In the wake of the battle, Hermoine noted how Severus had deflected her Professor's spells at the Carrow siblings, effectively knocking them out. Even when the crowd was branding him a coward, she wondered how they could not see the evidence to the contrary. Because he did not want them to see. Rather than a coward, he was a master manipulator, a humble hero. She smiled, a Slytherin through and through.
The revelry of McGonagall's victory was suddenly cut short by a terrible screeching. It was an uncomfortable feeling, like nails on a chalkboard. Then a harsh, grating voice came forward, nothing like the velvet tones that belonged to Snape. For a moment Hermione feared the worst: Voldemort had invaded her skull. "We need not fight like thisss. No magical blood need be spilt." He hissed, "Give us Harry Potter and your lives will be spared." She gasped for air as the cold feeling left her.
The crowd was silent, everyone looking at one another, then in her direction. Soon, one terrified Pansy Parkinson was pointing towards her. "Don't just stand there, grab him!" Hermione looked to her left to see Harry looking pale. She knew Pansy was scared, but how could she be so selfish? So naïve? Hermione reached out and took Harry's arm with strength, as Ginny came forward and held his other hand. One by one, the members of Dumbledore's Army surrounded them, choosing their side.
"Filch!" Now-Headmaster McGonagall ordered, "Take the Slytherin students to the dungeons until we know of their affiliations."
"No," Hermione whispered among the merriment of her peers. "No, but they've done nothing wrong! They're just as scared and lost in this as any of us!" But, her voice was unheard by the crowd. Oh, Severus, her heart sank in understanding, how lost they are without you to protect them. In that moment, and many after, she felt shame for the house of Gryffindor. She felt shame on her wizarding brothers and sisters for doing just as Voldemort had, judging others by the superiority of their blood. There was only one way out of this. One way to save them all.
The chamber, Hermoine thought, the chamber… Severus knows what we're aiming to do and he's sent us a clue, the horcrux is in the chamber! Did he mean his chambers? Hermione flushed for a moment at the memory, a single searing heat drawn across her like a razor in the somber evening. She would never forget that night for as long as she lived. She would fight to not have it only live on in memory. Think, would Voldemort let Severus keep it? No, he would not trust him with such a thing. He trusted no one, for he had no heart. What other chamber do we know of? Think, Hermione… Aha! It must be the Chamber of Secrets! She swallowed, no, Ravenclaw wouldn't be represented there in the snake filled corridors. What else could he be sending us to aside from a horcrux? Oh! Severus, you bloody genius, you. "The Basilisk!" she shouted.
She tore the boy-who-lived away from the crowd. "Harry, we can destroy the horcrux with the Basilisk fang! If there's enough venom left, we could destroy both."
Harry smiled, "Great idea, 'Mione!" He stalled a moment, defeated, "We have the cup, but we don't even know what the horcrux from Ravenclaw would look like."
"Probably something garish," Ron rolled his eyes, "like that damned locket."
Luna Lovegood had long ago turned from the crowd of revelers to note the dejected concentration on Hermoine's face. They each shared one thing that bothered them. Though Hermione had something mysteriously more bothersome. She approached her three friends. "Jewelry from Ravenclaw? How about Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem?"
Harry searched for approval from the crowd.
Cho Chang shook her head, "No one alive today has seen it."
"I didn't say they had to be alive," Luna tilted her head.
For a moment in the dark night, there was a beacon of hope that they would all see tomorrow.