Disclaimer...none of this is mine...dont sue me
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Diagon Alley was far busier then usual. The snow covering the streets of the small wizarding village made passing through them all the more treacherous. Twice Hermione had almost slipped on a patch of ice hidden underneath the white blanket. Pulling her robes around her tighter, she weaved in and out of the large crowds. Making her way to an out of the way bookstore, she pulled open the door and stepped in. As she shook the snow from her hair, she was greeted by the shop owner.
"Ello Hermione. Back again I see. Still looking for that book I take it?" Mr Thompson asked. Seeing Hermione's nod he smiled. "Well, it hasn't come in here yet but I do have one or two othres you may fancy while you wait for the other. Care to look?"
"Oh course Mr. Thompson. Thank you." She said warmly, following the old wizard into his back room. Once there, the store owner turned and closed the door. Taking out his wand, Hermione moved off to the side and watched. Thompson recited a quiet spell, moved his wand over three seperate books and watched as the shelf slid away to reveal a hidden passage.
"Mind yourself Lass. There have been rumors afoot. Some of them concern you." He warned.
"Yes I know. I'll be careful." She nodded, stepping into the passage and removing a lantern from the wall.
"See that you are Miss Granger. See that you are." With that, Hermione turned and started down the dark passage and Mr. Thomspon turned. As the bookshelf began to slide in to place, a stack of books sitting on a table close by fell over. Grumbling to himself about his old bones, Mr. Thompson bent over to collect them. As he did, he felt a brush of cold air against his face. Straightening he took out his wand and looked around. "Who's there?" he growled. The bookshelf slid shut and he replaced the books on the table. With his wand still in hand, Thompson made his way slowly to the door.
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Hermione walked down the cold, dimly lit passage for what seemed like endless minutes. She had made the journey countless times before, but it never seemed to improve or grow shorter. As she rounded a corner a sound behind her made her whirl. Pulling her wand out she pressed herself against the wall and looking into the darkness she had just come through. 'Could it have been...no, there's no one down here. All those rumors make you paranoid Hermione.' Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Hermione lowered her wand but kept a tight grip as she resumed her journey down the tunnel. A faint light became visible as she rounded the final corner of her journey.
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"Miss Granger. How nice of you to join us. Late as usual." came the sneering voice of Severus Snape.
"My apologies, Severus." She said evenly, " I was unaware that you set the timetable for the meetings about the information I have gathered. If this is the case, it wont happen again." glaring as she finished, Hermione cleared her throat and looked to the other two faces in the room. "Professor Dumbledore, Harry" she said, nodding to them.
"Goodevening Miss Granger. I trust you are well?" Dumbledore asked. Throughout her years at Hogwarts, the old headmaster had never seemed to age. He still looked the same as he had in her first year.
"Of course Professor. Thankyou." Her eyes drifted to Harry's. He barely acknowladged her presance aside from a curt nod. Ever since his Godfather's death, Harry had grown increasingly distant. Hermione stopped worrying about it in her 7th year. There were far more pressing matters at hand then a brooding mourner, even if he was her friend.
"As you have undoubtedly heard Miss Granger, there have been rumors floating around. It seems that you may have become a target for the remaining death eaters. After Voldemort's disapearance last year, his surviving followers began to hunt down certain students from Hogwarts. Unfortunatly, we lost several of them." Dumbledore stopped for a moment. Sadness flickered across his old eyes and then left. "Ronald, George and Fred Weasly. Neville Longbottom. Cho Chang and many others fell victims to these attacks. Their loss, is very painful. Especially I imagine, for those of you that were close to them." At this, the old headmaster's eyes looked Harry over. At the mention of Cho's name, her had gone completely rigid. She had been pregnant when the Death Eaters found her. Harry still hadn't recovered. Then Ron and his brothers had disapeared for months. They found them later, at least the bodies. So much loss in such a short time had profoundly affected Harry and Hermione, only in completely different ways.
"Now the Death Eaters have two targets left. Yourself and Mr. Potter are the last surviving members of your Dumbledore's Army. I'm afraid..both you and Harry are going to have to be placed under protection. We are very close to finishing the remaining followers of Voldemort, but as with eevrything, it takes time. After this meeting, each of you will be taken under the protection of an Order of the Pheonix member. They will take you to an undisclosed location and make sure that there is no chance for you to be harmed. " Dumbledore waited while both Harry and Hermione absorbed the information. "It is time for you to go." He said finally. Hermione looked around for anyone else in the room but saw no one. Giving Dumbledore a questioning look, she started when she felt a hand grip her arm. A hand she couldn't see. Looking back to Dumbledore, he gave her a slight nod and before anyone could react, she had reached up and ripped the invisiblity cloak from the owner of the hand on her arm.
"Hello Hermione. How've you been?" Remus Lupin asked her. A slight smile playing across his grey eyes.
"I thought you were dead!" She said, not able to believe he was in front of her.
"Perhaps this is a conversation best saved for a leter date Headmaster. After all, Miss Granger's late arrival and Mr. Lupin's...circumstances have endangered us all. It would be best if they got on their way wouldn't it? Snape said, from behind everyone. Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Quite right Severus. The two of you must leave the city quickly. Remus, you know where to take her. And you must get there before tomorrow's nightfall" Lupin nodded.
"Wait, who is guarding Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at him.
"I am Miss Granger. I will be taking him until this is all over." Dumbledore said, a smile on his face. Hermione nodded. "Farewell Miss Granger, Remus. Perhaps the next time we are all together it will be under far better circumstances."
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Walking back through the corridor, Remus and Hermione were silent. Everytime Remus looked at her, he started to speak but was unable to finish. Finally Hermione stopped abruptly. When he turned to question her, he was silenced as she wrapped her arms around him.
"You have no idea how hard it was, trying to accept the fact that you were dead Remus. You have no idea what it felt like. And now you're here..and you have to take care of me. I don't understand. Where have you been?" She asked, a tear falling down her face. It was quickly wiped away by Lupin's thumb. A gentle smile had replaced the concerned look on his face.
"I was..where I had to be to keep you safe. I've been fighting to keep you alive because I had to come back and see you again. There are things you need to know. Things I have to tell you. But now is not the time. We have precious little of it until we reach the saftey of our destination. Tomorrow night is the first of the full moon. If we don't reach our destination by then, I'm afraid I will become the biggest risk to you. After all I've done, I can't allow myself to be the one who could hurt you." As he finished, his hand moved up to stroke the side of Hermione's face. The other moved a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. Taking hold of her hand, Lupin smiled and they both turned down the tunnel.
"We need to finish this then. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. But after all this time, this is the one thing we have to finish Remus." He nodded silently and they crept into the darkness from the tunnel....
-Fin-
for now...
