NOTE THIS: I AM UPDATING THIS WITH OUT MY BETA'S CONSENT. SHE IS LIABLE TO KILL ME FOR IT, SO WHEN SHE SENDS ME THE EDITED COPIE IT WILL BE GOING UP. PLEASE KEEP CHECKING TO SEE IF IT IS UP, AND I WILL TELL YOU ALL IF SOMETHING HAS BEEN CHANGED IN IT, SO YOU KNOW WHETHER OR NOT TO READ. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO EMAIL YOU WHEN IT IS UP, THEN PUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REVIEW. THANK YOU!

A/n: Well, this isn't too terribly late, with all things considered, its actually rather timely! Good news for my few readers (seems as though my number has diminished staggeringly in the past month or so…. Ah, well, its alright.) Next week is my LAST WEEK IN SCHOOL for this year, so the updates should be rather weekly then on out. (I intend to finish this story before school starts back). Saturdays will probably be my new update days after this. Just thought I'd be a little ray of sunshine for you all! Well, I hope that you all like this chapter, and will REVIEW! Heck, I'm getting rather desperate (it's pathetic really, but I'm not a proud person), tell your friends, tell your siblings, tell your parents! Tell ANYONE! I am review hungry, and I feel like I'm starving. (not that the reviews that I get aren't superb, its just that well… I'm a monster… so yea hehe) If you're reading this and not reviewing ever so often (preferably every chapter…. ) then shame on you! (but don't stop reading) Is it obvious that I want more reviews, but don't want to offend any one? Hehe. Well, next week is finals and I'm starting college on Monday (summer sessions start before my school is out, doesn't that suck? Er…) So you can expect the next chapter in (cringe) two weeks. (as in, not this Saturday, but rather the one after that, as I am so swamped…) Sorry! Well, I'll shut up now, please R&R! I love you all so much! Muah!

Love ya!

Aimee

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Sanity of the insane

Chapter fifteen

Revelations

Harry reached out and grabbed Ginny's arm before she rounded the last corner to the Gryffindor common room.

"Wha—" Ginny started, but Harry pressed a finger to her lips and pointed around the corner.

There stood Emily, Draco, and Dankst, talking in hushed voices that Ginny could just catch snippets of.

"Wait a moment…" Harry breathed as he dug his hand deep into his robes. A moment later, he pulled out something long and flesh colored. Ginny's face lit up, extendable ears! Harry quickly attached the ear to both of them and let it slither its way to the group that was conversing so vehemently.

"So, you're sure then Draco?" Emily's voice snapped, to Ginny's delight, she seemed pretty peeved.

"Yes, I'm sure. Stop questioning me!" Draco growled.

"I'll question who I like!"

"Hey, let's get on with it!" Dankst growled, cutting the two of them off.

"You're right Jon. O.k., time to change."

Ginny watched as the three simultaneously pulled purple flasks out of their robes and downed a gulp from each. Immediately they all doubled over and writhed with pain.

"What's happening?" Ginny gasped, biting her lip.

"Polyjuice." Harry informed brusquely. "It's very painful… or so I've heard…"

"Oh." Ginny turned back to the three and was surprised to find that they were no longer there, but rather there stood Parvati, Seamus and Dean. "Wow, that was rather… quick."

"Yea…" Harry breathed, then, "Come on, they're going in…"

Before Ginny could respond, Harry had her arm in his hand and was leading her to the common room.

"Crape Myrtle!" Harry whispered to the fat lady.

"Eh? What's that? You'll have to speak up boy!" The Lady practically shouted.

"Shh! I said 'Crape Myrtle!'" Harry stated a little more audibly.

"Oh, such a lovely plant isn't it? Lovely in the spring." The portrait stared at them blankly.

"Aren't you going to open up?" Harry pressed on incredulously.

"And why should I? I've just got message from Dumbledore to change the password!"

"What? I'm a prefect! Who else has the authority to change the passwords?" Harry exclaimed in exasperation.

"I don't know, just before you a group of Gryffindors brought me a note! Now go along, before I sound the alarm!" She huffed importantly and turned from him.

"But… But, you know who we are! I'm Harry Potter, I've gone in this room dozens of times!" Harry practically yelled.

"Harry, calm down." Ginny whispered gently, reaching to touch his arm.

"Well! I never!" The Fat Lady huffed in a very over dramatic voice, and with that rushed out of her portrait.

"That's right you just run along and tell all of you're two dimensional friends!" Harry growled.

"Harry… don't worry about it. We can go down to Dumbledore and get the password…"

"Ginny, are you listening to yourself? Three slytherins just got the password changed, do you think that Dumbledore really had anything to do with it?"

"Oh, right." Ginny said a bit stupidly. "Well, I'm sure that he can help."

"Yes, I suppose that he could. There is nothing else we can do, come on." Harry grumbled glumly, walking away quickly towards the Great Hall.

When they walked into the great hall, they found that it was mercifully full of the normal chatter, which meant of course that they wouldn't be noticed. Dumbledore was talking animatedly with Professor Sinistra, his arms flailing wildly and his eyes sparkling. When the pair reached the teacher table, Ginny began to clear her throat, but thought better than to pick up a habit that had such a notorious reputation, so she simply started, "Um, Excuse me Professor..?"

"Ah yes, Ginny. Harry. Such a pleasant surprise. How may I help you?" Dumbledore smiled down at them.

"Well, it's actually private… so if you could…" Harry put in.

"Right. If you can excuse me Laura." Dumbledore nodded, as he stood to follow them both out into the corridor.

"Professor, there are some students that have been…" Ginny struggled for words.

"Emily, Draco, and Jon have all used polyjuice potion, and are now in the Gryffindor tower." Harry said bluntly. Years of talking to Dumbledore had taken away any pleasantries in the matter.

"So, why didn't you go in?" Dumbledore asked evenly.

"They've changed the password." Harry groaned.

"I see. Well, that is a problem, isn't it/"

"But, aren't you going to do anything?" Ginny blurted incredulously.

"The question, Miss Weasley, is not whether I do something, but rather the evaluation of what you need to do. Remember, time is of importance." He smiled at her, eyes twinkling, before turning and walking back into the Great Hall.

Ginny stared after him, her face contorted in disbelief and confusion. "I really think that he is going senile. He's just going to let them do as they please."

Harry ran his hand through his hair. "I think he meant, that there is nothing he can do that we cant, and that we need to move quickly…"

"Well, how are we going to get past the fat lady?" Ginny asked, more frustrated than ever, mostly due to her lack of a full stomach.

"The same way they did." Harry smiled, pulling a small bit of parchment from his pocket. "Legits Lemarate." The incantation was unfamiliar, and Ginny watched as a message was written on it, and it was signed with Dumbledore's name.

"Clever." Ginny smiled.

"Of course, you are talking to me after all?" Harry smirked mockingly, poking her in the ribs.

"Always the joker." Ginny rolled her eyes. "But come on, they are going to get away."

"Right."

…………………………………………………………………………………

"Hmmm." The fat lady looked at them skeptically, examining the note carefully. "Changing it twice in one night is he?"

"Yes, now let us in." Harry snapped impatiently.

"Patience, my dear, is a virtue!" She huffed before swinging forward to let them in.

Harry didn't reply, but rather ran into the common room, Ginny close in tow.

"Where do you think they could be…" Ginny trailed off as she saw Parvati sitting on the couch, looking star stricken. "Parv—"

Harry cut her off. "What are you doing in here Emily?"

Parvati looked up, questioningly. "Emily? Who is Emily? Who am I! I was me, then, there was some one else like me, and it wasn't Padma, but I thought it was at first, but then… no it wasn't Padma." Parvati rambled off in her own confusion.

"Look at me!" Harry commanded, and she obeyed, turning her bewildered face up to him from the couch. Harry searched her eyes intently, trying to press into her mind. He was successful. This was the real Parvati, Emily would never let her mind be probed. "Parvati, just… calm down, go down to Madame Pomfrey and get a sleeping draft for the night."

Parvati nodded absently as she walked out of the common room mumbling to herself.

Harry kicked a sofa. "We were too late! Why didn't I think to make the note instead of wasting all that time!"

"Harry…" Ginny placed a cool hand on his arm, "I didn't think of it either. It's not a big deal really. I know, we can go get the marauder's map and head them off and see what it is that they've wanted so badly…"

Harry's face brightened. "Ginny, you're a genius!" He exclaimed, rushing out of the common room to his dorm.

Ginny smiled as she waited for him to return, so obviously pleased by her own idea. That pleasure evaporated when Harry did return. He looked more livid than ever, his fist's clenched and his face slightly red.

"Harry what is it?"

"I know what they took." He muttered through clenched teeth.

"Well, what is it? We can just use the marauder's map…"

"It was the marauder's map."

"What?" Ginny asked dumbly.

"They took the marauder's map."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. They even left a note. It said that they came out on top after all."

"Well, we can probably still get them, and besides, I bet that they can't even figure out how to work it…"

"Probably not, it's not that easy, but I want to know how they know about it."

"I have no idea how they could have… unless they saw you using it sometime."

Harry groaned. "Oh great, if they saw me use it, then they may know how to use it."

Ginny bit her lip, "Well, write down the time and place of every time you've used it this year… if you can remember." She reached into her pocket for a bit of parchment, but pulled out the packet marked 'Sloan's Sleepless Solution' "Oh, I forgot about Hermione. This is what I found in her trunk…"

"Wow, so she's gone mainline… well, sort of…"

"Mainline?"

"Muggle word, never mind. Back to the situation at hand. I used the map when we found Ron, and we used it when we went to the room of requirement… but I think that's it… or at least it's all I can remember."

"Do you think that… well maybe they saw us go to the room of requirement?"

"No… we were under the invisibility cloak, or at least, the map always was. Perhaps they were in the shadows when we rescued Ron?"

"I doubt it, seems as though Ron would have known they were there."

"You're right. So it must have been some other time."

"You've been here for six years, and so has Draco. He could have seen it a different year."

"Maybe, Snape could have even told him how to use it, if he remembers it from when my father was young… wait, no, he doesn't know how to work it."

"How do you know?"

"Once, in my third year he confiscated it and it just… didn't work for him." Harry smiled, remembering what it did tell him.

"Oh. So then, they don't know how to use it most likely. That known, let's go to the great hall for the feast, I'm hungry." Ginny said, as her stomach rumbled.

"Okay love." Harry sighed as they headed off to join the rest of the school.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"Come in." McGonagall said briskly when Ginny knocked tentatively on her door the next day.

"Well?" She inquired as she swept a hand at the chairs before her desk.

"I.. that is we found this in Hermione's things." Ginny mumbled uncertainly as she held out the bright package of Sloan's Solution.

McGonagall's brow wrinkled further than it already was as she viewed the package, taking it into her own hands. "This doesn't make sense." She murmured turning the package over in her hands. "Sloan's been out of business for… years and years."

"Well, Hermione's real resourceful, she could have gotten anything that she wanted." Ron chipped in, a hint of pride in his voice.

"That is not the doubt in my mind Mr. Weasley. She would have had to go to… illegal measures to ascertain this package, and that is not something that I find very likely. Has she been talking with any one that isn't… normal, or perhaps is a bit shifty?" McGonagall eyed them beadily.

"Erm, no not really professor, you don't think that maybe she's got an actual drug dealer or anything?" the concern was apparent in Ginny's voice.

"No, not likely. Hogwarts has many detection spells for such students…"

"So why are slytherins still here?" Ron mumbled, prompting Ginny to kick him swiftly.

"…So I can only assume that some one has given them to her as perhaps a gift, or maybe on the pretense of helping her. Is there anyone that would wish her harm?"

"Who don't the Slytherins wish harm? I swear, if Draco's behind all of this…" Ron's face grew red with fury at the mere thought.

"Foul play isn't the only answer, but I'm afraid that more investigation is going to be required by you three. Hermione may not want to tell anyone about this, so we will need to have as much information as possible before we actually confront her, she is very able, and any information that is there now, may not be there if she knows what we are up to."

"Professor…" it was Ron, "Hermione, she's not in any… real danger is she?"

"I don't know Mr. Weasley. I don't know."

Ron gulped and nodded.

"You lot try to work as quickly as possible, now, shoo! I've a pile of parchment to mark!"

………………………………………………………………………………………

"So, what exactly is the plan again?" Ron asked skeptically as he, Harry and Ginny made their way back to the common room.

"Erm, first I'll complain a lot about being so swamped with work, then I'll whine about being tired. See if she offers me anything…" Ginny replied.

"I don't know. Hermione's liable to see right through this plan. It seems a bit weak…" Ron warned, giving the other two an ambiguous sidelong look.

"Then you come up with something better!"

"I was just saying…"

"Well, don't be so negative, Ron. It'll work, and if it doesn't, then we'll just take it from there…" Ginny mumbled as they stepped through the portrait hole.

Hermione was sitting on a couch when they walked in, looking more distraught than ever, her head in her hands, and her face flushed. Ginny glanced at Harry uncertainly, who shrugged. Prudently she walked over and sat beside her distraught friend on the couch.

"Hermione?" She said softly, wondering how far-gone her friend really was.

Hermione looked up, her eyes a bit glazed, but an acrimonious look contorting her soft features. "Ginny." She replied curtly, looking back to the fireplace.

Ginny looked again at her comrades, then pressed forth. "What's, erm, what's wrong?"

"You! You three!" Hermione looked around wildly at them all. "First you tell me basically that I look like hell, then you go through my things, and steal my stuff!"

"Hermione I don't—"

"Oh save it Ginny, I know it was you three behind it. I asked Parvati, and she saw you in there Ginny!" Hermione looked at her crossly, with her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Uh oh," Ron mumbled to Harry, "Hermione's about to unleash Ginny's temper, this isn't going to be good." Harry just shook his head mutely.

Ginny felt hot anger broiling up inside, but pushed it down. This was Hermione, and she was in trouble. She could let her emotions get the best of her, not this time. "Hermione," it came out in a terse whisper, "Yes, I went in your room, and yes, I took something. But you can't honestly tell me that you are all right! Taking anti sleeping potions is very dangerous! You could even die! We were just trying to help you!" The last bit came out a bit more curtly than Ginny would have liked, and she braced herself for the explosion on the other end. It never came. On the contrary, Hermione's eyes welled up and she threw her arms around Ginny, sobbing into her shoulder. Taken aback, Ginny just patted her shoulder awkwardly for a minute, then pulled back. "Hermione, is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"Oh, Ginny. I don't know how it happened. At first I was so sleepy all the time, I couldn't even walk any longer. My relations were strained, my grades were failing, and I was desperate. I went to Knockturn alley and I bought that potion mix. I just used it a little to begin with then, I don't know, I was taking it all the time. Its now to the point that I can't stay awake with out it…"

"Hermione, that stuff was outlawed years ago." Ginny scolded. "It's terrible, you need to go to McGonagall immediately and tell her everything."

Hermione looked up at her with sparkling eyes. "Ginny, I can't. You don't understand, if word gets out about this… I'd be ruined."

Ginny gaped for a moment, those were words she never expected to hear from Hermione Granger's mouth. "I can't believe it! You, Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of the age, you are scared of what people will think of you! Honestly, you're starting to sound like Parvati and Lavender!" Ginny scoffed. "Now, you stop being so thick and you march right to Professor McGonagall's office and you tell her what you've been doing!"

"But I…"

"I don't even want to hear it." Ginny cut her off curtly. "You've made a mistake, now live up to it."

Hermione sat there for a moment, looking stricken. It occurred to Ginny that she may have pushed a very fatigued girl a bit too far, but all worries were vanquished when Hermione gave her another hug.

"I'll go. Thank you Ginny, thank you." She glanced at Ron and Harry. "That you too!" She got up and hugged the two of them tightly.

"I'll come with you." Ron said decidedly, taking her arm as they headed for the portrait hole. Hermione didn't protest, but just leaned on his shoulder to hold her self up, and it was in that instant that she realize just how much she relied and loved Ronald Bilius Weasley.

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A/n: wee! Done, had to add a minescule bit of fluff at the end, this chapter needed it I think. But yes, tell me what you think! Hate it? Love it? Tell me! Critical comments completely welcome (besides if there are like errors and stuff, I can tell my beta so she can have something to do! Hehe). Big hugs and thanks to Nathalie, my lovely beta, and to all of you who review! (and cookie crumbs to those of you who read and don't review, I know who some of you are, because you have me on your favorite's list! Hehe) Bye bye! Oh! I almost forgot, to all my past reviewers… stuff… ick… here…:

Fleury: Does the fact that I love the brownies make me a lard? Makes me feel like one! Hehe! Well, I'm not really that angry any more, I try! Hehe, happiness tries to prevail constantly (which I admit, can be tiresome… ick) the only thing that can really rile me up is my little brother! (I swear, I want to kill him half the time… er..) Any who thank you for you're beautiful review. You are my most faithful reviewer! (hugs!) Well, we still have much more about Hermione to learn, she has many trials and tribulations to go through before the end… but that's all I'm saying for that. (Every time I'm in a bad mood, I take it out on my characters, it makes me feel a little bad.. but I fix it all later.. hehe)

Waffleshouse: Hey! You only live like… five miles north of me! (if you take I75 heh.. sorry, I just went through Atlanta the other day..) Any who, yea I always thought that there should be a bit more about Hermione, and its really believable, I mean I once went through this thing with caffeine pills myself… but yea, I think its totally possible. Thank you for your lovely review!

LunaLovegood2: Well, thanks! (woot perfection!) I've now updated! Enjoy it?

Hplovesme: Yea, I don't think Rowling will do it, but that's what fan fiction is FOR! Hehe, to explore the possibilities. And that's a def. Possibility! Thanks for your review!

Ohsnap: It's a bit weird to talk to you, because I don't think that you're reading these yet, as you're not to this chapter yet (to remind you, these are my responses to your chapter seven and eight reviews) Ok. I think the confusion with Krum's grammar abilities can be easily described. I learned to speak German and Spanish and French, and each one I can write rather well, as its easier to think about what I'm doing, but when you're actually speaking the language its like you get ahead of your self and verb placement and accents get screwed up, and also, when I have Krum speaking, I try to give him an accent. Sorry I fell into the crevice of cliché a bit, but I hardly read any of these or anything with romance and stuff, so if my stuff is cliché, its not from my plagerist tendencies, but rather because romance in general is cliché, sorry! I'm trying to take Hermione and Ron to great lengths, it's a bit awkward though, because… you know they were friends, but I'm working on it! Please do keep reading and hopefully enjoying! Thanks!

Well everyone, that's a wrap! Tune in next time for more deception, greed and fun! Hehe (I always wanted to say stuff like that when I was little) Well tata for now!

Xoxo!

Aimee