Chapter 12
May 3, 1997
That was not what she had expected. But it was also different from her old world. Hermione didn't know exactly what that meant.
"Why was James Potter with you that night? In the other world, he had died alongside Lily Potter, leaving Harry orphaned."
"He was lied to by Pettigrew. It was a setup that nobody saw coming. But that is not important at the moment, is it?"
Hermione shook her head. "No. But I will need to know eventually. As for the reason why I haven't asked anything of you…"
"You need me to stay at the castle. Why?"
"Draco Malfoy will accomplish his task. He has no other choice. I need somebody close to him at all times. He is a risk. Having the charm around his wrist can only do so much. You will move in shifts with McGonagall and any other professors that wish to help."
Frank tipped his head to the side, fingers tapping his thigh. "I see. When they come, will the kid help them or us?"
Hermione looked away. She hadn't thought ahead. Things were still new and sometimes old. But she didn't want to be careful anymore. Anything that went wrong would be her fault. No matter what people said, she would feel that way. Just like before. Every decision they had taken…
"He will choose on his own. I don't know him. I never really knew him so I have nothing to go back on except the bad. If he decides to cross us...I'll eliminate him."
Cold words. But this time, nobody flinched. Nobody looked away.
Hermione walked into the kitchen, her body filled with discomfort. She wanted caffeine. She needed to move. But her steps were heavy. She located the teapot and began boiling water.
Magic would have done the job but she didn't see the need or felt the need to use it for such a task.
"Charlie."
Charlie had taken a seat but now stood, his face washed in the soft glow of the rising sun. "Yes?"
Even his voice was full of wildness. Full of life. It was a breath of fresh air. Unlike Luna's, who had once been that to Hermione. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't the same here. But it was damn hard.
She looked at the other man briefly. "Stay here or leave but know that we'll head down to the Chamber around dinner time. I need to take care of some things first."
Charlie ran a hand through his hair. "I'll go. I have to pack a few things if we plan to move around a lot."
Bill shrugged. "I'll head out briefly but I'll be back after Lunch."
Both men left. It left Frank, Snape, Moody, Harry, and Luna. Snape stirred, pushing his robe sleeves back from each wrist sharply.
"I will take my leave. I have things to prepare for the upcoming week. I'll be in my office most of the day. You know where that is, Miss Granger. Even in this world, you are-"
"A know-it-all. Yes. I am. I know a lot. But I wonder if that also means it's true for this world."
The steam from the coffee wafted up, warming her skin. But it did nothing to her on a deeper level. If anything, it made her cold. A shiver almost raced across her spine.
Snape's eyes narrowed but he said nothing else as he walked out. Harry wasn't even paying any attention to them. He had wandered over to the window and was lost in his own little world.
Hermione looked past him, towards Luna. The girl hadn't moved from her spot since she had spoken to Neville. She was sitting alone on the largest couch in the room.
As for Moody. He was staring at Hermione. She forced herself not to slouch as she drank the hot coffee. It burned her mouth a bit but she needed something to keep herself awake.
There was a knock at the door and Moody walked over to open it. Hermione couldn't see who it was but they had only been expecting one person. Madam Pomfrey's voice echoed down the small hallway that led out of the room.
"Here, hold this. Where is she?"
"Kitchen." A grunt from Moody.
Hermione drank another mouthful of the bitter coffee before setting it down. To make it easier on the matron, she walked back to the stool she had previously used.
She was just sitting down when Pomfrey walked in, a covered basket held securely in her arms. Moody followed along holding a bundle of potions.
"Sleep heals only so much. Do you care if the males stay? I might need to inspect certain areas of your body better this time around." Pomfrey said as she sat the basket in the air with magic. It opened on its own even as the matron moved around.
Hermione noticed Harry's sharp glance at the question. She shrugged.
"I don't mind."
Pomfrey paused. "That's...okay. Are you wearing undergarments beneath your shirt?"
"Yes."
Frank and Moody glanced at Hermione. One was a frown and the other a speculating look. But when she reached for her shirt, they both politely turned away. She took it off, wincing as her arm and waist protested the movements.
"Luna gave me something for the pain a few minutes ago, will that hinder anything else you will give me?"
"No. If it was for the pain it should be perfectly fine," Pomfrey whispered as she walked around Hermione, lightly touching Hermione's spine. She fisted her hands automatically. She hated it. Hermione had never reacted this way before to Pomfrey.
"You have severe bruising and a couple of cuts that look irritated. I need to run some diagnostic tests but I think that some of your ribs need a second look."
For two hours, Pomfrey tended to her.
During that time, Harry had left for breakfast with Luna and Pomfrey asked the elves in the kitchen to bring Hermione something light to eat. Frank disappeared after breakfast to follow Draco Malfoy.
Moody stayed.
Hermione pulled back on her top and wrapped herself up carefully with Ron's sweater. She felt better. She looked over Pomfrey's shoulder, where Moody sat at the kitchen table, and nodded as Pomfrey gave her several instructions and potions.
"Make sure not to push yourself. Magically speaking, you are not critically drained of your magic but it's better to rest. Your body will let you know when you have reached your limit but try not to push it," Concern drowned Pomfrey's eyes. "Rest. That is what you need but I also know, if you are anything like the Hermione I used to know, that you won't rest unless you have to."
Pomfrey shook her head when Hermione would have spoken. "I won't ask how or why you're here unless you need me in some sort of way. I just want you safe. You know where I am if you need me."
Hermione thanked her and watched as the older woman walked out. Hermione tucked the potions away and stood up slowly. Her hip and arm were the only things that still ached. But only time would heal the hip. Her arm was another matter.
She touched it briefly. It burned but the cooling magical wrap Pomfrey had given helped just a bit.
The door closed behind the matron, leaving Moody alone with her. She didn't move from the stool but did stretch her muscles. They pulled tightly but they weren't as bad as before. Her hip was aching still but was feeling better already.
"How did Dumbledore die? In the other world?"
Hermione crossed the room, passing him without a look and began to fix another cup of strong black coffee.
"He alone wanted to find the Horcrux. He hadn't known then how many they were but he had suspicions. He hunted them early on but fell to the temptation of something that doesn't exist in this world. The consequences of his actions would eventually kill him. Within a year, he was predicted to die. Having Narcissa demand the vow from Snape had only cemented the outcome. A coward way out."
Moody stiffened.
She didn't care. "He died with a lot of other stuff he should have told somebody else aside from Snape. And even then, what Snape knew hadn't been a lot. We didn't find out anything until the very end. By then...a lot of magical blood and non-magical blood had spilled. Harry won by chance. We weren't prepared at all so we made do with what we had."
"The Order didn't help?"
"No. They did what they could but right as we hit the peak of the war they were forced to hide. The Ministry fell and it all went to hell soon after."
"Are there only 7 of them? Really?"
Hermione stirred the spoon lazily and only glanced up once she was done.
"I don't know why I want to trust you. Luna is understandable. Harry and even Ron but you? Alastor Moody...often called Mad-Eye. You died protecting Harry. The most famous Auror of all time. The Moody I knew didn't have a corporeal Patronus. He also made Nymphadora Tonks his protege. There are a few other things I had been told by the man I knew right before his unfortunate death. Tell me why I feel the same type of loyalty towards you, Mad-Eye?"
"Sometimes, Miss Granger, there is no reason. We humans sometimes just know. Everything you said is correct. I think that if anybody should be confused by you appearing here should be only you. Coming here by means that no other human on record has...that says something about you and why Death brought you to us. The Hermione Granger I knew of was an innocent. You are not. The Order doesn't realize what a grand opportunity it is. But I do. Kingsley has an idea too," he replied as he stared hard at her.
"As for what you asked...be careful who you trust. Events and such might be the same but people aren't. The wicked might become good. The good might become wicked. Or some...will change out of nowhere. Humans are like that. I don't know why you feel like you have loyalty to me but it is something I will use, you understand?"
Hermione couldn't help it. She smirked, the tension in her shoulders easing a bit. He raised a scarred eyebrow. She shook her head even as she kept the smirk on her face. "You said the same thing to me when we first started becoming familiar with one another. Hearing you say that just confirmed it for me."
"Silly girl."
It was silent for a few minutes as she finished off her cup of coffee. It wasn't until she was done cleaning up the cup that she spoke once more.
"Yes. The number is 7. One of them is here, in the castle. Hidden for so many years."
Moody froze.
She stayed where she was, leaning against the kitchen counter as she stared out the windows across the room.
"The Rowen's lost Diadem was made into a Horcrux and left behind here by Riddle himself. He fooled the Grey Lady, created the Horcrux and left it somewhere it wouldn't be discovered until the day of the Final Battle."
"What do you plan to do at the moment?"
"I need to get back on track with what everybody is doing. The Ministry has to stand for everything else to run smoothly so that is a priority. We just need time to hunt them down. At the moment, I'm weak so I can only do so much. I know when to heed Pomfrey and my own body. For now, I need to find the box Harry mentioned that belonged to the other Hermione. I also need to address Dumbledore's Army."
"The children should be kept here-"
Hermione pushed away from the counter. "I know. I don't plan to use them. But they did fight when it came down to it. I won't have them defenseless if the castle or their homes are breached. Remember, they were the ones to fight in the end. Young, they might be but that doesn't account for the valor they have. Or their magic."
"I see."
She wandered out of the kitchen but stopped to look over her shoulder. His eyes, one dark, and the other an electric blue were blank as they met hers.
"I hope you never do. But in war one never knows what they will see."
.
.
The corridors weren't as crowded as she had thought they would be. But the few students they did encounter tried not to stare at them.
Moody had explained that she would be staying in the rooms they had given her to 'contain' her from the other students.
It would look official if she was accompanied by Moody himself. They could have used an elf but it was better to be seen now than later.
Hermione took note of the different portraits across the corridors and staircases. She mapped out where exactly she was staying. They had come down a tower that even she hadn't gone into before. Mostly because the castle always found ways to thwart wayward students. But the tower she would be staying in wasn't far from the Great Hall.
As they walked, she took note of all the students that passed by.
From familiar faces to ones she had never seen before, she was reminded that Harry was at the end of his 6th year. One that would have ended differently if she hadn't come.
She didn't have time to think about it further since they had arrived at the Gryffindor entrance. It was open since somebody had either just gone in or were planning to go out.
A head poked out and the sweetest looking child peered out. Hermione raised an eyebrow as the boys' eyes rounded at the sight of Moody and Hermione standing together. Shaggy curls bounced as he jumped back and a yelp echoed through the hole.
Hermione's lip twitched.
"Ezra! Oy, what was that? I almost dropped my-."
Hermione had moved forward to help the kid that she now knew was named Ezra. The voice that had shouted out in dismay faded out. Her eyes took a minute to adjust to the light of the common room and now leaned down to help up the boy.
The boy scrambled up with her help and even in the dim light of the entrance, she could see his blush. He took several steps back, bumping into a cluster of older students.
Hermione ducked in all the way, making sure to make room to let Moody in behind her. There were a handful of students sitting and standing around the common room.
There had been chatter right before they had walked in but now the silence was their only welcome.
Moody had told her they would react this way to him.
Several familiar faces looked back at her as she did the same to them. Ron and Neville weren't among them. Harry came into view as he came down the stairs. The boy's dormitory. He halted when he saw her and Moody.
The others parted to let him pass through as he came forward. Seamus and Dean trailed behind him but the others stayed behind.
Harry nodded towards the boy named Ezra. "Go on, Neville's waiting for you."
Ezra glanced at Harry and carefully walked around Hermione. Moody's heavy metal leg made a noise as he shifted away from the entry. Hermione soon forgot about the boy as she fully stared at the others in the room.
Most of them she knew. The younger ones not so much. She would have just gone up the stairs to the girl's dormitory but a face in the crowd prevented her.
Theodore Nott.
Hermione didn't even realize how fast she had moved until she was right in front of Nott. She was so close she could smell the slight tantalizing scent of mint and chocolate. A mixture she liked. A familiar one but she wasn't sure why.
Nott didn't back away from her. If anything, he moved closer. His dark blue eyes didn't flinch from hers as he raised a hand towards her.
"Hermione?"
Two voices. One Harry's and the other...Nott.
Within seconds, her hands were wrapped around Nott's throat and she was pushing him back, toppling over a candle from the wall behind him. Nott wasn't much taller than her but he wasn't without muscles of his own.
His hands wrapped around her wrist, the action not exactly gentle.
His eyes narrowed but no malice or hatred appeared.
"Let go of me, Hermione."
"Why are you so familiar with me?" she whispered, confused as to why she didn't just rip into his mind to find out on her own. She felt something for this boy but the feelings inside her weren't her own.
They couldn't be. She didn't know him.
Moody's foot alerted her of his presence. But it was Harry who came to her side. He leaned in, his face coming close to her neck as he whispered against her ear. It tickled in a way she didn't like.
"He's a Gryffindor and somebody Hermione once dated."
What in…
She let go of Nott and went to move away. But while she had let go of him, he hadn't. He still held her wrist in his hands before he abruptly let go of her and finally showed some irritation.
"You aren't Hermione Granger."
Hermione cocked her head. "Aren't I?"
She turned away from him and his scent. Leaving him there, she made her way up the stairs, ignoring the stares and murmurs. Moody followed her from the sounds of his metal leg and staff. He had said before that he would be able to climb the stairs due to the permission that McGonagall had granted him.
Hermione hadn't even thought of it.
She located the room she had once shared with Lavender and Parvati. Neither girls were in the room.
She knew which bed was hers right away. A blanket from her late grandmother lay at the foot of the bed, folded with care.
The bed was the only one made in the whole dormitory. She touched the blanket, remembering her grandmother's proud face as she had gifted it to Hermione. Handmade with love was what she had said.
Not wanting to upset herself, she turned away from it and grabbed the trunk that lay at the foot of the bed. Knowing she couldn't use magic just yet, she began to search for the box.
It wasn't hard to find. It was small, barely the size of a quaffle.
Dark oak gleamed with the help of the sun as she pulled it closer to her face. It was heavy and she could hear coins inside. She turned back to the blanket and used it to wrap up the box. She didn't touch anything else and turned towards the door. Moody was there. He hadn't stepped inside.
"You are not taking anything else?"
Hermione glanced back at the tidy bed, trunk, and bureau that held the other Hermione's clothes.
"Most of it won't fit me. I lost too much weight to ever really fit back in them. I also grew an inch or two in the past year so most of it won't even fit. I'll just buy more."
He didn't comment on the blanket. They wordlessly walked out of the Gryffindor tower, leaving behind a loud chatter that started as soon as they were out of sight.
Harry and Theodore Nott stood side by side in front of the entrance.
Hermione didn't say anything and continued even as the others followed her. They arrived back at the tower within minutes. She laid the box on the long wooden table and carefully unwrapped it as the others stepped further into the room. Moody pulled out a chair and sat down heavily.
Hermione ignored Nott and concentrated on the box. She lifted the lid, surprised with how easy it was to do so. Inside lay a velvet cloth in the shape of a star. It was soft to the touch but also very frail. She removed it, setting it on the table, and stared at the contents.
A broken necklace. A bag that she was sure was shrunk. Three keys. One looking familiar to her. Some loose coins. A small notebook the size of her hand and a stack of letters. She pulled everything out and would have shut the box but there, at the bottom of the box, lay an envelope.
It looked new. She opened it and pulled out...pictures?
The first one was non-magical. It was her parents, hugging her from either side as they stared at the camera. Probably before Hogwarts. Before magic.
Her parents looked the same. It was a picture she didn't remember ever happening in the other world. The other Hermione had smiled big for the picture. She studied her. Bushy hair. Large front teeth. A small sprinkle of freckles that would have disappeared before her 4th year.
The next picture was of Harry, Hermione, and...Theodore?
It was a magical picture so it showed them laughing carelessly. She looked up from it and waved it at both boys.
"This is damn strange to me. Seeing it here…"
Harry frowned. "Theo is an unofficial member of the Order. He gives money to it but mostly stays out of it due to his father. Theo is our friend."
Hermione glanced at Nott. "He was a Slytherin in my world," hard words laced with memories of his snickers. "He wasn't as bad as Malfoy but he was part of his little group nevertheless. I never once spoke to him directly. He wasn't somebody I had wanted to ever know. Not because he was a Slytherin…"
She dropped the pictures into the chest. "But because he believed in the very thing that would later kill so many of my kind."
The scar pulsed and she touched it. "Mudbloods."
…..o0o0o0o0o0o0o…..
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Thank you for reading. Sorry for the late update but the current situation is bad where I live. I've been doing my part to help with the elderly but it's hard. I'm still planning to write but for the next month or so it will be slow.
Please stay safe and follow whatever needs to be done so that we can all be safe.
Questions or if you just need to talk, email me at; bookmarktheif1995
Vanee
