed. Why was she so frustrated? If the answer eluded her she always acted like this. Shaking her heading trying to clear her temper she took a deep breath.
"Command does not compute."
"Disregard." She growled grating her teeth. Count to ten, she mentally chided herself. Granted the display had been free, but it would do her no good to push it off the desk and break it. All that research lost, the thought of it was painful. This stray thought as well caused her to bit her lip. When she had heard how much the display would cost she had used her name just this once, for the good of science. It was a slow market for the man who created the magically driven device but she felt like it could revolutionize the wizarding world.
The knock at the door broke her thoughts of the laptop her father had been raving about. "Come in!" She stated glaring at the display daring it to speak.
"Command does not compute." She stood up sharply knocking her chair back. Her eyes were already darting around the room looking for the biggest heaviest book to destroy the display with.
"You okay?" Lizzy questioned softly. The irritation drained out of Hermione so moved was she by the soft voice. She sounded timid as though she were scared of speaking loudly in Hermione's presence. She was not a Dark Lord, she was not to be feared!
"Of course, just a bit of trouble with my research."
"Command does not compute."
"Stand by mode," she barked unable to restrain the flash of aggravation. Her voice caused Lizzy to jump; bumping into Neville who was doing his best to close the door silently. "Stand by mode activated." With an involuntary twitch of her head she smoothed out the wrinkles in her robes and smiled, "Sorry, it seems to think if I like butter and jam on my toast it is something to process." No one laughed. Ron always did say she had a poor sense of humor.
"So, ah- what can I help you with Hermione?" Neville said doing his best to ignore her odd behavior. She did her best in return to ignore his lime green hair.
"The next step. I've narrowed down the best options for the source of magic. The heart has the best percentage return on magic driven rituals. Golemn, binding spells, and even inheritance wards come out very close to hundred percent when a heart is factored into the magic." She said trying to process all the information and put it into simplistic words they could understand. Though perhaps she shouldn't lot Neville in with Harry and Ron's intelligence. He was after all returning to finish his last year, Harry and Ron had cared less about education.
For several moments neither spoke looking at each other. "You said two whats the other?" Neville said though Hermione could see relief flash on Lizzy's face. Had she been watching to ask the same thing? She was not to be fear her mentally insisted again, trying to ease the tension they must be feeling. Ignoring that thought she focused on the question feeling it would ease her mind for a moment to actually be able to answer something.
"Blood." She said flatly ready to kicked herself. She was not doing her best to relax her visitors. If they were uncomfortable what use would they be to her to solve her problem? Shaking her head for a moment she chided herself again. She was not to think these arrogant thoughts, that was what Death Eaters did. She was a good person. She took note of how Neville hair turned a soft pink hue, the distracted helped her tempter a bit.
"So? What do blood and the heart have in common?" Lizzy venture her voice seemingly boosted by the gentle hand Hermione saw snake around her waist. Really; Did Neville have no shame? Insisting he was faithful to Hannah with his hands all over Lizzy like that.
"Nothing." Hermione answered quickly her mind running over what little knowledge she had absorbed from the biology book.
"Right. But look at it from a different angle." The girl started as though she teaching little children. "You know both can't survive without the other right."
"Yes." She answered recalling bits of information that validated the comment. She stared at her for a moment as if she were expecting her to say more. She blinked once before waving her hand about in the air in a dismissive manner that left her feeling a bit embarrassed. Had she not answered completely? Was it more then a yes or no question? Thankfully she wasn't being graded on it.
"Yeah so you have the heart pumping around the blood to the body so the body keeps moving, trust me my dad is a licensed LPN I hear all about this stuff when I was little and asked why a lot. Without blood the heart stops and your dead, without the heart blood doesn't flow and your dead. They have nothing in common 'cept keeping you alive. Which is pretty much what your whole body is for. Life. Treat your body like a temple and all that you know." She walked over the desk righting the fallen chair. She seated herself on the chair as though Hermione's room was hers. "So basically what your are telling me is that the experiments you are running work really good with the heart and blood..." She trailed off with a frown.
Hermione got the distinct feeling that Lizzy was sharing in her plight of suddenly being so close to the answer, but unable to find the last piece. As if on cue Neville took a step closer to them. "So if what you say is true... it might not be that the heart itself is good for these spells but perhaps that because blood flows through it that it is worth using."
Hermione stomped her foot angrily. "The answer can't be blood! How do you explain muggle borns!"
"I'm not trying to insult you Hermione, but you know muggle borns have magical relatives somewhere in their history." Neville's voice was apologetic but his face was marred with shame. His hair had turned a dusty brown to match his fallen mood. She tore her eyes away from the rainbow hair resisting the urge to scream at Neville. He was only trying to help.
"You both are morons." Lizzy sighed leaning back into the chair folding her arms behind her head.
"How dare you." Hermione hissed.
"You're trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill." the teen glared, "It's not the blood and it's not the heart. The difference between a muggle born and a wizard born is genetics. You are a wizard because somewhere in your line there was a wizard yes. But what you don't understand is genetics. Neither of you knows it, hell I wouldn't even know it but like I said my dad is a LPN. When I asked why I have mom's hair and not dad's you wouldn't believe how much he told me. If you wanna learn more about it look up Gregor Mendel. Apparently he's basic knowledge in public muggle schools."
Hermione stared at her for a moment trying to run through any muggle knowledge she might have. But she couldn't pin down anything substantial. "What does that mean?" Lizzy stared at her silently for a moment. Neville turned to her discreetly waving a hand at her urging her to speak.
"Don't even Nev. Hermione likes puzzles. It wouldn't make her happy for me to tell her what she needs to know. Crack open another book," quickly the girl looked about, "you haven't filled this room up yet. You don't have enough books until you are falling over them to get out."
Though she was irritated she nodded realizing as she flipped her own actions over in her mind how true that was. All the agony, irritation, and even blinding anger was worth it when the solution came to hand. Was that normal? Was she normal? Pulling on her ponytail hard enough to feel the strands of hair ache at the base of her skull she smiled. To her the answers were almost as good as sex. "She's right, well thank you so much for the help. I should get back to my research so I can hope for an answer before the term is over." She said an odd serenity overcoming her.
Clearly it was in her voice to as Lizzy stood up and nodded happily at her. Neville nodded with a softer smile guiding Lizzy back towards the door. In the back of her mind even as she looked in the encyclopedia she was thankful for having such a good friend in Neville and that he in turned had good friends. Without him and them by association she couldn't get anywhere in her work.
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Ron flipped quickly through their shared notes. Hermione was no where to be seen but what little time she had committed to her project was scrawled on the parchment in her nice tight handwriting. Between all his spare time when he did not have to make sure the students were staying on track he was working on their project. For every hour hermione put into it he had to put in a days work to even get close to her results. He was distracted easily and reading through so many books tired him out. He just wasn't the type for this kind of research, but he owed it to Hermione to ease her stress. Taking classes, writing a thesis paper, and researching a private ritual among friends. It just wouldn't be right of him to watch her run herself into the ground.
He had tried to find ways around their current issue. A triad bond was possible but highly unstable. Too easy to tip the scales and with the fact he and Hermione were a couple Harry would suffer a great deal if they tried to bind themselves to each other. He would always be receiving backlash if they got into a fight. And they would be able to feel little else over each others emotions coming from Harry. The only way to counter act the closeness that he and Hermione shared would be to find another woman to enter into a rare four way bond. It was rarely practiced anymore as it was far to hard to trust so many people with such a thing.
It was impossible at present for them to bond. There was no other woman they could bring into the bond to balance it out. But regardless he made notes. Hermione had been insistent on sharing any thoughts he had useful or not. Quidditch excluded of course, but this new leaf she had turned over definitely impressed him. She would still wrinkle her nose when she thought the idea was useless, but she would hear him out. He liked not being interrupted even if the argument was over what they should have as a snack before bed.
A stray thought struck him and he scribbled it down. Perhaps the rules could be bent if someone was woman like. Neville could fit the bill for a slutty whore but he doubted that counted. And he was more of a womanizer then a whore but who cared? Someone would curse him or spell him to death before he got much farther in cheating. Infidelity came at to high a price in the wizarding world.
Snicking to himself for a moment he looked up to see a young witch. She was smiling at him sheepishly, "I see you around with the other students." She started brushing back her hay colored locks with a blush. "I was wondering if maybe you could help with some of my homework."
"Not homework if you don't go home to do it." He answered back without thinking. She giggled shuffling closer to him. On instinct he shut the book and tucked the parchment underneath the tome. Nodding his head to the chair across the table he shrugged. There was no harm in a small distraction. He was feeling sleepy again he needed a break or he'd pass out and drool in the book.
"You're funny," the girl flirted her eyes sparkling. Ron nodded smug that someone other then Hermione wanted to talk with him. Not that he would let this girl get anywhere, but it would be nice to bask in the limelight for just a while.
"Thanks, so what do you have questions about?" He said trying to keep the illusion going though he doubted he knew enough about anything to help her. She nodded shuffling in her tight jean pockets before she sat down. He saw her careless drop a pack of candy on the table and drape herself in the chair as Lizzy often did. Was it just an American thing to look like a rag doll when they sat down?
"Well I'm having a rather difficult time in potions." She said as she concentrated on unwrapping her candy. The candy clattered to the table as she lost control of the wrapping and tore it down the side. He stared at the bright candy licking his lips. He hadn't had a bite to eat in a while. "Want some?" She asked as she plucked the round droplets off the table.
"Sure I'll take some of the yellow ones." He reached out to grab some for himself. He stared at the small bites of candy in his hand only for a moment ready to pop them into his mouth when he felt the presence in the room change. It was a library, where could the menacing feeling be coming from?
Gulping once he turned around knowing what he would find.
"On second thought you should ask my girlfriend for help, I'm horrible at potions. Hating my professor didn't help." He smiled at Hermione as she strode to his side. She looked livid, but at the center of it he could feel security. How odd he thought for a moment recent dull text from the tome bubbling up in his memory. If he didn't know any better he sensed a bond already forming between him and his girlfriend. That was a good thing. A natural bond was easier to nurse to full power then a forced on forged in blood and oaths.
Shaking his head thinking of the negatives that meant for Harry he raised a hand to Hermione. "Want some candy?"
"Do you know this girl?" She answered back tartly her eyes focused on him. He knew that look. She was gauging the answers he would give her. Ah one of her many faults.
"No? Why?"
"Then no thanks, I don't take candy from strangers." She muttered her eyes unfocusing for a moment. He knew that look as well. She was thinking of something that was unusual to her. Probably something emotional or from her early childhood. He knew her in and out. Knew that her responses tended to be driven by her emotions though her intelligence clouded the meaning. She had to analyze and know how everything worked.
"Oh, my mom says that to be all the time. She's a muggle you know." the girl rattled off nervously. Ron wanted to sigh. Hermione just had no clue how intimidating she was sometimes. "Yeah the kidnappers are getting smarter though. Buying costumes and pretending to be police, or you know..." She stumbled for words trying to snatch up her fallen candy faster. "a figure kids are taught to trust. Sick people out there..." She muttered frowning as soon as it hit here she was talking in regards to herself. "Names Clarissa by the way. Not a stranger anymore now, but your point was made."
With a shrug Ron put the candy on the table to appease his girlfriend more then anything else. "Sorry, it was nice meeting you though. Hopefully you'll find someone able to tell you up from down with your potions." Without waiting for the girl to leave Hermione whipped out her wand and vanished the candy in Ron's hands before he could even taste it. His stomach grumbled in response as the girl scoffed and rushed away.
"I wonder where stuff goes when it's vanished..." Ron muttered absently knowing it better to just let her temper fizzle out then address it.
"Does it matter?" Hermione stated her anger already dwindling at the departure of the girl.
"Not really, just a random question you know..." He shrugged pulling the parchments free from the book, "I did some more research if you are interesting."
Her face lite up. "Of course, any break from my thesis is wonderful." She sighed. He raised a brow at her relief. She snorted, "Hard questions need some time to stew, the answer just hasn't come to me yet." She smiled with a wink at him as she ducked her head and began to read his notes.
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"To Necromancer, attempted failed." The girl hissed into her bracelet. As she exited the library she saw a waste bin. Angrily she threw her candy into the bin and stomped towards the stairs. Her bracelet flashed back at her. "Bloodlust... what do you mean the attempt failed? How hard is it to get someone to eat candy."
She growled back. "To Necromancer, you try to get a guy to eat candy when his bitch of a girlfriend is there. She vanished the candy right out of his hands!" She bit her lips trying not to shout. It would do no good to draw attention to herself and her unsavory deeds. She was one of the few girls from the Revival that still hadn't managed to get her target shot. Their last note 'conference' had been a big argument of scratched out words and name calling. Their goal was pure why all the secrecy? They would be praised as heroes for their sacrifice. If Harry Potter could be a hero for killing someone they most certainly be heroes for what they were doing.
Damn the laws in place. Though considering where they lived they could be as illegal and open about it as they wanted. The police wouldn't be able to touch them for months and months, maybe even years. They would have grounds and safety by then. Though people had the sense to contract local authorities or dared bring in their own law they could be in seriously trouble.
Shaking her head she rushed down the staircase reminded of why they were keeping quiet. She wanted her efforts to be know now dammit it. But to keep themselves safe and their goals in reach subterfuge was the name of the game. She just didn't like being secretive. It killed her everyday to lie to her muggle mother who didn't even know her daughter was a witch. She had to double time her studies to be able to even keep up the illusion of a muggle child for her mother. Damn her father for his lies and even worse for forcing her to keep those lies. A potion or two and her mother would never leave them and they could tell her the truth. But love blinded her father, he would rather keep his wife in the dark then bound to him by magic and love.
She shook her head. He already harped about the road less traveled. It was there for the taking and they were wizards and witches. If they could have it why shouldn't they? She would try again and this time she would get Weasley.
