A skull. A snake. Deep dark scars carved into the grass of Hogwarts, black lines spreading like rot in the fields. Sand, falling grain by grain into the dark puddle that threatened to swallow her whole.

Shadows, thick like oil puddled around her feet. They were slowly crawling up her body and slipping inside her pores until all that was left was darkness. The void was coming for her.

Time was running out.


"Oh god, what time is it?"

Hermione sat up and immediately regretted it. Her stomach swam with nausea and her head throbbed. She rubbed her face with clammy palms, tousled her riotous curls, and pulled at the oversized cuffs of the rumpled button-down shirt she wore.

"Whose shirt is this?" She grumbled.

"You didn't forget me already, did you, kitten?" She tilted her head automatically, her eyes falling closed as Sirius' stubble grazed her neck. He gently tucked a curl behind her ear before kissing her cheek. "I've never known you to be a morning person, but I must have really tired you out."

"Mmph - good morning, Sirius." Hermione yawned. She turned to kiss him gently, flushing when he deepened the kiss and slid his tongue along hers. He let the kiss linger before pulling away.

"Slept alright, love?"

Hermione frowned slightly, "Been having odd dreams. It's nothing."

Sirius nodded, "Well let me know if you need any help working off any of your energy." He winked before standing from the bed. He paused and turned back to her. "If anything was bothering you, you'd let me know, right?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course. I'm just researching something puzzling right now that's been going on at Hogwarts. Nothing to worry about." Sirius nodded in understanding and stepped into the bathroom.

Hermione sat still for a few moments. She ran her hands over her face again, confused by her dream. What could it mean? She thought back to her day at Hogwarts and the scars of darkness spreading in the grass.

She paused. Wait.

How had she gotten home? Hadn't she just been looking into the trees?

Her back burned faintly and her vision faded to black.


A golden pocket watch. The body of a snake, limp on the ground as it slithered in search of its head.

Sand rose around her. It swirled from ankles to ribs, the vortex tightening, getting more and more snug with each breath. Grains chafed at her skin until it was pink and raw. The dry, coarse texture filled her mouth, her throat, her lungs. She fell to her knees to cough it out, but each wheeze sucked it deeper and deeper into her chest.


"Hey, Hermione. You left this behind at Hogwarts." Hermione startled at Harry's voice. She looked up from the worn tome on her desk to see his hand outstretched with her small beaded bag in offering.

She shook her head slightly and took the bag. "Thanks, Harry. It must have slipped my mind. I've been a little scatterbrained recently." She looked at her desk, covered in paperwork, and paused while looking for a spot to place her bag. She shuffled a few pieces of parchment into an overstuffed drawer and looked back up at Harry.

"No problem. I'm just glad you were able to get a look at the grounds. How is the research going?" He asked, his eyebrows high at the level of disorganization in her space. Books were stacked chaotically on her desk amongst mountains of papers. He could easily imagine a pile tipping in the middle of the night and burying Hermione alive. Although, he pondered, maybe she would enjoy that.

"It's going alright." Hermione slipped a leather strip into the book to mark her place. "There aren't exactly a plethora of writings about the type of root rot that seems to be spreading, but I've found a few ancient herbology texts that report widespread plant decay after major historical events." She grabbed a text from the floor and flipped to a marked page. "You see, there was a far-reaching epidemic in the Wiggentrees of the Forbidden Forest during the 1650s that was caused by an outbreak of fungal blight. The trees were damaged and the rowan wood harvested from the forest had to be burnt and many wandmakers suffered financial losses. We should talk to Professor Sprout and Neville to see what they think."

Harry nodded. "Alright, I'll send an owl this afternoon." He paused, then shuffled his feet. "I don't want to pry, but there has been a lot of change recently for you. How are you handling it?"

"Change?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Harry blinked. "You know, with Ron?"

"Oh, yes." Hermione nodded. She bit her lip in thought, really letting herself think about her answer. "I haven't heard from him, if that's what you're asking. I don't know, I guess things have been so hectic with the house that I've really not had time to think about it. We both know I tend to get lost in things." She motioned to her overflowing desk. "I think living with the boys is doing me a lot of good. They've helped bring me out of the hole that I didn't realize I'd become stuck inside."

"I'm glad to hear that. Things have been strange at the Burrow lately." Harry winced. "Molly obviously didn't take kindly to the news, and Ron hasn't been welcomed back to dinner the last two months. I'm not sure how long this will go on at this point. Ginny feels awful that she didn't notice what was going on, and I think Molly feels the same. You really are welcome to come back to Sunday dinners at any time, Hermione. He's not there, and no one begrudges you for leaving. Especially after what came out in the Prophet."

"What?" She balked. "What was in the Prophet?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "The prophet ran a whole spread on the situation with Lavender." He summoned a copy of the paper and dropped it in front of Hermione's pale face. "They must not have known about the more personal or dark aspects, thank Merlin. But Ron and Lavender became an item within a fortnight, so it's not surprising that they raised suspicion." Harry shrugged. "That, and a few unnamed sources came forward to say that things have been going on longer than was appropriate."

Her stomach dropped in apprehension. She felt nauseous heat running up the back of her neck and her fingers shook. Slapped right across the front of the papers were Ron and Lavender's smiling faces, the two lovebirds leaning close over a morning brunch in Diagon Alley.

The title was printed fat and bold across the top: "Golden Trio Torn Apart By Infidelity! The Scandalous Details of Taudry Affairs and Lascivious Late Night Lovebirds!" Hermione grimaced before dropping the paper in the rubbish bin.

"I've never been one for gossip." She muttered. "I'll let Molly know when I'm ready to come back to dinners. It'll probably be after I solve this issue at Hogwarts. I've obviously got a lot of work to cover." She motioned to her research.

"Alright, whatever you need." Harry smiled cautiously. "Make sure you get home tonight, someone needs to feed Crookshanks."


Hermione winced when the floorboards creaked under her feet and she waited to hear the tell-tale screaming of Walburga. She blinked when she was met with silence.

"Huh." She paused. "I guess Sirius found a better way to insulate the curtains." She muttered. She continued up the staircase, stopping when she saw Draco buttoning his shirt in his doorway.

"How is your chest doing?" She asked, her hands reached up to move aside the crisp fabric and brush lightly across the new scars. "Have you been using the ointment Severus dropped off? He said that it would hopefully reduce the pain that might be lingering. Is there pain?" She worried over him.

"I'm doing fine, Granger." He grumbled. He put on a stern front, yet wound his arms around her waist and leaned back against the wall. He held her in his deceptively lax embrace while looking down at her. "How was Hogwarts? I haven't seen you much since you got back."

"It was alright. I seem to be a little out of sorts. Keep spacing out, you see." She shrugged. Her upper back stung lightly, and she shivered. "I was planning on finding Remus to get into some research tonight. It seems there is a blight at Hogwarts in the grass, but I know there's something more behind it. A simple fungus wouldn't affect the wards the way this one seems to."

Draco nodded, loosening his arms further to let her go. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I'm on desk duty for another week while recovering, so I've got time." He smoothly bent to kiss her neck and her head fell limply to the side. "He's in the library already, go ahead."

He smirked at her dazed expression before stepping back into his room.

Hermione shook her head once again, but the pain in her back flared and she found herself feeling sleepier and sleepier. The hallway dimmed until all that was left was cold darkness.


"Love, are you sure we don't need to talk about this?" Remus panted, his eyes flashing between blue and amber while Hermione pulled at his ear with her teeth. She shook her head impatiently and reached for his trousers. "I - I thought we were going to go over the issues at Hogwarts? Also, wasn't it was just a few days ago that you were panicking about the bonds?"

"Do you think I didn't do my own research, Remus?" Hermione rolled her eyes and deftly flipped the button holding his arousal back from her. "We're bonded by life debts. I'm not your mate, but I'm part of the pack and that's why we feel alright with a polyamorous sexual relationship." She wrapped her hand around his thick length and swept her thumb through the bead of precum leaking out the top. "Would you really prefer to talk about this?"

Remus gasped, twitching in her grip and his hands flew to her hips. Her skirt rumpled in his fists and he hauled her into his lap. "Holy shit, Hermione." He groaned, hips spasming as she expertly wrung his pleasure from him. He slid his palms across her soft skin and shuddered when he felt the distinct lack of a particular item of clothing. "Merlin, Hermione, are you not wearing knickers?"

She hummed in his ear while sucking a new mark into his pale skin. "I don't know, Remus, am I?" Remus' head fell back to hit his chair with a solid thunk and he groaned.

"Are you sure you're okay with thi-" His thought was cut off decisively when she took him firmly in hand and ran the head of his cock against her wetness. "Oh fuck, love. Yes, yes, please." He begged. He tried to let her lead, but couldn't avoid slipping inside slightly. It felt almost like she was sucking him inside of her, her tight warmth hypnotizing him.

She threw her hair back and leaned back to kiss him. She slid down agonizingly slow, enveloping him in slick warmth. She cried out at the stretch and tangled her fingers in his sandy hair. She rolled her hips and Remus groaned. He felt his eyes flickering back and forth, Moony howling in satisfaction while still trying to claw his way to the surface. Remus moved his hands from her hips to her bottom and grasped her firmly before standing up.

"Remus - oh!" Hermione yelped in surprise when he threw her onto the desk. She felt the wet ink of their research notes stick slightly to her skin and couldn't help but wonder about the marks she would be washing off soon. And which marks wouldn't wash off so quickly.

"You think you can tease me, witch?" Remus yanked her by the meat of her thighs to the edge of the table and slammed back inside. His eyes, fully amber, blazed down at her. He hauled her across the desk and tore open her blouse, watching her breasts bounce at the force of his thrusts. He deftly hooked his arms under her legs to keep her spread for him. "Think I'm just going to be some docile pup while you tempt me? Well? Do you?"

Hermione shook her head, tears springing to her eyes as he fucked her harder and harder. "Well, are you going to apologize for taunting me with your sweet little quim?" He lifted her to tilt her hips up, her head falling back onto the desk as her body hung limply. Her toes curled and she screamed out. He felt her tighten further at this ankle and growled lowly. "Think you can just play with the wolf and not get bitten? Say you're fucking sorry, witch."

"I'm s-s-sorry, Moony!" Hermione cried out, tears filling her eyes as he ground at a spot deeper than she could reach with her fingers during those lonely nights. Remus pulled one of her legs up, digging his teeth into her calf while thrusting wildly. "Oh my god, Remus, oh my god!" Her eyes slammed shut and her leg shook in his fierce grip while she came violently.

"Oh god!" Remus moaned, eyes flashing amber to blue in quick succession. He held himself deep, milked by Hermione's orgasm. He spilled inside of her and felt Moony's deep satisfaction when he felt his essence leak from her onto the desk.

He pulled out and they both paused, breathing heavily. She opened her mouth to speak but was overwhelmed when his thick fingers left her hip to push his seed back inside of her. "Where it belongs." Moony purred.


Ruffled, Hermione stepped out of the library with a slight stagger. Black smudged ink ran in lines down the back of her thigh, revealed by her sleep shorts. She stepped into the kitchen to grab Crookshanks' bowl, calling him to her with a low 'tsk' sound.

"Crookshanks?" She called lowly. She didn't want to wake her housemates but needed to feed the kneazle before bed.

He padded lightly into the room before stopping sharply. His back curled and hackles rose, brown eyes glinting orange in the dim light of the kitchen. He growled.

Green eyes glinted back at him in the darkness.


Soooooo hey there. Started a tumblr and the link is in my profile, so there will be regular status updates and previews on there. If you have questions or want to talk, let me know.