Chapter 42 Recap: Pansy Parkinson does not see Draco as a romantic interest. Hogwarts express ft. a wormhole, a frustrated Ginny and a quirky Luna. Ron is comparing Hermione to Draco. Hermione defends Draco in front of Professor Moony. Hermione runs out of Professor Moody's class when crucio was cast on the arachnid. Draco offers her rushed comfort before he is jumped by Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle.

A/N: Friendly reminder that dialogue and scenes from the books are used in this fanfiction.


Hermione stared up at the ceiling of her four-poster bed. Draco seemed to be the first thought of her day and the last thought of her night. She wondered if she had been cursed as her mind seemed to mentally replay the night they danced, but with a rewritten memory where they had actually kissed before the shamrock covered tent behind her had blown up.

Oh, stop with the torture! He wasn't trying to kiss you. Probably just had a bug in your hair or something on your face. After all, there were beetles crawling all over the stadium. Hermione scowled at the dark wood that seemed to be framed by the rich, Gryffindor red curtains at her current angle. Deciding she needed to get up and leave daydreams behind, she haphazardly threw the covers off of her as she got to her feet, burying Crookshanks in the process. He hissed in reply and Hermione pulled the covers back to peer at his grumpy face. Deciding to amuse herself one last time before heading off to class, she kissed her half-kneazle on the forehead. "There you go, now I don't have to worry about kissing any other boys."

"Kissing boys?" Lavender's head popped out of the curtains of her own Hogwarts standard four-poster bed.

"Who's kissing boys?" Parvati's head popped out from underneath Lavender's.

Hermione would have laughed at the display if she had not been so horrified at being overheard by the two biggest busybodies in her house. "No one!"

"Poppycock." Lavender threw her curtains open and Hermione could see that Lavender and Parvati were surrounded by magazines – all of them being Muggle. It was a tradition the two best friends had: Go home for the holidays, stock up on as many Muggle magazines as they could, then spend weeks in each other's bed, scrutinizing every single cloth, trend, or celebrity. Eyeing the magazines, Hermione started to rummage through her drawers to collect her uniform, silently implying she had places to be. The last time she had been around Lavender and Parvati when they were looking at the magazines, they all but pinned her down and hexed her in to agreeing that she let them give her a make over. "Don't hold out on us, 'Mioneee -"

"Don't call me that." Hermione snapped. She still wasn't entirely fond of the nickname despite getting used to Harry and Ron using it, and she was not going to allow two teens call her it when how friendly they acted towards others was subject to how good of a hair day they were having.

Instead of getting offended, Lavender leaned forward in interest. "It's Harry or Ron, isn't it?"

"What? No!" Hermione stopped looking for clothes, swiveling to face Lavender and Parvati.

"Oh, look, Lav!" Parvati's rich voice was filled with mirth and her eyes were bright with the same excitement that Lavender felt. "Her face is so red! She's blushing!"

"I am not!" Hermione denied, but she still placed a hand to her face to find it warm to the touch.

Lavender was amused to see Hermione completely flustered. "Is it Malfoy? I could see the swoty bookworm being into the dodgy type -"
"WOT? No! It's Harry! I fancy Harry!" Hermione panicked and said the first name she could spit out. There were three collective gasps that sounded in the dorm: One from Lavender, one from Parvati, and one from behind her.

Hermione turned around to see that Ginny was standing in the fourth year dorm room. She occasionally visited Hermione to see if the older Gryffindor wanted to walk down to breakfast together, and it was the first time she had attempted to do so this year. No.

When Hermione's brown eyes met the blue ones of her younger friend, she watched Ginny's face morph into the stern one that she wore before she had hexed someone. Instead of drawing her wand on Hermione though, Ginny turned on her heel and sped down the stairs.

"Ginny! -" Hermione started after her, but Parvati's voice stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that. She's bound to pull her wand on you." Hermione stopped at the doorway, considering telling Parvati to shove off, but she knew she was probably right. "It's going to make her insanely jealous, especially since you and Harry are always together."

Hermione walked back to her bed before sinking on to the edge of her mattress.

"Does it still count as a love triangle if four people are involved?"

"Four?" While Hermione did not see eye to eye with Lavender on Divination, she had not thought her housemate was incapable to count properly. She was taking Arithmancy after all due to its close relationship to Divination.

"Ginny, Harry, you, and Ron." Lavender flicked her wrist so her palm was face up as is to say 'obviously.' "Don't sit there and act like you didn't know."

Hermione's face only reddened from being treated as if someone else knew something about her best friend that she didn't, but she was saved from answering by Parvati when she nudged Lavender's thigh with her fingers. "Oh please, you only noticed it because you fancy Ron."

Hermione started to argue that it was completely absurd that Ron had a crush on her, but then she realized that it couldn't have been that absurd:

"Oh, heavens no." Percy gave a nervous laugh. "It's my brother's best friend. One that he fancies." Hermione's face scrunched up at Percy's words, wondering why he felt the need to become so defensive, until he provided the reason himself. "I prefer my love interests to have a bit more of ahhh... a heritage to them, in a manner of speaking."

She had been so caught up in Percy insulting Muggleborns at the Gala that she had not fully processed that he had outed Ron's crush on her. Hermione gripped her face as she stared at the floor, remembering several other occurrences it was blatantly obvious, but she treated the faces with complete disregard. "Oh, no."

"It's not that bad, Hermione." Hermione looked up at Parvati, noting how Lavender was as red as she was. "At least you have taste, crushing on the chosen one." Parvati frowned. "If you and Ginny are close enough friends, you will both get over it." Parvati placed a finger on her chin in thought. "I wonder who will decide to be brave and bold first though. Especially with the Yule Ball coming up."

Lavender glanced up at Parvati then, "I do hope that Ron will ask me."

Hermione stared at the two girls in front of her who had dissolved into giggles, heads close together before they turned back to their magazines. Of course they find this to be as entertaining as a teen soap. She doubted she could ask Parvati what she should do as it was obvious she wanted to see this play out naturally. Hermione found herself running her thumb over the edges of her ring as she thought of the moments she and Draco shared at the manor. Calm moments of reading, studying or playing together. She bit her lip as she found herself wishing she was in his comforting presence again.

Be brave and be bold? With his smoldering gray eyes that practically make my knees buckle if I stare at them too long? It'll never happen.


When Hermione had finally made it to her first class, she tried not to dwell too much on the fact that Draco did not show to their Arithmancy class. Spending almost sixty days together had her just as in tune with his presence as she was with Harry and Ron, so every noise she heard, she found herself glancing at the door to see if he would walk in. By the time she got to their second class together on that Friday morning, she was worried, but was unable to secure a seat next to Blaise to ask if he knew anything on Draco's whereabouts.

"This term, we will be studying the Younger Futhark runes. Who can tell me how they differ from the Elder Futhark Runes?"

Hermione had been so focused on figuring how she would be able to approach Blaise after the lecture, had not noticed Professor Babbling approaching the front of the classroom. Even then, she was the only person to raise her hand to answer the question. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"The Elder Folk runes have twenty-four characters and is used to write Proto-Norse while the Younger Futhark was reduced to sixteen characters for use when Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse."

"Splendid! I am happy to hear that someone did their Summer reading." The professor looked over the rest of the class before turning to the board, manually writing out a sentence with chalk. "Now for twenty house points," Hermione's back straightened as if the good posture would help her see better. She might not have considered house points to be of the highest priority, but she still liked to stroke her competitive side and gather as many as she could for Gryffindor. "Can you tell me what this says?"

"Yes, ma'am." Hermione opened her mouth to read what was on the chalk board, but as soon as she focused, her vision blurred. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, but it only made her vision blur even more. Do I need glasses? She was seated far from the front as she knew Draco did not like sitting at the forefront of any lecture, but now that he had not showed up, she was panicked thinking she would need to make a scene of moving her seat.

Hermione looked at the back of Terry Boot's head, a boy who was in Ravenclaw, but she saw the details of his shaggy hair perfectly. She looked over at Professor Babbling's desk and could read the title of the book the professor had magically floating in the air for her to return to once she sat down without an issue. "Miss Granger? Can you read what's on the board?" Several of her classmates chairs creaked as they turned to look at her. Hermione heard a snicker or two, but she refused to look at anyone else as she stared at the board with growing concern. Why can't I read it? I can see everything else at a distance just fine.

"I - No." There were several more snickers from Ravenclaws, but she didn't say a word in retaliation, as she was too concerned about why she could not read her instructor's writing. Maybe she just put up a glamour so I couldn't...? But that didn't make much sense to Hermione either. When Professor Babbling continued the lesson without mentioning any extra enchantments, Hermione's suspicion of being wrong was confirmed.

Hermione withdrew her year four Runes textbook from the bag Lucius had gifted her and opened it to the back of the book where the practice phrases were, only to find she couldn't read a single one. Am I losing my ability to use magic? She placed a hand over the wand that was still holstered in her sleep, finding solace in the thrumming waves of magic that reacted to her touch. No, no, don't be stupid, Hermione. Muggles can still read runes. There was a spark of pain and Hermione rubbed at her scar on her brow as a burning sensation started. It didn't help – if anything it made the pain worse as it got to the point her right eye was watering.

As Hermione rubbed at her agitated eye, she noticed that the runes were slightly more clear. Feeling some hope that she was getting closer to determining what her issue was, she lifted the tome to her face. The more she stared, the more her eyes watered from the increasing pain. Finally, her focus gave way to a sensation of something bursting open with a loud pop after after it had been pulled at for so long in her head. The feeling wasn't physical, nor was it mental.

It was magical.

She had only a few seconds of joyous reprieve before the burst of pain had her dropping her book loudly on to the wooden desk, causing the disruption in the classroom she had already been worried about starting, as she clutched her face. "Miss Gra-"

"INeedToGoToTheInfirmaryProfessor,ThankYou!" Keeping one hand on her face, she hurriedly stuffed the Runes book into her bag and zipped it closed, attempting to rush out of the classroom before she cried out infront of her stunned classmates from the pain.

Hermione was thankful that Professor Babbling's classroom was on the same floor of the hospital wing as it made for a quick traveling time. Something she was grateful for as tears streamed down her red face. This type of headache was the worst it had ever been. She had never had the entire right side of her face hurt to the point her jaw was tightly clenched from fear of moving it and she hoped that Madam Pomfrey would be able to give her relief. Hermione was staring to entertain the idea that her pain was not normal. It was something she thought she should have realized before as her parents being physicians, always told her to be critical of any aches and pains as she should never assume the cause.

Hermione angrily kicked open the doors and ignored the beds that were taken up by Crabbe and Goyle. She hardly spared them a glance as she took a seat in an empty bed that was diagonal to Goyle's bed so they would not have to stare at each other. Honestly, of all the times this could happen -

"What's wrong, dear?" Madam Pomfrey was already approaching her, wand in one hand, skirts gathered in the other. "A panic attack already?"

Hermione would have frowned at the healer's tone if she wasn't in immense pain. She didn't understand how a medical professional could talk about mental health as if it was a bother to everyone around her. "No ma'am." Hermione said through gritted teeth, "I suspect a migraine, maybe?" While the intensity of her affliction was on par with a migraine, she had never experienced one so concentrated before.

"Lets fix you up with a pain potion then." Madam Pomfrey turned on her heal to return to her office where she kept her potions.

Hermione wanted to nod or speak her thanks, but soon she was rolling over on to her side right, trying to fight off the waves of throbbing pain that was starting to make its way down her neck and shoulder.

"I can't keep you out of my sight for a day without you getting hurt, can I?" Recognizing the drawling, yet amused French voice, Hermione rolled on to her left side to see Draco occupying a bed, two down from her own.

Concern filled her, and with Hermione's one good eye, she looked over his body only to see his left arm had been injured again. He held it in the same position as he had to last year when he needed to some of the soft tissue and muscle back. Hermione heard Madam Pomfrey's footsteps approaching before the red potion appeared in her line of vision again. "Drink up."

Hermione did as she was told, as she was aware the pain was starting to engulf the entirety of her skull. Maybe it really was just a migraine. Hermione closed her eyes as the edges of her headache started to dull. It wasn't completely ebbing away as fast as it usually would after taking a pain potion, but she was grateful. By the time she was able to comfortable un-clench her jaw, there was a slight ache in it. She placed one hand on her cheek, horrified at the looks her parents would have given her if she suspected she picked up the habit of grinding her teeth. Hermione opened her left eye and lifted her head slowly, still not sure if she trusted the right eye to not flare up again as she looked over Draco.

He was staring at her intently and under his cocky mask that was made to let the world think he owned it, she knew he was concerned. She just understood Draco. "What are you doing here?" She found it foolish that she had not thought to check the infirmary before heading to Runes.

Draco's face hardened as his eyes slid over to Crabbe and Goyle. Considering that he had faced three Slytherins, he considered himself the victor despite Nott being the first one to leave the hospital wing with minimal injuries. "Nott and these two cunts -"

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath, "language!"

Draco continued without skipping a beat, despite Hermione's reprimand. "Shoved me into a classroom in an attempt to rough me up."

"What?" Hermione sat up, her eyes flicking between the two Slytherins sitting across from her and Draco before searching the rest of the hospital for Nott. "Are you okay? Where is Th - Nott?"

"Bastard got off with nothing but a broken nose." Draco was nearly snarling, his eyes still not having left a nervous Crabbe who seemed to have learned not to mess with Draco after earning a broken foot. Goyle was admitted into the Infirmary as he had had been hit with two confundus charms as he had inadvertently got in the way of Nott and Draco who were attempting to hex each other. "He dislocated my dueling arm before Filch finally heard us."

Her headache had finally dissipated and she sat up with a glare fixed on the two dim witted Slytherins before her. "Is that so?" Hearing the danger in her voice Crabbe looked at her with a mix of disgust and fear on his face. He was aware that he was alone right now as Goyle's last two brain cells had been blasted off to Godric-knows-where after the double confundus attack. She rolled her eyes in annoyance as she shook her head, switching back to speaking in French for privacy. "You know, I was thinking of letting Nott go -"

"You're not serious? He drugged you!" She flinched back at how loud Draco had briefly gotten, but more from the pain that ricocheted inside of her skull due to his yelling.

"I said I was considering it." She made sure all syllabus and consonants were enunciated, implying she was not happy with the volume of his voice in the slightest. "But I don't think that will be happening." Hermione did a mental checklist of the projects she had already started. There was only the currently unnamed big one that was regarding the house elves – Possibly a business, but she had yet to hear back from Lucius on what she had dubbed as a 'counter offer.' Hermione glanced up at Draco, her mischievous grin present on her face. "You're still wanting to help out, aren't you?"


Dr. Augsen regarded Hermione with an excited look, hoping to hear progress on her dreams. She still had not approved a higher dose in dreamless sleep draught for her and had even strengthened the protean and variable sticking charms she placed on the vial racks. They would alert her if Hermione tried to take more than she was prescribed. "Have we made any leeway on your dreams?" If she naturally starts to remember, then maybe -

"No," Hermione made a show of throwing both hands in the air as she yawned and arched her back. "I am, however, not sleeping thanks to the nightmares. I would very much like it if you could help me Dr. Augsen." Her shoulders slumped forward when she was done and Hermione rubbed at her eyes, drawing attention to the dark shades beneath them. "I have trusted you with trying to discover what these dreams mean, but I think it's rather obvious that my mind just doesn't want to remember my dreams."

Oh, I do I believe it's quite the opposite. Dr. Augsen held back a sigh as she remembered the recent research she had been doing on oblivation and other memory charms. I know her magic is fighting his hold on her. Her aptitude for magic is unmatched by her peers and between the attack on Fudge and her being crucio'd...

I'll really have to take measures into my own hands for it to completely unravel.

"All right. You know that all I ever ask you to do is try." Dr. Augsen pulled out the script that she would need to add into Hermione's file and signed it. "However, since I am doing this, I will ask that you keep the journal by your bedside in the event there are any more breakthrough nightmares and you just so happen to recall something." Dr. Augsen slipped the script back into her journal before removing the vials of Dreamless Sleep Draught she had brought with her, knowing it was a possibility she would have needed to resort to this level of deceit. "Since we are changing your usual dosage, I ask that you do more introspective meditation." Hermione breathed a visible sigh of relief being passed the new vials as Dr. Augsen summoned the old ones from Hermione's nightstand. The blonde woman felt a pang of guilt at seeing the teen genuinely happy.

"Should I continue to practice occlumency, then?" Hermione held the vials to the enchanted flame hanging in the middle of Professor McGonagall's office as if she had the eye of a potions master. She noted that the liquid was a shade lighter than her current dose, but credited the slight color difference to the possible increase in Flobberworm Mucus that was found in most sleeping potions. Hermione's interest in potions temporarily surged after her therapist denied to increase her dose a second time, as she was considering brewing her own dreamless sleep draught if Dr. Augsen did not comply with her request.

"I think everyone should practice occlumency," Hermione eyes fell back on Dr. Augsen's impassive face. "But perhaps one thing at a time this year? If your skill is too strong, it could contribute to your lack of sleep." That technically wasn't a lie, but the healer refused to go into detail on how that could be.

Hermione thought about the projects she was already working on, burning candle light in the library just as she did last year for the excessive amount of classes she put herself through. "Perhaps."

Dr. Augsen didn't question Hermione's tone or smile. She simply flipped open the journal once more to peer at the script that already had Marchbanks' approval on it, reminding herself that she was doing the right thing by decreasing how strong the dreamless sleep draught was.

Her research said so.


"Excuse me? Madam Pince?"

The old crone slowly turned to face Hermione, a frown appeared to permanently live on her face. Between the stooping shoulders and large nose, Madam Pince looked like the vulture on Neville's Grandmother's hat had come alive to work at Hogwarts – bringing the hat she formerly perched on with her to wear. "Miss Granger."

Hermione slid the drawing she had her hands closer to the Librarian. Madam Pince leaned forward so slowly that Hermione was almost surprised she didn't hear a creaking from the witch's bones. "I was wondering if you had any books on these types of creatures?"

"Well, what is it?" The librarians tone was short. "I've never seen anything like it before in my life." Hermione looked down at the rough sketch Draco had made for her to show Madam Pince, suddenly feeling foolish. Draco had said it was a harebrained idea to ask the Hogwarts staff what kind of creature she saw when high on whatever potion she had been slipped, but she insisted it be done as she was running out of books to pin point what exactly she had drank.

Hermione slid the parchment back off of the desk, not wanting to have Madam Pince look at it more than necessary. Hermione had always done her best to be kind to the librarian in an attempt to get on her good side, but she was starting to feel that she would have better luck asking asking Moaning Myrtle to vacate the second floor girls bathroom. "I was hoping you might have known the name." Hermione turned away, without another word as she ran thought about her last and most desperate option. Maybe Hagrid would know-

"I didn't know you had an interest in Wrackspurts!" How Luna Lovegood managed to naturally sound so soft spoken yet excited at the same time, was something Hermione would never understand. The inflection of her voice should have had Madam Pince threatening detention, but the lack of volume to it provided her the free pass. "Do you have spectrespecs then?"

"You know what these are?" Hermione pointed at the green creature once more. "Can you tell me what you know about them?"

"Why yes, that drawing is quite a decent depiction of them, although it is missing the siphons. Wrackspurts are one of the most interesting creatures in my opinion, second only to Jobberknolls -"

"Are you done?" Madam Pince cut in, sensing a rant was starting. "There are other students who need my assistance, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood." Hermione smiled as they departed, ignoring the fact that there were exactly zero students requesting the librarian's assistance.

"Can you imagine never making a single sound until you die? And when you do it's just this terribly long scream of every noise you have ever heard backwards?"

"That's... A terrible swan song." Hermione forced out, slightly nervous she would offend the Ravenclaw before she could learn more about the Wrackspurts. She was more than aware she lacked the charisma that Blaise seemed to exude and the fact that Luna was her first lead in over a month made her willing to be overtly friendly if she thought it would help.

"A swan song." Luna repeated, she eyes drifting up to watch several books fly back to their original shelves. "Yes, I suppose it is a crude one."

Hermione let them walk in silence before she stopped to reach in her bag and pulled out The Quibbler. "I've been meaning to return this to you."

"My magazine! Yes, I had left it." Luna said it in a way that left Hermione wondering if it was done on purpose. She hugged the magazine to her chest before flipping through the pages and Hermione thought it was a similar habit to her own when she was returned a book she had lent out. If she found a single page damaged from being dog-eared, the person was automatically banned from borrowing anymore of her books. "What was your favorite article?"

Hermione was taken aback at the forwardness of the unexpected question. "Pardon?"

Luna looked up from The Quibbler and blinked. If Hermione had just met her, she would have thought that the raised, faint eyebrows and wide eyes would have equated to a surprised look, but she was now aware that was just how Luna looked. "We're in a library Hermione, Madam Pince would not appreciate it if I raised my voice when we both know what I said." Her eyes drifted to an area beside Hermione. "Neither would the Nargles."

"Nargles?" Hermione repeated dumbly, her eyebrows pinched together. She twisted one end of the drawing in her hands, suddenly concerned that Luna was having a laugh by coming up with creatures that don't exist. Hermione frowned remembering how her pre-Hogwarts bullies used to pick on her for bringing up the creatures she read about in her books. "Are you just trying to give me the run around on whatever Wrackspurts are?" Hermione crossed her arms over her just in defense.

This time it was Luna who frowned. "So you don't have spectrespecs. I'll have to convince my father to release a special edition of The Quibbler that will include them." Luna's round blue eyes fell back on Hermione with a hint of amusement. "You do manage to keep surprising me. I didn't think you partook with drinking Absinthe."

Hermione paled. "What?"

"Oh, I'm not going to say much more until you admit which article you liked best." Luna tucked her wand behind her ear before she continued walking towards the back of the Library. Hermione completely floored by Luna's correct assumption that Hermione actually read The Quibbler had her intrigued, along with the fact that Luna seemed to hold answers she was no where near discovering yet.

"I suppose the article on Minister Marchbanks being a 'Demiguise In Disguise'." The entire magazine was just as Hermione expected it to be: rubbish. However, if she suspended the idea of it attempting to be a reputable resource, she could find a laugh here and there – especially within the articles and political cartoons based on the Ministry. She was happy to see The Quibbler seemed to aim their words towards large figureheads like the Aurors and Wizagmont officials rather than the smaller department heads like Arthur Weasley.

Luna turned to share a darling smile with Hermione. "I knew you were a non-conformist, too. Ginny said that you were the straight and narrow type, but I disagreed. I sensed a clear distinction between you and Percy Weasley when we were on the Hogwarts Express." Luna turned down an aisle and looked over the shelves surrounding them. They arrived to the very end, before Luna rose to the tips of her toes reaching for a book.

"You know Percy?" Hermione watched as Luna used her wand to get the book, but not by levitation. By hooking the end of her Beech wood wand into the lip of the hard cover's spine, she was able to tip it over causing a part of it to hang over the ledge. Luna then jumped and pulled the book out of it's spot to pass it to Hermione.

"Ginny and I have been friends since our second year and he likes to hover." Luna's dreamy tone had gone just like it had when Hermione had spoke ill of the magazine Luna's father was an editor for. Luna joined Hermione's side as the Gryffindor flipped through the pages of Alchemical duodecimo. When she spoke again, her voice was back to being gentle and friendly. "There's only one of two ways Wrackspurts can be seen. The first way is by using spectrespecs, like I do. The second way is by drinking Absinthe, which then usually causes a horde of Wrackspurts to guide you through the different metaphysical realms."

Hermione wanted to scream as she used the index to locate anything relating to Absinthe. Of course I found nothing in the potions books! Something that would allow me to see and feel so much could only be related to Alchemy. Her hands shook as she flipped through the pages to get to where she needed to be. The book used Old English, but it wasn't too much trouble for her to decipher as she read, although one thought nagged her: Alchemy was a subject taught to sixth and seventh years only. Hermione remembered how Snape was supposed to be her and Draco's summer tutors and wondered if that was the norm with wizards. Perhaps he is being taught advanced subjects at home?

"How many did you see?"

Hermione's head snapped up from the words that were starting to pull her in. She thought it might have been a good thing as she was supposed to be meeting Draco in their usual study spot. "Sorry, I only saw one."

"One?" Luna tapped the tip of her wand to her chin. "Sounds like you mixed it in with something else. That could have been quite clever of you if you put something to counteract the powerful effects."

A huff of air escaped Hermione's mouth in disbelief. This is the third year Ravenclaw everyone dubbed as Loony Lovegood? "How do you know this?" Hermione had tried to get her hands on Alchemy books, but the well-known tomes at Hogwarts were either kept in classrooms or locked in the restricted section. Everything else simply referred to the craft and never talked about it at higher level than base metal. Why did I not think to check the Malfoy library? Hermione sighed, knowing that her reading list was already expansive enough. She didn't mind that there was so much to read about, but she did mind there was so little time.

"Sometimes I let Weetimorousbeasties pick the next book I should read for light reading. They're native to Scotland." Luna looked up several shelves above them, once again giving Hermione the feeling Luna might have been taking the mick, but dismissed it as she was able to appreciate someone else who shared her same definition of 'light reading.'

"Thank you, Luna. I should be heading off now."

"Going to meet up with Malfoy, Hermione?" Hermione pulled the Alchemy book to her chest as if it would act as another barrier between her and Luna's uncomfortably direct attitude. It had the power to disarming when combined with her dotty demeanor and it Hermione found herself self not enjoying constantly being on the wrong end of it. "I think he fancies you."

Hermione let out a strangled laugh, as she felt like she wanted to cry at the same time remembering Parvati's words from yesterday morning. Be brave and be bold. "He doesn't." Hermione ran a hand over her hair. "And we're not even friends." She was aware that Luna probably wasn't buying the lie at all, but it was her way of asking that the truth be kept a secret.

Luna turned her attention back to the books in front of her, trailing a finger across the spines. "I won't tell anyone. My only friend is Ginny and she wouldn't react very well to hear you're friends with him." She paused and Hermione could see the corners of her lips pull down slightly. "She still refuses to go to the loo without someone to accompany her."

Hermione paused to put herself in Ginny's shoes. They had both been victims of terrible trauma and if she had a friend who suddenly became friends with an enemy whose family had caused that trauma... She couldn't blame Ginny for her behavior, especially when that same friend seemed to be after the crush you've had since first year. She knew then she needed to find Ginny and explain everything to the girl.

Hermione turned to leave before she looked down at the book Luna had helped her find. When she looked back up at the Ravenclaw girl, she took a step forward and held out the sketch of the Wrackspurt. "A token of our friendship?" Luna looked up at Hermione with a dead pan expression before it morphed into something much happier when Hermione didn't burst out laughing. "Maybe me, you and Ginny can study together sometime?"

Luna nodded as she took the picture, her straggly fringe fluttering around her face, too light to bounce like Hermione's curls would have. "Okay! When?"


Draco and Hermione were sitting shoulder to shoulder, reading Alchemical duodecimo together and comparing notes on what they both had picked up on. Hermione felt they were only just starting their research as she wanted to find out more about Absinthe, but Draco was ready to seek revenge on Theo.

"He doesn't deserve any security, false or not." Draco's arm, now completely healed, was crossed with his other arm on top of his chest. "We should just go after him now."

"I beg to differ. He caught you off guard so I don't see why we shouldn't do the same. Plus Absinthe seems to have a similar compound to lysergic acid diethylamide which means it will be stuck in my system until I die so I want to make sure I reciprocate his kindness." Hermione was happy she had been using Draco's quill when she discovered this instead of her own. Her hand snapped the thick owl quill clean in half and she was sure if she was using her enchanted quill from Borkin and Burkes, they wouldn't be able to stop the flow of ink coming from it without Madam Pince sentencing them to a years worth of detention.

"What is lycanic acid -"

"Lysergic acid diethylamide, Draco." Draco only waved his hand in a circular motion to encourage her to go on. "Also called LSD? Acid?"

"That has to be a muggle thing." Draco shook his head at her. "I've never heard of that before – And Flint is selling Pixie Dust along with Cracked Imps to the older -"

"He's what?" Hermione's eyes went as wide as saucers, "Pixie dust is illegal and highly addictive! We need to tell Dumbledore -"

"Absolutely not. That's how you get yourself hurt. Just mind your business and keep your fluffy little head low -"

"I will not!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly. He would have tried to shush her if he didn't know that her charm work that provided them privacy was strong. She had full blown screeched at him once last year and Madam Pince, who had all the Slytherins convinced she had portkeys set up to appear at any part of the library at any given time, had not approached them. "People can ruin their lives over drugs -"

"Then they are the ones who choose to do that. Have you not realized that everything in life is a choice? That people are responsible for their own actions?!" Draco sighed as his head dropped into hands. I know I am. Just like my parents. Draco dropped his head completely on the desk and propped his arms on the back of his head. He allowed his guilt to eat at him, convincing him that soon he would hear her chair scrape against the floor as she collected her things to leave. She'd have every right to be cross with me and she doesn't even know half of the reasons why -

Draco wanted to look up when he felt Hermione's fingers running through his hair, but he found that he liked it too much to had taken the seat opposite him on the table and he shifted forward so she wouldn't have to reach so far as he allowed himself to sink into the feel of her digits running through the strands of his fine hair. "I... I wouldn't mention that you were the one who told me, you know." Her voice was much more kind as she tried to pacify her friend.

"You wouldn't have to if any Slytherin found out it was you. Two and two would be put together and our enemy façade would have shattered." His voice was slightly muffled, but he didn't dare move. He enjoyed the affection she was showing him too much.

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to think of some story she could come up with that would grant her and Draco immunity from getting hexed by the rest of the Slytherin house. "I could lie and say that Moaning Myrtle overheard them and told me."

"They wouldn't wait to hear your story." Draco forced himself to look up and Hermione had to physically hold back a snort seeing a bright red circle in the middle of his forehead. "And who is Moaning Myrtle?"

"She's the ghost in the second floor bathroom." Be brave and be bold. Parvati's words were an abrupt whisper in her mind, and she froze with her hand still in the thick of his silken hair. He was staring at her and she seemed to forget how to stop breathing. Am I really that brave though? Hermione pulled her hand and her gaze away, deciding to drop the subject on how she would get Flint in trouble without putting herself or Draco in danger. She dug through her bag and found the black envelope that Lucius had sent back to her and pushed it towards him. "Speaking of acronyms like LSD, I need your help."

Appreciating the change in topic, Draco took the envelope from her, recognizing it was from his parents. He pulled it out and was surprised to see it was actually from Lucius and not Narcissa like Draco had anticipated:

Hermione,

Normally, I would have been insulted to have received any gift back, let alone two. Instead, I find myself completely amused that I was right to think you would be better suited for managing an organization instead of a business and I am absolutely beside myself with what you are willing to wager on the success of "Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status."

I look forward to having two house elves instead of none next Summer.

- Lucius Abraxas Malfoy

Draco reread the brief letter a total of three times, attempting to make sense of it. He could hear Hermione rattling something, but was preoccupied with trying to make heads or tails of the letter. "'I look forward to having two house elves instead of none next Summer.' Hermione, what is he talking about?" Draco finally set the letter down and saw that that Hermione had a box of blank acetate button badges of varying shades of silver.

"I'll admit it, I feel horrible." Hermione wore a grimace as she stared at the buttons before determination took over. The serious look had Draco smiling and he found himself wanting to poke her nose in an attempt to lighten her mood. He didn't know why his crush on her said he should, but it did. He was thankful when she continued speaking as her next words gave him something to focus on other than how adorable he found her to be. "By placing the bet I did and agreeing to the stakes, I really just fed into the ideals I've just started to fight. I feel like I am a sham already, but not only is Lucius -" Hermione rolled her eyes to look up at the high ceiling of the Library as she pressed her lips together trying to find a nice word to describe her guardian. "A convincing -"

"Cheating." Draco corrected and he was rewarded with her laughing in agreement.

"Well, you said it and not me." She shook her head before rubbing her temples, her smile gone as soon as it came. "I made a bet on Crewe being freed."

Draco sat there for a moment, mouth opening several times before he finally settled on what he thought would be the best way to express what was going on in his mind: "What?"

"I told you, I did a horrible thing! I objectified him just like every other problematic wizard I have complained about." Hermione buried her hands in her hair as she lowered her head in frustration. "And now I have to win or else I would let him and every single elf down."

Draco, who was still not completely following, sat up to reaffirm his control of the conversation. "I need you to speak in concise sentences. I have no clue what you're on about." Draco looked down at his father's script. "What is this 'Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status' and why have I never heard of it before?"

"Well, of course you haven't heard of it before. I've only just started it." Hermione sat up herself, subconsciously mimicking Draco's perfect posture as she tried to get herself together.

Draco opened his mouth as if to say 'ah.' "And you thought it was best to start with Crew?"

"I can't exactly start a movement to liberate house elves if I own one, can I?"

"Nonsense, I think that starts you off in the right direction." He bit the inside of his cheek to stop from smiling. "It's not a real organization if there isn't any material for a scandal to erupt."

"Draco!" Hermione scolded, but she was smiling. "I'm being serious."

Draco made to make another joke, but when he looked at her he couldn't muster it and his smile slowly wilted as he thought about what she had said – not just in the past couple of minutes, but ever since she learned about the hard life of a house elf.

Which coincidentally was at the Quidditch World Cup. Why does everything go back to that night? He heaved a heavy sigh before he interlaced his fingers together. He felt he owed it to her that he at least try to help her win a bet against his father rather than tell her she was fighting a battle she's already lost. "What do you need my help with?"

"Well, right now," Hermione dug through the stack of parchment she had beside her and pulled it out. He didn't need to look past the first page to know that the several centimeter stack were filled with inches upon inches of her minuscule handwriting. He had read one of her essays before when Filch had caught him out past curfew second year and forced him to serve detention with Snape. Snape went easy on him by turning it into a lesson. Draco was to read the essays Snape was grading and point out the flaws within them. Hermione's, of course, was flawless, but Snape still found something to mark her down for when Draco hadn't. "I need you to tell me if this is good enough for me to send to your father. Of course, I don't have to send anything until Christmas -"

"It's not." Hermione huffed when he cut her off, thinking he was just being a prat who was refusing to take her seriously. "What are your short and long term aims?"

"Our short-term goals -"

"Don't say goals, use aims. He'll think the weak wording is juvenile and crass."

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, feeling miffed that he was set on tearing apart her argument before he had even read her research. "Our short-term aims are to secure House Elves fair wages and working conditions." She paused, expecting him to interrupt her or say something negative. When he didn't she continued, "our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."

Draco's eyes widened hearing what she planned on accomplishing long-term. Lucius played politician from time to time and Draco knew the wizards on the Wizgamont would never allow such a thing to pass. If he fed into the small voice of optimism though, he could pretend the old pious, vultures would die what was considered an early death for a wizard if Hermione really did mean to follow her plan of action after they graduated Hogwarts. "And this will be a non-profit?"

Hermione nodded her head once more. "We start by recruiting members. I thought five Sickles to join — that buys a badge — and the proceeds can fund my leaflet campaign. Ron can be treasurer, I plan on transfiguring a collection tin for him and Harry can be secretary." Hermione paused at that as a thought came to her. "Or perhaps not. I may just count this as our first meeting and he's not present to record anything I'm saying."

Jealously started to crop up in Draco at the mention of her other two friends being delegated positions in her organization. "Are you sure they'll be so keen to join? Ron didn't seem like he agreed with your views on House Elves."

"Well, you're going to join and you don't have the same views as I do." Hermione reached into the collection of silver buttons and pulled one out. She picked up her wand, whispering an incantation as she waved it over the button and placed it in front of him. Draco looked down at the pin and chuckled. Due to the lengthy name, Hermione had to etch it into the button as a spiral which caused the reader to squint when getting to the end of the organization's name as the engraving's font size decreased.

"Oh, I'm not joining, but I'll pay for the button to start you off. Would you happen to have change for a galleon?" Draco reached into his robes to locate if he had any money on him, but Hermione was more focused on being rebuffed so smoothly.

"What do you mean you won't be joining Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status?"

Draco having found a galleon, tossed it into the container that held all of her buttons. "Because you'll need to learn rejection before achieving anything else." Draco gave her a sweet smile that made her hair curl – not that she needed it. "And you'll need to convince me. If you can't get me to agree on being your vice president -

"I never said -" Her protest was loss as Draco continued to make his point.

"You won't convince my father to even change the sack on Crewe's back. Since I am CEO-In-Training, I'm the next best thing to my father. Heir to the Malfoy name and all of that." He waved a haughty hand before he placed the same hand on the stack of parchments she had pulled out. "If you genuinely want this, you have to make it something he can't easily crush. What you'll need first and foremost is people. People equal money as far as my father is concerned. 'Non-profit-," Draco did air quotations with the hand that hovered over her parchment, "or not. I am willing to help you with pointers and when you're ready to send off your final proposals, I'll review them."

"Fine." Hermione pulled the parchment from beneath his slender fingers and shoved them back into her bag. "If that's how you want to play. What tips do you have for me now, Mr. CEO-In-Training?" Hermione repeated the coined title in a voice that she lowered to mock him. She smirked when he narrowed his eyes before ticking a list off on his fingers.

"Change the name -"

"What? That's the best name I've got! I just need to come up with an acronym."

"No, you have a mouthful and no one is going to remember it. As I was saying," Draco dramatically held up his hands again and started over with his list. "Change the name, then come up with a catchy acronym." He pushed down his second finger to emphasize when to come up with an acronym before he moved on to the third instruction, "and make the buttons different colors to give people a choice. I'm sure you noticed that wizards like to accessorize."

Hermione had expected more critiques, but was hopeful when he only stopped at three. "That's all I need to get you to sign up then?"

Draco was the one to smirk at her now. "That's just the changes I'm starting you out with." A thought came to him then and he felt foolish that he thought the biggest issue Hermione would face was convincing wizards to join her cause. "Have you spoken to any House Elves about this? A testimony could always work in your favor." Or give you a reality check.

Draco realized too late that he had triggered Hermione to go into a rant on her confronting Crewe the day they were to board the Hogwarts Express, fuming that she felt the elf had been slighted in the worst way with the brainwashing he was a victim of.

He couldn't say he had fully minded though. He could list off many things that he adored about Hermione, but her passion was his favorite thing – even if it was slightly directed at him or a cause he had little faith in being fruitful.

"... Maybe, the answers you're looking for is right where the pain is and maybe, you need to learn how to face the music, so to speak."

"You've been saying that all weekend." Hermione looked over at the younger version of herself to see the expression she held was borderline murderous.

"I don't understand you."

"Perhaps that's a good thing, it means you haven't been though what I have."

The young Hermione scoffed and looked away. Her head was in one hand and Hermione watched slowly as the girl's clothes started to change. Soon, the was in a elegant, knee-length black dress. Hermione eyed it, thinking it looked familiar and gasped when she figured out why: It was the velvet dress she wore to her parent's funeral. "Oh, I have." The girl pointed a finger at the tombstone, demanding Hermione look at it once more. "Maybe, the answers you're looking for is right where the pain is."

Hermione sighed. She saw her younger self more frequently, but the meetings had become more and more uneventful. The younger Hermione stopped saying so much and had spent most of her time pointing at their parent's tombstone as she recited the same words over and over again.

Being more than aware the young girl was sure to repeat herself, Hermione focused on the runes of the tombstone. While the new dreamless draught had been less than helpful with fighting off the nightmares, she did find that her dreams were much more lucid, giving her a clear mind and the power to focus more. As she remembered what had occurred in Professor Babbling's Runes class, Hermione tried to focus on the ancient language she knew was under the cloudy vision before her. She had attempted to run a hand through it before, to get a literal feel of it like she was able to now if she really centered herself, but nothing came of it. Her hand glided through the cloudy screening as if it wasn't there.

With a deep breath, Hermione decided it was time to wake up. If my dreams always end in pain, might as well induce it myself. Hermione recalled the Runes she knew thoroughly and the burning pain erupted with a spark. As she kept her eyes on the tombstone, she mentally ran through the Anglo-Saxon runes and when she started to mentally list the Marcomannic runes, the searing pain intensified and through her tears, she could finally see the runes. Before she could try to decipher them though, they started to morph and she wanted to scream. Why! What is going on? Instead of panicking through, her resolve only strengthened as she forced herself not to look away and give in to the pain that yearned to engulf her. Hermione gave a small gasp once the etchings before her stopped moving. These are regular words. English words.

Hermione sat up in bed, completely drenched in sweat – but not in pain for once. I'm a bloody idiot. Dr. Augsen was right – and so was the younger Hermione - the truth had been past the pain this whole time and her subconscious was nearly spelling it out for her. Hyped from her theory, she threw all qualms of being silent in respect for her sleeping housemates out the figurative window as she lit the end of her wand with a "lumos." She got up, opened her curtains rather loudly and started to rummage through her bag that she had placed on the top of her suitcase.

It was only after she was shoulder deep in the bag and had pulled every book but her sought after runes book that her hand finally enclosed around it. Pulling it out, she immediately flipped to where the practice phrases were and found that not only was that glamour-like interference no longer present, if she stared with enough intent, she could partially decipher them into English. Bloody hell. She gave a small laugh. Hermione had never heard of anything like it before, but she was relieved more than anything that she did not have to worry about her studies suffering, or having to send an owl to Narcissa explaining that lost her ability to read all at once.

Her giddiness started to evaporate though, when she felt something warm and thicker than water racing down the curve of her eye socket, highlighting her cheekbones. She pulled on the sleeve of her nightdress before pressing it to her face. There was a stinging feeling when her finger tips grazed where her scar was and she didn't need to see the blood to know it was there.

When Hermione pulled her hand away to look at her sleeve, she couldn't help but give out a small whimper before frantically digging for a towel, not expecting to see that much blood.


A/N:Sorry I haven't been replying to comments. It's just been a lot lately and I haven't got the spoons.

Welcome everyone who is just discovering my fic! I love and appreciate each and every one of you!