There was something about her, this mudblood that hugged to the shadows. Her secrets must be many, for she hid amongst the brave lions, and what sheep would do such a thing? He heard the whispers of others, that she was a strange one to have ended up in Gryffindor, she should have been a Hufflepuff. But no other Puff had that dangerous glint in their eyes, the one that showed who was a predator, and who was prey. Those eyes were only found amongst Slytherins and Gryffindors, it was why they were always at each other's throat, fighting for who had the right to the prey, but of course Gryffs thought their intentions were a lot more noble than that. It was like they hadn't come to terms with what dangerous beast the lion inside truly was.
Looking at Hermione, he knew she was different, she knew the beast inside. She had danced with it, and now he wanted to go a round or two.
He considered himself more dangerous than the other snakes, a cobra maybe, he had not given much thought to what hypothetical animal he was within, only that it was one that ruled the others around him.
It was a patient one for sure because it whispered in his ear to be patient, to know his foe properly before pouncing.
There was only so much you could garner from outward appearance.
Looking at the ominous book, she wasn't sure it would give her the answers she was seeking. Nonetheless, Hermione picked up the strange book labeled A history of Blood magic.
In the 15th century, the Ministry of Magic decided to ban the practices of Blood magic. This book delves into what it was prior to the ban, why it was banned, and the research was done by Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries that the Ministry doesn't want you to know.
Hermione wondered how a book like that had even found its way into the shelves of Hogwarts. But so far her research outside of school had yielded few results, she needed to study different things than before if she was ever to find out what happened. The few books she had read on just travelling back to the future had been highly theoretical and vague. So she had given up on that, thinking that if there was no way forward, maybe there was a way to reverse it.
She had pondered the components making up her quick escape from Bellatrix, and she had compiled a list. First off, she used two wands. Secondly, blood had poured down onto the wands. Which was why she was holding a very dangerous book that had blood dripping from its pages onto the shelf it had stood. Now it was dripping on her shoes,
Drip, Drip, Drip.
The sound seemed abysmally loud in the middle of the night. Hermione nervously looked around to see if anyone had followed her. But the only sound was the constant noise of the wind against the Windows, a comforting noise that lulled her into a sense of security at any time. She ignored the sound, trying to stay alert.
Drip, Drip, Drip, whoosh.
She shut the book, and stuffed it into her bag, spelling it so it wouldn't stain from the blood. Taking one last nervous glance around her, she tiptoed out of the restricted section, and out of the library.
It was way past curfew, she didn't want anybody knowing what books she was reading. Mentally thanking the Marauders she slipped into a hidden passageway that took her from the Library to the tower. She had quickly discovered it on the map the first time Harry had lent it to her.
It was a promise of safe passage between the two places, nobody but her used it after all.
Being somewhere safe, she went over the list in her mind again.
She still didn't know all that much about using two wands, but she figured it would have something to do with their cores. Bellatrix wand was a mystery to her, so she had shelved that for now.
She now had the book about blood magic that was a good starting point.
And then there was the spell she had mispronounced. She would have to research spells and try to find out what she could have said instead. That was the most troublesome of them because there were thousands of spells invented, and then there was the possibility she had made one up entirely on her own in that moment.
She groaned.
The last piece of the puzzle was the lack of wand movement. She knew her best bet was asking a professor. Dumbledore would know of course. But approaching Dumbledore might mean signing up for the war effort. That was unacceptable, how could she be pushed to the frontline and not try to save people she knew was going to die?
No, she needed to stay away, of that she was sure.
woosh
She turned, that noise wasn't supposed to be here, was it? Her senses tingled in an unwelcome fashion, and her body tensed.
All that was left of noise now was her breathing.
In
A dark corridor, a staircase, cold seeping into the castle.
Out
Little light, a breeze tickling her skirt, her fingers skimming the edges of the wall behind her.
In
Her skirt brushing against her upper thighs, her pulse beating against her throat, constricting it's movement when it wanted to jump out and leave her.
Out
Moisture from the castle prickling against her skin, her hair brushing it away slightly as it grew more frizzy.
In
That voice inside her head, reminding her she was just paranoid, Hogwarts was safe.
Out
Nothing.
She exhaled properly, shaking herself out of whatever state that had just been, vowing to relax a bit more.
Up a couple of more steps, around a corner, familiar abandoned hidden passageways that she knew every step of. It was so familiar it created an ache in her chest. For usually at the end of this, would be Harry and Ron telling her to drop her books and relax. Ron might give a shy smile at first when he saw her. Like she was his secret and he was hers.
Into the common corridor, she didn't miss the glint of silver around a corner. He had yet to approach her, though, so, for now, she let it be.
Stepping through the portrait hole, she was again welcomed with familiar sights and sounds. People laughing, friends sitting together, couples trying to be sneaky, and a crackling fire. Crashing around her like a storm, those things that should have been happy, but just reminded her of what should have been. Where she could have been, and that for her it didn't matter at all without Ron and Harry, life didn't matter without them.
Her chest tightened around her, killing her slightly, and she felt so small, and it had been so long since she had felt that way. The troll had bashed all of that away with the sweep of his club, and Harry clinging onto it. Ron fumbling with his wand, Hermione instructing them, and suddenly that trio bond that nobody could break.
Only time could do that.
She looked at the Marauders, the betrayer, the father, the hope, and the teacher. Their eyes were so full of mirth, off happiness, but she knew they would soon enough feel the same way as she did then, that everything was gone.
"Hermione!" she squealed and jumped back, wand immediately at Lily's throat. Why did that girl insist on being so persistent! She realized Harry had been the same way with Draco in their sixth year, different reasons, but the same result. One determined individual, and one slinking into the shadows to avoid said determined individual.
In
Lily looked fearfully at the wand on her throat.
Out.
Hermione withdrew the wand and muttered "Sorry."
"Its-" Lily straightened, taking on the role of head girl "It's alright."
Hermione gave a tight-lipped smile in response, almost thanking the girl for leaving it at that. But when she tried to walk around her and leave for her dorm, Lily wouldn't budge. Hermione sighed, waiting for Lily to get it over with. She braced herself like she was about to be tortured and had no option but to take it.
"You are not supposed to be out this late!"
Flippantly, Hermione responded "I'm not." she missed the Marauders laughing at her, she was so focused on what Lily was saying.
"You were!" Lily argued.
Knowing it would royally piss Lily off, she shrugged.
And oh did it piss her off, she swore for a second there was literal steam coming out of her ears.
"Don't make me take off house points and give you detention!"
"For what?" Hermione arched an eyebrow, undeterred by Lily's continued assault. She was more bothered by the attention their little spat seemed to garner from the rest of the room.
"For being out after hours!"
"I'm not, though." they were talking in circles, so Lily tried a different approach.
"What were you doing outside of the common room?"
Shrug
"Hermione Granger do not give me the shrug!"
Shrug
Lily was not a mother yet, and she had nothing on the motherly tone of Missus Weasley, who had 6 boys and one defiant girl to control. So her bossy tone didn't scare Hermione into submission.
"You will tell me what you were doing or I will have to give you detention."
Hermione just rolled her eyes, and this time managed to move around Lily. When the girl tried to move after her, Hermione had her wand ready and threw a langlock at Lily.
From the furious stomping, Hermione had succeeded. The Marauders were roaring with laughter by this time, and Hermione knew they would try to congratulate her if she didn't manage to escape up to the girls dormitory soon.
She was alone in the dorm again, the girls wanting to stay up late and gossip. She didn't know how long she could escape being around people, especially if Lily Evans was the example she judged everyone else by. Maybe she was their messenger, sent to get Hermione over to their side.
Her days became routine, avoid Lily, escape the Marauders, wonder what the Slytherin was up to.
Why did he continue to watch her so closely?
In all the time he had watched her, nothing stood out, nothing happened, she was just this little quiet person. Surrounded by loud obnoxious Gryffindors, his opponents in so much.
She walked to classes quicker than anybody else, and he could never seem to follow. He knew how she did it, she escaped behind a tapestry there, slid between some bricks here, and disappeared everywhere. Clearly all of it masked hidden passageways, which she knew better than anybody else in school.
Maybe not the Marauders, they seemed to have done the same over the years, but she avoided them like the plague, so she couldn't have gotten the castle's secrets from them. She had known from the start as well, in the first few days of him watching her, she had vanished quite easily. So how did she know all of that?
Then there was the library, he never saw her without a book there. The second she could be found in the library, she would have stacks of books around her, or be carrying a bunch over to a secluded table. When she was hard to find, he would see a shimmer in the restricted section, but he could never cross over to find her there. The watchful eyes of the librarian had hauled him away many times, and once he had caught Hermione smirk behind a bookshelf as he was dragged out of the library.
She seemed to follow the rules at all times, but he caught her breaking them many times. He was most surprised the time he caught Peeves throwing water balloons at people, but when Hermione passed by he didn't bother. After a while he noticed she had a peculiar way with all of the ghost, Nick adored her, Peeves revered her, The Baron bowed to her, the Grey Lady smiled at her, and Moaning Myrtle loved her. For some reason, she took the time to cultivate her relationship with Ghosts, but not people.
Even so, Gryffindors always tried to make contact with her, and she always slinked away or gave them a cold shoulder she must have learned from the ghost.
At times he would notice that their light didn't seem to reach her, and the few times he caught her eyes, he noticed that light never seemed to reach her eyes.
She had warm chocolate eyes, lulling you in by their warmth and promise of comfort, that comfort that Gryffindors seemed to crave so much. She was a mystery wrapped in dullness that would make most people yawn.
Evan had always loved a puzzle.
Authors Note: I promised myself I'd finish "12 Days" Before writing anything more on this, but oh how I missed Evan! So a Christmas present for you all, Merry Christmas! Thanks to everyone who has followed and faved this story, an amazing Christmas present to me! Woke up this morning and there was another follower! You make me blush!
Thanks to my amazing Reviewers; Purple Breeze and the guest reviewer!
Next update won't be until next year at least! (so you have to wait over a week, lol)
Xx