Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. The plot is mine, but that really doesn't leave me with much. Maybe if I beg J.K. Rowling for Draco she'll give him to me—It's worth a shot eh?

Chapter 2

Die Again and Again

Hermione looked up from the dagger as panic seized her heart. Was the murderer still out there? Her gaze swept across the surrounding trees, once again attempting to see what might lie in wait. The murky trees prevented her from seeing anything, and her ears strained to hear a sound. But all was quiet. Her mind began to ponder whether or not the murderer might have overheard her conversation with Nutricius, but then remembered they couldn't have heard her. When Dumbledore presented her with the cloak, he explained just how unique it was. Unlike Harry's, Hermione's prevented any sound made by her from being heard. To speak to someone she had to pronounce the word "auditio," followed by the person's/object's name who she wished to speak to. If she didn't specify a person, anyone or thing could hear her. To reverse the spell she just had to say "silentium".

If the person had heard Nutricius speak, hopefully he would just assume it was the ramblings of the dying creature. She should be safe, right?

She could detect no movement from the trees, but couldn't be sure there was no one lurking in the shadows. Slowly she stood up, and began cautiously approaching the forest, in search of anything or anyone left lurking in the shadows.

There was no one around, but it was obvious there had been someone. A very distinct pair of footprints could be seen under a large oak tree. However, there were no tracks surrounding them. At first this puzzled Hermione. The only way someone could leave a lone pair of footprints in the snow would be to have apparated there, but you can't on Hogwarts grounds. But then it hit her. The Forbidden Forest was not part of the Hogwarts grounds. Obviously the witch or wizard that threw the blade apparated to do the job, and disapparated right after. But one question still puzzled her. Why would a witch or wizard, well schooled in the dark arts, use a knife to kill? A spell would have surely done the job much quicker.

Hermione made her way back to Nutricius' body. The blood from the wound in his back had turned the snow around it bright red. His bronzed skin now looked pale, and his wet hair was plastered to his once beautiful face. Already the corpse was freezing, the life having left the body long ago. The snow had continued to fall, but now far more heavily. She knew if she left his body there, the snow would cover it in only a few minutes. Muttering the Mobilicorpus charm, Hermione led him towards the castle. Dumbledore would have to see the body.

Glancing back at the trees one more time, Hermione would have sworn she heard laughter. The sound sent chills down her spine. That was the kind of laugh that bespoke of pure evil.

* ~ * ~ *

Hermione stood inside the castle, not knowing what to do next. She had to see Dumbledore, but surely he was asleep by now. She had removed her cloak and draped it around Nutricius' body, which hovered a few inches above the stone floors. This was one of the few times she wanted to be caught out of bed in the middle of the night. Even if it was by Professor Snape. But as she continued down the halls, heading towards Dumbledore's office, she came across no one.

Finally, after reaching the stone gargoyle that guarded his office, Hermione noticed Professor McGonagall at the far end of the corridor.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione called. McGonagall was the next best thing to Dumbledore.

Minerva had just been heading to bed after a long meeting with the other teachers. She had been one of the last to finally leave, and going to bed was the only thing on her mind. She was halfway asleep already, but when she heard Hermione Granger call out to her, she came awake with a start.

"Miss Granger! What do you think you're doing out of your room at this hour? It is well past midnight. This is not the kind of behavior I would expect from the Head Girl…I'm afraid I will have to report this to Professor Dumbledore."

Just then, McGonagall noticed a puddle of water right next to where Hermione stood. The snow on Nutricius' body had begun to melt and run off his body. The puddle seemed to ripple, as though something was dripping. Minerva began to inch closer to the puddle looking up at the ceiling. As she continued to advance on the puddle, her body ran up against something solid. She abruptly looked back down, but could see nothing blocking her path.

Slowly she reached a tentative hand out directly in front of her, searching for whatever she just ran up against. 'If Miss Granger is out, perhaps Mr. Potter or Mr. Weasley are as well,' she thought.

Hermione saw McGonagall's outstretched hand searching the seemingly empty corridor. Realizing she must have bumped up against Nutricius, she yelled out to her, "No!"

But it was too late, McGonagall had found what she was looking for, and as her hand closed around the cloak, she pulled it off to reveal what was beneath. But when Nutricius' lifeless body was exposed, she could barely stifle a scream.

"Oh my! Is…Is he dead?" she asked while a look of horror and fear crossed her face.

Ignoring McGonagall's question Hermione quickly covered up Nutricius' body again. "I have to see Professor Dumbledore! Immediately! It's really important!"

"Yes…Of course. I don't believe he has yet gone to bed…I'll just try and find him. In the meantime I think it would be best if you waited in his office." McGonagall said looking at Hermione, as though not quite sure what to make of her. 'Did she kill this poor creature?' she wondered silently. Somehow she just couldn't picture the best student at Hogwarts doing something so cruel.

McGonagall whispered to the door "Fizzing Whizzbees" and led Hermione up to the office. Hermione took a seat on one of the chairs across from Dumbledore's desk. She couldn't remember all of the times she had sat in that same chair before. However, none of those times were quite like this.

Finally she heard someone enter the office, and turned around in the chair to face Professor Dumbledore.

"Miss Granger, I was quite surprised when Minerva told me you needed to see me at such a late hour…She told me that it was quite urgent, but I'm afraid she left out any details. Perhaps you would like to explain…"

Slowly, Hermione rose up off the chair and grabbed hold of the invisibility cloak. She gave it a slight tug and the silvery material slid to the floor.

"Oh my!" Dumbledore muttered looking at the corpse floating just slightly above the office floor. "I certainly wasn't expecting this. What happened?"

Dumbledore moved around his desk and lowered himself into to his chair. He leaned forward on the desk, clearly waiting for an answer from Hermione. But his eyes weren't on her. Rather, he continued to look at Nutricius with an expression mixed with disbelief and resigned acceptance.

Hermione sat back down in the chair and took a steadying breath before beginning. "I was waiting for him on the edge of the Forbidden Forest… by the large tree stump…where I always wait for him…"

Glancing at her hands Hermione realized she had been wringing the invisibility cloak in her hands. She began to fold the sleek fabric and tried to steady her shaking hands. She couldn't understand why she was so agitated. She should be feeling relief right now. After she finished telling Dumbledore, it wouldn't be her problem anymore. But that was a lie. That night would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

Looking up from her lap, she glanced at Dumbledore, who gave her a reassuring nod to continue.

"Well, I was just getting ready to leave because it was almost eleven o'clock, but then I heard someone approaching at a run…I could hear hooves…I knew it was Nutricius so I waited…but just before he reached me he just fell down, and didn't get back up…I told him I was going to try to find you, but he told me there wasn't time…He died only a few moments later…There was nothing I could do to help him…" Hermione looked back down at her hands. Her entire body felt numb. She didn't feel any better having told someone. Suddenly she felt extremely tired. She must have been running on pure adrenaline.

"I'll send someone to go and search the area before the blizzard covers up any tracks left. I'm sure the murderer is long gone, but it's obvious who was involved." Dumbledore's gaze rested on the knife that was still embedded in Nutricius' back

Hermione looked up again. "There's only a pair of footprints under one of the oak trees. There aren't any tracks…" Hermione explained. "Whoever it was must have apparated to kill Nutricius…and then disapparated when the job was done."

"Well, someone should still look around, for anything you might have missed." Dumbledore replied as he stood up from the desk and walked around to stand in front of Hermione. "But for now, Miss Granger, I think you should go to bed. This has no doubt been a very stressful evening for you. I'm sure you could use the rest. Tomorrow is Saturday so you won't need to worry about classes. Try to sleep in and take it easy. I can tell your nerves have been stretched near breaking point." Hermione hesitated. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow, but I really think you need to get some sleep. It is nearing 2:00 in the morning."

"Yes…I suppose I need to get some rest…Well, good night Professor."

"I hope Morpheus claims you quickly Miss. Granger."

* ~ * ~ *

When Hermione returned to her dorm room, she nearly collapsed on her bed. She barely had the energy to change for bed. Her limbs were aching from fatigue as she managed to pull back her blankets and climb into her bed. Turning on her side, she noticed she had forgotten to close the window curtains, but couldn't force herself to get out of bed to close them.

The promised blizzard had come at last. The sky was nothing but a frozen blur of white. Vaguely she thought about whomever Dumbledore sent out into the woods. By now it would be impossible to see anything out there. All the tracks would be covered by then, even the large puddle of blood where Nutricius' body had fallen.

Distantly, Hermione heard the tower clock strike two. As she slipped into sleep, her dreams turned towards the first time she met Nutricius.

It had been near the end of October, only a few days before Halloween. Usually everyone at the school was excited over the coming up feast, but not this year. Voldemort had been steadily gaining power over the last two years. He had nearly regained his former status, and a war seemed like the only possible outcome. The ministry was frantic. No one knew where Voldemort was, or who had become Death Eaters. Everyone was suspicious of the others, and Dumbledore was afraid they would try to shut down the school, especially after what had happened to Harry.

As Voldemort's power increased, Harry's scar had begun to burn more frequently. He was constantly passing out momentarily in classes, until that fateful day in potions.

They had been taking notes, when Harry fell to the dungeon floor, clutching his forehead and screaming in pain. Then, he was silent. Hermione knelt down next to his unconscious form and tried unsuccessfully to wake him. When that didn't work, Snape personally took Harry to Madame Pomfrey. They all assumed he would wake up in a few hours time, but when days had passed, Dumbledore sent for doctors from the Ministry who concluded that the coma was caused by "He-who-must-not-be-named" and that Harry probably wouldn't wake up until the Dark Lord was destroyed. But they weren't positive he would ever regain consciousness.

Hermione was determined to help Harry in any way she could. He had been one of her best friends who had helped her out countless times. This time she was going to return the favor.

Speaking to Professor Dumbledore, she asked if there was anything she could do to help the ministry with Voldemort's destruction. She was fairly sure he would tell her there was nothing she could do. She was just going to have to think of something herself. But Dumbledore understood why Hermione asked and two days later introduced her to Nutricius.

The day they met was a perfect autumn day. The leaves on the trees had all changed colors, from the brightest yellow to the deepest red. The fallen leaves covered the Hogwarts grounds, and a light breeze rustled the tree branches. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the sky was the brightest blue. The air itself was so crisp and fresh, if it weren't for Harry's present situation, she would have been out enjoying the day.

She was so nervous about meeting the centaur. The only ones she had ever met were in her first year. Although they were very nice, and had saved Harry, she was left with the impression that they were a bit off their rockers. After all, they were obsessed with fate and not interfering in the lives of others, etc. But Nutricius wasn't anything like that. He had the most incredible sense of humor Hermione had ever come across, and he understood Hermione's need to help Harry. If he had been human, she surely would have fallen in love with him, or at least had a huge crush (even bigger than the one she had on Lockhart in the second year). Instead they became fast friends who worked extremely well together.

The incredible centaur was unlike most of his kind. Most centaurs lived by fate, what will come will come, but Nutricius believed you could make your own fate. He felt that the ensuing war with Voldemort was not limited to wizards, but was going to affect the entire magical world. Nutricius decided to become a spy for the ministry. As a creature of the forests, be often heard about everything that went on in the woods of England. He was able to either witness or, hear from word of mouth, nearly all secret meetings held by Voldemort and his death eaters.

Dumbledore appointed Hermione as a sort for secretary for Nutricius. She would do research for Nutricius and write up formal reports for the ministry. Perhaps it wasn't much, but she had felt like she was really doing something to help not only Harry, but all witches and wizards. It was Nutricius' primary mission to discover Voldemort's weaknesses.

Suddenly, she was in the Forbidden Forest. In the distance she could make out Hogwarts' shadow in the snow. She could see Nutricius running towards her and she was calling out to him, trying to warn him about the knife. But he couldn't hear her. She hadn't said the spell and so her cloak absorbed her cries.

Then she saw the knife flying out of the trees, landing in his back. His steps faltered, and he fell. Over and over again she saw him fall to the frozen grounds of Hogwarts as through he was in replay. And the same word echoed in her mind, 'Lacrimosus'.

Although Hermione remained asleep, she violently tossed herself on the bed as tears coursed down her cheeks. Her cries echoed off the stone walls in her room. There was no one to wake her from the horrible dreams she had, and so she slept on, watching Nutricius die again and again.

* ~ * ~ *

Author's Note: So here was the next chapter. I know we're still just explaining things, and Draco still hasn't appeared in the picture. But I promise he will show up next chapter. I also promise the story's not going to stay this depressing. I just had to start it out this way. It gets way happier in the later chapters. So I hope you liked it, and please, please, please review. Even if my story's shit, just let me know you read it. And if you hated it, tell me why. I'm dying to know what you people think.

Thank you to Sex & Diamonds, michelline, and HarryPotterWanter for reviewing. I promise there will be blatant rated 'R' things in this story. You'll just have to wait a bit.