Chapter 13

(Egypt)

Hermione set her suitcase on the floor of the large tent that Amsu had given her to set up near the shop. She was in Egypt. But not the Muggle side of it. The Wizardly one.

It was so different. But different in a good way. Eye opening.

She had spent a year in Romania researching for anything that had to do with Dark Magic but had finally given up when her one year had caught up with her.

So she had travelled to Egypt since it was older and it had more knowledge of the Dark Arts. The whole year wasted had set her plans back.

Now, she stood in the Wizardly World in Egypt. This was her second year into the 'past' and she really hoped she didn't have to waste another year. Going back in time didn't stop her from ageing.

It had only been a week of wandering around when Amsu and her grandmother, Halima, had taken her in.

She was grateful since she literally knew nobody in the region. Amsu was a tall young woman with straight black hair and soft brown eyes while her grandmother was an elderly woman who reminded her of Madam Pomfrey.

Both were kind. They had given her a place to stay with practically no charge. All she had to do was set wards on their magical plants.

She quickly braided her hair since the heat outside of the tent would just make her hair stick to her bare neck. Her hair now almost reached her waist since she hadn't cut it since before she had left her parents back in her third year.

Pulling her shields closer as her emotions began peaking at the mention of her parents, which she had avoided thinking about till then, she felt the coldness of Occlumency shield her mind. The familiar feeling still reminded her of a certain dark-eyed person.

Leaving her cross body bag on, she pulled on a dark brown cloak so that the sun wouldn't burn her skin too much.

Halima had taken one look at her and had called her 'Moswen' when Hermione had introduced herself to her.

Hermione had then looked at Amsu in question. Amsu had laughed out loud. "That means light skin. She is right. You really are light skin compared to the rest of us."

Hermione had smiled wearily. She had never really looked at herself in that way. Where had she come from; everybody was different shades of colour so it had never been an issue. It wasn't like Amsu was any darker than her.

Walking out of the tent she saw Halima walking alongside a tall man with dark eyes and wild long hair. The man stopped when he saw her come out and Halima gestured towards her, "That is Moswen. She needs help with research."

Hermione ignored the Moswen comment, and she stuck her hand out. "I'm Elizabeth. Elizabeth Stone."

The name was one she had also used in Romania. It was different yet common in the Wizardly World. The older man accepted her handshake. "I'm Gahiji. I live near here but born in Sinai. Moved down to Giza to become a Heka Professor."

It took Hermione a moment to realize what he meant. A Magical Professor. She smiled, "I actually came here to study the Dark Arts. I lost my parents to some Dark Wizards when I was younger so I wanted to learn more about it and maybe become a Professor as well."

Gahiji smiled, revealing straight white teeth. His smile made him look younger. His dark eyes searched her face as he spoke up.

"Well, you came to the right place."

For the rest of the week, she followed him into Ancient Libraries, Museums, and many other historical places. All the while she was aware of the glances she received from Gahiji.

She chose to ignore him and went on her way. It was only a few nights after the first week that she came upon a text referring to True Immortality. It snagged her attention, so she wandered away from Gahiji and the others.

They had gone into an old Library filled with small amounts of books. It was mostly artefacts that occupied the place.

She tucked herself into a corner, near a magical orb, to read the text. It didn't say much or actually anything about Horcruxes but it did mention something about an eternal object that wasn't human the other one being a living creature.

She frowned, it didn't make sense. One was alive and the other not? How was that possible? She read further, noticing other similar text vaguely mentioning objects that could hold parts of a person spiritually. After not finding anything else on it she gave up.

Closing the book, she set it back on the small shelf and headed back to the group. It was at least something to add to her personal notes.

o0o

Three months passed, in the time she hadn't found anything related to Immortality or Horcruxes. But she did brush up on medicine and whatnot. In the past three months, she had noticed that people from different villages and cities came to Halima's house for medicine. Amsu was her helper and at night she would go out looking for Herbs. Gahiji also tagged along with her but Hermione had never gone with them. She would stay behind to study some more. But for some reason that night she decided a break was needed.

Amsu gave her a large basket filled with many compartments and jars. Gahiji smiled and accepted the same from Amsu. Hermione had noticed that lately, Gahiji had started acting differently with her.

She wasn't used to male attention so she had thought nothing of it. But Amsu had pointed it out when she had gotten back late from a town meeting. Hermione had thought she was just jesting but as she looked into Gahiji's eyes, she noticed how really dark they were.

They reminded her of his.

Severus Snape.

Somebody she hadn't wanted to think about. She had tried not to think of the others as well. Being alone was not new to her but being in a place far from home had really hit her hard. The extent of her actions...She was doing it all alone at the moment. If she died here nobody would know. She shook her head as she walked alongside Amsu and Gahiji.

Now wasn't the time to think of such things. Occluding was the only way she could last until the very end of her journey. It was harder than she had thought it would be.

The heat of the day was fading as night set it in. A gentle wind stirred her cloak, giving her goosebumps as it ruffled it.

They walked a long distance from the house, so it wasn't a surprise when they saw lights in the distance. They were near the next village which was only a mile away from theirs. It had many wizards and squibs alike living there. She had been told that it was the equivalent to Knockturn Alley in Diagon Alley.

They stayed a distance away as they picked herbs here and there. A bug for a potion, a plant for a paste. The small task became relaxing, so she dropped her shields so she could rest her mental muscles for a bit. Occluding was something she did all the time but it felt good not to be on guard for a split moment. She also remembered Snape telling her not to using it all the time since it might affect her negatively.

After a while, she wondered a bit further out when something moved in the bushes. She froze as something stared back at her with hazel colored eyes that were almost glowing in the dark.

It looked like a small child.

She moved closer and would have spoken when it began to move forward.

No, it wasn't a child.

It was a Sphinx, a baby one at that. Hermione moved away from it slowly and jumped back just as something large wrapped around her arm, all the way up to her shoulder.

Shite!

It was a snake, a rather large one at that. The large head of the snake snapped at her wrist, encasing it in its mouth. A scream ripped through her mouth as she fumbled for her wand. She looked up briefly when Gahiji and Amsu shouted her name but the pain was intense.

The Sphinx had come close, tail raised and pounced on her. She thought it was attacking as well but it went for the snake's head and smashed its skull in. It only made Hermione's scream turn up in volume as the fangs of the snake sank deeper.

Moments later, as her vision began to dim around the edges, the Sphinx spoke in a clear voice. Not child-like at all.

"I was going to warn you, foolish human."

Hermione tried to glare at it but lost the battle against the darkness.

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Unbearable pain woke her up. It felt like something was eating her left arm, the feeling of teeth ripping her veins apart. She opened her eyes but shut them right away.

"Close the flap." Halima's familiar voice said.

Rustling could be heard as the tent flap was closed.

Gahiji's voice spoke up next. "Open your eyes, Hermione."

It took her a second to realize what he had said. She bolted upright in surprise at the sound of her real name, forgetting the pain momentarily...Hermione looked up at Gahiji in surprise and anger.

"You breached my Occlumency shields?"

Gahiji stared down at her for a second, face devoid of emotions, before opening her pack, inside was her wizardly license to apparate along with her fake one.

Fuc...

She closed her eyes as she breathed deeply. This was not supposed to happen. Hermione leaned back against the pillows as Halima, Amsu, and Gahiji stared at her.

"I have been partially lying to you three. My real name is Hermione Granger, a muggle-born from Hogwarts."

All three of them looked at each other in surprise. Amsu smiled a bit. "The one where Albus Dumbledore is Headmaster?"

Hermione forced herself not to react. She only nodded but stopped when Gahiji scowled at her. She winced as the fire spread through her body. Her arm hurt so damn much.

"Don't hold anything back. Tell us everything." Gahiji said in a firm tone. Halima handed her a cup that was steaming a bit.

"Drink that, child," Halima said.

Hermione drank deeply, stalling for a bit before finally telling them everything, the reason for being here, the real reason for everything she was currently doing.

Gahiji halted her speech as he asked her. "So you left at the end of your fourth year? But you don't look fourteen. How?"

Setting the empty cup aside she lifted the shirt she had on. She guessed that they had taken what was left of the cloak off since she was only wearing her shirt and pants. She raised the shirt and showed them the time-turner that was wrapped around her waist.

"I have been using it since my third year at Hogwarts. I am technically nineteen at the moment; closer to twenty actually. I went back one year, so I could study in Romania but it was a waste so I came here for a year. In eight or so months I will go back to the original time, so I can attend my fifth year."

All three of them stared at her in mute silence until Gahiji sighted.

"I know what you seek but it is of the Darkest of Magic. It is so evil that only two books in the world exist, both containing the ritual and other bouts of information. But there are people, the elders, who have full knowledge. I stay away from it since it's something I'm not interested in. If this Tom Riddle has done it...That means he has split his soul to obtain immortality that is the extent of any and all knowledge I know about it. Anybody here won't tell you anything else about it. You will have to search closer to home to get answers."

Immortality.

Riddle living forever wasn't an option. She had already pieced things together about the whole immortality thing. But she didn't like the picture it was painting.

0o0

Hermione tugged her sleeve down, covering the mark left behind by the snake. It had taken almost three whole months to heal. The bite mark itself was beautiful in its viciousness. It wrapped all around her wrist. Over time the redness had faded except for the green vine-like signs of the venom left in her system. Something Halima had said would stay forever with her. Hermione shook her head; it would be a reminder to stay alert at all times.

Walking up the Villa, she noticed that it was still looking the same. To her, it had been two whole years since she had even thought about it.

As she neared the front door, it swung open and there stood Adrian. He drew her into the house, leaving the door open. Hermione held on tight as she heard the others come into the room. To them, she would have left ten minutes ago but to her, it had been two whole years.

Zephrine spoke up after a minute. "Hemi, let my poor boy go. He just saw you not long ago."

She pulled away and was passed onto Dimitry. He didn't embrace her long before she felt somebody tug her hair.

"I think there is a lot of things we need to talk about," said Adrian as he tugged her hair once again.

They spent the day talking about her travels and the people she met; she didn't miss the glance both men in the room had given each other at the mention of Gahiji.

It wasn't until she saw Dimitry winced as he stood that she stopped. Getting up from her armchair, she picked up her bag. The bag itself had been a gift from Zephrine before she had left.

It held an Undetectable Extension Charm, so she had ended up only using it. It was small, beaded... She opened it up and accioed the potion that Halima had taught her to make.

Hermione had mentioned to Halima that she would need to learn everything that had to do with the Dark Arts and that included healing them too. Halima had let her take notes and had watched her make them. The flask was small, its contents swirling inside.

Hermione stood up and made her way to Dimitry. She handed him the potion, "Here, it is a healing potion that will attack anything that leaves traces of Dark Magic behind. It won't cure you fully especially if they have gone untreated for long. It should help with most of it."

He didn't question the contents of it, unscrewed it, releasing the smell. It only made him stiffen as he stared at it for a couple of seconds before tipping the potion into his mouth only to stagger back as he tried to swallow it.

She watched in amusement as he lost his complete composure. He went pale, and Zephrine rushed to his side. Adrian watched in complete astonishment as his father lost it.

Hermione smiled, "It will soon pass. I forgot to mention that it tastes like Dragon's piss and it makes you feel horrible for a couple of seconds depending on the number of curses you have had done to you."

"It's called Anubis Death," she added helpfully.

Dimitry coughed loudly, "Dear Merlin! That tasted bloody awful!"

Zephrine sent Hermione a smile as she patted his back. "But you are standing up without much help aren't you, dear."

Dimitry gave another cough as he sat back down with more ease. "I have never had anything as awful as that. Is it for Dark Curses only? I think I prefer those curses…" he trailed off as his complexion gained a bit of a healthier colour.

Hermione tucked the flask that he had dropped back into her bag.

"Well, I asked Halima, the grandmother of the girl I mentioned, to teach me anything that could heal or at least help with Dark Magic. She gave me three potions and two paste amongst other things. This one was probably the worst one of them."

Her smile faded as she thought of the one person she had specifically thought of when she had asked Halima about the Healing of Dark Arts.

Shaking her head, she set her bag on her lap as she told them everything she had found out about Horcruxes. The conversation became tense as she grew more sombre with the topic. She leaned back and crossed her legs, braid over the shoulder and stared outside as she finished telling them everything.

Dimitry's voice filled the room after a few minutes of silence. "So, basically we have to start the search closer to home. We will have to speak with Severus about it. Can you try and speak with the Portraits that told you about the time-turner?"

Hermione shrugged as she pulled Crookshanks up into her lap. Her familiar had jumped in through the window she had been staring out from to make his way towards her.

She rubbed his head as he purred in welcome. "I don't know. They had told me that it was all they could do for me. The other books that had been in the chest weren't of much use," she said as she gazed back outside.

Storm clouds were moving in, taking away what little warmth was left of the day.

Seconds later rain began to fall, hitting the open window. "I can try once we get back to school. But I'm not sure what they can do. Unless Dumbledore does something else in front of them or speaks of anything will they be able to tell me anything of importance? For now, we keep watch and if you hear anything from the inner circles...We'll see what we do then. If we ask too many questions, we will draw unwanted attention.

They all agreed with her reasoning. She stood, picking up the tea tray and freezing when a loud knocking came from the door.

Hermione set the tray down and walked towards the door, Adrian and Dimitry right behind her. She slid her wand down and waved her hand towards the door. It opened with a loud creak, and she rushed forward to catch Snape as he staggered in. She pulled him in as she turned towards Dimitry.

"Scan the perimeter, take Adrian with you, set up more wards."

Dimitry walked out but Adrian hesitated as he glanced down at her. She nodded her head for him to go and closed the door with a wave of her hand.

Snape spoke up a second later, breath catching as she lifted him to one side; she towed him towards the bed that Zephrine had transfigured. "He was really mad at me. He made sure I 'learned' a lesson. But he waited until the others were gone. Lucius didn't fare well either. Elder Nott was the only one spared since he was the one has been hiding him this whole time."

Hermione lowered him down slowly, but he still released a small gasp. She accioed her bag and grabbed the towels Zephrine had gotten.

"I figured he would," she said as she cleaned the blood and grime from his body with another wave of her hand.

Snape finally looked up and froze.

"Granger?"

Opening her bag as Zephrine helped him take his cloak off, she accioed another potion along with paste as she answered him. "Yes, I look a bit different from last time you saw me. I'll explain after you tell me what spells he used."

Snape stared at her, eyes dark with pain for a second before he brought his shields back up. "He used the Cruciatus Curse mostly. Deprimo, so I might have a few fractured ribs from that one. He really just wanted to weaken me physically so he could use Legilimency to find out everything about Albus and Potter."

Hermione raised his shirt, hesitating briefly before taking a look at his torso only to bite back a curse. His ribs were definitely broken. One bone was pressing against his skin. She waved her wand over his whole upper body, finding faint fractures in his chest as well.

"Why aren't you trembling from the aftershock of the Cruciatus?" Zephrine asked as she dabbed a wet cloth over his neck where the skin had been sliced. Snape looked away as he answered her. "I took some potions which will be out of my system soon. I will feel it then."

Opening the same potion that she had given Dimitry, she pressed it against his lips. He didn't react the same way Dimitry had. He smelled it first and raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed as she pulled it back a bit. "It is safe. I gave it to Dimitry a few moments ago. But if you must. It has Bat Spleen, deluted Dittany, Eye of Newt, Fluxweed, and leaves of a Mature Mandrake."

Even in pain, he would ask that.

It annoyed her that he would question her, but he wasn't a man known to trust anybody. It shouldn't have bothered her in the least.

Snape sipped it and within seconds coughed but didn't spill any of it. Dimitry came back in at that moment, took one look at Snape and gave a Slytherin smirk that Adrian copied as he took in his former Professor. Zephrine scowled at them but the mirth in her eye belied what her face was doing. Hermione would have also smiled too except…

Snape's blank stare broke for a split second as he moved his leg. She moved to her knees and used a slicing hex to get rid of his pant leg. Hermione froze as she took in his leg. It was pale but lean as it lay half shredded near his calf.

Opening her bag once more, she took out some regular Dittany and applied it to the area. He didn't make a sound of pain, but his jaw did gash letting her hear his teeth grinding.

Once the wound was closed she turned to Dimitry. "Get him some clean clothes."

Adrian moved before his father could and headed out of the room to retrieve the clothes.

Hermione moved away from between Snape's open legs and helped him sit up. Zephrine called Sunmi for some broth and bread as well as some ale.

Hermione grabbed her bag and empty bottles; she would have to make more potions. Thank Merlin Dimitry had her father's study turned into a temporary lab before she had left.

Sitting back in her armchair, she vanished the bloody clothes with her hand. It wasn't until she felt several gazes on her did she realize that she was being watched. Leaning back onto the back of her chair, she stared back at them silently.

Zephrine frowned as she accepted the tray from Sunmi. The elf turned to Hermione, giving her a shocked look, her eyes searching her face, noting the slight difference. "Miss Hermione Granger, why do you look older? Sunmi saw miss not too long ago. Miss's magic is different too."

Snape's deep voice drew her attention towards him before she could reply back to Sunmi.

"How far back did you go? And why wasn't I told of this PLAN." His emphasis on plan didn't escape her notice as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

Rubbing her arm slightly as she remembered the bite of the snake she replied tonelessly. "I went back two years. One in Romania and the other in Egypt. I didn't get anything out of the trip to Romania, but Egypt did have some clues."

She told him everything about her trip as she had with the others and remained silent as he processed it. Undoing her braid she stared at the different shades of brown in it.

It was pretty long too. She didn't want to cut it, but it would look suspicious if she showed up to school with long hair. Running her fingers through it, she let it fall down as she ignored Snape's gaze, fully aware that he was watching her every move.

"Can you cut my hair, Zephrine? I think it wouldn't be good to keep it this length."

Zephrine frowned once more, "I like it but you are right. Although you could say you took a potion to make the curls more manageable?"

Already shaking her head, Hermione drew her hair back as Zephrine stood and moved towards the bathroom to get some scissors.

"I see you are able to do more wandless magic?" Snape asked her in a low voice.

Hermione pulled her wand out and set it on her lap as she brought her hands up. "I'm only able to do it with my right hand at the moment. And only basic spells. Everything from my fourth year and back I am able to do. I'm still working on other spells."

Snape stood up as he grabbed the clothes that Adrian had set on the sofa table. "And your studies?"

Hermione frowned as she pulled out a large rolled up piece of paper from her bag and handed it to Dimitry who had taken a seat beside her. Adrian strayed to the kitchen while Zephrine came back into the room with a small bag in hand. "I think I learned everything up till at least the first term of the seventh year. I went by the timetable that Dimitry had made me. Soon I will be able to sit my NEWT's."

Snape didn't seem surprised as he walked into the hallway. She looked away as she felt hands began to comb through her hair.

Dimitry made agreeing noises as he read the parchment he had handed her. "They look about right. For now, continue on as I told you and you won't need to do anything this upcoming year. Although are you sure you are going to be okay with it? You have lived two years away from everybody, will that affect anything?"

Hermione looked at Snape, who had walked back into the living room, as she answered Dimitry. "Nothing has changed really. I may look slightly different and act a bit different but I will continue being the Hermione Granger Harry and Ron know. The know-it-all and bossy body of her year. Dumbledore will suspect me of nothing."

She continued to watch Snape. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with black slacks. She realized she had never seen him in anything so bright. Shaking that thought away as she looked away.

"What will happen with Barty Crouch?" she asked Snape.

He sat across from her as he replied in a mildly bored tone. "He will be questioned repeatedly since Fudge refuses to believe the word of a "mad" man. Dumbledore is still trying to talk to him. Skeeter isn't making it better."

Ah, Skeeter...Now that was something she would have to take care of before the start of the new school year.

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Should I include more things about her two years away? Or more of Summer? Comment and let me know.

Hermione's Patronus is?

Slightly Updated and Edited as of 3/4/19

Vanee