A/N: What a whirlwind these past few days have been! Thank you for the positive feedback! I have to admit something: in my shame, while I failed to update this story, I avoided reading your reviews, because I felt truly awful for leaving you hanging for so long. However, I have been reading through them all and I am incredibly grateful for your love and support. You are all absolutely amazing! My heart is breaking and melting at the same time as I read your reviews.
Story note: I've already edited ten chapters, mainly typos and consistency issues (eye colour, age, etc.). I will continue with the other chapters, and these may take a bit more time seeing as I plan on removing some rather big chunks. If you recall Worthy and Adelaide, they shall be gone. If you don't remember them, don't bother going back, because they are no longer relevant. After this long break, I just don't like where they were going. Yes, that means the end of this story (which is the first thing I wrote) has changed. Whether you'll like the new end I'm not sure. But hey, characters take on a life of their own, maybe the ending will change again.
Slightly big change: James' parents: I changed their names to their real names. They're officially Fleamont and Euphemia in this story. Sorry about that.
Hermione couldn't resist the urge to shake herself off when she finally slid off the broom. At least some things never changed. She still hated flying. With a final shake she turned to look at the boy behind her.
"Why did you bring me here, Sirius?"
"Have you ever been here before?" He asked.
"No."
"That's why."
Raising her eyebrows Hermione pursed her lips and moved over to the side to observe what she saw. She had to admit that it was a beautiful view. From up here she could see part of the school, the lake, and the forest, and Hermione was even pleased to see a few thestrals flying in the distance. After a rather long moment of silence Hermione glanced at Sirius with a frown.
"Alright then," she started, primly. "You wanted to talk to me, go ahead."
"You've been avoiding us for weeks," Sirius announced, running a hand through his hair. "Ever since our encounter with Sn-"
"Is that what you're calling it?" Hermione snorted.
"Encounter," he insisted, undeterred. "With Snape. I want to know why and I want it to stop."
"Are you ordering me to talk to you?" Hermione scoffed, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.
Sirius, recognizing her tone and expression as a warning that he was entering dangerous territory quickly shook his head.
"Good," Hermione approved. "Because it would do you no good. I'll talk to whomever I please. As to why I've elected to ignore you and the other Marauders... well, I'm fairly certain I've already informed you of my reasoning."
"Because we're bullies," the boy hissed.
"Exactly," the witch nodded. "I'm glad you listen to me on occasion."
"But you're wrong, we're not bullies! We're jokesters. The best pranksters Hogwarts has seen in years."
"To some extent, you're not wrong," Hermione allowed. "But what you boys used to do to me and Lily, what you continue to do to Severus, that's bullying. I won't be friends with a bully. I've told you all this before."
Sirius groaned as he rested his forearms along the edge of the wall and leaned forward in annoyance. "I don't get it. You were our friend before the encounter."
"Yes, because you'd been leaving Severus alone for a while then. You never liked him, but you let him be," Hermione argued. "I don't know why you suddenly decided to target him again after the exams but I can't sit back and watch."
"I don't even know why I bother with you," Sirius snapped, angrily. Their conversations seemed to go around in circles, always ending up at the same points.
"I honestly don't know either," Hermione agreed. "I was under the impression that you hated me."
"I don't think I've hated you in a long time," Sirius frowned at the girl. "I'm not saying that I like you but... yeah, there are times when I guess I do."
Hermione squinted at the boy and tilted her head as if she were trying to pry open is mind. "Are you saying we're friends?"
"I already admitted it earlier, don't push it," Sirius grumbled looking away from the brunette.
"I talked to Remus about you a few days ago and he told me a few home truths. I've come to realize that I haven't been totally fair with you and James. I'm willing to give you another chance, if you're willing to give me another chance as well," Hermione relented. "But if you or James or Peter ever do anything like what you did to Severus again, it's over. I can't accept it."
Sirius' face twitched as he held back a grin, refusing to reveal his sudden excitement at her forgiveness. "You don't need to worry, Delacour, what happened with Snape during the full-moon kind of made me realize how badly things can go wrong," he shrugged, his tone and posture suggesting nonchalance but his gaze betraying his nervousness about the topic.
"He could've died."
"I know," Sirius nodded, pacing a small circle before coming to a stop in front of Hermione. "Do you know I've spent my whole time at Hogwarts going against what my family wants of me? I've always told myself that I would be a better human being than all of them combined but for a brief moment - when it first hit me what I had let slip to Snape, when I realized it was a full-moon, and understood what could happen - for the briefest moment I wondered if what would happen next would be the thing that finally made my parents proud of me."
Hermione simply gazed at the young man in front of her for a moment before speaking up. "It was a mistake, Sirius, even the best of us make them. Merlin knows I've made a bucket load of mistakes since I got to Hogwarts. If we punish ourselves for them our whole lives, we won't get far. You've got to remember them and learn from them, yes, but you've also got to move on from them. Move on to bigger, better things."
"You've changed your tune, Delacour."
"Remus is a good influence. He usually knows what he's talking about."
"Yeah well, he's not been himself these past few days. Bloke barely makes sense when he talks. He'd probably be incapable of stringing two sentences together."
"Has he really been that bad?" Hermione inquired, worried.
She turned so that she could lean her hip against the wall and faced Sirius who continued to look out at the view.
"Something's on his mind, we can all tell, but he refuses to tell us what. If you were to go to him for advice right now, you'd get shite."
Hermione nibbled on her bottom lip as her brow furrowed. "Why do you look so guilty, Delacour?" Sirius asked, suspiciously eyeing the girl at his side.
Taking a breath Hermione evaded his curiosity by letting her lips twitch into a small teasing smile. "Delacour?" She repeated, her voice quiet. "Earlier you called me Hermione."
Sirius released a slight scoff and rolled his eyes skyward. "Slip of the tongue, Delacour. It won't happen again."
Their gazes remained locked for a few seconds longer than necessary before Hermione chanced a glance at the broom leaning against the roof and grimaced nervously. "How are we getting down from here?"
"Same way as we got up here," the wizard shrugged.
"Merlin, help me," Hermione shuddered.
"I got you up here safely, didn't I? I'm one of the best Quidditch players at Hogwarts, you'll be fine as long as you hold on."
"Next time we go somewhere to talk, I'm choosing the destination. No, view is worth riding a broom," Hermione huffed.
Adrian smiled at Hermione as they sat at their bolder by the lake, each reading a book and soaking up the sun.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Adrian?" Hermione questioned, not even looking up from the page.
"Ah... it's just- you look better. Not that you looked bad before! Just, you know, you've changed. I can tell you're sleeping again. You don't have those bags under your eyes anymore. Not that they were terrible. They suited you in a way. I don't mean that-" Adrian stumbled over his words as Hermione, having finally looked up from her book, started smiling softly at her friend.
"You really need to worry less about what you say, Adrian. You're not half as offensive as you think you are."
"What I'm trying to say is that you're doing better. I can tell. Not just because of how you look. But also because of how you're acting."
"And how am I acting?" Hermione asked, carefully closing her book.
"More confident, as if you finally know what you're supposed to be doing. You're obviously sleeping better. Your grades have gone back up, and it's clear you don't need to work as hard for them as you were in the past few months. You're not doing that thing with the hair anymore. You're just more... normal? Which I would say is surprising, really. When Regulus started pushing you away and when you pushed the Marauders away I was expecting things to get worse, to be honest."
"I thought so as well. But I made an important discovery with Aberforth. Despite still keeping some distance with the Marauders I had a much needed conversation with both Remus and Sirius. I'm still dealing with Regulus but I have hope that things are going to get better from now on."
"I'm happy to hear that," Adrian told her, genuinely. "Sometimes, I worry about you Hermione. You don't seem to do anything halfway."
"Oh, don't fret over me, Adrian. I'll be alright in the end. I've dealt with worse things," Hermione reassured, turning back to the book in her hands.
The Founders diary, which she had read front to back in a matter of days after she first got her hands on it, was once again the focus of her attention. She constantly spent time reading and re-reading, over and over again, until the words were practically imprinted in her mind's eye. She had bookmarked all the pages where information pertinent to her cause could be found and while she focused most of her attention on those pages, Hermione couldn't deny the fascination she felt while reading other journal entries, whether personal confessions, shared reflections, or daily worries. There was a bit of everything in the book, including first hand accounts of the Founders' fallout.
March 7th, 994
Such fools we were! Blinded by our faith and trust we failed to identify treachery in our midst. We have never seen eye to eye with Salazar when it comes to blood purity, but for him to got to such lengths... I never would have thought him capable of such a heinous act! Hiding a monster within the castle in order to murder innocent children. Truly there is no worse crime. Godric, Rowena, and I have scoured the building, we have searched high and low, and yet, we can find no trace of his so-called Chamber. Perhaps he simply hopes to deceive us? Perhaps he believes we'll avoid inviting muggleborns in all together if he manages to convince us the school is unsafe for them? Indeed, this is something Salazar would not hesitate to do. For surely if there existed a Chamber such as he claims, Rowena would have found it.
Regardless, whether the Chamber and monster exist, we all agree that this time Salazar has gone too far. There is only so much we can accept. We allowed him his 'pure' house, but we will not let this pass. Hogwarts will stand for freedom, knowledge, and safety, not danger and death!
-Helga Hufflepuff
Sighing, Hermione flipped through the pages, trying to look at it through new eyes. Worried that perhaps she had read the entries too many times and that the words had become muddled in her brain. Causing her to miss something. Something essential that she could sense was right before her eyes. She turned the pages tiredly, knowing the answer was right there but not knowing what she could do to find it. By chance, a passage from one of Godric's entries caught her eye. She wasn't quite sure why it stood out to her in this moment. It was one of the passages she had read the most. She had the words memorized.
Rowena and Salazar dragged us out to a large wild park in the French countryside. Once in the park, we followed the pair to a medium sized lake with a thin bridge leading to a small island overgrown with bushes and trees protecting from sight a tomb like building.
Hermione had known from the first time that she had the diary that the tomb was located in France. But this time something was itching at the back of her mind. A lake in the French countryside. Somewhere Merlin would want to be buried. A lake Merlin was fond of. In France. The answer was dangling right before her, all she needed to do was grasp it, but everytime she thought she had it, it danced out of her reach. A lake in France. A lake in France. A lake in France. She repeated the words in her mind, as if saying them again and again would somehow give her the answer. She shut the book in frustration and opted instead to stare at the lake beside her. She was almost there, she could feel it. Suddenly, violently, she was wrenched out of her thoughts by a hand landing on her shoulder and giving her a little shake.
Adrian was standing to her left, watching her in concern. "Are you alright? I've been calling your name for the past ten minutes or so. It's dinner time."
The young witch was tempted to lash out in anger. She had been so close to the answer but he had unintentionally forced her mind away from the matter at hand. Hermione, still slightly dazed looked at her friend blankly, trying to find an appropriate response to what he had just said.
It was at that moment, while she was attempting to gather her thoughts and get her bearings, that her gaze drifted past Adrian and landed on the tall 7th year blond boy. Her entire body froze.
"Lucius," she breathed after a moment.
Adrian glanced over his shoulder, thinking he was about to catch sight of the wizard in a compromising situation but instead found him simply crossing the grounds, heading in the direction of the courtyard. When he turned back to his friend she had already leapt to her feet.
"I need to go, Adrian. I'll see you later," she called, racing across the grounds towards the older boy.
Determined in her quest, Hermione failed to consider the consequences of her actions as she hurried towards Lucius, yelling out his name in order to catch his attention. Lucius faltered in his steps while the girl hollered his name but, noticing her haste, decided to assist her by moving towards her confidently.
"Miss Delacour," Lucius greeted with a small nod.
"I'm glad I caught you, Lucius," Hermione started, for once ignoring the fact that he insisted on addressing her so formally. "This morning I was reading a book about the Arthurian legends, you see, and the author was debating the credibility of the stories - it's a muggle book," Hermione informed him when he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the thought of any book not believing in Arthur or Merlin. "Nonetheless, he mentioned various places the duo had frequented either together or separately, and one stood out to me. He commented on a lake that was rumoured to have sentimental value for Merlin! Then, of course, I remembered you speaking of something similar a while back. Do you recall? That lake you mentioned visiting with Narcissa? The idea that muggles of all things could possibly be right about that! Oh, where did you say it was again?" Hermione questioned, hoping that her voicing her doubts about muggles capabilities would loosen his tongue somewhat.
"The lake in Chamarande?" He offered.
Hermione widened her eyes slightly as she met Lucius' gaze. "That's the exact one that was mentioned in the book! Can you believe it? I haven't found any information about this lake in any wizarding books. It appears to be a muggle legend. Would you like to read the book?" She inquired, knowing that this, Lucius would take as a slight upon his person and make him want to end the discussion.
Sniffing in distain, Lucius turned away from the witch. "I highly doubt it's a muggle legend, as you say."
With that, Lucius wished her a good day and strolled away. Watching as he left, Hermione could feel her heart pounding a mile a minute. Was it possible? Had she found the location of Merlin's grave? Hermione didn't dare hope for fear of disappointment. At the very least, she tried to tell herself, I'm one step closer to finding him. Peering back the way Lucius had gone, Hermione scanned the castle. Only a few days left before the summer break. If the lake in Chamarande was indeed the lake that the Founders has visited, who knew what awaited Hermione once she made it past the stone guards? Pressing her lips together in resolve Hermione decided to wait until school was out before going there. She had spent five years waiting, a few extra days would hardly change anything.
Lucius smirked as he entered his home, calling for a house elf to collect his trunk. He ambled towards his father's study, knocked, and entered. His father, Abraxas, leaned back in his armchair and took a moment to observe the assured manner with which his son moved to sit across from him.
"You seem oddly at ease, son," he pointed out, in a somber tone. "I take it to mean you have good news?"
Lucius nodded. "Oh yes, father."
"The Dark Lord gave you your task two years ago, boy. You better pray that what you have satisfies him."
"If he was as pleased with the information about Merlin's Circle as you claim he was, then this... this will in no way compare. What I discovered will undoubtably gain you favour with the Dark Lord."
Standing up to summon his Lord, Abraxas turned to his son in order to issue one last warning. "If you're wrong about this boy, you'll wish you were dead."