Hello everyone!

Thank you for the reviews.

Below the second year: I hope you'll enjoy it!

Have a nice day,

Perhentian

oOoOoOo

Chapter 5 - July 1992 - June 1993

Hermione checked one last time that her discretion spells were active and went down the road from Hangleton to Little Hangleton resolutely. She had come back from Hogwarts the day before, and she was taking advantage of the twilight to look for one of Voldemort's Horcruxes: Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, bearer of the Resurrection Stone. It was strangely appropriate that she was the one in charge of this, when she had killed a man just a few days earlier.

Hermione had spent several days wondering who had really killed Quirrell. Was she the one responsible for it? Or was it Voldemort himself when he had abandoned his host? Or perhaps, as Ron had suggested, was it indeed the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position? Hermione conclusions fluctuated with her mood, but at least this time it had not been Harry, who had seen far too many deaths in his life in Hermione's humble opinion. And Hermione was lucid enough to know that it was pointless to dwell on Quirrell's death when there was still so much to be done. She simply hoped that it would not be a portent of their ability to save the victims of the war this time around.

Hermione's attention went back to the task at hand. The Gaunt's house was as miserable as Harry had described it. It was a real hovel: small, unstable, unhealthy. It gave the impression of not having been inhabited for centuries. Hermione approached slowly, and first casted several basic recognition spells. She was pretty sure there would be nothing too complicated here. To keep the old house unidentifiable in this Muggle village.

"Damn," she winced, however, when she got the results from her spells.

They came back blank, as if there was no magic at all here. And that could only mean one thing. Whatever the wards were, they were devilishly well hidden. Hermione would have liked to have Ginny or Bill with her. Breaking down magical wards was their domain. She was more into charms from her side.

But Hermione was not one to refuse a challenge when she saw one. And Voldemort's magic was undoubtedly one. Salazar Slytherin's library in Slytherin Castle was a good enough proof of that. A library that she was still unable to access, despite years of research. And she still could not even understand how the wards could have been casted – she had never seen such powerful wards to be honest.

"Revelare Praesidium , Lux Suspendat," she casted, particularly focused.

Several spells came out fluidly from her wand, illuminating the atmosphere around the house with surreal colours. Hermione briefly hoped that no Muggle was looking in that direction at that precise moment.

This time she got a signal. The magic she had in front of her was dark, very dark, and Hermione wondered what sacrifice Voldemort had made to set up these wards. Fortunately, with a few hours in front of her, she was rather confident about her ability to recover the Horcrux.

As she had supposed, Voldemort had not dared to put too extreme wards around the shack, so it would not stand out if a wizard casted some detection spells in the area for one reason or another. If Dumbledore had not delved into the past of the dark wizard, nobody would have ever been able to know that in this house was hidden one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. But Dumbledore had fortunately found the connection between Voldemort and the Gaunt, and Hermione knew enough about Voldemort's Horcruxes to dismantle his wards.

And indeed, in the early morning she was holding the ring in her hands, even if she had had to destroy the wards for good, and the curse on the ring with it. She was half tempted to test the stone, but she restrained herself and put the ring in her bag. She would give it to Harry as soon as she was in Grimmauld Place - he was after all the true master of the Deathly Hallows, or had been at one point of time - and she would recover Slytherin's Locket instead.

For a moment, Hermione hesitated to call it a night. She had thought that she would have the time after Little Hangleton to go quickly in the Norfolk, where she knew was a forgotten library, full of precious books she would have liked to recover. But the sun was already raising, and there was too much of a risk of making her parents anxious if they did not find her in her room. And she had no wish to upset them, especially as she would spent only two weeks with them this summer… She would recover the books tomorrow.

Sighing, Hermione adjusted her beaded handbag over her shoulder and Apparated away. She would need to reinforce the enchantments on her handbag. As she was the one keeping the Philosopher's Stone, and more generally all the things that were not Slytherin's Locket - including rare books and now one of Voldemort's Horcruxes -, it would be a disaster if anyone was able to take the bag from her.

oOoOoOo

During the rest of the summer Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny spent their time between Grimmauld Place and the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley being absolutely delighted to see that her youngest was quite welcomed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Sirius being just glad to have people at home, with him and Remus. And the four of them, they were just glad to be together. The only ones of their kind in a way, wizards more than accomplished in children's bodies.

Predictably enough, they all preferred to be at Grimmauld Place. Molly Weasley was doing her best to content them, but she was slightly overwhelming in her motherly love, and she treated them like the children she thought they were. Sirius, for his part, let them do what they wanted as long as they did not get out of the house alone. And this last part was only because Remus had insisted it was not safe to do so.

And in Grimmauld Place there was the Black's library, to Hermione's utter delight, and she spent most of her time there, often with Harry, Ron and Ginny. In truth, it was not even for her own sake that she was spending so much time there, but mostly because there were still so many things she needed to find. Potential ways to retrieve Slytherin's books without using Voldemort's blood, and resurrection rituals to be sure to be ready for the end of their fourth year being the main ones.

Fortunately, her friends were helping her. Harry by looking for ways to remove his own Horcrux. Ginny by reading anew all the books they had on magical sources in hope to find something they had missed the first time, and put a stop to Harry's dangerous plan. And Ron by following local and international news closely, checking that no strange act could be connected to Voldemort or any of the magical sources. Ron also wanted to be the aware of the powerful people when they would have to climb the political ladder again after Hogwarts.

The only disruption of their summer had been Dobby. The elf had not managed to enter Grimmauld Place, the wards surrounding the Black's ancestral home being particularly complex, but each time they had went out in the Muggle world Dobby had arranged for various incidents, triggering Harry's bad mood.

"I know he thinks he's doing this for my sake, and I know he's taking great risks to try to give me his message, but it's totally useless and Sirius will end up thinking that I'm even more clumsy than Tonks," Harry complained. "Can't I tell him to stop Hermione?"

"No," Ron answered before her. "Not until we have the diary."

"Merlin give me the strength not to strangle Dobby the next time he does something ," Harry sighed.

Hermione and Ginny barely looked up from the books they were reading as Ron patted his friend's shoulder gently. There was no doubt for them that Harry would first strangle himself before touching a single hair of Dobby's head.

oOoOoOo

When they arrived in front of Flourish and Blotts, Harry sighed deeply.

"It's finally time to confront Lockhart," he said to answer Hermione's questioning glance.

"At least you didn't have him as a teacher during your first year. It took almost six months to Lupin the following year to convince me that Defence Against the Dark Arts was not a totally useless topic," Ginny huffed.

"Stop whining and stay focussed," Ron said. "We have to stick to what we did in our first life for Lucius Malfoy and dad to meet at the right time."

Immediately, they started acting like any other children, melting perfectly into their role. Well, almost perfectly. Harry's glare when Lockhart approached him would have scared away anyone, and even managed to dim slightly the impostor's smile. Who proved that he had absolutely no survival instinct by still grabbing Harry.

Hermione wondered for a few seconds what would the Defence Against the Dark Arts curse do to him at the end of the year. There would be no Basilisk, nor any Chamber of Secrets, but there was no way someone as pathetic as Lockhart would be able to escape a curse casted by Voldemort.

She should also take some time to write down her notes on their experience when they would have succeeded their mission. It was fascinating to see that despite some big changes like the liberation of Sirius, the course of time still did not seem to change too much. Or perhaps they had not yet seen the impact of their actions…

oOoOoOo

"So?" Ron asked eagerly.

They were in Ron's room in the Burrow, not long after all the other Weasley had gone to bed. Ginny almost reverently recovered from her bag the little black diary that had once belonged to Tom Marvolo Riddle. It looked like a totally innocent notebook, far from the dark magic object it really was, and that discrepancy was enough to make Hermione uncomfortable.

"Who's going to keep it?" Hermione asked.

Despite the confidentiality charms they had set up on Ron's room she spoke softly, carefully watching the seemingly inoffensive diary.

"Couldn't we write few words to Tom Riddle telling him to go to hell?" Ginny suddenly asked. "With all our worst wishes?"

Hermione tore her gaze from the diary and looked with horror at Ginny.

"It's out of the question for you to write anything in this diary!" Harry reacted.

"It's out of the question for anyone to write anything in this diary!" Hermione corrected.

A Horcrux was not a toy. And surely not a Horcrux made by Voldemort.

"Ginny's idea's not totally insane," Ron said. "This would allow us to study closely how the Horcrux reacts. After all, it's almost alive, and perhaps this will help us get ideas for what to do with Harry's Horcrux?"

Hermione looked at him befuddled.

"I've never heard anything as stupid as that! Frankly, it's not like the diary has not proven to be dangerous!" she said.

"Come on Hermione," Ginny implored.

"You know that the Horcrux could react very badly?" Hermione retorted. "And I'm not sure I can get anything out of this interaction."

"Honestly, I'd love to show the Diary that it cannot do anything to us," Ginny said, "and that we now have the upper hand."

There was a sad gleam in her eyes, and Hermione remembered that somewhere deep down inside her, Ginny still resented herself for being unable to resist the diary. Hermione wanted to protest, but finally gave up. She still remembered vividly Ginny's despair after the end of her second year. Her difficulties to become a normal girl again.

This was the only reason that pushed Hermione to accept. Harry just glared at Ginny, who ignored him with practiced ease.

Hermione saw Ginny open the diary, and dip her quill in the inkwell. She held the quill in the air for a moment, hesitantly, before a resolute expression appeared on her face. Hermione grabbed her wand, ready to cast diagnostic spells as well as to defend her friend if needed.

The letters T.M. Riddle could be read at the top of the first page, and Ginny, after a momentary hesitation, turned to the second page. Then she shook the tip of her quill slightly, and a drop of ink crashed on the page. Hermione could not help but watch with fascination as the drop of ink disappeared and the page became perfectly blank again. The spell seemed much more fluid than the one she had herself put on their communication notebooks.

"Hello," Ginny wrote.

The ink disappeared again. And then new words appeared on the page.

"Hello and welcome to my diary. What is your name?"

The letters were fine and elegant, and Hermione wondered for a moment if it was really Tom Riddle's handwriting, or if the diary had been charmed to look so distinguished.

"My name's Dolores Umbridge."

Hermione nearly choked when she read Ginny's answer, and the redhead winked at her.

"Nice to meet you, Dolores Umbridge. My name is Tom Riddle. It is a real pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Hermione casted a few spells, trying to see if there was anything different between this Horcrux and the others. But she only spotted quite standard projections of the diary's magic towards Ginny. Very faint for the moment.

"Silver-tongued jerk," Harry commented darkly.

"Quite," Ginny agreed, with a fierce expression on her face.

"Are you really Tom Riddle?" she wrote. "Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

"I am. Do you know me, Dolores?" Voldemort's Horcrux asked.

The magical projections from the Diary started to become more intense, and Hermione waved warningly to Ginny who just nodded. She was no longer a child and it would take much more than that for the Diary to seduce her.

"But of course, you're famous Tom! The greatest wizard of our generation. A man everyone respects!"

"Don't you think you're overdoing it?" Hermione asked.

"She's perfect," Ron answered for his sister.

Hermione turned her gaze back to the diary, and casted a new set of spells. But the charms animating the notebook had obviously nothing to do with the Horcrux. It was simply additional enchantments allowing it to communicate, like a portrait. It was not even dark magic…

"Really? I am glad to know it. Would you be kind enough to tell me how I am going to become famous, Dolores? You see, I am but a mere memory of the one I was when I was sixteen, and I would be so glad to know more about my future."

"So many sweet words for a fraud…" Hermione commented.

"Coming from the girl who was once in love with Lockhart, that's saying much," Ron pointed out.

"Are you really going to taunt me with this story in this life also?"

"Yes," Harry, Ron and Ginny simultaneously answered.

Hermione glared at them half-heartedly. A Machiavellian smile stretched Ginny's lips as she inked her quill again.

"Sure Tom!" Ginny wrote. "You're famous for defending the rights of the Muggleborns, and having introduced many Muggle customs in the wizarding world."

The paper shuddered under their eyes, and Ginny's smile turned vicious.

"How have you come across my diary, dear Dolores?" Tom Riddle's memory asked. "It would brighten my day to know a little more about you."

"Liar," Ginny whispered.

"He suspects something," Harry said.

And indeed Hermione detected a stronger emanation of magic from the diary towards Ginny, and something looking vaguely like a persuasion spell.

"Well, that's enough," Hermione interjected. "Give me the diary Ginny. There is nothing more in it than a Horcrux, with an impressive amount of complex spells around it of course, but those are unrelated to what we seek."

Ginny looked at her with rather unconvincing doe eyes, and finally closed the diary and passed it to Hermione, who put it in her bottomless bag.

"I am keeping the diary, and we won't open it again" Hermione said.

"Then give me the locket," Ron demanded.

"Fine," Hermione agreed.

"Should you continue keeping the Philosopher's Stone also, Hermione?" Ron asked. "None of us need its curing properties for now, so won't it be better to hide it somewhere safe?"

"Like in Gringotts? Or in Hogwarts?" Harry asked ironically.

Ron rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean," he said.

"Let's be honest, Hermione's handbag is probably the safest place on Earth currently," Ginny pointed out.

"And if anything happens, if anyone's on the verge of death, it could be handy to have it nearby," Hermione completed.

"Fine, fine," Ron agreed. "I know all too well that you can be a real harpy regarding your belongings, Hermione."

oOoOoOo

Of course Dobby blocked the access to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters when Harry and Ron tried to cross the brick wall. But unlike the first time, Harry and Ron just waited with exasperation for Molly and Arthur to return. Harry had insisted that Hermione and Ginny go first, and Ron had insisted to stay with Harry, so Hermione and Ginny were alone on the Hogwarts Express.

"I'm always surprised to see that house-elves are so powerful," Ginny said once they were both seated in a compartment, Crookshanks purring near Hermione. "Neither mom nor dad had been able to unblock the passage."

Hermione smiled, noting that Ginny was not mentioning the fact that she might have unlocked the passage herself. It had always seemed to Hermione that Ginny had wasted her time being a professional Quidditch player, instead of becoming a curse-breaker. She would have being devilishly good at it…

"House-elves are far more powerful than what most wizards think," Hermione answered. "I guess in this life I'll have to fight for years to get them more respect from wizards. Again."

The magnitude of the task was enough to discourage her. But Hermione was keen to make the life of house-elves better as soon as she could. No reason that they cannot benefit from her increased knowledge this time around.

"Are you going to start the spew again to preserve the spatiotemporal continuum?"

Hermione glared at Ginny and started to get books from her bag as the redhead laughed softly. But before Hermione could delve into her research someone knocked lightly on the door of their compartment, and Ginny stood up to open it.

"Hullo," said a singing voice. "May I come in and sit with you? There aren't many other seats left..."

Hermione looked up, recognizing Luna's voice. The girl seemed ready to hear a refusal, certainly not the first one, and Hermione smiled at her warmly.

"Of course, come in," she said.

They left the door open, and were also joined a few moments later by Neville. Or rather, Ginny grabbed Neville when he went down the corridor to have him seated with them. Unlike last year, they had been able to see each other all summer, and Hermione and Ginny were happy to be able to spend some time with younger versions of their dear friends.

And at a glance, they made the promise to protect Luna from mockery, just like Harry, Ron and Hermione had done last year for Neville.

oOoOoOo

Hermione had barely entered her dorm after the welcoming feast that her bracelet warmed slightly. She took refuge behind the curtains of her bed, took her communication notebook out of one of her pockets and opened it.

"We're getting the diadem tonight," Harry had written.

They had just came back to Hogwarts, but they had actually no reason to wait more.

"Midnight in the common room?" Hermione suggested.

"Perfect."

All four of them were there on time, and they discussed a little before setting out under the Invisibility Cloak. The fact that Harry had been – or still was? – the Master of Death seemed to make it even more magical, and they had absolutely no trouble slipping under, even the four of them together. And they were quite certain that even Dumbledore could not detect them when they were wearing it.

"We could really benefit from having the Marauder's Map," Ron whispered as they cautiously strolled down the halls.

"I've been working on a new version of it since this summer," Harry said. "It would probably be ready soon."

"If you need a hand for the charms I can help," Ginny offered.

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry answered.

But Hermione felt he would not do it, probably taking to heart to be able to redo the masterpiece of the marauders.

Finding Ravenclaw's Diadem was easy as pie, even among the monstrous chaos that reigned in the Room of Hidden Things, and this time it was Ginny who kept the Horcrux. Now they only had to get their hands on Hufflepuff's Cup.

"I'd like to go down to the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said. "We need to put a stasis spell on the Basilisk, and they are some books in the study room that I would have liked to re-read."

Ron grumbled at the lack of sleep and Ginny at seeing the Chamber again. Harry, on the other hand, seemed very happy with the opportunity to speak Parseltongue.

Although the diary was secured in the bottom of her bag, Hermione was highly alert as soon as they entered the Chamber of Secrets. And she could see around her that Harry, Ron and Ginny were not more relaxed.

The room was still imposing. Spectacular and frightening at the same time, made no doubt to inspire fear and emphasize the alleged superiority of Salazar Slytherin. They stopped for a moment in front of the Basilisk's skin. It was not as impressive as the skeleton that Hermione had seen during the Battle of Hogwarts, but it was enough to remind them that the millennial creature measured more than sixty feet.

"Let's move on," Ron whispered. "I really don't want to stay here longer than necessary."

They resumed their journey, only stopping before Salazar Slytherin's statue. Harry hissed what Hermione knew was "Speak to me Slytherin, the greatest of the Hogwarts Four". It was hardly surprising that with such an ancestor Lord Voldemort was so conceited. Especially if he had managed to discover this place without any help during his school days, under the nose of all teachers.

As soon as the passageway opened, their wands were firmly pointed in front of them, and they all closed their eyes while casting detection spells.

"It seems empty," Hermione finally said. "I'll open my eyes."

She did however conjure a cloud of water vapour before carefully opening her eyes. The passage in front of them was indeed empty.

"It's clear," she said.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny also opened their eyes, and they moved cautiously into the depths of the chamber, heading towards where they knew was the Basilisk's nest. The immense snake was there, curled around itself in its sleep. Even knowing that it cannot wake up the Basilisk remained quite frightening, and Hermione saw Harry mechanically rub his arm, where one life earlier the Basilisk had bitten him.

They spent almost an hour adding spells around the snake to ensure that no one could wake it up. Surely not enough to stop a particularly motivated dark wizard, but at least enough to give them time to intervene.

When they returned to Gryffindor's Tower, it was past two o'clock in the morning and they parted wishing each other good night, aware that they would have to make an effort the next day not to fall asleep during the first class of the year. Especially since herbology was not the subject that fascinated them the most.

oOoOoOo

The beginning of the year went without any issue. The boredom they felt in class was compensated by the complex researches they were doing – usually even during the classes –. They had kept their distribution of the summer. Hermione the resurrection rituals, Harry the human Horcruxes, Ginny the magical sources and Ron the follow up of the news. Their slow progress was frustrating, but they were gradually moving forward. Especially on resurrection rituals.

Ginny's presence was also quite refreshing. Her good humour and her optimism were more than welcomed, and Harry was just overjoyed not to be separated from his wife anymore. Their affection for each other was so visible that everyone teased them with that, but they did not care.

And Ginny had also helped Hermione to ambush Lockhart, cursing him with a spell invented by Hermione especially for the occasion, a curse causing strong migraines to Lockhart each time he was within a meter of Harry. Hermione almost could have felt bad for the teacher if Lockhart's obsession with Harry was not so unhealthy. And seeing the misunderstanding on his face every time a headache was triggered when he wanted to talk to Harry was particularly satisfying.

Having more opportunities to speak between themselves, and their plan progressing quite well, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny also opened up more to others. They started to play Gobstones or chess with Neville, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati from time to time. Sometimes, they even helped their friends with their homework. Ron and Ginny also spent time with Fred, George, and even Percy, knowing all too well how cruel life could be.

Outside the walls of Gryffindor's common room they watched over Luna, who was always quite happy to talk with them. Hermione suspected that the girl, without even realizing it, felt that they were like old friends. And on contrary to her first encounter with Luna, Hermione was now much more likely to appreciate the strange perceptiveness of their friend. It was a real relief to see that even this time they were gradually forming a strong friendship with Neville and Luna.

The only painful people around them were Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape, but even their impact on their lives seemed quite tamed compared to their first time. Or perhaps Hermione was now finding Malfoy's remarks more childish than annoying, and Snape's barbs more sad than hurtful.

All in all, the beginning of the year was going very well, Hermione thought with satisfaction as she sank deeper into one of the armchairs in the common room on the third Saturday morning of September, Crookshanks in her lap. And then Harry emerged from the boys' dormitory.

"What are you doing Harry?" she asked.

Her friend had just came down with his brand new Nimbus 2001 in his hand, a gift from Sirius for his birthday – no matter that Sirius had already offered his godson the Nimbus 2000 the previous year, Harry having since long given up trying to contain Sirius' spending impulses –.

"I'm going to the Quidditch team try-outs of course," Harry answered.

"But it's unfair!" Hermione gasped.

Harry just shrugged.

"Ron, tell me you're not going to go with him?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not going to go with him."

"Aha!"

"I'll wait until we are in fifth year, there's only the keeper's position that interests me, and with Wood still in Hogwarts I'll never have it now!"

"But..."

"I guess Ginny's going to join the team next year, aren't you?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Ginny replied smugly.

"But it's even more unfair!" Hermione cried out.

Ginny had been an extremely talented professional Quidditch player. She had even played for the English national team!

"We are going to crush Slytherin so violently! They'll never see it coming", Ron said while lounging even deeper into his chair, his hands behind his head, and a big smile on his face. "And at least that way we would be sure to win the house cup this year. I still can't believe we lost it to Slytherin last year!"

Hermione gave up and plunged back into her books.

oOoOoOo

Dobby had been quite annoying a few more times, until Harry finally got fed up and ordered him to stop trying to save his life. But only after the match with the crazy Bludger, to Hermione's utmost dismay, as Harry had wanted to know how long he could fare against it, while preventing Draco Malfoy to catch the Golden Snitch – Harry being keen to leave Gryffindor as much time as possible to score points even if it meant also taking care of cutting in on Slytherin's Chasers –. Even having to spend the night in the infirmary to regrow the bones of his hand did not make Harry regret his decision, his time being three times better than the one of his first life, and Gryffindor having won 260 points to 20.

The first thing Harry did the next day was to write a long missive to Lucius Malfoy proposing to buy his house elf. He lied shamelessly in it, saying that it was Draco who had told him all the best about Dobby, and that he wanted to restore the standing of the Potter's name by buying a personal servant. The sum was attractive enough for Lucius Malfoy to believe that his son had swindled Harry Potter and Lucius had agreed. As from that day Dobby was declared a free elf by Harry, and he started a cult to the Boy-Who-Lived in the depth of Hogwarts' kitchens.

Evidently, Gryffindor's victory also put Harry in the spotlight, as he had made no effort to restrain his talent while flying. He became, even more than before, Gryffindor's golden boy. Probably also because they had all consciously avoided to go to Lockhart's duelling club. It was already not easy for them to pretend a lower magical level than their real one, but in a duel they were all too afraid that their instincts would kick in and take over.

Besides, it was not like the duelling club had been a success the first time around... Its only achievement had been to make everyone suspicious of Harry for speaking Parseltongue, and of course none of them wanted everyone to know Harry's hidden talent for the snake's tongue.

From afar they watched Voldemort, Harry regularly locating him with the link. For the moment the dark wizard seemed content to stay in Albania, to their utmost relief. He was gradually regaining strength, but he still had a long way to go.

An evening Hermione had visited the Trophy Room and had examined the golden badge Riddle had been rewarded for services to the school, and his Medal for Magical Merit. She could almost visualize the event in her head. Leonard Spencer-Moon, the minister at that time, thanking profusely a young Tom Riddle with a fake smile.

"What a bunch of idiots," Hermione murmured, thinking about Armando Dippet and Leonard Spencer-Moon.

Before thinking that they were themselves probably far more stupid, as they were planning to resurrect Voldemort. They did not even have the excuse of not knowing who he really was. But Hermione had still not been able to find any other way to access Slytherin's books... and without those books they still did not know how to stabilize the magical source. If only they could find a way to solve their issue without involving Voldemort... But Hermione suspected they would not be so lucky.

oOoOoOo

Even without the petrified students, Lockhart decided that Valentine's Day should be celebrated, and Hermione, Harry and Ron froze in horror as they entered the Great Hall and saw the heart-shaped confetti. Only Ginny was pleased and Hermione looked at her suspiciously. The redhead just winked at her, and Hermione did not realize why she had been in a such good mood until much later that day, when a grim-looking dwarf stopped right in front of Harry.

"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter! I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person."

"Tell me she hasn't dared…" Harry sighed.

But Ginny had dared, and Harry stoically endured her beautiful poem praising his toady eyes and dark hair as Hermione and Ron collapsed with laughter.

"I've heard that we should follow as much as possible the original timeline to preserve the spatiotemporal continuum, I'm doing my part" Ginny said with a smirk when Harry confronted her afterwards.

Hermione rolled her eyes, half depressed by the fact that her friends only cared about the spatiotemporal continuum for pranks.

oOoOoOo

The rest of the year passed quietly, and Hermione even finalized her researches on resurrection rituals, finally identifying one that seemed really promising. It required Horcruxes and the Philosopher Stone, and they had both.

Towards the end of the year she watched out of the corner of her eyes Lockhart, trying to see if his behaviour was changing.

"Do you think we can do something to prevent his demise?" Hermione asked one morning during breakfast.

"His demise?" Ron asked.

"The DADA curse," Hermione reminded.

Harry groaned unconvincingly.

"I don't like Lockhart, and that's an understatement, but I think trying to fight the curse will only make it worse, so if you want to help him, you should probably continue not to interfere," Ginny said.

Hermione sighed, knowing Ginny was right. She just feared that the same way Quirrell had still ended up dead last year, Lockhart would still end up a permanent resident of St. Mungo's.

But the curse played out differently this time. On the last day of the year, at the final banquet - in Gryffindor colours this time - two Auror entered Hogwarts and asked to speak to Dumbledore, before they all disappeared with Lockhart. It was Ron who was the first one to know what had happened the next morning, when he got his copy of the Daily Prophet. He chuckled before lending them the newspaper.

"Scam of the decade: Gilderoy Lockhart, a criminal who stole all his stories from unsuspecting wizards."

Apparently, one of Lockhart's memory charms had not held and all his machinations had been discovered by the Aurors. Hermione smiled. Now she was nearly finding Voldemort's curse likeable.

oOoOoOo

AN: And there you are! See you next week for the third year (and the beginning of chaos).