She returned with Draco before New Years, the adults having business to attend to. The pair took a portkey to Hogwarts, arriving to find a fresh layer of snow had fallen in their absence. They could have been mistaken for an older, pureblood couple as they strode up the path to the castle. Dragon hide boots crunched in the snow, peeking from beneath expensive winter cloaks. Hermione's hand rested on the arm Malfoy had offered her, tucked precisely into his elbow as Narcissa had taught her.
She actually rather liked the meaning behind the gesture, now that it had been explained to her. With her muggle upbringing, she had assumed it was meant to be a sign of the woman's dependence on the man. Of course, Narcissa had been horrified at that revelation, and revealed that the tradition had evolved to allow women the ability to quickly apparate her partner out of danger, as the medieval wizards had carried staffs, which although excellent for duelling were not as proficient at apparating as the wands the witches carried.
Of course, once wands were refined to be just as powerful in combat as a staff, wizards began to carry them too, so the practice became obsolete. The tradition remained, and Hermione was happy to not ruffle feathers unnecessarily.
Tonks was waiting for them at the gates, and the auror fixed them both with a suspicious glare. There was no greeting as they were jabbed with a golden rod and a variety of charms cast over them; certainly more than had been cast at the start of term. She wondered whether that was because of her current company or a general tightening of security as she removed her cloak clasps for inspection.
Her cloak opened, allowing the cold air to filter through and she scowled, wondering whether this was really necessary. They were protective, admittedly the magic was powerful but it certainly wasn't dark. Malfoy's scowl matched hers but he did nothing, merely rubbed his arms as if hoping to create some warmth. Was he used to this treatment? Her scowl deepened; he could only be expected to dislike the "light" if he was treated like this all the time. Tonks hardly came across as friendly.
'Is this really necessary?' Hermione demanded as the young auror took her gloves and began poking a silver rod up each finger. A glare sent her way answered that question, so she asked how Christmas had been instead.
'What did they change in the last edition of Hogwarts: A History?' Tonks demanded in reply.
'They removed the sorting ceremony and we first met in the ladies at the Leaky Cauldron in my first year, you were deciding whether to have green or blue hair to meet a date at Fortesque's.' She snatched her gloves back and roughly pulled them on again, striding past the auror as she finally let them in. Tonks wore a strange expression, but Hermione ignored it, taking Malfoy's arm and striking up conversation with him as they left her behind.
A flash of silver brought them up short, and a scroll dropped from thin air, rolling to a stop at their feet. She almost picked it up, then a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Gellert had her casting a host of detection spells first.
It turned out to be a single line note from Dumbledore, requesting that she meet him in his office at her earliest convenience. She briefly marvelled at the fact that a wizard such as Albus Dumbledore was requesting a meeting at her convenience, then dismissed it in favour of wondering what he considered so urgent.
'You should go.' Malfoy muttered, peering up at the headmaster's tower. She wondered if Dumbledore was watching them at this moment.
'I will. Is he aware of your family's connection to Gellert?'
'I imagine so. Perhaps not the details. He is a gifted legilimens though.' Malfoy's caution was touching, so she mentioned that she already knew, and the the headmaster had taught him Occlumency himself. This seemed to reassure Malfoy slightly, and they parted ways at the start of the grand staircase.
The castle was still decorated for Christmas and she paused several times to admire the spell work; Dumbledore had said at her convenience in the letter. The pauses had the added benefit of giving her time to improve her Occlumency shields. Malfoy had a point, and whatever schemes Gellert was cooking up, she didn't plan to spoil them until she fully understood them. She reached the office in just under twenty minutes, by which point she felt as ready as ever.
One of the portraits must have served as an early warning system because the spiral staircase was already open. She hopped on and the door opened automatically, Dumbledore already sitting at his desk with a chair ready for her. An elf popped in with some tea and a little pile of… was that Eccles cake? She thought her grandma had given her a bit of one when she was very young but she'd never seen anyone eating one since. That being said, Dumbledore was grandfather age, so perhaps he didn't realise how odd it was.
She sat opposite him, glancing at the book titles on his desk with interest. A brightly decorated muggle copy of King Arthur poked out from under a more typical history text and the latest copy of a transfiguration magazine was open on a page listing tips for making transfigured gifts last longer. Dumbledore poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her on a saucer which rattled slightly, betraying a slight tremor in his hands. She briefly dipped into her second plane of vision, using her sight to check for traces of magic in the tea; she trusted Dumbledore, but she didn't trust the he wouldn't use her to get to Gellert. Thankfully, the tea came up clean, no traces of magic to suggest a potion.
'Did you have a good Christmas Professor?' She inquired politely, stirring milk into her tea. The milk too was clean, so nothing fishy seemed to be going on. There was a strange instrument on his desk though, that almost glowed with the magic imbued within – Dumbledore's own. It was tucked behind the transfiguration paper, almost invisible if not for the brightness of the magic.
'Ah, it was excellent as always. The elves truly outdid themselves with dinner, although perhaps I could have done without Gellert's particular brand of gift giving.' The headmaster glanced over at Fawkes' perch, where a rather contented bird was chewing at an obnoxiously coloured pair of socks.
'Socks professor? I was under the impression that was something you wanted.' She commented, noting the small pile of fluff in the tray beneath the bird.
'Very true, Miss Granger, I do appreciate a good pair of woollen socks. The charm work on them, however impressive was not appreciated however.' The headmaster looked regretfully down at his feet. 'Alas, I will not be wearing shoes for some time.'
Hermione wasn't certain she wanted to know exactly what charm, or perhaps curse, Gellert had woven into some socks, nor did she particularly want to end up in the crossfire of another squabble between them, so she changed the subject, asking how the Horcrux hunt was going.
'Well enough, Gellert is a great asset. Greater still if he was willing to share his machinations with the rest of us.' She almost laughed; she knew about the same as Dumbledore. Gellert shared his plans with nobody, and thanks to the silly pureblood rule about women and men separating after dinner, she couldn't even make inferences from being part of the conversation. Ah, she'd left too long a gap to give one of Narcissa's tinkling laughs now,
'Yes, he has taught me a lot in our lessons. I've been working particularly hard on my defence against inferi after he told me about the lake we will have to cross to get to the horcrux.' She took a sip of her tea, decided it needed more milk and reached for the little jug on the tray. The movement meant her robe sleeve slightly knocked the transfiguration magazine, and she pretended interest in it.
'This looks interesting.' She stood slightly to peer at it, catching a better glimpse of the strange object as she did. It was a glass ball, similar in appearance to a remembrall but with a complex arrangement of brass rings around it, each joining another at a complex dial. She sat back.
'Fortunately I didn't enchant anyone's gifts myself this year.' She added, as if she had actually been interested in the article. In reality, it looked rather elementary; she was sure she had already known most of those hints by fourth year.
Dumbledore hummed and picked up the magazine, probably he had figured out her less than subtle attempt to see the instrument, or she had completely imagined that he was hiding it in some great conspiracy. Gellert was rubbing off on her. It wasn't transfiguration monthly as she expected, instead it looked like a special edition of witch weekly with their typeface on the cover.
'I wouldn't recommend taking instruction from this, but it's good to know what level the general public is at.' The great wizard tossed the magazine aside.
'Let's not play games Miss Granger, you know what is at stake in this war. Confusion and secrets only work in Voldemort's favour.'
'I honestly don't know anything.'
'You must know something, even who he received gifts from would be useful at this point. It is essential that Gellert not become too powerful, might I remind you that his war what both longer and bloodier than Voldemort's. I fear we might defeat one dark wizard only to find ourself ensnared by another.' Dumbledore was looking at her earnestly, and she couldn't decide whether she was being manipulated or not. Not to mention how different his tune was to when he had been singing Gellert's praises only months ago, encouraging her to befriend and learn from him, to trust and forgive him. Unless he wanted her to befriend him only so that she could spy on him later. Her head was beginning to ache. She took a large gulp of her cooling tea.
'I'm sorry, I know nothing.' She needed to get out and figure out what was going on. She suspected the war was about to fracture into far more than just the good evil.