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Chapter Two – The Dragon's Quill

Hermione followed Blaise into the bookshop. She looked around, slightly frightening. The bookshop was very old looking, quite dark, (even though it was sunny outside) and looked quite .. forbidden.

"Stick close to me .. and whatever you do, don't touch anything you don't recognize, okay?" Blaise whispered into her ear. She had never realized how close they were to each other until his warm breath tickled her ear. She nodded.

"Blaise! Good to see you" Came a soft, icy voice from behind the counter. Blaise curtly nodded. Why so formal with relatives? Hermione thought.

"Well well well .. who might we have here?" The man drawled, stepping closer to Hermione. Blaise was just about to answer for her, when Hermione spoke up.

"Hermione Granger, and you might be..?" She asked, in a professional, and slightly impatient tone. The man narrowed his eyes. "Randalf Zabini, at your service" He said, slightly taken aback. He obviously didn't expect Hermione to respond the way she did.

"Right then, lets take a look at those books, shall we?" Blaise said hastily. He wanted to get away from his uncle as soon as possible. Hermione nodded, and followed him.

"What subjects are you looking for?" He asked curiously. Hermione thought for a moment. "Something on Veil at the Department of Mysteries" she replied quickly. She really didn't want to explain why.

Thankfully, Blaise didn't ask any further questions. He led her to the farthest, and quite possibly the darkest, corner of the bookshop. Hermione immediately started shuffling through books. Blaise lurked off into another corner, but still not too far from her.

Then, Hermione found it. The mystery of the veil. "Aha!" she proclaimed quietly. She flipped through the pages. This was it.

Those who have fallen through the veil can be retrieved, but it takes a complicated process..

She shut the book. I'll read it later She thought excitedly. Scanning through other books nearby, and came upon a lot of very dark books. 101 ways to have fun with mudbloods, Handbook for Deatheaters, and The unforgivables – Your best tool were among the titles.

Finally, after seeing enough Dark Arts books to know that she needed to get out of the bookshop, she proceeded to make her way over to Blaise.

"Got what you need?" He asked with a friendly smile, which Hermione returned. "Yes. Are you ready to go?" she asked. Blaise nodded.

She made her way to the counter. "Ah, Miss Granger" He said silkily, acknowledging her. She nodded curtly. He picked up the book she had selected. "The Veil, hmm?" He said, looking at her curiously. "Why would a pretty thing like you be interested in something as useless as the Veil?" He asked, his cold eyes fixing her a piercing stare. She returned his stare. "I believe it is no business of yours to find out" She replied coolly, before paying for the book.

As soon as they had opened the door to leave the shop, a cold voice spoke. "Do have fun with her, Blaise. It would be a shame to let her go undamaged" said Randalf, just before Blaise slammed the door closed.

Hermione looked curiously at Blaise to see his reaction. His face, once again, was expressionless. "Ignore him. Just another example of the dark side of my family" he said bitterly, avoiding Hermione's gaze.

Hermione didn't really know what to say. Blaise seemed like a decent person. There was something strikingly similar about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The two made their way through Knockturn Alley silently, while Hermione discreetly observed Blaise.

He had wavy black hair, similar to Harry's. He had brilliant blue eyes, that sparkled when he seemed happy or excited. He seemed to come from a family of Voldemort supporters, yet despised the Dark Arts. He was definitely a ladies man (like Draco) .. she had heard the rumors. He had a charming smile, yet he seemed to look like the bad-boy type. Suddenly Hermione realized what seemed so familiar about him. He reminded her of Sirius. In a way, though, he reminded her slightly of Draco as well.

They soon arrived at Diagon Alley. Hermione turned to him. "I really must be off now, people are expecting me home. Thank you so much for accompanying me!" She said, smiling. He returned her smile. "Anytime. Just owl me." He said with a wink. And with that, they departed.

Hermione approached the door of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. She opened the door, and walked inside. Immediately, questions were aimed at her.

"Where have you been?"

"Diagon Alley?! In the morning? Its far too early to buy books!"

"Dear, I've been worried silly about you .. I know Tonks gave you permission and all.."

"Why didn't you bring us with you?"

Hermione sighed. "I told Tonks I'd only be an hour, tops" She said, looking at her watch. "I've only been gone for 45 minutes! Honestly!" She added. Molly gave her a motherly smile.

"I know you're very capable of handling yourself dear, but next time it would be better if someone accompanied you" Mrs. Weasley said. Hermione smiled.

"Someone was accompanying me" Hermione replied, with a mischievous look in her eyes. Remus, Tonks, Harry. Ron, Ginny, and Molly (all those present at the moment) gave her a puzzled stare.

"I met Blaise in the Leaky Cauldron. He accompanied me to the bookstore" Hermione replied, with a slightly smug look. Ron's mouth dropped, Harry looked surprised, Ginny winked, Remus looked bemused, Tonks look .. all-knowing, and Mrs. Weasley looked confused.

"ZABINI?!" Ron yelled

"The Slytherin hottie?" Ginny asked, with a smirk. Ron looked outraged at his sister. Harry looked like he was going to laugh.

Hermione had expected this. "Yes, Blaise Zabini. He was very nice.. He comforted me after I got all angry over the front page of the Daily Prophet.." She replied, looking at Harry. His blank expression indicated that he hadn't read it yet.

"And then ..?" Ginny asked suggestively, the smirk still present on her face.

"Ginny!" Hermione and Ron said together. Hermione seemed shocked that her friend would suggest that something more took place. Ron seemed outraged that his sister even thought like that.

"Nothing. Nothing happened. Not like its any of your business, anyhow. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do" Hermione said sternly. Everyone got back to whatever they were doing before Hermione came home.

No one is really sure of the Veil's purpose, or what happens once someone falls through it. Some believe it is the entranceway to the netherworld, some believe it leads to another relm. Some believe that it leads to hell, and some believe that it is merely a holding place. Each theory as unlikely as the next, no one has ventured beyond the Veil. At least, not on purpose.

The Veil is, although no one knows why, a very important magical item. No one can explain how it ended up in the Ministries possession. It was believed to be designed by the Hogwart's founders, but this fact has never been proven correct, considering that most of the Veil's history remains a mystery.

For those who have fallen through the Veil alive, there is still hope, although no one knows what leads beyond the Veil, or what the Veil holds in store for those who fall through. For no one can fall through the Veil unless they were predestined to do so, this is one of the magical properties of the Veil.

Hermione's mind swam with possible ideas. Could she bring Sirius back? How? And what happened when you passed through the veil? Her mind was heavily overworked. Without a second thought, she shut the book and fell asleep.

She was walking down a long, cold corridor. An invisible draft chilled her to the bone.

She reached then end. A pretty girl with long, silvery-blonde hair and dazzling turquoise eyes stood in front of her. She had to be no older than Hermione, probably 16ish.

"It is better to have not known than to know and ignore" The girl said, in a wise voice.

"You have the knowledge. There is no turning back. Use it wisely. Observe the stars." She finished, before the world around her spun vividly and disappeared.

And with that, Hermione Granger woke up.

Her mind hurt. What had the dream meant? It seemed out of the ordinary. It felt like the girl knew something. It felt as if the girl had known that Hermione had read that passage about the Veil. It felt as if the dream had a message. A message of hope, in an eerie sort of way. Shaking these disturbing thoughts out of her mind, she made her way downstairs for breakfast.

The first thing Hermione noticed as she descended down the stairs was the delicious smell coming from the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, no doubt Hermione though, smiling to herself.

"Good morning Hermione" Remus said, looking over his morning paper.

"Good morning Remus" She replied as she took a seat.

"Hey 'Mione.. Have a good sleep?" Harry asked, looking at her with a bit of concern. Hermione nodded.

" gmornn mione" Ron said, with his mouth full. Hermione rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you, Ron .. don't talk with your mouth full!" Hermione scoffed half-heartedly as she took a sip of orange juice.

The second thing she noticed was there were a couple new people sitting at the table. Her eyes traveled to a young woman, most likely no older than 25. She had long, sleek black hair, and shockingly .. violet eyes, but a natural shade of violet. The person sitting beside her looked like a younger version of Professor Dumbledore. He had long, silver hair and a short beard. The person sitting next to him, was a young man. He had to be no older than 16. He had brown hair, and a light dust of freckles on the bridge of his nose. He was quite handsome. But the person next to him ..

Was the girl Hermione seen in her dreams.

Hermion choked on her juice.

"Hermione? Whats wrong?" Remus asked. He followed her gaze to the 3 new people. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry, I forgot to mention .. We have 4 new members of the order. They come from .. er, Overseas" Remus said, smiling at the newcomers.

"This here, is Mintaka Cygnus. She prefers if you call her 'Min'" Tonks said, pointing to the first witch, with black hair.

"This here, is Pleiades Betelgeuse. He's Professor Dumbledore's nephew" She continued, pointing to the man who looked like a younger version of Professor Dumbledore. It all started to make sence.

"This here, is Rigel Aquila, he will be joining you four at Hogwarts. He will be in 6th year, like you guys" Tonks said, looking at Hermione, Harry and Ron. Ginny looked over at Rigel, and he winked at her, causing her to blush.

"And this, is Vega Saiphia. She too will be joining you in 6th year" Tonks said, finishing her spiel. Hermione examined Vega. She looked exactly like the girl in her dreams. Now Hermione was utterly confused, mystified, and excited .. all at the same time. She was excited that there would be two new 6th year students. She was mystified by their sudden "appearance" and will to join the Order. Plus, weren't they too young? And lastly, she was utterly confused. How did this girl end up in her dream, if Hermione had never seen her before in her life?

Harry was looking at Hermione with an odd expression on his face. Concern. "Hermione, are you OK?" He asked. Hermione snapped out of her thoughts and was brought sharply back to earth.

"What? Oh yes, I'm fine, don't worry about me.." She replied, staring off into space.

Their lives were about to get a lot more interesting.

Author's Note: Well, there you have it. Another chapter. Hope in you enjoyed it! Please review and leave your thoughts and comments. :)

Not-prgnant-thnk-GOD – Thanks! We'll here's the update :)

BlackRose – Thanks :) For the moment being, I'm going to keep the pairings a secret (all the pairings will be revealed at the same .. hopefully it might be a bit of a shocker.. hehe) but I can assure you .. no HP/HG, HG/RW or HP/GW.

Thank you both for reading and reviewing! :)