A/N: Sorry about the time it's taking me to upload these- I've got exams coming up and so I've got to 'study'. Only a few weeks left of school, however! The end is in sight… for these creatures as for myself. Good luck to us all! Thankyou to my reviewers!

Chapter 39

Some people in the world seem to count reason as the weaker aspect of emotion. Jeremy Potter, though not conscious of this, seemed to be one of these. Having assured himself that Madame Pomfrey was far from the room, he began to set up his apparatus. Thin tapering candles lined the outer rim of the room, and circular diagrams were drawn in ivy charcoal on the floor. With dreadful certainty, he walked around the room three times in a clockwise direction, muttering under his breath. His parents' blank faces remained. Once glance at them reminded Jeremy that he needed the strength of will to go through this. Seating himself in the centre of the protective circle, he closed his eyes and let his soul wander.

~*~

Adrienne felt sheepish, sitting with her hands wrapped around a hot mug of cocoa. Nobody seemed able to meet Hermione's dancing eyes. After settling everyone, Kirati decided to initiate conversation.

"So, am I welcome to introductions?" She smiled at the five 'guests'. Hermione inclined her head and smiled at her would-be rescuers.

"This blonde here is my daughter Lianna, and the one next to her is her father, Draco. The dark-haired girl here is Adrienne, my other daughter, and behind her is Snape, her father; and this is Seeker, who saved my life from a well-placed Devil's Snare. I think they thought to rescue me," she continued, smiling at her audience.

"Oh, well, I guess you do need rescuing, Hermione," Kirati replied, her eyes on the still-silent five. "After all, you're not capable of handling yourself. After all- look at the rope burns you gave yourself!" Hermione glanced down at her wrists and smiled wryly at the red marks on her wrists.

"Oh, I suppose, Kirati. But at least I kept my circulation going. Oh, darlings," she finally turned to Adrienne and Lianna, "What am I going to do with you?" She lunged over and hugged her daughters in a death grip. The girls fought to keep from spilling their drinks.

"It's all right, mama. We just wanted to know if you were ok, that's all. We didn't want you to get hurt. We love you, is all," Lianna spurted. Adrienne just held her mother; wondering when the roles had turned and she had become the mature one in the tiny family. After a few more moments, Hermione returned to her seat and took up her cocoa.

"Sorry, darlings," she said gently, "I just love you too much to want you to get hurt, even if it is for me." She smiled.

"What were you going to use to rescue Hermione?" Kirati wanted to know. Snape smiled maliciously. He pulled out one of his green-gloop globes and handed it over. She took it delicately, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Acidrain," he said to her silent question. She immediately handed it back, after nearly dropping the globe. Her face was white and her hands shook.

"You expected to use that?" she asked.

"No, but I was prepared to be prepared," he replied, some darkly humoured emotion playing in his eyes.

Talk degenerated, after that, with conversation stretching out into the night. At around midnight, however, both Lianna and Draco doubled over and gasped for breath.

"Damned fool, who is doing that?" Draco grated between wheezing breaths. Lianna didn't even bother to try to talk, just choked for air. Everyone else was on their feet, wondering what was going on.

"What's happening?" Adrienne asked Draco, seeing Lianna unable to talk.

"Well," Draco started, straining himself to look up, "Someone's trying to pull our souls out of our bodies by force. You can't feel it physically because you're not so in tune as we are. Damn, damn, damn!" Draco then swivelled out of his body. Those in the room could almost see the coloured reflection of him spin out of his body. Now that he mentioned it, however, the other occupants of the room did feel a little uncomfortable. They looked at each other wonderingly, suspiciously.

"I think we have another problem on our hands. Hasn't this turned out to be such a wondrous holiday, girls?" Hermione quipped in a falsely cheered voice.

"Just wonderful, mama," Adrienne replied, ignoring the small voice that sounded in her mind, telling her to growl at her mother for being trivial. "Let's go home, and see what there is to see." Adrienne picked up her sister, who was still wheezing, and couldn't concentrate on anything much. The others all nodded, although some did wonder when the dark-haired seventeen year old had become their 'leader'. Hermione and Kirati picked up Draco's prone form and they apparated back to Hogwarts.

~*~

Somewhere in the middle of the dark, she could feel the call on her mind, on her soul. Come to me, it said, I'll make you whole…

She struggled, groaned, broke free of the restraints holding her back. She flung herself down the golden pathways towards the voice, towards her destiny. Somewhere, somewhere she would be hole, just like she had always been…