Hermione was preparing to leave for their first Saturday at Hogsmeade. She'd woken up pretty late, for her standards, had a hot shower and got dressed, deciding to skip breakfast – she would get something to eat at the village. She quickly put on her Slytherin scarf, and left her room.

First stop was Malfoy's room, to let him know she'd done the patrol rounds for the month. He was apparently keen on not doing any rounds himself, so she just agreed to it to avoid listening to his complaints, and kept them both out of the rounds – Hermione was sure they would face a Prefect uprising sooner or later, and she'd put the blame on Malfoy when the moment came.

She knocked on his door and read through the schedule quickly, to make sure she hadn't missed anything. By the time his royal highness opened the door for her, as soon as she raised her glance a smug-looking Pansy Parkinson shoved her aside, leave the room and looking as if she'd spent the night. Narrowing her eyes, considering if that could actually be a possibility, Hermione followed her with her gaze while she left, then turned towards Malfoy, who was just staring at her from the bed, looking quite confused himself.

Deciding she could easily ignore that odd part of her morning, Hermione entered his room and closed the door behind her, handing him the parchment.

"Prefects patrolling rounds?" He asked, scrolling through it.

"I need to talk to you," she answered instead, taking back the schedule after he was done reading it. Draco's gaze was on her almost immediately.

"If this about Pansy, I –" he started to say, but she interrupted him before he could finish.

"Pansy?" She repeated, confused. "No, why would I care about Pansy Parkinson? It's about Blaise."

Hermione had decided she needed to tell him his best friend was an Order member behind their back and she figured she'd tell him right then, so he wouldn't be forced to interact with anyone for the weekend and he could process it without making a scene and killing someone – most likely Blaise.

"What about him?" He looked wary now.

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "He's switched sides."

"Blaise Zabini has switched sides?" Draco asked, skeptically, almost as if to make sure he'd heard correctly. Hermione nodded. He looked at her like the idea of his friend being a blood traitor was simply insane. "This is Blaise we're talking about," he repeated, after a while. "Vain, elitist, hard to please, Pureblood Blaise."

Hermione sighed. "I'm not lying, Draco. I saw him. He was with Luna and Teddy Tonks in that house we attacked before coming back to Hogwarts."

"Was he, now?" He asked, raising a blond eyebrow at her. "Then how come we found no one inside?"

Hermione looked away. "When I found them I created a Portkey so they could leave," she admitted, reluctantly.

"You let two blood traitors run away?" Draco asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

"I wouldn't have, if Teddy wasn't with them. He's just a baby, Draco." Hermione wasn't sure that was the whole truth, but she decided to let it go for the moment. She could reconsider her life choices another time.

"Granger, you're telling me that one of my literal three friends is a fucking blood traitor," he almost screamed.

She didn't quite know what to do, so she just cleared her throat and made to leave. "Look, I'm sorry it had to be this way. I just thought you should know."

He didn't even acknowledge her while she left his room. Draco Malfoy was just staring into the nothing, silently.

Once she'd shut the door, Hermione leaned on the wall of the dungeon for a few more seconds, trying to calm down before she went to the Ravenclaw Tower to leave the patrol schedule for the sixth-year and fifth-year prefects.

The Ravenclaw common room was completely different from the Slytherin one, although it had the same colors. It was a nice different. There was something mysterious about it, maybe a remanence of Rowena Ravenclaw – even in knowledge there is a non-crossable limit. Hermione would have liked to live there, much to the Hat's great indecision – whether a Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor.

She sighed at the memory of how easy life used to be back then – mountain troll that almost killed her and all – and stuck the parchment sheets on the main board with her wand, ignoring the chatting around her. Hermione recognized Astoria Greengrass as one of the voices. She hoped she didn't see her, so she could still have her nice, quiet day without unpleasant interferences, but of course her luck had flied out of the window.

"You think you've won, don't you, Granger?" The younger Greengrass said, behind her.

Hermione smirked at that and turned around. "If you really want to make a scene, perhaps you should ask Pansy where she spent the night. Aren't the two of you besties or something?"

Astoria visibly paled. Well, if she thought the Slytherin Prince wouldn't move on so quickly, she was very wrong.

"Pansy wouldn't do that, she's my friend," Astoria affirmed, sounding more like a poor attempt at convincing herself that Hermione was lying.

"Believe what you want, really, it's not my problem." Hermione shrugged and left the tower.

She ignored Filch's glance of disdain as he checked she was on his list and left the castle, smiling. About twenty minutes later, she was sat at her table at Three Broomsticks Inn, her cloak almost completely wet because of the snow.

Madam Rosmerta greeted her with a smile and brought her the usual: molasses pie and Butterbeer. She had taken Hamlet with her, so she could kill some time, but it didn't take long for her to regret the choice. Hermione was all but in the right mood for Hamlet but she opened the book and started reading anyway, taking a piece of cake.

Smiling as she felt the familiar sweetness of the pie, she turned the page and took of sip of Butterbeer to stop herself from sighing when Blaise Zabini sat in front of her.

"Next time I'll ask him if I can murder you in your sleep." Hermione glared at him and got back to her book.

"Would you really do that?" He narrowed his eyes, somewhat really close to confused.

She raised an eyebrow, surprised by his reaction. "I'm sick of you, you just pop up everywhere." Besides, he seemed to have made it his priority not to leave her alone, which was pretty annoying per se.

"You told Malfoy." It wasn't a question or an accusation, it simply sounded as a statement.

She had told Malfoy. It didn't seem fair to know and not tell him his mate was basically a fraud. More than anything, she was surprised Blaise had found out so quickly.

"So?" Hermione took another sip of her beverage.

"You said you wouldn't."

"I said I wouldn't tell the Dark Lord, and I didn't. Yet. I don't seem to recall Malfoy was included."

Blaise shivered, but she wasn't paying enough attention to see that.

"Speaking of, how come he's not here? Aren't you two always together or something?" He asked, a bitter note in his voice. He was odd, more than usual.

"We most certainly do not." She was quite disturbed that Blaise, of all people, thought they were a thing. He spent around time around Slytherins to know that was not the case.

"Of course not," he muttered, unconvinced. "Ginny didn't take her detention very well, by the way," he added after a few minutes of silence, starting to play with her bookmark.

"Not my problem. I did what had to be done, I really don't think it's the case to complain about a few carnivore slugs," she snorted.

"I thought there was some kind of truce going on," Blaise said, and she raised her gaze from Hamlet to look at him.

"The first time we managed to speak like civilized people, she was blackmailing me. The second time, I needed her to do her part in a plot that, by the way, was a win for everyone," she clarified. "Don't mistake the fact that I haven't killed you all after you stole my key for truce." She snatched her bookmark from his hands and closed the book, then left two galleons on the table and put her cloak on, ready to leave.

Just as she was turning around, though, Nagini appeared in front of her, with a parchment roll between her teeth. Hermione took it and unrolled it, sighing.

The matter you brought to my attention has been taken care of. Nagini will be my eyes and ears for a few hours, just in case the rebels try to do something stupid.

Hermione smirked. Dolores Umbridge was dead, finally. "Delightful," she muttered. "Come, Nagini." She tried not to think about the fact that the whole Inn was looking at her, again. She had honestly stopped caring. People would stare no matter what.

It was freezing outside so Hermione cast a quick warming spell on herself. At least the snowing had stopped. When she was almost half the road to the castle – she certainly wouldn't have a walk around Hogsmeade with Nagini following her – she saw three people coming her way but only recognized them when they came nearer. Daphne, Theo and… Blaise.

Daphne approached her smiling and Theo was about to hug her but Hermione ignored them and yanked Blaise's arm. "How can you be here, did you Apparate?"

There was no way he'd passed her on his way to the castle and she'd left the Inn while he was still inside.

"Even if I could, why would I Apparate?" He asked, confused.

"Because I've just talked to you ten minutes ago." She was not going crazy. She was absolutely not crazy.

"Hermione, Blaise's been with us the whole time." Theo put a hand on her shoulder and drew her closer.

"Then who have I spoken with at the Three Broomsticks'?" Hermione asked, exasperated.

The three of them looked at each other, worried, then a realization came to her. "Your bloody girlfriend has something to do with this, hasn't she?" She asked, surprised she hadn't thought about it before. That had to be it. Ginny, Luna, it had to be them. Maybe someone had taken some Polyjuice Potion hoping they would get some information out of her.

"Your what?" Daphne's voice had raised in pitch and, from the looks of it, she was about to start skipping.

"Don't talk about her like that," Blaise growled.

"Hermione, tell me who she is!" Daphne was demanding, in the meantime. Hermione knew she'd condemned Blaise to a few weeks of harassment from her but she could positively affirm he deserved it.

She ignored Theo's pleads, as the poor Slytherin was trying to calm his girlfriend down.

"You'd better stop doing whatever it is you're trying to do, Blaise Zabini, or I'll make you."

Hermione stormed off, as she felt Nagini climb up her leg and on her shoulders, effectively slowing her down, and hoped to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible, so she could finally have some peace.

Once she returned to the castle, Hermione refused to stay closed in her room for the rest of the day, but hated to face the reality: she was drawing way too much attention in the common room, because of Nagini – sprawled out on the leather sofa she was sitting on – looking around the room and observing the seventh-year students. She couldn't say she blamed them, either. A snake in the common room was unusual, even for Slytherin.

Her meeting with the two Blaises had made her good mood disappear. The only thing she could hope for now was that people would eventually get used to Nagini – fast – and stop staring at her, whispering, like she couldn't see them.

A few hours later, Hermione decided it was time for lunch. Since almost everyone usually ran off at the first chance of rare freedom they had, the Great Hall would be empty. Nagini had started hissing at people – the hint was she was hungry but Hermione didn't think she could let her eat someone – so she just moved them both to the Great Hall. As predicted, the seventh-year table was empty, aside from a few people. She was glad to see they wouldn't scream at the sight of Nagini.

A few minutes later, Draco entered the Great Hall as well and sat in front of her, his expression as hard as could be. He looked at Nagini questioningly, then put his eyes back on her.

"She's here on reconnaissance," Hermione explained. "Have you talked to him?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer. With the two Blaises, she didn't really know who had been telling the truth and who was a fraud – well, they were both frauds, really, but still.

Draco nodded, then started tearing apart a slice of bread. She poured herself some more pumpkin juice and they both finished their lunch silently. As another scream caught her attention, she found that Nagini hissing at Pansy, which inevitably brought an amused smirk on her face. Not even Horcrux snakes liked Pansy Parkinson. Astoria was standing right next to her, and, seeing as they were there together, she guessed it had something to do with Pansy sleeping with Malfoy while Astoria still had her teenage crush on him.

"Granger, tell it to stop!" Pansy demanded, the fear quite tangible in her voice.

Hermione smiled and looked at the snake. "I'm not her master. She just wants lunch, it's fine."

Draco cleared his throat, slightly amused too, and nodded at Pansy, although he was clearly not happy about it. For a brief second she considered that Draco Malfoy being the responsible one had to be a tell of an incoming disaster.

Hermione sighed and told the snake to leave the girl alone. When the animal finally did, Pansy and Astoria didn't leave, they just stared at Malfoy arm-crossed.

"Good luck," Hermione chuckled and left them alone. With Malfoy's mood that day, they both had a high chance of being left standing in the middle of the Great Hall.

As soon as she was out there, Nagini disappeared with a soft puff. Hermione sighed in relief. Ten minutes of wandering around the castle later, she was finally back into the common room, where she sat next to Theo on a leather sofa. None of them mentioned what had happened earlier, and things between them were never awkward or tense. Theo told her he was actually waiting for Daphne to emerge back from her room, which, she knew, could take a while.

"Have you seen Malfoy? He said he'd let me copy Muggle Studies," Theo complained. Lazybones was the first word that had crossed her mind when she'd met him. He reminded her of Ron a lot, sometimes.

"Great Hall, but I don't think he'll be back anytime soon," she laughed, and he looked questioningly at her. "He's with Pansy and Astoria."

After finally getting it, Theodore Nott burst into laughter, with that laugh of his that just made you smile as well, for some reason.

"What have I missed?" Daphne asked, walking towards them.

"You know, it's rude to laugh at someone else's expense." Draco appeared from the stone entry and literally collapsed on the couch they were sitting on.

"It's really not, if you just dive right into it," she commented. "How did you get out so soon?"

"I ran. But I think I got it clear that I'm not marrying either of them. Like today wasn't shitty enough." He made a face and closed his eyes.

"Speaking of, guess who we saw at Hogsmeade," Daphne interrupted.

Draco grunted but nodded at her to continue.

"Dahlia Vearjack."

He scoffed and mumbled something she didn't understand.

"Who's that?" Hermione asked, in spite of herself. It sounded like a big deal.

"She was my betrothed, she graduated Hogwarts last year," he answered.

Hermione made a face. "You had a betrothed? What sick society do you even live in?"

"It's actually quite common among ancient families."

Betrothed, it sounded so Middle Ages. People should get married they're in love, not because of some magical contract.

A few seconds later they heard a loud explosion coming from the dorms and someone walked out a cloud of black smoke. The figure was rather familiar but in the confusion the explosion had caused, Hermione couldn't really recognize it. The boy was muttering something about a potion.

Minutes passed, and no one made a sound as Snape and Filch marched into the room. Outraged, he looked at the boy, now covered in black because of the smoke.

"Longbottom!" Their Headmaster looked even taller, "Detention!"

Hermione had to stop herself from laughing at the familiarity of that scene.

That night they were all moved in the Great Hall, as the dungeons were filled with a crew of wizards trying to clean up the dorms and get rid of any side-effects the explosive potion may have left.

Hermione sighed into her sleeping bag. She couldn't go to Draco's room, obviously, and she knew that without him and without that blue, vaguely bitter potion, she wouldn't manage to get some sleep and control her hyperactive mind. The only solution seemed to be not getting any sleep at all, but her eyes were refusing to collaborate and she feared for the consequences. Malfoy was on the opposite side of the room and she couldn't let anyone find out about the nightmares.

So she started counting. She counted for what it felt like hours, but, looking at the charmed ceiling showing a rather cloud-free sky, she found that the moon had barely moved from its place since she started. What she didn't consider was that counting actually made her even more sleepy. She would have liked to read, study, occupy her mind, but she couldn't.

A memory from her first year gave her the answer, when she had told Harry and Ron the secret behind the charmed ceiling of the Great Hall, which she had read about in Hogwarts: A History. It was Harry. Harry, who had Summoned his broomstick to win the dragon challenge in fourth year.

She only needed to wait until everyone was asleep, then sneak out the Great Hall and summon her Dreamless Sleep Potion, but it was barely nine and she could still hear voices whispering in the Hall. Right beside her, Daphne was already asleep, but Millicent was still chatting with Tracy.

She felt like the waiting had lasted for hours, as McGonagall finally told them to hush and go to sleep. As she got up and sneaked out, barely managing not to trip in the other sleeping bags in the process, she took a few steps into the first-floor hall to make sure no one could hear her, then summoned the potion, that arrived flying at her within moments later.

She took it and drank it all, sighing when she noticed she had almost ran out and the small sip she had taken wouldn't be enough. She could only hope the damn potion did its job. But it didn't.

She dreamed about her parents again, although they were now safe and with every magical ward she could remember to protect them from anyone who wasn't her. She didn't scream, didn't feel her throat ache, but Daphne woke her up claiming she had moved so much she got over her. When she opened her eyes, definitely damp, she had enough lucidity not to scream as she felt her Mark burn. It was important. She could hear the voice in her head ordering her to get back to the Manor. She only hoped he hadn't found out about the plot to get Umbridge out of her life.

Daphne, however, being Daphne, had woken up almost the whole damn Hall, along with McGonagall and Nearly-Headless-Nick, their guardians for the night.

She put a hand on her forehead, wiping away the sweat. "I'm fine," she automatically said, without letting her speak.

"Are you sure? You look terrible." her worried voice got neared.

"Gee, thanks, Daph."

Getting up, Hermione only took her wand with her and whispered a goodbye to Daphne.

"Miss Granger! Where do you think you're going?" McGonagall was shouting from the other side of the Hall.

She turned around and showed the witch the excuse on her forearm. "Following orders."

As the Great Hall turned silent, she stormed out of the room, resigned on her incapability to stay out of the spotlight, for whatever reason. It was too late for that anyway.

After she'd Transfigured her sleeping attire into something warmer – and appropriate for the outside world – she had to walk to the Forbidden Forest to find an Apparition point outside Hogwarts' grounds.

As she found herself standing in front of the gates of Malfoy Manor, she waited for them to turn into smoke and let her pass, then for the front door to swing open. When she finally made it to the Drawing Room, she sure as hell wasn't expecting to see what she saw. Her parents and Lord Voldemort were having dinner. Hermione felt like fainting for a moment but she managed to stand still.

Her parents were in Australia. They had promised and assured her they would stay there until winter break was over. Still, they were somehow seated at the great table in the Drawing Room. She could tell they were real, not someone who had taken some Polyjuice Potion.

She approached the table and sat down, glancing questioningly at the Dark Lord.

"Your parents were so kind as to visit us, Hermione. I thought you may have wanted to join us," he explained.

Hermione didn't really know what to say or do if she was being honest. "Yes, my Lord, thank you," she blurted out. "It's nice to see you," she turned to her parents and hoped the implicit question in her tone wasn't that obvious. What the living hell was going on?

"We've missed you too, sweetheart. Lord Voldemort was telling us about his recent successes in the war." Her mother's voice had trembled when she mentioned his successes and Hermione didn't really have to think about the hidden meaning behind that. Muggle history was what it was, she could only hope Lord Voldemort knew nothing about it.

Most wizards thought Muggle business was little less than trash and, consequently, they didn't bother with learning their history. Hermione was really counting on it, for once, since it kept her mother away from the possibility of being cursed to death.

The last thing she wanted was for her parents to get killed. She knew that if that happened, if the Grangers were killed by magic, she would never touch a wand again. She would point it at herself and cast her first Avada Kedavra, rather than living in a world where part of herself was responsible for their death.