Hermione jolted awake and clawed at her chest, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. Her whole time as a ghost, she felt no relief. Her entire body still felt like when her foot fell asleep, and her limbs were slow and heavy. She was attacked. She was bleeding.

"Shh, shh." Fleur appeared over her and ran a finger down the bridge of her nose.

Hermione felt the veela magic wash over her and she calmed down.

"There we go," said Fleur. "You're alright."

It was a vision. Hermione didn't even know she could have visions like that. Sure she saw Slughorn's, but Hogwarts was there to witness it and it had meshed with the Pensieve memory. Perhaps the Grey Lady—Helena—was so ingrained into the school, having been a ghost confined within iz walls for a thousand years that her memories and Hogwarts' were one and the same. There was so much unknown of her bond. She really oughta start documenting and testing the full extent of her abilities within the school.

Another time, perhaps.

Feeling weak and dizzy, all Hermione could do was look at her surroundings. On the bedside table were get-well-soon presents from friends. Flowers, sweets, and the like. Mrs. Weasley was sitting by Ron's bedside while Bill, Percy, Fred, and George played cards using an empty bed as a table. They had stalled their game to watch her.

"Cecilia is napping, but she will be back to check on you," said Fleur. "Let me get Madam Pomfrey."

She got up and hurried to the Mediwitch's office. Hermione shivered and Mrs. Weasley turned around from Ron. She looked haggard with more grey in her red hair than ever and dark circles under her eyes. She fetched another blanket from a bed and wrapped Hermione up in it, tucking it under her feet and propping her up with some pillows.

"There we go," she said, fixing some locs that went astray. "Oh, dear, you should consider combing your hair."

"That style is on purpose," said Fleur. "And she looks amazing."

"Glad to see you're awake, Miss Granger," said Madam Pomfrey. "Do you remember what happened?"

Yes.

"Nn-nn." Hermione shook her head and tried to still her shaking hands.

"Will she be alright?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"She did suffer severe blood loss," said Madam Pomfrey. "But once she gets a few more blood-replenishing potions in her, she should be alright."

The potion in question was awful. Hermione was almost sure she was being force-fed actual blood from the potion's color to its viscosity, which reminded her of cold tomato soup, along with the metallic taste it left in her mouth. She really would much prefer a blood transfusion next time than down another one of these awful things. Once the potion was gone, she was fed and bundled up to keep her hands and feet warm. Not long after her potion, the final bell for classes tolled and she began receiving visitors.

Daphne, Padma, and Blaise were along first. Daphne and Padma had been collecting her homework for her and offered to help her complete it when she was feeling better.

"How are you feeling?" asked Padma. "Everyone's talking about it."

Hermione looked over their shoulders and felt a surge of anger. She picked up a vase and hurled it across the room. It shattered against the wall where Harry's head had been.

"I missed," she croaked.

"What was that?" Madam Pomfrey called.

"Nothing, Pomona!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Just a little accident."

She twirled her wand and the mess cleaned right up. Harry held up his hands in surrender while Hermione glared at him.

"Can you guys give me a moment?" she said. "I need to have a little chat with my little brother."

"Er, sure," said Daphne. "We'll be by again tomorrow before classes."

"Great." Hermione waited until they left and gestured to the chair by her bed.

Harry sat down in it and folded his hands in his lap like a child about to be scolded. Hermione waved her hand, casting muffliato.

"Harry."

"Nia."

"Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?" she asked. "You can be honest, I'd like to know so we can remedy that."

"Er… not really. I mean, you do what you do and things turn out alright."

"Then why, pray tell, did you not listen to me and trust me when I told you to lie low and make no waves?"

"Well, your—"

"Dut-dut-dut!" She waved her hand. "My curse has nothing to do with this, only the fact that I was in the way. Had it not been bad luck month, you might have hit Draco. Even killed him. Now—look at me—what are we going to do?"

"Lie low?"

"And?"

"Trust you?"

"Very good. And what will we not do?"

"Use spells without looking up etymology?"

"Precisely." Hermione winced and rubbed her chest. "I think I pulled something. Go sit by Ron, I can't look at you right now."

"I am sorry, Nia," said Harry. "I didn't… It will never happen again."

"I believe you, but I'm still angry at you." Hermione pulled her shawl tighter around herself and looked away. "I'm already tired of being hurt by those closest to me."

"Nia…"

"Please, Harry. Go sit by Ron." She snapped her fingers and the spell ended.

As soon as he sat down on a spare bed to do his homework, Char entered the hospital wing carrying a bouquet of tulips.

"Hola, hermosa," said Hermione, holding out her hand.

Char smiled, took her hand, and squeezed it gently.

"I'm so glad you're awake," she said. "I brought you flowers."

"Tulips! My favorite."

Char leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, placing the flowers into an empty vase. Hermione ignored the dropped jaws and focused on her girlfriend.

"Okay," she said. "How bad is it?"

"Well, not to the extent of a couple years back," said Char, grimacing. "But you know how people are with rumors. Once they're started, they won't stop. Cormac's the worst offender."

"Of course he is. What is it about some people with the if-I-can't-have-you mentality? All because I made him lose 20 galleons in a stupid bet? If he had offered to split the winnings like Blaise did it would've been a different story."

"If Blaise won the first pool then why was there a second?"

"I dunno," said Hermione. "Maybe they found out and decided they wanted to see if it could be done without my knowledge? Or maybe there were two separate pools. The second one sounds a lot bigger. The first was just from the Slytherin boys and it was 50 galleons."

"Maybe," she said. "Either way, I'm thinking of turning it into a literal sword fight if he keeps it up."

Hermione smiled. "As much as I would like to see that, don't worry about a thing. I'll make him regret it. Really, the important thing is you know what's up and I know what's up, che?"

"Need some of our pranking assistance?" asked Fred. "I don't like the thought of people saying horrible things about you again."

"No, no. Let me handle this one," said Hermione. "I appreciate the gesture, but I think your mum would have your hides if you raised any more chaos here."

"That I would," said Mrs. Weasley. "Boys, don't you have a gift for Hermione?"

"Oh, yeah. We never gave you your Christmas presents," said George, bringing out a package. "Catch."

He tossed it at her and it clonked her in the face.

"Ow!"

"Why didn't you catch it?"

Hermione scowled. "What is wrong with you people? I'm half-blind! I don't have any depth perception!" She waved her fingers in front of her star eye.

"Er… didn't think about it," said George. "Don't worry, it isn't fragile."

"Here, Nia," said Fleur, placing the other two parcels on her lap.

"Thanks, Fleur."

"Do you need help?" Char asked. "Your hands are trembling."

"I can manage," she said. "Thank you though."

Hermione carefully tugged the ribbon on the box George threw at her.

"Everyone's also talking about what happened to Ron," said Char. "Being poisoned. Will he be alright?"

"We don't know," said Percy. "There was talk of shutting down Hogwarts after you got sucked into that book and now Ron…"

"The incidents were from the same day, but tripped at different times," said Hermione. "Professor Slughorn bought that mead from Madam Rosmerta while she was still imperiused. He could have easily bought it poisoned. Most poisons don't pick up on sensors because they're not inherently magical. Whether Slughorn intended it for himself or meant to give it to someone else, it was just a horrible coincidence that it got Ron first. It could very easily have been Slughorn or Harry or even Neville who took the first sip."

"Is that your official deduction?" said Percy.

"Yes. The two events are correlated and at this point it would be impossible to tell who was involved—damn my fingers!"

"Here," said Char, reaching over and easily untying the ribbon.

Hermione kissed her cheek in thanks and lifted the lid off the box. Inside was a beautifully decorated black and white top hat. She took it out and placed it on her head.

"What do you think?"

"Very cute," said Char, adjusting it and making sure the ribbon trailed down her back. "What else did you get?"

Mrs. Weasley had knitted her a pair of fingerless gloves to go over her splints. They were pretty with sunflowers and bees decorating them. Hermione put them on immediately and thanked Mrs. Weasley for them before opening Fleur's present, which was scrapbooking supplies.

"Aww, thank you so much," said Hermione. "I know you meant them for Christmas, but it is nice to receive nice things when waking up from a coma."

"Our pleasure," said George. "We know how much you enjoy Stevie Nicks."

"See George?" said Fred. "I told you she would like it more than swarms of lizards."

"Swarms of lizards are pretty cool," said Hermione. "But I'll definitely have more use for this beautiful hat. I'll wear it often."

"It would look great with Monday and Thursday outfits," said Char.

Hermione smiled and put the hat back in the box so she could rest her cheek on Char's shoulder. Her thoughts drifted back to the vision she had seen. No doubt triggered when Harry had used that curse on her. It meant one more thing. There was a horcrux in this very castle. Well, she wouldn't give it a chance to form.

"You look tired," said Char. "Want me to leave?"

"I'm alright. Just thinking."

"Won-Won!"

Char flinched, hand twitching toward her wand.

"Did she just call me wonton?"

"No, it's just a stupid nickname for Ron," said Hermione.

Lavender practically shoved Percy out of the way and fell by Ron's bedside.

"Is he alright?" she fretted. "Has he been calling for me?"

"Lavender, cool it," said Hermione. "You wanna give his brothers fodder for the rest of his life?"

"Too late," said Percy, fixing his glasses. "It's going on his stocking."

"Knew you had it in you Perce," said Fred, clapping his brother on the shoulder.

"What are you even talking about?" Lavender asked indignantly.

"The nickname, Lavender," said Hermione. "It's… undignified. I mean, did you even try any other nicknames or did you just pick that one?"

Lavender flushed and spluttered.

"It is a little undignified," said Fleur. "But—"

"Oh and now the veela is going to give me relationship advice!" said Lavender.

"I just meant that communication is important," said Fleur.

"So I suppose Roger Davies communicated with his hands at the Yule Ball?"

Fleur flushed and her hair flickered.

"Hey! Leave her alone," said Hermione. "Look, if Ron has explicitly said he's fine with being called Won-Won, kudos to him, but really it might fly better if you call him something else."

"Well, that goes to show what you know," said Lavender.

"Lavender, I'm trying to tell you that if you keep pushing like this, then you might end up pushing Ron away."

"Well, maybe if you had pushed a little more Cedric would be here!"

Hermione grabbed onto Char's hand. She would not make a scene. Lavender was just reacting because she knew her relationship was falling apart. That's all it was.

"How dare you speak to her that way?" said Fleur, getting to her feet.

"Lavender, please don't say something you regret," said Hogwarts.

"I know what's really going on here! You got yourself admitted to the hospital wing to steal him from me."

"She almost died, you daft bimbo!" Char snapped. "And Nia is my girlfriend. Or did you just conveniently forget to fit your own insecurities?"

"Like you've ever managed to hold down a boyfriend, Chang!" said Lavender.

"Cat fight!" said Fred jokingly.

"SHUT UP!" the girls yelled at him, sending him toppling back over his chair.

"All of you be quiet!" said Madam Pomfrey, storming into the room. "I can hardly hear myself think! I've got two very injured patients so anyone looking to raise a fuss can leave!"

"I'm not raising a fuss," said Lavender, sitting down and taking Ron's hand. "Who's raising a fuss?"

Char ground her teeth and turned back to Hermione.

"It feels like I have to come out of the closet every day," she grumbled.

"If you need to step away I understand," said Hermione.

"No," she said. "I'm fine. Some people just seem to think we're friends."

"Oh, yeah, haven't you heard? I make out with all my friends," said Hermione. "With tongue."

Char and Fleur were the only ones that heard this and fell into giggles. It wasn't a particularly clever joke, but it broke the tension they were feeling and Hermione counted that as a win. She looked up through the castle. There was a horcrux. She couldn't see it but she knew it was there.

"Fleur, George, Fred, Bill," she said. "I need to speak with you. Char, do you want to be involved or keep out?"

"Erm…" Char tipped her head side-to-side. "If you think I can help, then I'll be involved."

"Okay." Hermione paused. "Ceci and Tonks are walking towards the castle. Char, I need you to go get Daphne and Padma too. They're both my mates. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow them all here…." She snapped her fingers. "Ah! Mrs. Weasley, you know what I bet would cheer up Ron when he wakes up? Some homemade fudge. The elves will help you make some!"

Char hurried off to get Daphne and Padma while Mrs. Weasley blinked in shock and spluttered.

"Brilliant idea," said Percy, seeing what Hermione was getting at. "We'll make it together, Mum. Why don't we show Harry and, er, Lavender, how to make it as well? We'll make a batch big enough for the whole school."

"Well… oh, but he's still so pale."

"It's okay, Mum," said Bill. "If anything changes, we'll have an elf bring you right back in here."

"Right," said Hermione.

"Oh… very well." Mrs. Weasley got up and by the time they left, Char had arrived with Daphne, Padma, Tonks, and Cecilia in tow.

"Okay, quickly," said Hermione, ushering all of them around her. "Muffliato."

"You're acting all secretive," said Daphne. "What's going on?"

"I've had a vision," said Hermione. "And you know I wouldn't declare that for the fun of it."

"No," Ceci agreed. "Is it about the…" she fingerspelled, "H-O-R-C-R-U-X?"

"Yes. But first, Daphne. What if I told you that I can cure Astoria of her blood curse?"

"If anyone other than you said that I'd think they were lying," said Daphne. "It being you… how do we do it?"

"I can tie her curse to a dark artifact," said Hermione. "Upon the artifact's destruction, the curse for the entire family line will be broken. As it's not one as old and powerful as my family curse, it should cure her of her symptoms too. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't take effect until all dark artifacts of the same…" she waved her hands, trying to think of the word. "—Caster were destroyed."

Cecilia furrowed her brow. "Maybe there is one more."

"We don't know that, Ceci," said Hermione. "And don't you dare tell Esperanza that."

"I won't. Sorry."

"What sort of artifact is this?" asked Fred.

"One that you can't tell anyone else in the Order about," said Hermione. "Barr Sirius. He already knows, but we can't wait for him. Before I give anymore information, I need a coven to contain it so it doesn't hurt Astoria while I destroy it. Can I count on all of you to be my coven?"

"Of course," said Fleur.

"Absolutely," said Fred and George.

"I'm with you," said Char, taking her hand.

"Family sticks together," said Cecilia, and Tonks nodded.

Bill and Padma murmured their agreement while Daphne pursed her lips.

"You won't let anything horrible happen to my sister will you?" she asked.

"No," said Hermione. "But this might be our only chance. I know the spell and I know it's been successful before. If you need some time to think about it… we can push it off…" she hesitated. "Tomorrow at midnight? Everyone is staying here at the castle right?"

"Right," said Bill. "I'm not expected back at work until Monday. Fred? George?"

"Verity and Lee can manage until then," said George. "Do we need any supplies?"

"No, I've got everything in my kit," said Hermione. "The toughest thing will be sneaking out. If Madam Pomfrey finds out I snuck out… this will be very delicate work. Where's my purse?"

Fred sheepishly held up his hand where her purse had latched on like an animal.

"Sorry," he said. "I wanted to see if you had any of those sour grape chews."

"Nobody can get into my purse but me," she said and got it from him. "The ones you like are from South Korea. Ask my mom if she'll send you some, you're selling her your bruise stuff, yeah?"

"Well, we shared the recipe and she sends us a check with the profits once a month."

Hermione brought out the horcrux video. It wasn't the informational one it would require a verbal explanation. "Before I give this to you, swear that you will not breathe a word of this to anyone not involved."

Once they had sworn in some form or another and Hermione saw the light that bound them to their word, she handed the crystal over.

"When you get a chance, take this to the Room of Things, ask for a video viewing room, watch it, come back and tell me that you are absolutely sure you're okay with getting involved."

"Nia, you're scaring me a little," said Padma.

"It's a risky shot, even if I weren't tying a curse. Be casual when you leave. Don't want to look suspicious. And please know, I will not think less of you if you want to back out." She snapped the spell away and yawned. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to take a little nap."

"Alright, everyone out," said Madam Pomfrey as Hermione knew she would. "You can come back in the morning."

Daphne looked at Hermione and lifted her pendant, letting it twirl on the chain. Hermione nodded and settled back to meditate. It took some time and concentration, but she let Hogwarts take over partially and she caught her coven as they were finishing up the video. It really did take a long time to fall into this, didn't it?

"Alright," said Cecilia. "I'm still in. I was about Nia's age when cousin Manola broke the family curse. This thing we're facing… I know what it takes to make one and I can't sleep knowing one is around."

"Nia is my friend," said Fleur. "If she trusts me to help her with this, then I will not let her down. Right, William?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "And if she's planning on going at this while she's injured, then she needs all the help she can get."

"I'm with you Ceci," said Tonks. "Anyone else?"

"We're in," said Fred and George.

"My sister is more important to me than anything," said Daphne. "If tying it to that thing will end it…" She pursed her lips. "I worry we won't be enough. I'll ask her if I can bring in Blaise. More the better, right?"

"Right," said Padma. "What about you, Char?"

Char was quiet for a long moment. "I thought Nia wanted to be a lawyer. Or are lawyers a more exciting profession than I was led to believe?"

"I think Nia's life is just exciting whether she wants it to be or not," said Cecilia. "You in or out?"

"I'm in."

Daphne looked up. "Nia? Did you get all that?"

Hermione made the lights flash twice for yes.

"Oh, bloody hell," said Fred. "No wonder nobody can get anything past her."

"Can I bring Blaise in?" Daphne continued ignoring him. "Once for no, twice for yes."

Hermione flashed the lights twice.

"Theo?"

Once.

"Fair enough."

"Get some rest, babe," said Char. "We'll figure out a way to sneak you out tomorrow night."

Hermione flashed the lights twice and slipped into her dreams.

~o0o~

Char was the one to come by in the morning, she pecked Hermione on the lips and leaned close to her ear.

"Okay. Harry doesn't know what's going on exactly, but he did agree to polyjuice as you. Cecilia has some on hand. We're going to sneak you to the Room of Things in Ceci's purse. Fred and George are going to make sure we get there without getting caught."

"Great," said Hermione. "I'll be ready."

All day, Hermione spent in the hospital wing reading through her notes to make sure she knew exactly what she would do. They could not afford any foul-ups. She was feeling a bit better by dinner. Ceci came in shortly after.

"Finally off my shift, Nia," she said. "Let me fix your hair, it looks like some of it is coming undone."

"Excuse me," said Madam Pomfrey. "It's late."

"It will just be a moment, señora," said Cecilia. "I'm just going to loc her hair back up and put a bonnet on it. She can't raise her hands to do it herself."

"Oh. I see. Well, be quick about it."

Hermione got up and went into the loo with Cecilia. Her cousin erected a divider and while she changed into her armor, Harry crawled out of Cecilia's purse dressed in hospital pajamas.

"I need your essence, Nia," said Cecilia, holding out the glass of polyjuice.

Hermione spat into it and the mixture bubbled, turning into something that looked like her eye. Black with white swirls. Cecilia funneled it into a flask and gave it to Harry. He hesitated and looked at her.

"Go on," she said.

Harry pinched his nose and swallowed some. He shuddered and his skin burbled as his features reshaped to match hers. His hair turned white and brown and twisted into long locs and he flinched as he became blind in his left eye and his hands withered down. The transformation was complete.

"Shit, Hermione!" he hissed. "Do your hands hurt like this all the time?"

"Yeah." She brought out her sleep splints and helped him put them on.

Harry winced and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Don't worry," said Hermione. "You look hot."

He gave her an unamused look and let his hair be stuffed into the satin-lined bonnet she usually wore to sleep.

Hermione climbed into Cecilia's purse and kept quiet as Cecilia tucked Harry into bed and hurried off to get to the Room of Things. Everyone was waiting in a hidden room just nearby since they didn't know the parameters they needed the actual room to be. Hermione climbed out of the purse and the room immediately turned into the Lost and Found. She pushed open the door and ushered everyone in before hiding the door away to anyone in the corridor.

"Alright," she said. "Thank you for coming. Welcome to the Lost and Found."

"Bloody hell, that's a lot of garbage," said Bill. "I bet it'd take us a hundred years to do inventory on this."

"And someday you'll be allowed to start," said Hermione. "Astoria? How are you feeling?"

"Ready to get my curse broken," she said. "If not for me then… for the future generations."

Hermione nodded. "Okay, what we are looking for is a diadem. A tiara. It is bronze in the vague shape of an eagle and it has a sapphire in the center. I mean… a lapis lazuli."

"Sapphire used to be the name for lapis lazuli," said Blaise. "Stupefy!"

The spell shot over Hermione's shoulder and someone grunted as they fell into a pile of junk.

"Good spot," she said, going over to see who it was.

"A spy," said Fred and George, peering around her shoulders.

"I wasn't spying!" said Draco, rubbing his head. "I just happened to be here and you're talking very loudly."

"Will you tell?" Hermione asked.

Draco hesitated, "Is it true you can break Astoria's curse?"

There was a beat as Astoria looked shy.

"MY SISTER, DRACO?!" Daphne bellowed.

"Don't have a cow, Daph," said Astoria. "I'm fifteen!"

"Oh, those movies have been a terrible influence on you."

"You're one to talk."

"Mmkay, while you figure this out, we're going to look for the diadem," said Hermione.

"I know where it is," said Draco. "If I get it for you will…" he looked like he couldn't believe what he was saying. "Will you help me out?"

"That was the deal," said Hermione.

He knew what she meant. She helped him and his mum would find out the location of Hufflepuff's Cup.

"Fine," he said.

"You know what this means," said Hermione, following him. "You're part of the coven!"

Draco groaned. "I don't want to be part of the Order."

"This isn't the Order," said Hermione. "I've been thinking up equally stupid names for my coven. I'm thinking of calling us a Bevy, because my form is an otter. Or maybe the Weather, so that if people ask what we're talking about we can say 'Oh, the weather.' I'm also thinking up code names. I'm not sure if I wanna use weather terminology, snakes, or just riff off our names. Black Mamba would be a cool name. Or just code names."

"What would be our names?" asked Fred.

"Thing One and Thing Two. Harry is The Sand Guardian: Guardian of the Sand. For Draco I'm thinking Duckie."

"No!" Draco groaned.

"It's perfect. Draco. Drake. Duck. Duckie."

"Duckie is perfect," said Blaise, their eyes gleaming.

"I'll smother you all in your sleep," said Draco.

"After we fix my curse," said Astoria, grabbing onto his hand. "Duckie."

Everyone's laughter died away as Draco pulled a wig off a wooden stand and held the diadem up. It pulsed angrily with horcrux energy.

"That sure is Ravenclaw's diadem," said Padma. "It's supposed to bestow the wearer with unspeakable knowledge."

"Yeah along with the mutterings of a pureblooded bigot," said Hermione.

"So it's like being stuck in a room with you and Pansy," said Daphne.

Hermione snorted and held out her hand. Draco placed the diadem in her palm. She led them to a clear spot in the room.

"Try not to move," she said and let Hogwarts take over.

The room morphed around them, the Lost and Found items pushing back and mixing up while others became the material that erected new walls. The floor smoothed out beneath their feet and the ceiling shrank down to half the height. Hermione took back over.

"I think I might be sick," said Draco.

"You've got a few minutes to get over it," said Hermione, placing her horcrux hunting box on a table and bringing out her chalk. "I need those with steady hands to draw out this circle exactly." She placed the drawing down. "It cannot be shaky or almost there, it has to be perfect."

Bill, Fred, and George took the chalk pieces and drew out the circle.

"Astoria, come over here please," said Hermione, uncapping a sharpie. "Here's hoping this one will do the trick." Hermione drew runes on both her arms. "Alright, once the circle is drawn out you will need to stand in that rune. Daphne, you're her sister so you'll be in charge of containing that section."

"Okay."

Hermione brought out her weapons.

"Heads up." She pressed the button to bring her scythe to full size.

"Where'd you get a scythe?!" Fred whispered.

"Do you really think that's the important question right now?"

"Guess not."

"I've also got a sword and a dagger," said Hermione. "If I can't get to the horcrux, who's willing to be my backup?"

"I'll take the sword," said Char, taking the khopesh.

Fleur took the dagger.

"Er, Fleur, are you sure?" asked Bill.

She raised an eyebrow. "What? You think I cannot handle it?"

"No—I mean yes—I mean… we saw that video and you've already been through a lot."

"Nia is my friend," she said. "I want to be the one to watch her back."

He nodded. "Okay."

"Everybody know the spell?" Hermione asked. "Anima contineo. Anima exsolvunt. Seven times. Here, Astoria. Have a seat here. It's easier if you sit down."

"Is there a way where she wouldn't have to be so close?" asked Daphne.

"Not without a lot more research and higher risk of it not working."

"Mm… fine."

"Daph…" Hermione rested a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me. Okay?"

Daphne stared at her. "Okay."

Everyone took their places while Hermione placed the diadem in the middle of the circle. She took her place and nodded at the others. They chanted the spell seven times until the dome formed and Hermione and Cecilia said the one that would tie Astoria and Daphne's family curse to the horcrux.

A high-pitched whine rang out making them cringe. The soul bubbled up in the middle without Hermione having to call it out.

"I promise you wealth. I promise you fame. I promise you knowledge," it whispered, rattling angrily while the bubble got bigger.

"Astoria!" Daphne screamed as it popped and plasma-like tendrils attacked.

"Let's go," said Hermione, jumping forward to shield Astoria.

The tentacles shrieked upon contact with her blade.

Fleur and Char managed to get through the barrier that threw everyone else back, using their weapons to protect them.

"TEAR THE BITCH APART!" Hermione yelled. "Get as close as you can! Once you sever the soul it'll dissipate!"

Char and Fleur moved closer and a skull-like face morphed in the smoke, scrutinizing them before deciding who to attack.

"I see into your heart, Fleur Delacour," it said. "I see your fears."

The pressure dropped in the room and everyone groaned as they were brought to their knees. Hermione kept moving around Astoria to stop her from getting attacked. The girl was shivering violently and her eyes rolled back into her head.

"You fear you could never be worthy of true love," the horcrux continued in that false-sympathetic tone. "After all, how can you be truly certain he loves you? For all you know it could be a trick of your veela charms."

"Don't listen, Fleur!" said Char. "It's not true!"

"Oh, but isn't it? All men have ever wanted you for are your looks. Hated by women, lusted after by men. An ornament is all you will ever be good for. Place me on your brow and you will be the next Cleopatra. Everyone will want you for your intelligence. Your strategies, wit, and power. And they will fear what you can do. The boy's mother will finally see you as a good match for her eldest son."

Fleur screamed and Hermione caught a glimpse of flames. With a crackle, pop, and flash, the smoke shrieked and dissipated. Fleur was sitting in front of the diadem, her hair still flickering and dancing with fire. She dropped the dagger and pressed her face into her hands.

"I'm sorry, Fleur," said Hermione.

Bill held up a hand and went over to his fiancée.

"It's not true," he said, taking her hands. "I love you, Fleur. Your grace, your charm, your courage, how you never back down from a fight. There is no one else I can imagine spending the rest of my life with."

Fleur threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

"Mum'll come around," said George. "Once she finds out who I'm dating, she won't complain about you again."

Hermione turned to check on Astoria.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

The girl was no longer pale like before. Her thick, dark hair was tangled from the wind and she had a couple scratches on her hands, but her cheeks were flushed.

Daphne helped her sister to her feet.

"I feel…" Astoria took a deep breath. "I feel good. A little dizzy, but… it's going away." She bit her lip and looked at Daphne. "You felt that right? When the thing blew up? It was like…"

"A weight lifting off my shoulders," said Daphne. "Do you think it's…"

"Really broken?" said Astoria. "We'll see at my next check up but… I feel good. Like for the first time in my life I can actually breathe!"

Hermione collapsed her scythe and fetched the diadem.

"Tell me," said Tonks. "Is it actually magical?"

"Sort of," said Hermione, looking at the stone. It had cracked a little, but it was otherwise in alright condition. "It never bestowed knowledge. Rowena Ravenclaw was autistic and this just helped her focus."

"Oh yeah," said Cecilia, pointing to the runes. "You can see the noise focus runes and lapis lazuli promotes mental clarity."

Hermione put the diadem in her horcrux hunting box. Char wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged her.

"Doing alright?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. That was really scary."

"Thank you for your help everyone," she said. "Everyone okay?"

"I'm fine," said Padma. "But if you plan on doing this again… don't ask me. Once was enough."

"Fair. Thank you for helping."

"Of course. I don't know what all this is… but it seems serious. Let me know if you ever need help with research."

"Yeah, you sure we can't tell Dumbledore?" asked Bill.

"What can he do that we haven't already done?" Hermione challenged. "I already tried asking him for help, but he's been doing this alone for decades. I've been doing it with a team for a year and we already knocked out two."

"How many are there?" asked Char.

"Not sure yet. But I'm zeroing in on another. I'll let you know when I'm ready to strike, but it might take some time. For now… don't worry about it. Draco, we'll talk after I'm out of the hospital."

"Fine."

"I'll visit you tomorrow," said Char, kissing her cheek.

"Looking forward to it."