Chapter 29
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.
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Hogwarts, 1995
So, she told him.
Everything.
The dreams that held endless screams and agony. Some in a language she didn't recognize and other times splintered memories. They woke her, body drenched in cold sweat and shivers racking her body.
They didn't make sense yet they did.
It stole sleep from her.
It all did.
He grew grim, face tight with tension. He made of is if to get up so she slid off his lap. She thought he would pull her towards the bedroom but instead took her to his private lab. He left her in the doorway as he went to the back of the room. He opened a cabinet that she had looked inside of before and knew it to be empty. She was startled when he lifted the bottom of the shelf and heaved it upwards.
It held a secret compartment. He reached within and pulled out a crystal phial that held a clear liquid except for the hint of cerulean blue, it reminded her of the beach she had visited with her family years ago.
He handed it to her after walking over, his face once again clear.
"Drink this. Tonight. It will clear your dreams for a week with one drop. Don't exceed the amount."
Hermione examined it carefully and smiled. "Taking care of me now, Severus?"
"It's a bit too late to question me about that."
o0o
Monday morning came bright and early for Hermione. She had rested for hours since Severus wouldn't let her do anything else. She'd allowed it since she did need to rest.
Having had breakfast already, she went out to meet Theodore and the others. They had agreed to meet early in the Room of Requirements to discuss new plans.
But Luna had specifically asked to speak to her alone.
She stepped inside the said room but only after making sure nobody was around. She noticed the change in the room instantly. It literally exhibited what was inside of Luna Lovegood. There were many empty jars on the floor as well as colorful carpets with foreign writing. The walls were covered in portraits that held various animal paintings.
Some that even she had never seen before. It was a room that whispered comfort.
The girl responsible for it all came into view, her dress long, brown in color and the ends of it braided with beads and silent bells. She held a large feather in one hand. It was bigger than her head.
Luna smiled with her eyes and waved at her with her other hand, wand in hand. She was the only in the room thus far.
"Hello, Hermione."
"Hey, Luna, I fancy this room. It really looks comfortable."
"Yes, I thought of home, before mother died. This was her favorite room."
Seeing no shadow in those clear Silver eyes, Hermione changed the subject. But she knew that she hadn't fooled Luna since the girl gave a twinkling laugh. Hermione smirked but then asked her why she had wanted to meet up alone. It was then that Luna sobered up, her face losing the lingering laugh from before.
"There is somebody that has been staring at you for quite some time. She looked after you from afar but only because she has always wondered why you weren't placed in Ravenclaw. But she knows why now. She has something she wants to talk to you about but for that, you have to meet her later tonight near the Clock Tower. She always takes walks there."
Hermione cocked her head to the side but before she could ask anything else, the others came in.
For the next hour, she trained Theodore, Susan, and Luna. With the addition of Greengrass who Hermione was dealing with separately.
Later, when the moon was high in the sky, Hermione waited, concealed in the Shadows.
She was exhausted and only wanted to sleep. But that had to wait. She gave a weary sigh and leaned back against the cold stone of the Clock Tower, her body losing the bit of warmth it held.
She glanced to the side where the view outside was obscured by the jagged glass that was the windows protecting the Clock corridor. Heavy snow made it difficult to see since the snow stuck to some parts of the glass.
Releasing another weak exhalation, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. It could have been a few minutes later after dozing off that she felt it. A different kind of chill touched her. One that no living being could ever hope to achieve. She realized that it was the same feeling she had felt previously; of a gaze watching her every move.
The icy stare of a ghost.
Hermione shifted her head to the side and opened her eyes. There, in front of her, stood a tall willowy woman. Hermione had glimpsed her in the previous years but had never actually spoken to her.
"Lady Helena." Hermione greeted her as her stomach tighten with new tension.
The Grey Lady eerily cocked her own head but in a way that Hermione would never be able to do unless she wished to be dead.
The ghost floated forward, her dress flowing in a non-existent wind. "Miss Granger. I'm surprised you know about me but then again I shouldn't be. A young woman with the mind of three houses. That is what those belonging to the castle call you. I have heard of you for many moons yet never had the pleasure to speak to. But that will now change. If you are as smart as many think you are, then you know that I have been watching you for some time."
Hermione crossed her arms, warding off the chill. "Why have you been watching me in the first place is the correct question?"
Lady Helena smiled wistfully, her figure flickering in and out as she neared Hermione. " I had to know. Had to see for me. To see what humans didn't see. Now I know the risk I have to take and you will hold. I didn't want to act rashly once again."
"And what exactly do you know," she questioned as she flicked her hand and erected a silent field around them. One that she had tweaked a bit with Severus. It wouldn't last long though. Lady Helena floated even closer and stopped about a foot away, her icy presence unmistakable.
"I have seen what you have done with many people. Severus Snape to name one. I wondered why would a young female from Gryffindor be spoken of with such respect. But I listened and watched. You are worthy. But you don't like the spotlight," at Hermione's stillness, Lady Helena gently shook her head as a somewhat bitter smile graced her ghostly lips. "There is no reason for you to be so protective over those you call your own around me. But if it reassures you, Lady Spore has spoken to me. She has for about twelve full moons. Her words rang true every time she spoke to me for she alone knows my secret. So, with full trust, I followed you."
That really made her frown in total confusion. She dropped her occlumency shields as she rubbed her eyes briefly. She hated all these riddles and small talks. Hermione trusted Lady Spore but why would she had spoken to Lady Helena. Even more aware of the situation then ever before, she gestured for her to continue with her speech.
Lady Helena drifted down so that she was face to face with Hermione. The coldness of her aura freezing Hermione to the bone.
"In the room of nothing, you will find what you seek. The knowledge is within your blood as well as your heart."
Hermione relaxed in utter defeat. "Why must you phrase it like that. Next, you will say it was for the greater good."
Helena lost the bitterness in her smile and gave her a startled look that blended into pure delight. She floated back and out of the tower in open amusement that just looked wrong on her ghostly face.
"Now that is very insulting, my dear."
Seconds later she was gone. Hermione groaned softly in frustration. Although, under all the amusement, Hermione had still tasted the bitterness of her true feelings.
She pushed off the wall and walked out of the tower as she ran Lady Helena's words over and over again. It wasn't that hard to figure out once she actually concentrated. There was only one place that came to mind.
She slipped through the corridors unseen, her mind occupied with riddles that should have been spoken straight. She also tried to figure out why Lady Spore had sent the Ghost of Ravenclaw to her. Especially going so far as to spill certain secrets. She had a dark suspicious as to what it could be but nothing was connecting. She was missing a great chunk of information.
The corridors were cold and drafty due to the lack of lit torches. But she quickly realized that she had no need for them. At least not the dark part, the cold was a whole other matter. Her eyes had begun to do there baffling night seeing thing that still threw her off. It wasn't something she had been able to do even after the bite.
Whatever had happened in Egypt was still altering her magic as well as her body from within. Though, she really hoped that they didn't glow in the dark or something. Not knowing if they did, even through the charms and enchantments, she kept her gaze low.
Once she arrived on the seventh floor, she saw Lady Helena standing in the middle of the hallway. But before Hermione could speak out to her, she went through the wall. Hermione really didn't like being played with like this. She closed her eyes and thought of a place with everything and nothing. It took her many minutes before she heard the familiar grinding of stone. She pushed open the tall metal doors that appeared and walked inside.
The smell of old old dusty things hit her senses. The smell was explained immediately after. A mountain of what looked to be old chairs was in front of her, the lump covered by a thick dusty blanket that made her nose itch as well as her skin.
At first, she thought she would have to search through it for whatever reason she had been lured here for but almost stumbled back when she saw what lay beyond it.
The pile she had first seen was nothing compared to the ones that loomed overhead. The amount of junk was astounding and a bit daunting as she rubbed her temples. She didn't glance back when the doors shut and instead wondered further in, the room getting bigger with every turn she took.
After a few minutes of endless searching, she still couldn't find a sign of Lady Helena. But all of a sudden she hesitated as she sidestepped a rolled up rug. Something whispered across her mind as she continued walking silently between isles of abandoned objects. Hermione was snapped to attention as she heard pixies fly high above her head as they laughed evilly.
Near the end of one of the smallest isles of random brooms, she saw her. Helena was floating a foot or two above the ground. She didn't look over to her as she approached and instead spoke in a low voice lacking any hint of her previous laughter. The simper on her face a bit scary, making it all the more eery.
"Do you feel it? The ugliness of it as it steals your will to move." Lady Helena said out loud, her voice piercing the not so silent area they were in.
Hermione went to shake her head but was suddenly fighting the compulsion to move forward. Towards the round wooden table that sat in front of Lady Helena.
But the Ghost of Ravenclaw wasn't finished talking. "I was murdered by a Slytherin, you know. One that had said to love me. He murdered me not with his wand but his knife. I had thought that I had tasted true evil that day. But that is not so."
Lady Helena floated further away from Hermione as her figure flickered worse than before. But Hermione was still fighting the compulsion and bit her lip as her senses reached out in front of her. She looked down, shocked to see her left hand reaching towards the small metal box that glinted with Lady Helen's ghostly presence.
That's when it all clicked together.
But it was too late.
The shrieking of a Horcrux filled her head as she opened the metal cover. Hermione attempted to let go of the lid but the need to touch it became unbearable. But she grimaced when she saw what lay nestled in the middle of velvet padding.
"I stole the diadem. I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it. My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts." Helena confessed as if from a great distance while Hermione stared at the Diadem. But it was just like Lady Helena said it was. Dark, so dark, with the obscurest of magic. It scrapped her senses raw as she avoided contact with it. The compulsion was still strong, the need to touch overpowering.
But the murmurs were the worst. They blended with Lady Helena's next words.
"Etched upon its surface is what also drove me to steal it. 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.' I had thought it had been the Diadem that had made my mother who she was. I was wrong and I paid for it with my life as I fled with it."
The words blended with echoes of the past. But Hermione knew now. The truth. The missing piece of how it came to be.
"You trusted a monster in the making. You could not have known." Hermione spoke as she forced herself to close the lid. She picked it up carefully and tucked it under her arm as she turned to confront the ghost fully.
"Let me see what I can do about it, Lady Helena. I will return it to you once I'm done. For now, I would appreciate it if you kept everything that just happened a secret." Hermione said as she urged her voice to sound calm even as whispering temptations of hunger raked her insides.
Lady Helena lost all expression as she kept her eyes on the metal box. But she didn't speak a word as she faded away.
Hermione didn't waste time and made sure to cast a charm to go unseen through the corridors. The whole way there, her mind and body became numb with...
She hadn't realized that she had let her distress show until she was at his door and it opened. Severus stood there, his hair disheveled as he stared at her. Hermione dropped all of her charms and enchantments as he pulled her inside his rooms.
She paused as the warmth of the room chased away the goosebumps that had marred her skin. Severus reached for the metal box but she sidestepped him and came to a halt when she saw who exactly sat by the fireplace.
Theodore and Malfoy sat across from each other, each holding a cup of steaming tea. Severus grazed her shoulders as he walked past her after closing the door. He didn't speak out loud but instead used their connection.
"They had something to share with me. Do you need them to leave?"
Hermione would have said yes any other time but she had already read their faces. It was the same expression Ron and Harry wore when they were told to leave so that the adults could talk.
She shook her head instead and placed the metal box on top of the wooden table that sat in the middle of the room. She noticed Malfoy stare at the box with a perplexed look while Theodore leaned back and crossed his ankles, teacup in hand.
Severus sat down on the only other armchair in the room after she refused to sit in it. She needed to stay standing. Malfoy cleared his throat and pulled at his collar.
"My mother has been spying on my father's affairs. She has never fancied this for him or our family but she has had enough. She has decided to forsake my father. He doesn't know yet since I'm the only she has spoken to about it," he paused and ran a frustrated hand through his white/blond hair. "She plans to leave him very soon and asked me if I would go with her."
That wasn't what she had been expecting. From the looks of it, neither had the others. Malfoy wasn't hiding his feelings either as his body grew stiff with the silence that followed his declaration.
But for a second, as his gaze held hers for a few seconds, she saw sharp relief at the news. Her mind began to race with this bit of new information. It opened a cavern of thoughts as she leaned her hip against the side of the table.
"Where is she now, Malfoy?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.
"With her sister, my aunt, Andromeda Tonks."
Hermione grew quiet when she made the kinship with the woman's name. The woman was Nymphadora Tonks mother. It all clicked together inside her head and she looked up at Theodore. She met his eyes as she spoke out loud.
"Go and pack, both of you will come back here after packing an overnight bag for two days. Go."
Both boys glanced at her in mute shock. But rather than contend with her or question her, they stood and left the chambers. Once they were gone, she turned to face Severus and recounted him what had occurred earlier. He stood up and walked over to her, his eyes shadowed with worry. He pulled the lid back, careful not to touch anything else and gazed at the diadem.
"Why is it that this one seems a lot more menacing than the ones before?"
"It feels that way to me too. But I don't know why it feels like that."
She tugged her sleeve back and reached for it. The instant the Horcrux felt her hand near it, the diadem grew loud, the wails of a woman loud and clear in her head. She used the tip of her wand to reopen the wound on her arm, the burn now a familiar feeling. The hurt faded to the back of her mind as the first drops of blood dripped down and touched the diadem. The instant it did, the diadem grew black with color and released a loud hissing both inside her mind and out loud. Hermione heard Severus step up behind her and barricaded her in his arms as he watched over her shoulder.
"I have you."
Simple words, yet they filled her with such tenderness. She nodded and took the top of the diadem. She slumped forward as her magic literally jerked her forward and her blood boiled with whatever foreign magic was used to destroy the Horcrux. She shut her eyes for a second but was forced to open them when she didn't feel Severus holding her anymore. The first thing she noticed was the lack of light.
But she wasn't worried.
No, she had her bag of meager belongings and a loaf of bread to keep her till the next day. Noises came from the village down the road but that couldn't have been what woke her up. May was sure she had heard something else which had woken her.
As long as it wasn't Dung Dodge since he kept trying to steal her cloak she had gotten from a good man who had given it to her a month ago, she was okay.
May froze as the sound came again. It sounded like it had come from behind the tree she was resting under. She glanced around but the road was clear of anybody else. She stood slowly, her body hunched over in fear. May wasn't sure why she was frightened but she didn't want to stick around. The noise had sounded a wee bit close to her.
But she never made it to the edge of the road.
A towering handsome man appeared a little to the side of where she had been sleeping. He was alone and carried nothing on his body. He smiled politely at her.
"I'm afraid I'm lost. Could you point me in the direction of the nearest pub?" he inquired, his eyes not reflecting the smile that graced his attractive mouth; it distracted her from going back to her previous thoughts.
Oh, he was just lost. That could happen to people who didn't know there way around the place. She smiled brightly and shuffled back under the tree where he was standing. He came close to her as she faced away from him and pointed towards the left where the Village lay. "You can go left and head down to Tricky's Pub. He will have a cabin or room open for you. If you are hungry there is a little shop nearby for a bit of food."
When he didn't say anything she turned to face him and was staring at the tip of a white slender stick. He had lost his smile and now stared at her with a calculating gleam in his eyes. She opened her mouth but a second later she knew no more.
But she came around soon after as she rolled over in her slumber. The floor under her was soft, the grass serving as a cushion as she pulled herself up onto her knees. She uttered a groan and blinked rapidly. May immediately found the gentleman from before. He was standing a few feet from her and was holding something shiny in his hands as he whispered softly in what could only be described as pure hissing. She cautiously moved back but froze when the handsome man looked up at her. She trembled in fear and clasped her hands together as he lifted the stick back up.
Before she could utter one word, her world lit up in a flash of green.
And she knew no more.
Hermione gasped as her soul was wrenched out of the poor peasant's body. Riddle was holding his wand over the woman's body and muttering the same spell over and over again as he levitated the diadem above the woman's body. She winced as the body spasmed in shock from the spells he must have been using. Hermione wanted to stay longer, to see if she could read his thoughts but the body's aftershocks from the killing curse were forcing her away from the memory.
She blinked and was back within her own body. She shuddered as her body fought the dreamlike pains. She turned her head when Severus pushed her hair back with his hand. Not being able to speak she talked inwardly.
"He killed a peasant and created the Horcrux using her. It was really straightforward."
"He didn't use the Cruciatus Curse?"
"No, he was too focused on the diadem and finding a victim to kill."
"How does your body feel?" he asked out loud as he used his wand to check her body, his sweeps going over and over again around her chest.
"It isn't really physical aside from ache and tiredness. Usually, there are other types of pains but not this time. How long did I take?"
Severus leaned forward and drew her gently into a sitting position before answering. "About two hours. It's just a bit past three in the morning now. Do you need to pack?"
Hermione cleared her throat as she noticed the boys standing a little to the side. She replied out loud instead. "No, I have my beaded bag with me. Let's go."
Even as she said that she staggered and was surprised to see more than one pair of hands reach for her body. But she hadn't missed the way Malfoy had taken a step forward too.
Severus sent her an amused thought about being a weak kitten and she retaliated by jabbing her elbow hard to his side. He didn't break character but she caught the smirk that had flashed across his mouth.
Theodore let go of her arm and picked up her coat after Severus slipped his own arm around her waist. Hermione slipped her arms through her winter coat as Theodore helped her into it. Hermione thanked him and adjusted her bag to her side. Severus gestured to his own bag and Malfoy picked it up.
"Split up and meet us by the Whomping Willow," Hermione said.
Both of them nodded and slipped back out of the Chambers. Severus drew her close and they both vanished in a cloud of black smoke. They still beat the two boys there.
Hermione leaned against Severus as she unwrapped the time-turner from around her waist. She charmed it so that it became long enough to accommodate four people. She already had it wrapped around Severus and herself when the boys slipped out of the Wooden Bridge. She motioned them forward when they hesitated.
"Well, come on then. We need to leave," she said quietly.
Theodore stepped forward and let her slip the gold chain over his head. Malfoy stepped up beside Severus and touched the chain with careful fingers. He leaned forward and slipped inside the circle that the chain created.
Hermione grabbed the hourglass and began to flip it just as Severus cast a disillusionment charm on them. She watched in silent amusement as Malfoy grew pale under his already white complexion and Theodore openly smirked.
They arrived at her Villa soon after. As soon as they did, both boys threw up.
o0o
Hermione sat on the floor by the fireplace while they waited for Zephrine. Severus walked over to her and handed her several phials filled with potions she needed. She took them and looked over at the males that were staring at her.
Theodore cleared his throat as he crossed his arms, his face blank as he glanced at the potions.
"So, is this how you have aged? By using the time-turner?"
Hermione finished the last of the potions and sipped a bit of water that Severus handed before answering. "Well, I suppose that sums it up. I'm actually quite older than you both. And before you ask, I'm twenty years old this year. About a few weeks give or take. I'll be twenty one next year unless I keep going back. I have been doing this for a couple of years now."
Both of them couldn't hide their shock once again. Severus stood up and took the empty phials and without a word slipped out of the living room. She already knew where he was going.
She turned her attention back to the two Slytherins in front of her and leaned back with a sigh. Her body was sluggish yet it wasn't as bad as it had been the first time. She had been right in calculating the days of recovery. She hadn't realized that she had closed her eyes until she snapped them open when Malfoy spoke for the first time.
"Why are you like this? Weak?"
His real question was plain to see. At least to her, it was. "Now that is a bit more sensitive. Let me just say that I can't exactly share what is going on just yet. But I will one day. As to what went unsaid, I voluntary appear weak in front of you both because I don't perceive you as threats. Even in this disposition, I'm positive I could take both of you down. It's not intended as an insult so please don't be offended."
They stared at her, face shifting towards blank slates. Very Slytherin like. She would have said more but Zephrine strolled in. Closely followed by Adrian. She broke out into a smile. Zeph took one look at her and clicked her tongue in displeasure.
"Really, what have you been doing? It hasn't been long since I last saw you and you're like this?"
Hermione shrugged and wasn't shocked when Adrian kept his face blank as he took in her company. But he did come towards her and scooped her up from the floor. She grunted from the force of it and wasn't startled when he sat down with her on his lap. All the while keeping his face expressionless. He looked at her for a few seconds and turned to stare at his old housemates.
"Malfoy, Nott."
Both boys nodded back politely but she noticed the way both of them sat a bit straighter. She grinned and patted his chest.
"Stop intimidating the children or your mum will get mad at you."
Zeph heard her as she walked back into the living space and shook her head as she greeted said boys. Once she sat down, Hermione told her what Malfoy had reported to her. Zeph frowned the instant she heard about the divorce. She met Malfoy's own silvery blue eyes and asked in a careful voice it if was true. When he only nodded, she glanced at Hermione. The worry in Zeph's eyes bothered Hermione.
"What is it, Zeph?'
"If she plans to get a divorce, she means something else. She either has to kill him or herself in order to get away from him. I was there the day they married. They did so in the oldest of ways. Only the purest of purebloods have done it before. I got out of it since my own parents didn't want it for me. But she either plans to die soon or she has found a way out."
That shocked Hermione. But from the look on the others, she wasn't the only one. She shared it with Severus and wasn't surprised when he came back into the room. He carried another phial that he passed her as he came to stand at her side.
He pinched his nose as he spoke. "I wasn't there but I have heard of it. I don't think she found a way out. It's impossible to do so. That is why nobody has done it before or at least, I haven't heard about it. It's almost like trying to break an unbreakable bond."
"Why didn't you mention this before, Severus?"
"Hermione, love, you know he will always do stuff like this. Why do you sound so surprised each time?" Adrian snidely stated as he pulled her hair undone. Hermione rolled her eyes and accidentally met Malfoy's somewhat wild eyes. She groaned and settled into Adrian's arms as she pulled her shoes off.
"Stop messing with her, Adrian. Severus will end up slipping you something in your drink next time." Zeph said, amusement coloring her tone.
The familiar banter continued but Hermione didn't join in as she watched Malfoy stare at them with a melancholy look. He shifted his gaze to her in question. She gestured around.
"They are mine. They are with us. Have been since the start of all this. Now, back to the reason we really are here for. Malfoy said that Narcissa is staying with Andromeda Tonks. I have never met her but have heard of her from her daughter, Nymphadora. Severus, do you know where she lives?"
Theodore spoke up, surprising Hermione. "That is the reason why I'm here, Hermione. A few Death Eaters have been given orders to attack and kill Andromeda Tonks and her muggle husband. I was about to tell Snape when Malfoy came calling."
"When is the attack supposed to happen?" Hermione demanded as she glanced up at Severus, who was frowning. He hadn't heard about this, not even a whisper but then again he had never had to worry about the ones below him. That was Theodore's job. She could take a wild guess and say that in Riddle's eyes, the Tonks wasn't important in the great scheme of things.
"Tomorrow night. But now that we have gone back two days it will happen two days from today." Theodore replied as he watched her with concern. She sighed and leaned her head back as her head began to pound in pain.
She had been fine minutes ago, but now her head hurt trying to keep track of everything that was going on. Zeph must have noticed right away since she sent the boys out to collect wood from out back. Adrian gently eased her off his lap and quietly followed them out.
Severus reached for her and carried her to the room they now shared. She didn't want him to leave as he laid her down so she asked him to stay. Severus stared at her in silence as she curled up in the middle of the bed and closed her eyes.
Yet, her mind wouldn't settle down.
"Don't worry about all the other stuff. Rest and sleep. It will keep till tomorrow."
"I know. I love you"
A moment of pure silence filled the room for a few seconds as she kept her eyes closed before he darkly chuckled. "You decide to tell me this now? You really have the nack in finding the strangest of times to say such things. Especially since I can't return the feeling in other ways. For now, I'll just say it back," he paused as he tweaked her chin.
"I love you too."
...o0o0o0o...
Thanks for reading and for the positive feedback!
Slight editing as of 6/19
Vanee
