AN: Been a long time since the last update. This chapter introduces two new characters. Enjoy.


The taste of sand and seawater filled Hermione's palate as she slowly regained consciousness. The weight of the elements pushing against her stiff body dragged her down into what she deduced was quicksand.

Immediately, Hermione thought of a couple of spells that would help her escape. All she needed was her wand and a few seconds to get the spell right in her head. Luckily for her, she managed both and braced herself for impact.

"Syrticus solvo!" Hermione managed to shout before the sand engulfed her.

The sand began to regurgitate Hermione faster than it had swallowed her, effectively pushing her up onto the surface with such force, she was back on her feet in no time.

With haste, Hermione faced Shell Cottage and ran for it.

Dark clouds began to form over the cliff when she approached the cottage. The fierce wind kept pushing her back as she continued onward. She had to stop multiple times to refrain from falling over. When it came to her friends, Hermione did not hesitate to act and gathered all of her courage to fight the monster that had been terrorising her since her nightmares began.

She pushed onward as fast as she could hoping to Merlin her dear friends were not harmed.

Hermione finally reached the entrance and tried opening the door but it was locked. She proceeded to blast the door open with her magic.

The moment the door flew open, out came a black shroud spreading across the door, walls and eventually onto her.

The sudden swarm of black mass woke Hermione up from her nightmare. Her sudden jerk startled a young Gryffindor girl who was only trying to help clean up the mess around the sleeping witch.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake ya," the young girl apologised before reaching for another plastic cup on the ground next to the sofa Hermione and Ginny were both laying in.

Hermione realised she did not make it to her room last night and ended up crashing the common room with Ginny and the rest of the student body.

Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs alike scattered the common area, slumped over or cuddled up against one another. The party waned down once morning hit but a good portion of the students were too wasted to go home. Hermione did not realise she would be one of them.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked, trying to sit up without moving Ginny too much as the girl's leg was thrown across hers.

"It's nearly noon," the underclassman replied.

Fully awake, Hermione tried the best of her ability to straighten out her hair and clothes. Ginny slowly roused from her slumber when Hermione reached over her to help the young girl gather the cups stacked on the side tables.

"Pass the bin please," Ginny groggily asked, reaching her arm out toward the girl.

Before the girl can let go, Ginny pulled it close to her face and threw up. Hermione patted Ginny on the back to soothe the obvious hangover. She apologised and thanked the younger Gryffindor girl for everything she was doing.

"Let's get you cleaned up for lunch," Hermione said to Ginny and the two slowly made their way back up to their dorm.

It did not take long for Ginny to recover from her hangover and crave lunch.

But before the two decided to head to the dining hall, they helped the rest of the younger years clean up and kick some students who did not belong to their house out of the tower. It was the least they could do for throwing such an exuberant party.

When all was said and done, the two girls finally made their way to the dining hall to satiate their growing appetites.

"I wonder what's for lunch," Ginny said as she led the way.

Hermione wanted to respond, but some Gryffindor students including some members of the quidditch team came up to Ginny to yet again congratulate her on her big win. The captain rightfully deserved all the attention she got, especially from a long time fan who congratulated Ginny with a cheerful smile spread across her face.

"Congratulations Miss Weasley," Headmistress McGonagall said effectively opening up a path between the students who crowded the girl.

"Thank you, ma'am, are you proud?" Ginny cheerily asked, in the middle of shaking hands with students as if she was already a world-class quidditch player.

"Couldn't be prouder," McGonagall expressed clasping her hands together, unable to control her excitement.

The two could barely get a word in with one another before Ginny was yet again engulfed by more students coming into the dining hall for lunch.

Hermione watched as McGonagall made her way out of the cluster before spotting her out of the crowd.

"Miss Granger, I see you've managed a good night's rest against a night of carousing," McGonagall asked shifting her tone from pleasant to inquiring in an instant, "please meet me in my office after lunch service."

Hermione could already tell that it may have everything to do with Sadie Baldock.

Hermione replied with a nod before making her way to Neville and Luna who were already sitting at the Gryffindor table conversing with one another.

"Good morning," Luna greeted fully well knowing it was noontime, "sleep well?"

Neville gave her a quizzical look before addressing Hermione himself.

"With all the buzz about Baldock, I doubt it. I heard that the entire Slytherin team was in on it. Beat her as punishment for losing the game," Neville spoke the last part in a hushed tone.

Before Hermione could respond, the noise level in the dining hall dropped significantly. When she turned toward the entrance to see why the entire Slytherin team was already making their way toward their table. Everyone in the hall was either silently staring at them or whispering among themselves, most likely spreading the rumour.

The team paid no mind and went about their business all except for one person who was clearly not present.

Draco was nowhere in sight but Hermione had an idea where he might have been and wolfed her lunch down before heading to meet him.

Once she was inside the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey gladly led Hermione to Sadie Baldock's bed. Drawing back the curtain surrounding the girl, the two found Draco already sitting beside her.

"McGonagall said I'd be expecting you two. You have until visiting hours are over," the matron informed before leaving the students.

Hermione thanked Madame Pomfrey before slowly turning to the girl in the bed. She felt as if she had interrupted the two and awkwardly stood there not really knowing how to start the conversation.

"If you're here to ask me who's done it, I already told Draco that I'm not telling," Baldock spoke in irritation seeing Hermione.

"Then you know who's hurt you," Hermione pressed, wanting nothing more than to stop Nott once and for all.

She would use force if she had to get the information she needed.

Baldock's face flushed realising what she said and shook her head in denial.

"Look, I'm fine. You won't get any more out of me, so could you just leave me alone?"

"You may be fine, but the next person might not be. I need you to tell me who's hurt you so we could stop them from hurting anyone else," Hermione calmly plead.

"Even if I did know who it was, why would I tell you?"

"Sadie, she's only here to help," Draco said, placing his hand over her balled-up fist clutching her bedsheet.

His touch seemed to do the trick because not a second later did Baldock release her grip and turned toward Draco with a small smile on her face.

"Granger, may I speak with you outside?" Draco said before telling Baldock he had to leave her now.

Hermione figured Draco had managed to gather the information needed without her being there since just one look at him opened the girl up.

"It was Nott wasn't it," Hermione claimed the moment they were alone in the hall, "she's too scared to say it."

"She told me she honestly didn't know who attacked her since they came from behind," Draco said leaning against the wall and placing his hands inside his trouser pockets, "if no one can properly identify the culprit, it's all too circumstantial. We need solid proof that he's the one behind all of the attacks."

Hearing Draco speak like that sent chills down Hermione's spine.

"I guess I see no reason for her to be lying to you," she voiced remembering the way Baldock looked at Draco with such admiration, "though it would've been nice to at least have some new evidence."

Hermione leaned against the wall next to Draco, arms crossed above her chest, contemplating hard on what to do next with a small pout on her face.

She missed the small smile Draco wore seeing her like that until he unconsciously reached over to pet her on the head.

The sudden action surprised both of them but he continued to pat her head with so much affection, the pink in Hermione's cheeks shined.

"Come on, it's about time we meet with the headmistress," Draco said stepping in the direction of McGonagall's office, sadly letting her go.

It seemed she was not the only one McGonagall wanted to speak with.

"What about Baldock?" Hermione asked, realising the girl knew Draco and her were somewhat working together now to capture her attacker.

"Don't worry, she won't tell anyone about this encounter," Draco said confidently before motioning Hermione to walk alongside him.

Hermione gave pause for a split second before following him to the headmistress's office.


Inside the huge old office stood Hermione, Draco, Head Boy Ronan and Head Girl Melinda waiting wordlessly around the headmistress's desk. McGonagall was quite a busy person and had not arrived at the allotted time she said she would meet with the students, leaving them to stand around in awkward silence.

Any moment now.

"Do you reckon she's forgotten us?" Ronan asked, looking around at everyone to break the tension.

"Actually Mr Davies, I have not," McGonagall answered as she entered the room behind everyone and headed straight for her desk, "my apologies keeping everyone waiting, I had some things to take care of."

"Upon your request, we're willing to wait for you here all day if we had to," Melinda chimed, dropping her harsh gaze on Hermione to assure McGonagall with a friendlier one.

Hermione knew Melinda was not fond of her, but she did not know why. She did, however, know her specialising in brownnosing far exceeded her early years of being the teacher's pet and she was now quite thankful for that.

It was annoying.

"Thank you Miss Bobbin but I don't think your peers would have liked that," McGonagall leaned back against the front of her desk to address the four students properly, "so I'll try to keep this meeting short and simple for you all."

Everyone's attention was on her. To ask for both the heads, Hermione and Draco could only mean one thing.

"Now I know I've asked all the prefects to immediately report any misconduct or suspicious activity among the students to you two, isn't that right?" McGonagall confirmed with the heads to which they nodded in reply.

"Lately, however, Miss Granger has been independently reporting to me with her own investigation," McGonagall motioned toward Hermione, "now would you please report your findings to the Head Boy and Head Girl so we are all on the same page."

Hermione stepped forward and nodded. She continued to describe the assaults and victims of the assaults to the Head Boy and Girl. She explained her theory that it must have been executed by the same person.

"What's their M.O.?" Ronan asked after piecing together the information Hermione had just relayed to them.

"Random blitz attacks targeting lone students. There are no identifiable relations among them, however," Draco informed having already been up to date.

"Not even a motive?" Melinda asked surprised that they knew very little of the suspect.

"Well, I suspect that the victims must have witnessed something they shouldn't have," Hermione interjected, "that's why they were suddenly attacked, to disorient and confuse them so they wouldn't be able to speak up even if they tried."

"So it's a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Ronan surmised.

McGonagall waited until everyone was done analysing before addressing the four students again.

"You must keep this information to yourselves, I don't want to create new panic among the student body. I'll also impose a strict curfew and rule to always be in groups of two or more when travelling. Do I make myself clear?"

Hermione felt a little uncomfortable about the decision as the students had a right to know, but if McGonagall thought it best, what was she to disagree?

"But Headmistress isn't it wiser to notify the entire school about the attacks so that the students are better prepared?" Melinda spoke up to Hermione's surprise.

"If the moment arrives where I deem it necessary, I will be the one to inform the students. For now, we must keep this secret between us. I'll inform the rest of the staff and we'll go about this term as usual. Do I make myself clear Ms Bobbin?" McGonagall emphasized as she really did not want the information leaked to the student body.

Something about this request seemed odd.

"Yes ma'am," Melinda replied slightly dejected.

The Headmistress made sure to go over protocol if another incident were to arise and reminded them to continue being vigilant and dismissed the four.


The next morning as Hermione stepped into the great hall, there was a lot of buzz in the air. Ginny, standing by her side, noticed how lively everyone seemed to be on a chilly Monday morning.

Suddenly, the bowed heads began to turn in Hermione's direction and they all seemed to be pointing at her. What did she do now?

"Don't mind them," Ginny said, reaching down to hold Hermione's hand to lead her to their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, all the while giving dirty looks to anyone caught staring at them.

Neville and Luna were already having their breakfast when the girls arrived and immediately offered a bit of insight as to why everyone seemed to be so excited today.

"It can't be true right Hermione? I mean I know it's all anyone's talking about right now, but I have to hear it straight from you," Neville said sporting an intrigued look.

Hermione and Ginny both were confused until Luna kindly flipped a magazine over to show the cover page.

The girls' eyes slowly widened as they scanned the title and cover image displayed before them.

The cover read:

GOLDEN GIRL HERMIONE GRANGER HAS A NEW HEAD BOY TOY

The offending title was plastered right above a moving image of the Head Boy whispering into Hermione's ear while comfortably holding onto her hip. A meek smile escaped her lips before the image repeated over again.

"What is this?" Ginny exclaimed with half repulsion and half excitement.

Gossip of any news was sure to rile up the redhead.

Hermione snatched the magazine out of the younger girl's hands to open and read the piece about her and Ronan.

Miss Granger, with a polished taste for famous wizards, has yet again captured the heart of another distinguished and well to do boy. Her latest prey is none other than the current hunky Head Boy Ronan Davies seen here celebrating at Slughorn's Victory Party earlier this month. It would seem that one-third of the Golden Trio has parted ways with well known brave sidekick Ron Weasley and has moved onto someone a little more up her alley. With one glorious victory on her belt, what's to stop Miss Granger from scoring another with a boy...

Hermione could not finish the article as it's fabricated nature disgusted her to no end. The image itself was quite damning as that split second of footage all but lasted in just that moment, a split second!

She was sure the article would not mention how he would immediately let go of her and leave her alone for the rest of the night but of course, no one cared about the specifics. It was the eye-catching, tantalizing shots everyone believed.

"It's not true. He invited me to Slughorn's party as a friend and then promptly left me alone once the ceremony commenced. Nothing more," Hermione had to explain seeing Neville's and Luna's eyes twinkle in curiosity.

"You two are friends now?" Ginny asked, elbowing Hermione with a smirk on her face.

This sort of thing amused Ginny. She knew the girl did not take rumours like this seriously and dragged it out longer for her own amusement.

"I suppose, but I barely know the chap," Hermione argued, wanting everyone around her to just drop the subject, "besides, where did you get this from? It's not a publication I've seen before."

Hermione flipped the magazine back to the cover where it read in bold font, Hex Hogwarts.

"'Creative Director, Luna Lovegood,' why this is real news," Ginny exclaimed as she took the article to analyse and read it's credit page, "I never knew you were one for gossip, Luna. How did this happen?"

"Well with my experience in publication, as you know my father owns The Quibbler, the twins had asked me to help organize a school magazine with them," the quirky Ravenclaw explained as if it were obvious.

Hermione and Ginny gave each a questioning look before addressing one major thing, "what twins?"

The volume in the great hall suddenly grew and people were directing their attention toward the entrance. In strutted two petite girls wearing properly fitted Ravenclaw uniforms make their way through a crowd of fans. One of the girls' hair was a raven black while the other was snow white. Each however sported blunt fringes and bob cuts at chin length and were practically identical in every other way.

How Hermione never knew of their existence before was baffling.

"The Spellcraft Twins," Luna said as the apparent sisters finally made it to their seats, "they're the editors in chief of Hex Hogwarts magazine."

Ginny opened up the magazine to a page and read, "'Jade and Jinx Spellcraft, stylish and sophisticated six-year Ravenclaw students, founded the newly published Hex Hogwarts magazine to provide exclusive stories of the lives of Hogwart students, staff and magical beings,' already a mouthful."

She continued,"'Contents include student advice columns, the latest editorials, outside worldly news and quick-hit trend pieces all to satisfy the new-age reader.'"

Hermione was quite impressed seeing as the magazine was up and running a month and a half into the term. It clearly was a massive success among the student body although she would have liked it better if she were not the first cover page.

Fans bombarded the twins at their table, asking for updates and requests, Hermione was a bit relieved the attention on her was diverted.

"You let them run with this fake news?" Neville asked his girlfriend, who was just as shocked as the other two that Luna was a part of Hex Hogwarts staff.

"I didn't vote to cover Hermione. What I really wanted was for them to cover the story of the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. You see, I thought it would gain a considerable amount of interest as they're supposed to be hunting around this time of the year," Luna explained, "but the twins told me that they wanted me in charge of designing and distributing which are the foundations of a successful magazine."

Neville frowned hearing that his girlfriend was clearly being used by these girls but did not have the heart to tell her as Luna looked so happy with her work.

"It's all right Neville, I've handled rumours like this about me before and the best thing to do is to ignore them," Hermione chimed in seeing his discomfort.

"Look at this reception," Luna exclaimed, eyeing the big crowds gathering around the magazines, "I can't believe I helped create this."

Hermione looked between a concerned Neville to an equally concerned Ginny before casting her gaze at the Spellcraft sisters.

There was something about the way their cat-like eyes gleamed under the light.

Hermione had a feeling she would be meeting the two in due time.