A/N: Hullo! So time flows really weirdly between chapter uploads. I'm always convinced that I published something recently enough and then I realise it's been another year. I've been writing this story for nearly six years now, which seems insane to be honest. Yet here we are with another chapter! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story and been patient with me despite updating so rarely and welcome to any of you who might be new! I've been on a bit of a writing binge recently, so I'm actually a couple of chapters ahead which means I'm actually going to try and update this once a week(ish)! At least for a month or so and then we'll see however much else I've managed to right.

TL;DR: I'm back and I am going to finish this story sometime this year if all goes well. Thank you so much for all of your favs/follows/reviews, they have kept me going. Without any further rambling here is the next chapter! Enjoy and let me know what you think :D Note xxx

"I can't believe they gave you Cruz as a guardian!", exclaimed Ginny once they'd let each other go. "And that whole hearing! It was an absolute farce. I can't believe the hippogryph dung my brother was spewing! And don't get me started on Mom's statement. Dad kinda saved the whole thing, but she really could've been more careful with how she said things! I mean she knew what was on the line!"

Hermione laughed bitterly. Despite everything else, Mrs Weasley renouncing her status as honorary family member still stung."Don't take this the wrong way, Gin, you know how much your family means to me, but your mother has always been quick to assume the worst of me. So her turning against me now doesn't really come as a surprise, although she could've said much worse. As for Ron… I don't know, but he nearly attacked me that night in Hogsmeade. He doesn't take too well to rejection, so again, his statement was pretty much what I was expecting. We all know he holds a grudge for a long time."

Luna put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Ron has a bad case of wrackspurts. It's impacting his judgement. While he did not treat you well, I'm sure he does actually care about you. You were friends for too long for that not to be the case and he will realise his errors eventually, I'm sure. Not that it helps with your current situation."

Hermione sighed and sank down on the couch. "I know, Luna. Thanks." She looked over at Ginny who was standing with her arms crossed, looking furious. "You're right, the meeting was a farce and it went about as badly as it could have. It was the perfect opportunity for Cruz to make another move on me." She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"So what are we going to do about her being your guardian?", Ginny asked, eyes blazing. Hermione couldn't help but smile at her friends determination, but it quickly faltered. "I actually think there might be something more sinister going on, than her just being on a power trip."

Gesturing for the other two girls to get comfortable, she began to tell them about the time Cruz had cornered her in the corridor before detention and how Severus had found out about her involvement with the silent followers. She had had plenty of time to think about things while she was in the Hospital Wing, and had come to the conclusion that the only way to stop Cruz being her guardian and get Severus back was to find out and reveal what her real plan was. There was more to this whole situation than met the eye and it was about time she found out what it was. She had let herself be manoeuvred into a terrible situation, but up until now she had not really done anything to stop this. It was time she started fighting back.

oxoxoxoxo

She was running across the battlefield that used to be the Hogwarts grounds. Bellatrix was cackling behind her, firing spell after spell at her back. There was blood running down Hermione's arms and she wasn't sure anymore if it was hers or somebody else's. Spells were flying from her wand without thought, hitting anyone in her way. Ahead of her she spotted Severus walking away from the battle towards the shack. Running faster, she tried to catch up with him, the noise of battle fading around her. "Severus!", she called, half stumbling, half running down the hill. The distance between them seemed to diminish, but he didn't turn no matter how loudly she called him. The Shrieking Shack was looming ever closer and she knew she wouldn't be able to stop him from walking to his doom. "SEVERUS, please!", she yelled desperately. He stopped and turned to look at her, a derisive sneer on his face. She searched his eyes for the warmth she knew should be there, but all she saw was darkness. Blinking, she realised he had gone and no matter how much she searched for him, he was no where to be found.

oxoxoxoxo

Gasping for breath she woke up early the next morning, her scar twinging uncomfortably. It was a Saturday, so she wouldn't need to be at breakfast for another while. Dragging herself out of bed, she went for a long and soothing shower. Afterwards she sat down on the sofa and began to catch up on the class work she had missed. Professor McGonagall had kindly supplied her with a list of all her work from her various professors. Despite her determination to fight back, she was still Hermione Granger and falling behind in her classes was simply not acceptable to her. Unfortunately, the gaps next to DADA and potions kept attracting her gaze, but she did her best to steadfastly ignore them and focus on her other subjects instead. She had restored the tremulous walls in her mind to their previous strength while she was in the Hospital Wing which helped her compartmentalise - to an extent anyway.

It seemed to be only minutes later when a knock sounded on her door. Checking the time she realised it was almost time for breakfast and so she went to open her door in the hopes that it was not Cruz.

"Morning, Hermione.", said Luna cheerily. "Are you ready to go to breakfast?"

She smiled with relief. "Sure."

Once they sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Hermione felt as though everyone was looking at her. Clenching her fists under the table she forced herself to eat a croissant and drink some juice. Her scar prickled and she started scratching it.

Suddenly a hand clamped around her wrist. "You will stop scratching your scars immediately, Miss Granger.", hissed Professor Cruz. Hermione hadn't even noticed her leave the head table. "Come to my office after breakfast, we have things to discuss." With that the witch turned on her heel and stalked away.

Hermione could feel her nails digging into her palms as she tried to keep a hold of her flaring magic and suppress her anger.

A hand gently covered hers and she jumped, then took a gasping breath. It was Luna.

"You will get through this, Hermione. The truth always wins in the end, you of all people should know that. Just don't forget you're not alone. We'll be with you all the way."

She smiled shakily. "Thank you, Luna.", she whispered. Ginny reached over and squeezed her arm. "We'll come pick you up from Charms at lunch. With the way everyone is whispering about you, you'll probably need us as your… What's the muggle word? Oh yes, bodyguards. Good luck with Cruz. Remember what you did to Umbridge? One day soon it will be Cruz' turn."

Hermione's smile grew a little stronger at that. Handing Cruz over to the centaurs was all too tempting, unlikely as it was that they would want to get involved this time. "Thanks, Gin. I'll try. See you guys later!" She finished her pumpkin juice and started on her way towards the door.

"Oi, Granger!", called Zacharias Smith. "How did the hearing go?" Roaring laughter broke out around him and she wondered if there had been another article in the Prophet this morning. Ignoring his calls and any others that followed she pushed through the doors, her hair bouncing on her shoulders in a cloud of fake confidence.

oxoxoxoxo

Thankfully, she arrived at Cruz' office door without incident. Raising her hand to knock she noticed she was still shaking slightly. Glaring at her fist and carrying out a brief check of her mental walls, she knocked.

"Come in."

It was the first time she was in Cruz' office. The room was quite spacious and there was a small shelve with some DADA books on it but otherwise there were no personal touches or decorations of any kind. Cruz wasn't sitting behind her desk but on a comfortable looking sofa in the corner. There was an identical sofa opposite and a low table with a tea service on it in between.

"Please take a seat, Hermione. You don't mind if I call you Hermione, do you? I feel that as your guardian it is important to develop a proper rapport and get to know each other, so any decisions I make on your behalf will be in your best interest. Don't you agree?"

"Yes, Professor.", Hermione murmured as she sat down. An apparently friendly Itana Cruz was nearly more frightening, than had she been openly hostile.

"You may call me Itana when there is no one else around. I know we have had difficulties in the past, but I wish to start fresh. We're going to have to see quite a lot of each other in the future. Would you like some tea?", she added, already pouring two cups before Hermione could refuse. She accepted the cup, but placed it back on the table immediately, the cup gently clattering against the saucer. The china had a pretty floral design and momentarily drew her attention away from her guardian.

"Go on. I ordered it from India. I assure you it's excellent."

"Actually, I only just had a cup of tea for breakfast.", Hermione lied. She didn't want to drink anything Cruz offered her.

"No, you had juice. Do not lie to me, Hermione."

Hermione swallowed and looked up. Cruz' face didn't betray any emotion.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but what does it matter to you what I drink or do not drink?"

"I'm your guardian, everything about you matters to me. You will be honest with me from now on. In turn I will be honest with you. I wish to break your unhealthy fixation on Professor Snape. We will start by reintroducing you to the joys of all kinds of tea."

Hermione sighed. "No, thank you. My dislike of most kinds of tea has nothing to do with Professor Snape. Now, do you have anything reasonable to say to me? Otherwise, I have a free period now that I want to use to study."

"Don't be cheeky with me, young lady.", she said sternly. If the situation hadn't been as serious Hemione would have laughed. Cruz sounded like a book titled "How to Raise My Child With Discipline".

"Here is what's going to happen, Hermione. You have a very serious issue and I wish to help you resolve it. Mr Ledford recommends a very strict and organised routine for cases like yours, so we are going to spend your free period deciding what that routine is going to look like for you. Your classmates tell me you are very organised, so I'm assuming this isn't going to be a problem for you. Is it?"

"No, Professor."

"Call me Itana. Now,", she pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and made a rough table with the days of the week on it.

"You have been neglecting your body so I want you to start on some exercises. I know you take walks, how do you feel about running?"

Hermione shrugged. "I used to go running during the summer to keep fit, but in school the stairs usually do the trick."

"Hmm. I want you to run for half an hour out in the grounds at least three times a week. Exercise is good for you and it will aid your sleep problems and provide you with a counterpoint to your studies." The curly haired witch thought she saw a sneer at the last words.

"I also want you to begin researching muscle building exercises in the Muggle-section of the library and I expect you to present me with a training plan within the next two weeks. Will you be able to do that for me?"

"Yes, of course." Hermione had been playing with the thought of more exercise for a while now, so, even though she hated to admit it, she wasn't averse to this task.

"Next up, there will be breakfast.", Cruz continued and started marking times and tasks into the timetable. "I expect you to attend all meals every day and I expect to see you eating. It is ridiculous to think any Hogwarts student suffers from malnourishment considering the amount of food the house elves prepare. I want you to take into account your increased exercise and adjust your diet accordingly. If you are unsure, you should find plenty of information in the library."

Hermione didn't say anything and Cruz looked up at her. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, of course."

"Good. You can rewrite this later and fill in your timetable. Now, after classes finish in the afternoon you will take a one hour break. Studying non-stop is extremely unhealthy. Learning to take breaks will be an important step in starting to take care of yourself properly. It should also positively affect your performance, as clearing your head has been shown to help better retain information. You may use the one hour however you like so long as it has nothing to do with your NEWT's. I suggest a walk or some pleasure reading, but it's up to you. After your break you may do your homework and start your study should you have enough time. After dinner you may study until ten o'clock. Curfew for seventh years is at midnight, but I also want you to get eight hours sleep. I don't know how long you will need to get out of bed or take a shower after your morning run to be on time for breakfast, so you can decide your bedtime accordingly. Oh, and I expect you to come to my office after dinner every night to give me a report of your day. It won't take up much time, don't worry. Once your routine is settled we may decrease the frequency of your visits. On weekends, I expect you to take a break from studying at least every two hours for half an hour. You may take a longer break if you wish, but half an hour is the minimum. I also expect to see you spending time with your friends. However, until you have established this routine you will not be allowed to visit Hogsmeade. That will be your reward for sticking to my rules. Is that acceptable?"

Hermione frowned. "I guess I don't have much of a choice. But you do realise that I have insomnia and cannot guarantee eight hours sleep?"

"I am aware, Hermione. But I expect you to at least attempt to rest for eight hours. With the exercise and the routine it should start to get easier to sleep. I will warn you now though, I do not want to see you anywhere near the potions lab in the evenings. Is that understood?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "Like I said, I doubt I have a choice."

"It's for your own good, sweetie.", Cruz said and handed her the parchment. "Rewrite that with your timetable. I will see you after dinner."

The Gryffindor witch nodded and took the parchment appearing calm, but really just wanting to scream. If Cruz' goal was to make her life miserable, controlling every aspect of it was certainly one way to achieve that. Without another word she went to the door.

"What do you say when you leave, Miss Granger?"

"Goodbye, Professor?"

"Are you asking me or telling me? I expect you to act respectfully towards me, like you would with any figure of authority, even if you can call me by my first name."

"Yes, Professor. Goodbye." Before Cruz could say anything else, Hermione had slunk out of the door to head to double Charms.

oxoxoxoxo

As promised, Ginny and Luna met her after charms and Hermione quickly filled them in on what had happened with Cruz.

She had actually been thinking about her whole situation during her Charms lesson, trying to come up with some form of plan of action. Flitwick's class remained an ever convenient opportunity for brainstorming or private conversation (not that there was anyone to have a private conversation with in her class).

"I have some ideas on where to start.", she said to her two friends as they sat down to lunch. "First of all, Cruz wants me to spend time with my friends, so we're going to use that time to research any information that we can find about Cruz or anything else useful to get me out of this. And as much as I hate to say it the library probably won't be enough so we're going to need some outside help. Ginny, can you send Harry an owl and see if he can organise a trip to the castle under the pretence of seeing McGonagall?"

The redhead frowned. "McGonagall? How will that help?"

Hermione smirked. "Well, Cruz can't stop me seeing the headmistress can she? And that way she doesn't know I'm meeting up with Harry, which will give me a chance to talk some things over with him. Also McGonagall visited me in the hospital wing and offered her help, so it might be good to have an opportunity to speak to her as well."

"That sounds somewhat promising if vague.", Ginny grinned, immensely relieved that Hermione seemed determined to continue fighting back. "But sure I'll see what I can do."

Hermione then turned to Luna who was sitting next to her. "If I give you a letter for Draco Malfoy can you send it for me?"

"Of course. Just let me know when you have it ready.", Luna smiled. Across the table Ginny nearly spat out some pumpkin juice. "Draco? I know you guys are kind of friendly and all but how can he help?"

Hermione looked around cautiously. "I don't know yet exactly. But he's one of the few people outside Hogwarts I can trust right now and he comes with a… somewhat unique set of experience that might be useful given what we're dealing with."

The three of them sat in silence for a while. Eventually Luna spoke up, sounding thoughtful. "Do you ever find it strange how it's so much easier to slip back into paranoia and extreme caution than it is to feel carefree even though the war is over?"

They exchanged a dark glance between them. "Clearly whatever is going on with Cruz means the war isn't as over as we thought it was.", muttered Ginny. Hermione gasped, staring intensely at the two of them. "Remember what Cruz said about Severus using me as a tool in some twisted revenge scheme?"

They nodded slowly. "Given she's a You-Know-What, what if she was kind of telling the truth? What if that's exactly what she's doing and she's using Severus to cover her tracks?"

The two of them visibly paled. "But Hermione…", Ginny whispered. "We've never heard of her before she started at Hogwarts. For all we know the… You-Know-Whats were never directly involved in anything. Who could she be that she wants revenge on you?"

Hermione shrugged. "I guess that's what we need to find out." She bit her lip, wishing she could discuss this with Severus.

Luna chimed in. "Either way, Cruz is clearly very dangerous so we should be very careful whatever we do."