After The End Has Come

by Jayne Slayed

After Hermione is forced to take a sabbatical, she discovers that there's a terriying secret in the Scottish Highlands. Can she find out what's going on in time or will she see another friend's death? This is a completed fic.

This is an entire story. I didn't feel like posting chapters, so here it is in its entirety. Thanks for reading and if you have any praise or criticism, please review. Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling ownes it all. I have merely borrowed.

Hermione Granger woke up with a start. The dream had come back. Her head swam around the dark room. For a minute, she had no idea where she was. All she could feel was cold sweat running down the back of her neck and the drum-like beating of her heart. Finally, she calmed down. "It's only a dream...only a dream," she muttered to herself. She straightened out her covers and fluffed her pillow to try to go back to sleep. It was no use. She was awake.

She looked at the clock and decided that she might as well get a shower and get an early start on the day. She put on her robe and walked into her bathroom. That was one of the nicer perks of being a professor at Hogwarts, she thought. No more having to scurry into the bathroom before the others used up all the hot water. Feeling slightly better, she made her bed and straightened out her room. She hated the thought of the house elves having to tidy up after her like she was a child.

She went to her classroom to finish grading the scrolls that she had assigned two weeks ago. She could tell that her students were rather desperate to get them back after she had told them yesterday that she had not finished grading them and received a collective moan in response. Usually, she liked to grade papers, especially essays. It was always so interesting to see how other minds worked. She could see that some of her students were more adept at explaining spells than actually doing them, but today...She abruptly got up and went to the window. The dream that she had last night was somehow dredging up things that she had safely tucked away in the darkest reaches of her mind. She was thinking about people she had known that were no longer living and felt a wave of melancholy flow over her. She jumped when she heard a sudden burst of laughter and the shuffle of feet, marching to the Great Hall. With a quick look to the hourglass above the door, she hurried out to eat with them.

Breakfast was always fabulous. There was every type of egg preparation that you could think of, including potatoes, sausage, bacon, waffles; it was really unbelievable. Hermione sat beside Professor Flitwick at the Staff table. But she merely played with her eggs and bacon; moving them absent-mindedly around her plate.

Professor Flitwick looked over to her, with concern in his eyes.

"Professor Granger, is there anything troubling you ? Usually you are asking me about the latest in Charms research, but today," he glanced down at her plate, " you seem to be unusually quiet."

Hermione jerked her head up. She had only tuned in at the words "unusually quiet."

"Er, well, you know, I'm just a little preoccupied with all the OWL preparations I have to put together for my students. You know, I haven't even been here a semester, and they seem to have taken me by surprise." She flashed him a smile.

Professor Flitwick smiled sagely at her. "I know, my dear. It's hard to graduate from Witches Teaching School in June, then become a professor in September. It has a tendency to make one put off things that one should be doing now."

Hermione lightly slapped her hands on her legs. "Well, speaking of procrastination, I had better get on over to my classroom and set up the lesson for today. This is the day the second years transform teacups into dormice." She grimaced and quickly left the table.

After Professor Flitwick watched her go, he looked down at her plate. He couldn't help but stare at the plate. All the food had been mashed together and then heaped in a pile in the center.

The day went by fairly quickly. The students were grateful that she had at least returned some of their papers. The transformations were fairly straightforward. The only real disaster was when a second year Hufflepuff somehow managed to transform her teacup into spider, which caused all the girls in the class to shriek in hysteria for two minutes before Hermione could change it back. She was glad that she was never like that. The only person that she knew was scared of spiders was Ron and he was dead. She shuddered involuntarily as tears began to form in her eyes. Ann Marvent, the second year that had caused all fuss, looked at Hermione in disbelief.

"Professor, are you scared of spiders too?"

Hermione caught herself. "No, no, of course not. I think I got some dust in my eyes after all this activity." With that, she dismissed the class five minutes early.

The students quietly filed out the door, most of them looking back to Hermione with looks of worry. Hermione busily shuffled papers and teacups around her desk. Then, when the last of the students had left, she put her head in her hands and cried.

Dinner at the Great Hall was much the same as breakfast. Hermione felt like she was having deja vu all over again. The same smells, the same lack of appetite, the same looks of concern from Professor Flitwick. After about ten minutes of attempting to make polite conversation, Hermione gave up and told Professor Flitwick that she was going to take a walk around the grounds and then call it a night.

The cool night air felt good on her face. As she was walking, she heard a "meow" and looked down. Crookshanks was looking up at her with a curious look on his face. Hermione put her arms on her hips and said in an annoyed voice, "Well, I suppose you're wondering if I'm all right too." Crookshanks merely rubbed his face on her legs. For some reason, she felt better. Hermione petted him for a little while, then suddenly felt very sleepy. She yawned a "Good night" to Crookshanks and started to walk back to the castle.

She was almost to the door of her quarters when she smelled something familiar. Intrigued yet repulsed, she followed it down the hall to the dungeons. Then as she rounded the corner to where it seemed to originate, she felt an invisible wall go up in front of her. Suddenly, she could not move; she could only watch. Ron was there in front of her, screaming, clutching his sides, she could hear an evil laugh, then she knew what the smell was. It was the pungent odor of burning flesh. Hermione was bound to the spot, unable to scream or run away. Then, quickly as it had begun, it stopped and Hermione was face down on the cold and dank dungeon floor.

When she woke up, she was in the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey was rustling around her, taking her temperature and feeling her pulse. Although she tried to get up, Madame Pomfrey promptly pushed her back to bed.

"Now Professor Granger, would you like to have some chocolate?"

Hermione moaned. For God's sake, did this woman think that chocolate cured every little thing?

"No thanks. I think that if I had a good sleep in my own bed I should be fine."At this she tried again to get up. Madame Pomfrey held her down tightly.

"I'm sorry, Professor Granger, but you need to be put under observation for tonight at least. It isn't normal for a young woman to faint dead away in hallways. So lay down."

Hermione knew that it was useless to say anything else, after all, in all the years at Hogwarts, she had never won an argument with Madam Pomfrey.

At that moment, Headmaster Cudmore strode in. He looked around the ward. First to Hermione, then to another patient two beds down from her. Seeing that Hermione was awake, Cudmore conjured a chair at her side and sat down.

He looked at her with serious interest and said in a soft voice," Tell me what happened."

Hermione looked back at him with a blank stare. "What happened where?"

Cudmore smiled slightly. "At the dungeons. What brought you down there?"

Hermione sighed. There was no way she could try to talk her way out of this one, so maybe vagary would work. "Well, after I returned to the castle after my walk, I smelled something, er, unusual. Then I found myself near the Potion master's room and that's when I became overwhelmed from the fumes." She looked at Cudmore calmly.

He studied her carefully. "What kind of smell was it? Urine, pickled toad, mold, generic potions, burned shrimp..." he trailed off, looking at her expectantly.

"It was rotten pickled toad." lied Hermione.

"That is most peculiar. It seems, Professor Granger, that as you were walking back to your room, Professor Snape was conducting an experiment that inadvertently caused his arm to catch on fire, thus creating a rather distinctive odor to come from his lab. Are you sure that there is nothing else you want to tell me about?" Cudmore looked her squarely in the eye.

Hermione shook her head.

He looked at her with a penetrating stare. "Again, why were down in the dungeons, Hermione?"

Hermione answered him with a stony silence. If she told him, she knew he would have a "conference' with her and Snape and she just didn't want to have to go through with it. There were some memories that were best kept to oneself

Cudmore slowly rose from his chair. As he turned to go he said sternly,"I think, Professor Granger, that here are some issues that you need to resolve in your life. As of this moment, you are going on a sabbatical. Don't worry about your Transformation class, I will notify Mrs. Perriwig that she is to substitute for you. You have twenty-four hours to make preparations for some place to stay. In the meantime, get some rest."

Hermione, for one of the few times in her life, was speechless. She silently cursed Cudmore, as he knew that she had no other place to go but Hogwarts. Her parents had sold their house to buy an R.V." to see the rest of Europe" as they jauntily told her. She scanned her mind, trying to come up with someone who would be able to help her. Then she stopped, and realized that there was one person left to whom she could turn: Minerva McGonagall.

That night, Hermione got a quill and parchment from Madame Pomfrey and wrote to Professor McGonagall:

Hello Minerva,

I'm sorry to bother you, but could you possible set me up with some place to stay for the remaining of the school term in Scotland? I remember that you said that your brother has a small house outside of Kilhearne and I was wondering if he would mind letting it out to me. I will explain what is happening when I come out by the 10:35 train tomorrow.

Hermione

She sealed it up and handed it to Madame Pomfrey who promised to send it Priority owl. After lunch, Madame Pomfrey let Hermione get dressed and go back to her room. Once she was there, she had no desire to move. All she wanted to do was to rest, but she knew that Cudmore was serious about her being out of Hogwarts in twenty-four hours, so she forced herself to start packing. She packed all her cold weather clothes and as many books as she could fit into her three suitcases. She had learned that the only way to live was to be as organized as possible. After she did that, she called Crookshanks to her. He came in five minutes, and seemed to understand how stressful this was to her as he did not mind being put into a cat carrier. With a quick glance around her quarters to make sure that she had left nothing behind, she enchanted her three pieces of luggage and Crookshanks' cat carrier in front of her and walked out the door.

The train seemed to float on the rails as she looked out her window. The landscape was wild looking, with great round hills bursting from the luscious green grass. Around some of the higher crags, she could see the clouds embracing their tops. She leaned back and closed her eyes. She could see why Minerva had decided to come back here after she retired as it was so hauntingly beautiful. Crookshanks meowed his displeasure at being cooped up in his carrier. Hermione leaned over to the carrier and said quietly, "Crookshanks, I'm sorry about this, but Muggles aren't too fond of animals roaming around a train, so you'll just have to wait 'til we get to our new house." Crookshanks seemed to accept this excuse for the time being, as he was quiet for the rest of the trip.

Hermione looked around the crowd disembarking from the train. She tried to look over people's heads to catch a glimpse of Minerva, but couldn't see her. Just when she decided to go into the station's waiting room, she heard a slight cough. Startled, Hermione looked around to see Minerva standing near her right side. Minerva stared at her for a moment, then clasped Hermione's hands tightly and looked her straight in the eye. Hermione thought that she was going to say something, but instead she picked up one of Hermione's bags and walked towards the train station's parking lot.

It was tiring to drag Hermione's luggage to Minerva's car. Hermione forgot how useful magic was in lifting heavy objects, so she had packed more books than she could have carried normally.

When the last bit of luggage had been swung into the car, and Crookshanks was carefully placed in the rear seat, Minerva turned to Hermione and said,"Why don't we get a bite to eat? Then we can stay at my place for the night before we head out to my brothers tomorrow." Hermione nodded. She could use some decent food. They stopped into the local pub which was noisy and smelled of beer and chicken. After they placed their order, they sat down at a rather sticky table.

Minerva looked directly at Hermione and asked," So what really happened?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Honestly, Minerva, nothing happened. I just got a little lightheaded and fainted. Did Cudmore owl you already?"

Minerva gave her a fixed stare. "Yes, he did. The entire staff is worried about you. You are having night terrors, you have no appetite, and you faint when you smell burning flesh. Now, tell me why we should not be worried."

Hermione was unnerved. "Oh, I see. The whole staff is worried about me, huh? Snape too? So everyone is spying on me...Well, tell them to mind their own damn business. I can handle this myself!" She glared at Minerva.

Minerva said nothing as the server brought out their chicken with a side of watery-looking vegetables. Hermione began to cut up her chicken furiously then stopped and looked at it and declared,"I'm not hungry."

Minerva continued to eat in silence. Finally, after she was done, she left some money on the table and said quietly, "Let's go."

The short ride to Minerva's house was tense. Hermione felt horrible at having shouted at her like she did, but on the other hand she was angry at Minerva for thinking that she was this delicate little thing that needed to be treated with kid gloves. What incensed her the most was the idea that people were spying on her. Fortunately, Minerva's house was outside town, with no Muggles about, so Hermione could enchant her luggage up the stairs to her bedroom. The house was really quite lovely. It was made from ancient stone with a practical metal roof. It looked small from the outside, but like most wizard houses, appearances were deceiving. It had a small root cellar, a surprisingly modern kitchen, a cozy parlor with a fire place and a modest dining room. There were only two bedrooms upstairs; one for Minerva and one guest, but each bedroom had it own bathroom, both of which were quite luxurious.

Hermione levitated her luggage to her room and let Crookshanks out to explore. She conjured some food and water for him which he began to eat hungrily. Looking around her nicely decorated room, Hermione suddenly felt claustrophobic. She had to get out. She had to get out now.

With a quick goodbye, Hermione strode out the front door. Minerva looked around and began to say something, but by the time she did, all she heard was the gentle click of the shutting door.

The damp air had the effect of reviving Hermione out of her panic. She inhaled deeply as she walked along the single lane road. Dusk was beginning to settle in. She could smell the dying breath of flowers as she strode down the road. She could hear the odd rustle in the long grasses beside her and the quick flap of birds going above her. She looked up and thought, "Well, at least they have a home to go to." The thought startled her, so she pushed herself to go faster. Soon she was running. The faster she ran, the less she thought. But then she started to feel very hot, so she began to throw off her hat, then her gloves, then she undid her scarf, finally she was running in just her blouse and slacks. She was breathing so hard, she didn't notice the car behind her. Then, tired and panting, she suddenly realized that she was not alone. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end. She bent over, looking like she was catching her breath, when she was really slowly pulling up her pant leg and getting her wand out of its holster. As she was doing that, the car stopped behind her and the driver put the engine in park. She could hear the door open and the sound of feet hitting the pavement. The feet stopped a few feet away from her. Taking her cue, she quickly turned around to confront the driver of the car with her wand in her hand. She staggered back, letting her wand drop to the ground. "Ron?" she whispered.

The driver stopped suddenly, then made a choked, nervous laugh. "No, I'm not Ron, but an incredible simulation."

Hermione blinked. The voice was not Ron's. Not the way that she remembered it. Or was it? She hadn't heard it for so long...God, she had forgotten what it sounded like. Tears began to roll down her face.

The driver took a few hurried steps up to her. "Crimminy, Hermione, I know that my joke wasn't in the best of taste, but you don't have to cry." He picked up her wand and handed it gingerly to her like she was going to explode on him.

She stared at him. Immediately she knew that it had to be Fred Weasley. He was thinner now, his face was unusually pale and drawn, making his resemblance to his father rather noticeable. His hair was still Weasley red, but when he tilted his head to look at her, she could see more than a few white hairs on his head. He was handsomely dressed, with a brown leather jacket, fine white shirt and sharply tailored khaki pants. It gave him the air of a rich City man out for a trip to his country chateau. Business, by the way that Fred dressed, was obviously good, Hermione thought, her initial shock giving way to annoyance.

"Well, I didn't know it was you, Fred. Do you normally drive up to strange girls and accost them?'

Fred smiled wickedly. "To be honest, I thought that you might have been a burlesque dancer, the way you were tossing off your clothes like that."

Hermione looked embarrassed. She realized that she must look like a total fool, running around the Scottish countryside during autumn, without a coat and hat.

Fred felt her discomfort and turned around, opened the passenger door, and took out a pile of clothing that she knew was hers. He held them out to her and said in a soft voice,"Come now and put these back on. You'll get the chills."

Hermione obediently put them back on and stared at Fred. He looked at her up and down and declared, "Well, that is more appropriate. Come on and hop in the car. Don't you want to see Feltslair, you know, that village down the road from here? It's much more exciting than Kilhearne, I swear on Merlin's beard."

She hesitated. "Come on Hermione." Fred cajoled." We'll have fun. Reminisce about the good old days, catch up on news, drink lots of Muggle beer, dance, you name it" He looked so earnest that she had to climb in with him. With the rev of the engine, and the silent shifting of the car out of park, they sped along to Feltslair.

Fred looked at Hermione out of the corner of his eye as they drove down the road. Hermione had pulled down the sun visor and looked at the mirror on the back of it to try and fix her hair. As she looked into the mirror, she saw a tired and strained face stare back. Her hair, which was normally so frizzy and out of control had the greasy appearance of someone who had been ill for a long while. The eyes that looked back at her had an unusually hard look that startled her. She knew, even on a good day, that she would never be as attractive as Fleur Delacour, but her even so, her appearance left much to be desired. She pushed the sun visor back to its normal position. Maybe, just maybe Cudmore was right, she thought, I do need a vacation. Fred startled her out of her revelry by speaking to her.

"So what brings you out to the wilds of Scotland, Hermione?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and said in a snippy voice. "I thought you would have known."

He blinked quickly." Look, when George and I rode out of Hogwarts, we never looked back. The only correspondence that we maintained was with Wood and Jordan and that was mostly for business. We're not on Cudmore's short list, if that's what you're implying. Sure, we did our part for the Order, George more than I, but once the War was over...well, we all tried to piece our lives back together the best we could."At this last sentence, Fred looked away.

She looked at Fred apologetically. "Fred, I'm so sorry that I snapped at you like that. It's just that---acckk!"

They had stopped abruptly in front of a pub. It looked more worn-down than the one in Kilhearne, if that was at all possible. However, Hermione could feel the beat of the music coming through the solid frame of the car. Fred turned to her and with a stunning smile and asked her,"Would my lady care to dance?" She was too astonished to say anything, so Fred quickly turned off the car, rushed around to her door and hustled her into the pub. She blinked in the bright, flashing lights. There were teens, twenty-somethings, natives in kilts, everyone seemingly united in dancing. Fred looked at Hermione with a look of gleeful expectation of his face.

"Come on! Throw your coat on the chair and let's have some fun!"

"But Fred, I can't dance!"

"Bollocks! I saw you dance with Viktor!" She gave in and followed him to the dance floor.

It was one in the morning when Fred and Hermione staggered out into the freezing night air, giggling madly. Hermione leaned heavily on Fred's car laughing hysterically,"and then...then when you looked at her she said in a husky voice," here she lowered her voice to a sexy growl," so, is your brother single or not." Her laughter rang through out the street.

Fred grinned at her. Hermione had lost the listlessness in her eyes and now looked radiantly happy. Fred went around to the passenger door and opened it up for the still giggling Hermione.

As she got in, Fred saw something. It was a strange flicker of movement; like someone or something trying to avoid being seen. Fred silently shut the door and quickly drew out his wand from inside his jacket. He could hear a noise coming from the end of the street. It sounded like the soft padding of bare feet, but with one too many pairs. He carefully went up the street, making sure that he was being concealed in the hulking shadows of the buildings around him. He was about to round the corner when he felt something brush up against him. He spun around, his heart pounding fiercely. He was relieved to see that it was Hermione. She had her wand out too, but the carefree look that she had only a few seconds ago was replaced with fear. He pressed his finger to his lips and motioned for her to come to his right side. Then he pointed around the corner. Hermione nodded slowly. They slowly peered around the corner and were shocked silent by what they saw.

It was a werewolf. It had a short snout, large haunches, and strangely colored fur. It didn't noticed them as it seemed intent on digging in the trash for some food. They could hear its weird whining voice as it seemed frustrated by the tight lid on one particular trash can. Then it pushed the trash can down on the ground where the lid burst open and all the contents of the can spilled on to the ground and street. Suddenly ,they could see lights turning on and windows flying open. One man screamed some obscenities, then threw a pail of water down near the werewolf. It simply jumped back, then went back to its dinner. Another window opened and this time the occupant took a long look at the werewolf and screamed. The creature stared up at the screaming woman with a look of horror at being discovered, which Hermione found very strange, and loped away into the night. Fred and Hermione looked at each other and ran back to the car. It wasn't until they were parked in front of Minerva's house that they said anything.

"Hermione, did we see what I think we saw?" Fred asked tersely.

Hermione jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. "Uh, you mean the werewolf?"

"That would be the one."

"Yes, yes we did."

He turned to face Hermione and said in a quiet voice,"What the hell is a werewolf doing out among Muggles? Doesn't it know that by law when it changes that it has to be in a safe house? I don't understand this. I thought that once the Ministry repealed all of that anti-werewolf legislation and said that they said they could have regular jobs as long as they registered and agreed to go into a safe house that incidents like this would become non-existent." He sighed and said,"You know, Dad worked hard to get that law enacted."

Hermione didn't quite know what to say. It had been so unexpected. Then she resolutely turned to Fred and said,"Do you know what I'll do? I'll ask Minerva. Maybe here they have native werewolf populations that are unaware of the law."

Fred raised an eyebrow at her."Hermione, I have a sneaking suspicion that there is something wrong here. Why would there be werewolves out here in this God-forsaken place? You know that they like to be near heavily populated places. Good food, easy victims, things like that."

Hermione couldn't argue with him there. It was a mystery why there would be one out here. Then, she remembered something.

"Fred, is it a full moon tonight?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders,"I guess so."

Hermione got out of the car and looked up to the sky. It was brilliantly clear, but the moon was only at a quarter. Fred got out and looked up at it too. He whistled long and low in amazement.

"So we didn't see a werewolf then?" said Fred, incredulously.

"Yes we did. I'll stake my Hogwarts degree on it, but it doesn't make sense; there is no way that it's possible!"

Fred leaned back on his car and smiled. "Of course it is. Remember, we were coming out of a pub, it was late, we threw back a few too many..."

"I know what I saw! Harry and I saw Professor Lupin transform once, and he looked just like that!" Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously. Then she slumped down a bit,"Fred, I'm dead tired and I have to get to bed. Maybe a new day will shed some light on this mystery." She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

Fred looked awkward as she turned to go to Minerva's house. He tapped her on the shoulder and said in a shy voice,"Um, I'll just talk to you later, okay Hermione?"

Hermione was taken aback somewhat but turned and weakly smiled at him saying,"Sure. I'll talk to you later on, then. Goodnight."

Hermione was grateful that Minerva was asleep. She didn't feel like having someone ask her if she was all right time and time again. She tip-toed upstairs and got a bath. She felt warm and relaxed well enough to go to sleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Hermione woke up with an awesome headache. She hadn't felt this bad since she drank that wretched Polyjuice Potion. What was worse was that Minerva was making breakfast downstairs, so the smell of sausage and eggs seemed to linger near her constantly. After getting ready, Hermione went downstairs, mentally preparing herself for not only the inevitable barrage of questions, but also the sight of food.

Minerva looked up at her quickly and slipped the eggs on to two plates. She looked at Hermione worriedly, "Where were you last night? I almost owled Cudmore."

Hermione looked at the eggs in front of her. "Well, I went out for a walk and I met Fred Weasley. He's here on business or something. Then one thing lead to another and before I knew it, we were in a pub dancing and drinking Muggle beer 'til one in the morning." She smiled at Minerva.

"I'm happy that you had a good time, Hermione. When you got here last night, you looked so tired and worn out. Now at least you just look hung over."

Hermione laughed.

She was surprised that Minerva didn't give her the third degree about last night, but then again she was twenty. She thought that some of the other professors thought her to be too young to teach, but Minerva was her staunchest supporter. She told her embarrassing stories about all the staff so that she could have blackmail material in case they gave her any trouble. Hermione never had to resort to that because she was welcomed in so quickly, as she had been a student only a few years before.

The road to Minerva's brother's farm was very winding. Hermione was glad she drank some vile tasting potion that Minerva said would end the hangover, as it seemed that every few feet the road would make a ninety degree turn. Finally, just when Hermione was about to give up on ever being on a straight road again, the country side opened up. It took her breath away. It looked like something out of a postcard for Scotland. The hills had just enough of a roll to be calming, the grass just the right shade of green to be relaxing, and the air crisp enough to be refreshing. They got out of the car at the house just in time to see a rather round looking man with dark brown curly hair trotting over to greet them. "Minerva, Miss Granger, welcome to McGonagall's Edge! Wonderful to see you both! How delightful!" He shook Hermione's hand joyfully and hugged Minerva tightly. Minerva looked embarrassed, and fixed her hair bun fitfully. "Would you like to have the tour of the farm?" He looked at them both expectantly. Hermione nodded, while Minerva whispered to her,"Don't worry, I'll get out all luggage and Crookshanks for you. Remember, Hermione, you're supposed to be on holiday." She winked and began to enchant the luggage. Hermione was given the Grand Tour. She saw the barn were the animals were housed during cold winters, the chicken coop, and the equipment shed. It was a well-used farm, but efficient and organized.

Hermione asked Minerva's brother, who insisted that she call him by his first name, Dionysus, what his main crops were and what sort of animals he had. Dionysus glanced at her and said in a serious tone, "Well, Hermione, the question isn't what I raise but how many are left to raise."

Hermione stopped mid-stride and asked,"What do you mean by that?"

Dionysus said slowly,"There have been strange things going on around here lately."

"Like what?"

"Last Monday I went out in the north field to check the sheep out there, and I found six of them dead. Their necks had been torn out. Day after, half of my laying hens were missing. That was the worst of all, you know, especially since I saw no sign of a struggle and the door was closed."

Hermione felt her stomach turn over.

"Then last night I found some of my cows out in the padlock after I had put them in the barn only a few minutes before. It was like someone wanted them out in the open...they were spooked too. They can sense predators..."

Hermione cut in,"What sort of predators are out here, Dionysus?"

"Sometimes we get rogue dogs out here, but the bite marks were huge on the sheep. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that we have wolves out here." he said grimly.

Hermione didn't say anything. She knew what had attacked the animals.

"Er, can't you put a charm on the animals or something?", Hermione asked.

Dionysus looked at her like she was joking. "How can I do that when I don't know magic?

Hermione stuttered, "Well, you know, Minerva, and...I thought that..."

"Both our parents were Muggles and Minerva got the magic gene! That's fine though. I like my life up here, among the land and the animals. Besides, being magical is too much trouble for a bloke like me."

Hermione was intrigued. "How so, Dionysus?"

"Take that Voldy fellow. He wanted to kill us all, and yet there was nothing I as a Muggle could do about it. It took a young, clever, wizard like Harry Potter to kill him. Yep, as the fellow once said awesome power is an awesome responsibility and I'm glad to let someone else take care of that."

Dionysus said nothing else, but stopped on the top of a small hill a little distance from the main house. He waved his arms in front of him and said theatrically, "Miss Granger, your castle awaits!"

It was a humble little white stuccoed house. She could see that it was made of stone, as some of the stucco had fallen off. The door was made from large, thick wooden planks and there was a large stone fireplace at one end. The windows were surprisingly big for such a little structure, but it leant it a welcoming feel. A few hundred feet down was a small creek, that burbled happily over the rocks. Hermione felt herself relax almost immediately.

When they pulled open the door, she saw Minerva already inside busy changing the sheets and putting wood in the fireplace. Her luggage was piled neatly beside the chest of drawers and a scruffy looking floor lamp. The cottage was lay-out was very simple. The fireplace was on one end, with two built in bookcases on either side, There were two comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace with a sheepskin on the floor. On the west side of the house, there was a very old chest of drawers and under one of the large windows there was a lovely ladies writing desk with a large stack of quills and parchment on it. In the corner, was a small bathroom that was so well-done, that Hermione knew that Minerva had conjured it up. In the opposite corner was a sink and a small cabinet next to it, then a beat up kitchen table and two chairs. Finally, between the two windows on the east side of the house was the bed, with two end tables flanking it bearing two of the tackiest bedside lamps she had ever seen. Scattered here and there were some more sheepskin and very battered looking oriental rugs. The cottage had a warm, unpretentious feeling. Hermione looked at Dionysus and Minerva with gratitude, and felt tears welling up inside. Dionysus hugged her and said," Hermione, you can stay here as long as you want. Both Minerva and I want you to get better." She said nothing, but felt, for the first time in a long time, that she was home.

It wasn't until after lunch that Hermione realized that she was missing Crookshanks.

Hermione looked around frantically, "Crookshanks, Crookshanks, where are you?" Minerva grinned and said,"Well, if you must know, the minute I let him out of his carrier, he took off outside. He probably saw a field mouse."

Hermione froze."Outside?"

"Oh yes, the country air will do him good."

"But Minerva, what about all those animals that have been killed in the past week? "Dionysus said worriedly. He and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.

"That's what I wanted to tell you, Dionysus! I was in town today, and Mr. Lewis said that Greg Muir shot three strange dogs on his property last night. It looks like those mystery killings have been solved. I wish people would learn that you just don't dump animals out in the country and expect them not to revert to the wild pack animals that they are. Idiots!" sniffed Minerva.

Dionysus nudged Hermione and said, "See there, you don't have to worry. You'll be as safe here as if you were in Hogwarts."

Hermione smiled weakly. Why didn't that make her feel better?

The days went by quickly. She soon had a ritual that kept her pleasantly busy all day. She would wake up, take a shower, go to the main house and eat breakfast with Dionysus. Sometimes she would feed apples to the horses and go back to the cottage to read a little. Other days, she would catch up on correspondence, then maybe take a walk and explore the farm grounds. During a few of the few unseasonably warm days, she would take a nap in the afternoon, and then maybe draw a little near the bank of the creek until dinner. It was right after one of these naps that she felt that someone was standing over her. She woke up with a start, then shielded her eyes so she could see who would bother her. Fred Weasley looked down at her grinning mischievously with a large bucket in his hand. "Dammit! Why did you have to wake up now? I was going to throw ice cold creek water on you, you lazy creature!"

Hermione grinned back. "It's people like you that make me have to carry this." She pointed to her wand in her ankle holster. "I never leave home without it."

Fred tapped the bucket with his wand, making it disappear, then plopped down next to her and spread himself out. "Wow, is it nice out here. I feel like Fred Weasley, nature boy extraordinaire."

Hermione giggled at the thought. It was funny to see him sprawled out here on the grass wearing a very nice set of plus fours. "So what brings you out here, nature boy? Business, pleasure or both?"

Fred winked at her. "Well, Hermione as much as I would love to say that this visit was purely for pleasure," he looked at her in way that made her pleasantly squirm, "I must be honest and say that it started out with the most innocent of intentions. I found your hat in the back of my rental car yesterday and it seemed as good as an excuse as any to see you out here."

Hermione was taken aback. Fred really wanted to see her again?

"Well, wow, thank you Fred. You know in the confusion of that night I must have forgotten all about it."

"Here you go. Did you find out anything about what we saw?"

Hermione told him about what Minerva's brother had told her about the animals on the farm and his suspicion about what had done the killing, then went on about the story that Minerva told about the three dogs. Hermione ended by looking at Fred skeptically.

"Well, I take it by that look that you still think that whatever it was that we saw is still out here. But there hasn't been any more killings, has there?"

Hermione nodded her head and said,"No, not around here. But we don't know what's going on in the neighboring counties either. I still think that there is something very strange going on around here."

Fred shrugged and replied," I was up to Glasgow the other day, and I didn't hear or read of anything unusual..."

They said nothing for a few minutes, then Fred asked,"Say, what's Minerva's brother's name? He hugged me and talked to me like I was his long lost brother. Of course, he knew that I was a Weasley, this damn hair, but I never caught his."

Hermione told him.

"Seriously, his name is Dionysus! Oh Merlin's Hat! He must either throw one hell of a party or have a vineyard in Greece somewhere!"

Hermione said sharply,"Well, I happen to like Greek and Roman names. They sound dignified."

"Yes, but your name sounds good on you, but this bloke...I want you to mentally picture him wearing a toga and a wreath of laurels on his head."

Oddly, Hermione found that very easy to do. She looked at Fred out of the corner of her eye and he exploded with laughter. It was so infectious that soon Hermione was joining him and it sounded like the whole of the countryside was laughing with them.

Finally Fred, wiping tears from his eyes, said,"You know, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Since George died."

She said nothing and stared at her hat in her hands, feeling very awkward about the sudden change in topics.

Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes as she clasped one of Fred's hands. "Oh Fred, I'm so sorry."

"Nothing for you to be sorry about, Hermione. He died defending something that he believed in. A hero's death; boy, wouldn't George have laughed himself silly if he knew that was the way it was going to end." He was silent for a minute. Then he said softly,"When he died, part of me died too. I know it sounds cliche, but ... It's been agony to be in the shop at Diogon's Alley. Every time I walk by a display, all I can think of is George and I endlessly going on about how much of this we should buy and how much of this we sell and what we should develop next. Then I have to worry about Dad and Ginny..."

"Why? What's wrong? asked Hermione in a soft voice.

"You know that Dad was near death's door for about two weeks and that...that really hurt his health. He lost all that weight and then that thing happened with Mom..." Fred stopped talking, then with a slight sniffle he continued," Well, that pretty much broke him. He still goes to work and tries to rectify laws and legal stuff like that, but he's just a shell. I can't get two words out of him unless it's Ministry related. Poor Ginny, trying to take Mom's place and she's screaming in pain herself about Ron and George...I got her to take over the store so I could scout out a new location," he rolled his eyes," and so that she could get out of the house. "

Hermione looked at him with a new respect. "What about Bill and Charlie?"

Fred laughed bitterly. "Right. Bill and Charlie. Let's see, Bill and Fleur are married with a child on the way, strike one, and Charlie went back to Romania as fast his broom could take him, strike two, then Percy-"

Hermione coughed loudly. She didn't want Fred to go into details about Percy. The less she knew, the easier she could forget about him.

"So that leaves me as the responsible one in the once poor but proud Weasley family." He stared moodily into the creek in front of him. "God, how I hate it."

Hermione sat silently next to him, her hand gently squeezing his. She had no idea how bad it was for Fred. She had been so worried about herself and all those nightmares that she hadn't seen how much everyone around her was in pain. She felt ashamed.

They passed the better part of an hour just staring out at the creek, each of them hostage to the sad and dark feelings that seemed to endlessly well up inside of them.

Finally, darkness began to slowly creep on them. Hermione shivered. She had left her sweater in the cottage. Fred looked at her and said,"Are you cold?" Hermione nodded. He carefully took off his jacket and placed it gently around her shoulders. With that, he stood up and brushed the loose grass from his pants and shoes, "Well, I best be going Hermione. I have to meet with a potential landlord at eight o'clock and it's six already." He began to walk away, back towards the main house.

Hermione suddenly stood up, almost letting Fred's coat fall to the ground, "Wait, Fred! Your coat!"

Fred turned and looked at her for a moment before he said, "I'll get it tomorrow."

Fred came the next day, and the day after that until he was almost a permanent resident at the farm. Every time he left, however, he would leave some part of himself behind. While tiding up her cottage, Hermione would often find Fred's wristwatch left on a windowsill ledge or maybe a stray sock on the floor. Dionysus joked that he should either be charging Fred rent or Fred should be helping on the farm for all the time he spent there.

Hermione didn't know quite what to think about it all. Fred was very respectful of her moods. If she wanted to paint by the creek, he would conjure a book to read and sit by her. If she wanted to debate Magic and the Philosophy and Morality of its Use, he would indulge her. She was amazed that he was so well read. When she commented on this to him, he replied,"I couldn't just bloody be public about studying and reading, could I? I mean George and I had a certain reputation to uphold!" Here he pointed his nose up in the air and made a flowery bow to Hermione, who responded by conjuring showers of flowers to rain down on him. He grabbed a flower out of the air, sniffed it loudly, gave a fake sneeze, then gave it to Hermione. Hermione laughed so hard at the absurdity of it all, that she had to sit down to recover herself.

"Oh God, you really are too much!", she said gasping for breath.

Fred looked down at her with a strange look on his face. Then he said in the quietest voice that she had ever heard him use, "Hermione Granger, I think that I'm falling for you."

Hermione sat up straight in the chair. "Fred, what did you just say?"

Fred's face turned a brilliant crimson. He looked just like Ron. Suddenly, before she could stop herself, tears began to roll down her face. Fred looked like he wanted to die there on the spot. He knelt before her and grabbed her hands and said quickly,"Hermione, I'm sorry I said that...in that way...it just came out...I...I..."

With a quick leap, Hermione sprang out of the chair and ran out the door. She just wanted to run again. She hadn't felt this way in a long while, in fact, she had slept very soundly since she arrived in McGonagall's Edge. She ran through the upper pasture, up towards the craggy mountains that were in front of her. Finally, she could run no more. She grabbed the stitch in her side and tried to quickly catch her breath. In her panic to run, she had not paid attention to where she was going, so she now found herself in unfamiliar surroundings. "Damn," she cursed to herself, "where am I?" There were no landmarks, not even foot paths. She was in a valley surrounded by mountains, and, she noted dryly, it was about to storm.

Hermione was not normally a person to become overly anxious, but she had no idea what to do. She sat down on cold rock and thought about her predicament. Then it hit her. She could use her wand as a compass! Hermione shook her head in disbelief with herself. Didn't she show Harry that trick before? The only problem is that she didn't know which direction the farm was and it was beginning to rain. She knew that she could always Apparate, but she had a very bad experience doing that, so she looked around for inspiration. In the cavity of one of the innumerable mountains in front of her, she saw a shelter. She knew if she could just get there before she was deluged, she could think of a way to get back to the cottage. She muttered, "Impervious" over herself and trekked up to the shelter.

She was surprised when she got up there that it was a shepherds's shelter. There was some rather matted looking straw in one corner and a rough wooden table on one side with an old fashioned kerosine lamp on it. She smiled. This is were Dionysus probably stayed when he had to round up the sheep to get them sheared. She tapped her wand to the wick of the lamp and muttered,"Incendio." Once the warm light flooded the little shelter, Hermione felt better. She then realized that she could always enchant an object as a portkey and was busy scouting around for such an object, when she heard slushy footsteps coming up to the shelter. She held her wand out, ready to attack, when she heard,"Hermione, Hermione, where are you?" in a sing song voice. Then a man, clothed in the brightest yellow rain gear she had ever seen, walked in. Unfortunately, it also showed where he must have taken a nasty tumble in the rain, as he was almost completely covered in mud. The man stopped when he saw Hermione and said in a relieved voice,"Thank Merlin that you're safe." Fred pulled back his hat and smiled as he said,"Aren't you even going to give your rescuer a little kiss?" Hermione looked at him, trying not to laugh. Only Fred would try to be debonair while being covered in mud. She looked at him with a tight smile.

"Look Fred, I don't need rescuing. I am a witch."

Fred looked down at his muddy feet."I know, I know, but I think that you need rescuing."

Hermione sputtered, "What sort of male chauvinist crap is that?'She glared at him darkly.

"Hermione, I just told you that I was starting to have, er, personal feelings for you, and you run away from me like I'm made of poison. What's going on?"

Hermione examined her dirty and chipped fingernails carefully.

"Do you really want to know, Fred?" Then she rose her head up quickly and said in a shaky voice,"When you said what you said to me, I didn't see you...I saw Ron!"

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed hysterically. Fred took a step towards her, his arms outstretched. Hermione turned away and sat down in the corner of the shelter, shuddering violently. Suddenly, she didn't care any more. It was like a towering wave of emotion, that she had kept inside herself, came bursting out, and she could do nothing to control it.

"I keep seeing him in my dreams. Not all the time, but just enough to make me dread every night's sleep. Sometimes, when I'm alone in my room I can see him just out of the corner of my eye, and then when I turn to see him...he's gone. Then there was what happened at Hogwarts...that son of a bitch Snape...", she turned angrily to Fred," you know, he's the reason that Ron died...he concocts some asinine potion that causes his arm to catch on fire...and that's the worst...all I can see and hear is Ron being tortured...that's why I can't Apparate...," she sobbed,"Oh God, I've lost control! I don't know what is wrong with me! I've got to be the strong one! I'm mean Harry is the one who had to kill Voldemort and he did it and he's fine, and...and...look at me! So weak that I can't even see one person die!" She ceased talking and continued to cry, with shaking sobs.

Fred sat down next to her, carefully making sure that he didn't try to crowd her. He said to her tenderly "You never told me you knew how Ron died."

Hermione stopped crying and tried to catch her breath. The gentle patter of the rain made it easier for her to concentrate on the story that she had to tell.

"It was the Final Battle. Dumbledore had me at the Hogwarts library, trying to research the connection between free will and Ancient Magic. I decided that I need to take a break and was just returning from the kitchens, when I saw somebody go quickly into an empty classroom. I peered in and saw Lucias Malfoy. I had no idea, then, how he got into Hogwarts. At first, I thought that he didn't see me, but suddenly he was right there in front of me, with this horrible grin on his face. He grabbed my hands and whispered to me,"I should think that you would like to see this."He Apparated us to this room and there I saw..saw... something that I can never forget."

She sniffled loudly. Fred opened up his yellow slicker and conjured a handkerchief from one of his pockets, which Hermione gratefully accepted.

"They had Ron on the floor. He was curled up in a ball. That evil creature, Bellatrix, would use the Crucias on him for a little bit, give him time to really feel the pain, then start all over again. I could smell his insides cooking from the heat of the Curse. You know, I looked that up later, and it said that in order for that to happen, it has to be done continually for fifteen minutes or better." Her eyes overflowed with tears. "Oh God, my poor, sweet, Ron. Why would she do that to him? He never did anything-" she dried her tears with the handkerchief and continued on in a quiet voice," Lucas looks at Bellatrix and says loudly, "Another guest for you, Bella, this one is a girl." So this...this...thing...turns to me with a ravenous look and says to me,"I love to hear little girls scream." I was already starting to steel myself against the Curse, like Harry taught me, when Snape opened the door. He looked at me, Lucias, that woman, and Ron and said in that snide voice that he uses,"Looks like a lovely party, do mind if I join you?" Lucias laughed and waved him in. Then he said something about fun with Mudbloods and would he like to join in...then all I felt was this horrible pain...you know what that's like, Fred...and then I blacked out.

Hermione took a deep breath and continued, this time the words came out faster.

"I felt this hand slap me hard across the face. Then Lucas stood me up, pinned my arms to my sides and said to me,"Now, Mudblood, watch him die!", and then Snape looked at Ron and said the Killing Curse. Then...then...he looked at me with this penetrating look, and I could hear him inside my brain, saying ,"It will be worse for you!" I began to scream, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" Lucias and Bellatrix are laughing like maniacs. I don't know why, but I stopped struggling with Lucias. Snape got up very close to my face and said in a whisper,"I'm going to enjoy this." He pointed his wand at me..."Hermione paused, out of breath, "then right as he was saying the Curse, pointed the wand away from me and killed Lucas. As soon as Lucas dropped, he used the Killing Curse on Bella. Snape made a portkey and I held on to Ron's body...and he was still warm...and I could still smell..." With a body-wracking sob, Hermione cried out, "Why am I alive and Ron isn't!"

Fred leaned over and held her. He stoked her hair tenderly and said nothing.

They must have fallen asleep, because a large crack of lightening both made them jump. Hermione blinked up at Fred, who still had one arm around her.

"What? What was that?"she said tensely.

"Nothing. Just lightening." He pulled her closer to him and Hermione didn't resist.

She was just about to nod off again when she noticed the kerosine lamp's light flicker roughly, then she heard a soft popping noise.

A man's waspish voice filled the room."Oh, isn't this a touching scene."

Both Fred and Hermione jumped up, Hermione with her wand in her hand. Fred looked annoyed and said."What the hell are you doing here, Snape?"

Snape seemed slightly taken aback."I would presume to ask you two the same question."

Hermione, who still had her wand at the ready, looked at him with disgust, and told him,"What we are doing here is of no concern to you. But tell me something, what made you Apparate here?

Are you still doing spy work on the side, Snape?"

Snape looked at Hermione steadily,"Professor Granger, when we are speaking to each other we will refer to each other using our professional titles."

Fred coughed rather loudly, causing both Snape and Hermione to jump. "Look, frankly I don't care what your business is out here, Professor Snape. But if you will just allow us to go our way, we'll let you go yours." Fred grasped Hermione's hand like they were going to leave.

"Leave if you wish, but I must warn you about the werewolves out there."

Fred and Hermione stopped and slowly turned back to Snape. Hermione muttered under her breath,"It makes sense that he would be involved in this somehow."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "What I know and what I will share with you, are two entirely different matters. All I can say at this juncture is that it is not safe for anyone to be out at night, especially a night with a full moon."

At this point, the rain had stopped and cold air had descended from the mountains. The clouds parted, and for one moment, the entire valley was flooded in a glittering silver light. The full moon had risen high above the mountains.

Suddenly, they heard a strange shuffling noise. Then a large werewolf lunged into the shelter. He was so massive, that no one could go around him to get out. His fur shone a demonic black silver in the moonlight. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days. His eyes rested on Fred as he licked his lips hungrily. Hermione decided to divert its attention away from Fred. She tried every spell she could think of, but they merely bounced off of him or missed entirely and only succeeded in making the black werewolf angrier than before.

Snape turned to Fred and Hermione, his face pale and voice low,"You two Apparate out of here and leave this to me."

Hermione was scared. The last time she had Apparated she had ended up in the that dark room and seen all those horrible things. She closed her eyes and could hear Ron telling her in a clear voice,"For Merlin's sake Hermione, you're a witch, pull yourself together and get out of there!"

She muttered the spell and in a twinkling, was back at the cottage. The only problem was that she was the only one there. She began to call for Fred, but when she heard no reply, she knew what she had to do. She had to go back to the shelter.

She closed her eyes again and found herself back there. In the few minutes that she had been gone, things had definitely taken a turn for the worst. Another werewolf had joined them, this one looked like the one that they had seen in the village. Hermione swore that this werewolf looked surprised to see her, but chalked it up to being surprised herself. The black werewolf had knocked out Snape, and looked intent on eating Fred. Fred looked at Hermione, his eyes wide with terror. Hermione screamed,"Fred, Apparate!"

Fred turned white and said in a panicky voice,"I can't -when I fell in the mud, I broke my wand." Hermione noticed three pieces of the wand near his feet.

She looked over to see if she couldn't get Snape's wand, but noticed that it was bent in at odd angle, like something heavy had pushed it in. Hermione realized that she had make a life or death decision. She threw her wand to Fred and leaped on to the back of the black werewolf. The werewolf was momentarily surprised, but quickly bucked her off, then leaped on her. She could smell his fetid breath on her, then felt his razor sharp claws digging deep into her flesh. The pain was becoming unbearable and Hermione could feel the sticky warmness of her blood ebbing out of her. She hoped he would kill her and be done. Then she passed out.

A bright light filled her eyelids. She thought that maybe she had died and was on her way to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She figured that she had better be awake for it, so she decided to open her eyes. She was in her cottage, surrounded by glorious morning light. She could hear the creek and the birds tweeting overhead. She struggled to get up, but found that her arms and upper body were completely covered in bandages. Then the pain come back to her in a flood and she moaned. Something next to her stirred. She heard a chair being pushed back.

"Hermione, are you awake?" asked Fred anxiously.

"Yes." she answered slowly.

"Oh thank the gods!" To her surprise she heard Fred fight back a sniffle.

The door to the cabin opened up and she felt a cold draft. She heard Dionysus' heavy feet come up next to her bed.

"Fred, how's Hermione?"

Fred sniffed and smiled widely and said,"Ask her yourself."

Dionysus bent over to look at her. "My goodness, we've all had a scare over you. Fred here flowed, er, flooed to Hogwarts to get Madame Pomfrey to look after you. My, you were a right mess, I'll tell you truthfully Hermione, it didn't look like you were going to make it, but you're one tough lassie."

Hermione smiled, although it hurt her to do so. Dionysus went back to the main house to get Madame Pomfrey and Minerva, both of whom were having a nap. Soon, everyone was fussing over her. Madame Pomfrey changed her bandages and put some more foul smelling ointment on her deep wounds. Minerva was asking her what she would like for breakfast. Hermione asked Madam Pomfrey how long she would have to be in bed.

Madame Pomfrey cleared her throat."The best that I can say is about four days. I want to make sure that any contaminates are cleaned out of the wounds and that nice scabs are forming on them. You are very lucky that the werewolf only wanted to eat you, not bite you. Now get some rest."

She looked over at Fred. "You too, Mr. Weasley."

With that, Minerva and Madame Pomfrey went back to the house to get breakfast on. Dionysus had to feed his animals in the barn now that they could no longer graze out in the pasture without fear of attack.

Fred sat back down in the chair. "You know what, I've gotten a taste of my own medicine these last few nights."

Hermione glanced over at him,"How so?"

"Well, all those times that Mom and Dad rushed George and I over to hospital, and then Mom would yell at us once we were better about all the worry we put her through, well, I can honestly say that we were selfish prats."

Hermione made a choked laugh. Fred looked at her worriedly. "Are you all right?

Hermione grunted." Don't make me laugh."

Fred pulled his chair closer to her bed. "I thought that the one good thing in my life was gone, and...and now..." He reached down and squeezed the only part of her body not bandaged; her foot, and merely smiled.

Hermione looked straight into his eyes. There was a soft, warm glow that seemed to exude from them. She opened her mouth to say something but instead fell asleep.

By the end of the second day of her bed rest, Hermione was anxious to get outside. Her scabs were itching her like crazy but Madame Pomfrey had kept her hands in bandages so she wouldn't rip open her scabs. Hermione hated it, as she felt like she was dealing with those damn tuberpus sores all over again. Fred did anything that he could to make Hermione forget that she was an invalid. On the third day, he made the roof of the cottage disappear so that she could look up and see the sky "and get some sun," as he tried to explain his action to a disgruntled Madame Pomfrey. Finally, on the fifth day, Madame Pomfrey declared Hermione's wounds to be successfully healed. Hermione looked over her arms and stomach and could only see slight pink scratches where ugly red scabs had been before. She decided that the first thing that she wanted to do was walk along the creek. Madame Pomfrey gave her a list of do's and don't's then took some Floo Powder, threw it into the roaring fireplace, and went back to Hogwarts. Minerva gave her a very thorough talking to about roaming around with werewolves about, especially after being "tasted" by one, then left.

Finally, Hermione and Fred were alone. She had only one question to ask him.

"So what happened after I passed out?

Fred looked at her and sighed. "I knew you would ask me that, so here it goes. After you passed out and the black werewolf was trying to eat you, a very peculiar thing happened." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow."The other werewolf jumped on top of him and started to attack him. It was wild. Even though the light colored one was smaller, boy, was he nimble! Every time the black werewolf tried to take a bite out of you, he would bite his ear or tail. Then the black werewolf gave up on you and turned his attention to his attacker. I feel sorry for that poor bugger."

"How did you get out of there?"

"Actually, that was the easy part. I grabbed your wand, pocketed Snape's, then made a portkey out of that lamp in the shelter, and I managed to drag both of you back here."

"What happened to Snape?",queried Hermione.

"That was another peculiar thing. The minute after I roused Madame Pomfrey, I came back here immediately, as you were bleeding so much. Did anyone tell you that we thought you might not make it?"

"Numerous times. Go on."

"So I put a pillow under your head and wrapped you with a blanket to keep you warm. As I'm about to do the same for Snape, he wakes up and begins cursing. I thought Ron could come up with some good ones, but Snape would have had him beat this time." Fred looked impressed.

"The three of us gave Snape a lot of practice. Keep going."

"Then he got up and paced around the room, like he was looking for something. I told him that I had his wand, but he still seemed a little disoriented. I told him that he was making me nervous and to sit down. Well, that bit of kindness seemed to help him snap back to his good old cheerful self. He looked at me, then you, and said something nasty about all he needed to see now was Harry Potter to come into the room as he has two out of the three. I remember him being a cranky git, but has he always been like this bad?"

"Actually, I think that he's mellowed out a bit."Hermione replied.

Fred shuddered and continued on."Then he asked for his wand back, which I was hesitant to give him, I'll tell you that. But he gave me this murderous look and I gave it back as soon as I could. He muttered something to it and the wand straightened out, and it looked like new. He looked down at you again and without saying a word conjured up a stretcher for you, put you on it, and then handed me a small vial of ointment. He told me to start putting it on you, or you would die from blood loss. Then he strode on over to the fireplace, threw some Floo Powder in, and away he went."

"Did you hear where he went?"

"No, but I have a pretty good idea. I think he went back to Hogwarts."

None of it seemed to make sense. Hermione was proud that there was not a puzzle created that she couldn't solve, but this one seemed impossible. What was worse, was that she didn't know if she wanted to pursue it. After all, she reasoned, a dead Snape wasn't such a major loss. It would be payback for what he did to Ron.

Then Fred's next statement shook all those thoughts out of her mind, "Hermione, there is only one thing that we can do. We have to get into Snape's office and find out what's going on."

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"Fred wheedled.

"Fred, Fred, Fred-"

"Say my name like that again!" Fred cried passionately.

She looked up at him and blushed deeply. "I don't think that it's a good idea. It's different now. I'm a professor, you're a business wizard..."

Fred glanced at her and sighed,"I guess that you're right. It's not like how things were at Hogwart's. We have to be more mature and responsible for our actions now." Then he turned around and looked at Hermione with the same look that Ron had when he had a good, but mischievous idea in his head.

"Look, if I go and get some firecrackers from the shop-" Hermione put her hand up and shook her head.

"It's not a good idea, Fred. To be honest with you, I don't care if he lives or dies."

Fred's broad smile disappeared."That's a hard thing to say about someone, Hermione."

Hermione's jaw set."How can you, of all people, say that about that man! He allowed your brother to be murdered in cold blood. A werewolf at least has a conscience, but Snape! He has nothing but hate in his heart."

Fred looked at her and said in the quietest tone that he could manage,"Do you really know what is in his heart?"

Hermione laughed derisively,"All I wanted to know about Snape's compassion, I saw in a small room in an abandoned house."

Fred glanced at her and sat down in one of the chairs by the fireplace. He stared into the fireplace with a lost look on his face. Then, with a sudden movement, he got up and moved the chair beside him horizontal to the fireplace and his own to face it. He then sat down again and said nothing else. Hermione had never seen Fred so serious before, that she was actually worried about him. She decided to take the chair opposite of him to see what would happen.

"Hermione,"he said, trying to choose his world carefully,"You know that I care for you deeply, and as someone who is truly interested in your, um, well-being, I have to ask you something very personal. You must be truthful with me."

Hermione felt herself holding her breath. She was afraid of what he would ask.

"I want you to look into your self and tell me why you hate Serverus Snape so much."

She felt as if he had punched her in the stomach, then at almost the same time she felt a burning rage fire up inside of her. He didn't understand either. She had poured her soul, her feelings out to him, and here he was doubting her. She was shaking so much, that he could barely make out what she said,"He didn't have to kill Ron."

"How do you know that? "

"Because he was a Death Eater, for Christ's sake! He knew what was going on in that wretched room. He could have created a diversion to get Ron out of there alive! Then Ron would have been all right and then your mom and dad would have just one dead son instead of two and I...I...wouldn't have to be alone. I wish I could have died too."

Fred resisted reaching out to hold her. Instead he bit his lip hard and said nothing. After a minute or so he said to her gently,"Hermione, you still have Harry."

She gave Fred a hard look. "Really? Do you know what he went through? Using Pettigrew to kill Voldemort? He could do that...and I...I couldn't even save our best friend,"her voice changed to bitterness."I've seen the way he looks at me. I know that he thinks that I'm weak. I am weak."

Fred's eyes flashed dangerously."How can you say that? All the terrors you endured, and you think that you are weak? Everyone respects your incredible strength, Hermione! Harry talks endlessly about you with the other Aurors. Ginny admires you so much, that she has a whole scrapbook dedicated to you. Nobody could believe with all that you went through that you were still able to concentrate enough and become Hogwart's youngest professor!"

Fred took a deep breath to steady himself. "Hermione, you need to do some serious thinking about yourself how you want to lead your life. "

With that, Fred got up and quietly went out the door. She could hear his footsteps slowly retreat from the house. Hermione buried her face in her hands and cried.

Fred didn't come back the next day like she thought he would. No flowers appeared on her doorstep, no owls bearing large, mysterious packages. His lack of attention unsettled her. Then she realized it wasn't his attention she missed, but Fred's very presence itself. She thought about all the times that he had remained silent when she was in one of her petulant moods or how he would crack her up with one of the risque limericks that he knew. The truth was, she had to admit, that he was her perfect opposite, balancing her in every way, and yet complimenting her exactly. Hermione was chagrined. She had no idea what to do.

The idea did hit her around three o'clock the next morning. She woke up feeling alert and excited. She had to do something reckless, risky, or just plain crazy. She took a shower and made some coffee, feeling too nervous to eat anything. She paced around her cottage looking for some mischief to get into. Then glancing at the fireplace, she was struck with a dangerous idea. She should break into Snape's office to see if she could find any clues about what he was doing with the werewolves. She dug into her chest of drawers and pulled out a long black dress and put her black professors robe over it. She decided to wear her new black boots so that no one could see the whiteness of her legs under her robe. For a final touch, she pulled back the hair from her face and checked the tightness of her wand holster around her boot. With a last look around her cottage, she turned to the fireplace, threw some Floo Powder into it, muttered "Severus Snape's Office" and disappeared into the dying flames.

Floo traveling always left her a little dizzy. She assumed that it was because she had only been exposed to it when she was older, so when she saw the stone fireplace appear in front of her she didn't try to move for a few seconds. She ducked down and carefully peered around his office. Even as a student, Hermione had hated to come into here. It was, incredibly, more crowded with preserved, dried, and pickled floating things in glass jars than before. She shuddered to think how he could correct papers with all those dead eyes looking at him.

Finding any clues in Snape's office would be tough. There were no papers on his desk and she knew that all his desk and file drawers had jinxes and wards on them. She had wandered to his tall shelves behind his chair to see if there was a Penseive hidden there, when she felt something slippery under her boot. Dreading to think what it could be, she looked gingerly down. To her surprise and relief, she saw that it was slip of paper. She picked it up and had just put it in her robe pocket, when the office door swung open. She wheeled around in surprise to see Snape standing in the doorway. Snape had already sat down in his desk chair by the time Hermione had time to register this new turn of events. He looked at her with a half-smirk on his face and waved his wand to shut and lock the door.

"It's interesting to see all the scurrying creatures that the night brings out."

Hermione blushed in spite of herself.

Snape seemed even more amused by this. He waved her to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. "Please, Professor Granger sit down. Is there anything that I can help you with?

Hermione felt so humiliated by her unplanned foray that she just wanted to make a break for it and floo back to her cottage. She sat down in the chair and looked at the fireplace out of the corner of her eye, but Snape caught her and said casually,"If you must know, Professor, I have just Charmed that fireplace not to take any incoming or outgoing guests." He placed his wand on the desk, leaned over to her and said,"Now, why are you here?"

Hermione looked up at him."I was looking for some clues as to why you are involved with this Scottish werewolf case."

"Really, Professor? Don't you think that breaking into a fellow instructors office is a little unorthodox, or have you taken Harry Potter's criminal ways to heart?"

She stared at Snape, her eyes burning with hate. Snape looked deep in to her eyes and said softly,"So much emotion for someone who prides herself on methodological and practical research. I had always thought that you were the most level headed out of the three, but now I'm not so sure."

She tried not to make eye contact with him any more, suddenly remembering what Harry had said about Snape being a Master Occulems. He gazed at her shrewdly, then took his wand and muttered something to a drawer on his right. Hermione could hear the drawer slide slowly open. Then Snape carefully reached down and pulled out a stone bowl. It was rather shallow, with runes along the broad rim. She could read some of them. One set, she noted, read,"Memories are woven into a tapestry called History". Then Snape took his wand and began to stir it. Harry had told her how beautiful it was, but she had not expected this. The soft shimmering of the silver liquid had turned into a sparkling prism. Hermione wanted to touch it, to feel the cool silkiness of it between her fingers. Just as she was about to reach into it, when she felt a hand grab her wrist tightly. She looked up at Snape, startled out of her revelries.

Snape, still holding her wrist, said in a lazy voice."This, as you have already deduced, is a Pensieve. It has the ability to allow memories to be stored and viewed at will. I believe, Professor Granger, that you have some... lingering questions about the night of the Final Battle. Specifically, questions about my actions. Let's take a look, shall we?"

He tapped the liquid with his wand and it swirled again, finally revealing a dark room. Before she knew what was happening, Snape had dived head first into the Pensieve, taking her with him.

It was worse than traveling by floo. Hermione felt like someone had tossed her headfirst into a cold and dark well. Once her feet hit the floor, though, she felt perfectly normal except that she found herself in the middle of something that she had no control over. They were in a very large, dark room. She could see the outline of furniture from the ambient light outside. Then she heard a soft whoosh sound as light appeared. She looked around, wondering who it was, and gasped. It was Peter Pettigrew. His beady eyes were scanning the room, looking right through her. Hermione felt herself stiffen up in fright. Then she felt a gentle squeeze on her wrist. She turned slightly and saw Snape looking at her with an amused glint in his eye. "I had forgotten that you had never been inside a Penseive memory before. You can see them but they can't see or hear you. You can also move through solid objects, if you wish, and go up stairs. There is one thing that we must do, however."

Hermione, feeling her composure coming back, looked at Snape with her usual directness and said," What is it?"

"This memory is very different from others that you may have heard Harry Potter talk about. This is not only my memory, but the combined memories of others. You could get lost in the other's memories, so we must maintain direct physical contact at all times."

Hermione had a strange feeling that Snape didn't mind.

"So, are we at the beginning, then?" she asked.

"Yes, in about two minutes you should start to see the players take their places."

Hermione didn't like the way he phrased that, however, it was an apt description. Pettigrew went around to all the lamps and chandeliers that he could find, muttering ,"Incendio" to them. Sometimes he seemed nervous, because the light wouldn't flicker on immediately, that he would have to do it again. Hermione snickered. It seemed like he was the comedy relief before the main show started. As she turned to watch Pettigrew attempt to light a wall sconce, she felt a warning squeeze on her wrist. She turned back just in time to see Lord Voldemort silently glide into the room. She found herself awed by him. He had the bearing of an emperor; and as he glanced around the room, she saw his followers fall right behind him, cowering.

"You failed again, Rookwood! How could you let her get away?"

Rookwood threw himself at Lord Voldemort's feet, whimpering. "Please my lord, I failed to get her, but I got the other one!"

Lord Voldemort, who had slowly drawn out his wand, stopped and said coldly,"The other one?"

Rookwood dared to look up. "Yes, my lord. Harry Potter's other friend, Ron Weasley."

Hermione drew in a sharp breath. Snape looked at her carefully. She could feel the grip on her wrist getting tighter.

"Take him up to my father's old bedroom. Make sure that he is kept comfortable." His red eyes were burning with an intense insanity. "Now Harry, I know that you will meet me now."

With those words, all the lights in house blazed on at once. Instead of the rich, yellow warmness of candlelight, however, they all were a weak, flickering, green-blue. Hermione shivered, and longed to be able to use both of her arms to warm herself up. Then Lord Voldemort, Pettigrew, and four other Death Eaters went upstairs. Hermione heard something outside the house and knew what it was with a sickening lump in her stomach. Two Death Eaters were half carrying, half dragging what looked like a bloody bundle of robes, but Hermione knew that it was Ron. She had to admit that he was giving them quite a fight; he had managed to hit one of the Death Eaters carrying him and broke his nose and the other looked like he had hex marks all over his face. Hermione stepped forward to intervene, when she sadly realized that she was in a memory and could do nothing. Finally, Avery, who was pacing about the room with nervous energy, Stunned Ron into motionlessness. "What does the Dark Lord want us to do with him?" said one of Ron's handlers. Avery said to him in a victorious voice,"Up to Lord Voldemort's chambers, where he will be entertained!" The other Death Eaters laughed loudly and began stoking his hair, and whispering "Goodbyes" in his ear.

Hermione turned to Snape, her eyes filled with tears,"Please don't make me see this...I can't..."

Snape looked at her with a hardness that surprised her and said in a cold voice,"Don't you see, you foolish girl, that if you don't learn to deal with these emotions now, they will hold you captive for life. You will always be weak, and there will always be someone who will exploit that for their own benefit."

Then he turned abruptly to the door again where she saw Lucias Malfoy and Nott walk in. Lucias had a huge smile on his pale face and he began to talk excitedly to other Death Eaters. Suddenly, Macnair burst into the room and shouted, "The Order is here!" The room seemed to fill with an emotional electricity, and with a roar they all ran out to meet their opponents. As the Death Eaters ran out, Hermione could hear the screams upstairs. She turned to go to Ron, but Snape's death grip on her wrist pulled her back to him. He whispered in her ear softly,"You might be interested in this part of the Battle, Professor." He turned her so that she could look outside the large front windows. The scene was magically illuminated so she could see the giants coming from the south, and the small, but mighty, herd of centaurs coming up from the east. Then her attention turned to a flash of red in front of her. She saw Fred and George, back to back, casting spells at numerous Death Eaters and their minions. Like anything that they did, Fred and George were giving it their all. Then suddenly, in mid-jinx, George fell forward and didn't get up. Fred seemed to realize that something had happened, as he kept looking behind him to see if George was still there. Fred must have tripped over him, because for a brief, horrifying minute, he was down on the ground. Hermione put her free hand to her mouth as she saw Fred's shocked face as he realized who he had fallen over. Then she unconsciously put her hand out to touch the window and said numbingly."Fred...oh my God...Fred."

Snape abruptly pulled her away from the window. She tried to go back, but Snape jerked her in front of him. She wanted to cry, but didn't want Snape to see her so emotional. She pulled herself up straight, and tried to fix the stray hairs from her barrette behind her ears. Hearing a popping noise, she saw Bellatrix Lestrange Apparate in the center of the room. She was covered in dirt, and there were several ugly cuts on her arms and legs, but she looked jubilant. Her eyes flickered excitedly as she bounded up the stairs. Suddenly, Hermione was upstairs too. She heard some mumbling coming from behind a bedroom at the furthest end of the hall, then the door slammed open, shuddering on its hinges. Out strode Bellatrix, dragging something along by the scrape of the neck. Hermione wanted to close her eyes, but found that she couldn't. Then Bellatrix stopped in front of a door with her bundle and screamed "Alohamora" and with a wave of her wand, cast the bundle against the opposite wall. Hermione heard a sickening thump then a low groan. She thought that Snape would drag her into the room with Bellatrix and Ron, but he remained outside the door. She began to hear the sounds of battle downstairs, then the quick steps of someone leaping up the stairs two at a time. Hermione could feel shots of air near her face and arms and realized that they were spells. Then she saw Harry at the top of the stairs, looking angry and breathless. "Wormtail." he growled and charged down the end of the hall, where she saw Pettigrew scurry into the bedroom that Lord Voldemort was in. Harry chased after him and was about to enter the bedroom, when the four Death Eaters emerged. Harry managed to stun one, but by then, the others had disarmed him and were about to utter the Killing Curse to him.

Pensieve Snape seemed to materialize out of nowhere and in a commanding voice said,"You there! What are you are doing? Do you think that the Dark Lord wishes that you have the honor of killing the Boy Who Lived?"

The three Death Eaters looked around in a confused manner to each other, muttering questions.

Calmly, Snape held up his wand and quickly uttered"Aveda Kedavra" at each of the Death Eaters. Harry fell on top of them and was scrambling to find his wand. Then Snape muttered,"Accio Harry Potter's wand" and it flew up to him from under the bodies of the Death Eaters. He handed it to Harry and said calmly,"Potter, make an end of it."

Harry looked at Snape sharply, then nodded his head and grimly walked through the door to Lord Voldemort.

Hermione wanted to follow Harry, but knew that she was not here to see that. She breathed deeply a few times, then nodded at Snape to go inside the other bedroom. It was very unsettling. She saw her Pensieve self staring at the balled up figure of Ron. Behind her was the looming figure of Lucias Malfoy, and to the Pensieve Hermione's right, was Bellatrix. Hermione could see the mad gleam of joy on her face and she used the Crucius Curse on Ron. Unconsciously, she leaned close to Snape. Then Lucias called to Bellatrix loudly,"Another guest for you, Bella, this one is a girl!" Bellatrix spun around quickly to look at the other Hermione. The hair on the back of Hermione's neck rose as she heard Bellatrix say in an almost sultry voice,"I love to hear little girls scream." Then Pensieve Snape opened the door walked into the room casually, and said in a drawling voice "Looks like a lovely party, do you mind if I join you?" Lucias looked a little surprised, but laughed and waved Snape in. "Severus, just the man I wanted to see! Want to have a little fun with a Mudblood, like we used to do when we were young?" Pensieve Snape's face contorted into a cruel sneer,"I would like nothing better." Then both of them raised their wands and shouted, "Crucious!" together.

Hermione saw her Pensieve self scream and twitch in pain, then become silent. Her breathing was loud and heavy. Bellatrix looked over to Snape with a look of distrust on her face. She tilted her head to him and asked in a little girl voice,"Why did you return again to our side, Severus? Did you get tired of being on Cudmore's short leash?"

Pensieve Snape laughed sharply,"My dear, dear Bellatrix, I have been on the right side all along. I just used that fool's trust to spy for our lord. My loyalty has always been to him." Hermione looked at the other Snape in horror as he lightly touched the Death Mark on his left arm.

Lucias and Bellatrix looked at each with a dark glance. Then Lucias said to Snape in his drawling voice,"So, you wouldn't mind killing the boy, then?"

Pensieve Snape looked swiftly at Lucias and growled,"You aren't doubting me, are you Lucias?

Lucias looked surprised,"No, Severus, of course not! I just haven't seen you kill anyone you knew in awhile, is all."

With that, Lucias kicked the balled up form of Ron to try and get him face up. Hermione saw him step back as he smelled Ron's burning insides.

Lucias watched him closely,"Well, Severus?"

The other Snape looked at him and nodded, then glanced at Pensieve Hermione's motionless figure on the floor. It was then that Hermione felt a small shock of electricity course through her body. As she looked up at Snape, she saw him muttering something. Inside of her head, she could see images of St. Mungo's Hospital, medi-witches, and beds with clean sheets.

She looked into Ron's half-closed eyes and saw nothing but a bright white light.

Then she heard Ron's cracked voice clearly. "Kill me."

Hermione froze. To hear Ron's voice again...

She could see, in her mind, Snape showing him images of them getting out of the room.

At first, she saw Ron shake his head slightly, then she saw Ron shudder in a spasm of pain and for a brief second, she felt as if she was on fire. Ron looked at Snape again, and Hermione could see pictures of herself and Harry. Suddenly, Hermione had a refreshing feeling of coolness and absolute peace wash over her.

As quickly as it had begun, the images ended.

Bellatrix suddenly chuckled and said coyly,"It's such a shame that not everyone can see this." With that, she walked over to Pensieve Hermione and slapped her hard. Lucias pulled up the barely conscious Hermione, pinning her arms to her sides. Then he whispered something to her. The Pensieve Hermione began to scream as Snape lowered his wand and said the Killing Curse to Ron; after he seemed satisfied that Ron was dead, he turned to the Pensieve Hermione with a crazed look on his face. She began to scream hysterically,"I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" In the background, Hermione could hear Lucias and Bellatrix laughing hard. Then Hermione stopped screaming and struggling and looked Snape right in the eye. Snape came with inches of her face and breathed,"I'm going to enjoy this."

The look on Lucias's face was one of utter surprise as Snape pointed the wand at him. Bellatrix hadn't registered what Snape had done until a second before she died. The Pensieve Hermione looked at Snape with round, frightened eyes. He glanced at her, then went over to pick up a piece of cardboard lying in the corner of the room. He waved his wand over it and muttered,"Portkey."

The cardboard lit up briefly, then went back to its normal color. Snape walked over to her and said in a low voice,"Do you think that you can manage to hold on to Weasley's body?' Hermione nodded slightly. Snape looked over his shoulder and hissed,"Off you go." With that, Hermione hugged Ron's body, grabbed the portkey, and disappeared. Snape said nothing else, but drew his wand out and walked out of the room.

Before she could react, Snape pulled out his wand, and they began to leave the Pensieve. When they finally landed on the floor in Snape's office, Hermione felt that she was going to be sick. Snape let go of her wrist, and went to one of the many cabinets lining the wall. He drew out a small vial filled with a sky blue fluid and handed it to her. Without hesitation, Hermione took it from him and drank it. It instantly calmed down her stomach and made her feel a bit better. She handed Snape the empty vial, which he immediately said "Scourgify" to, then placed the clean vial back in the cabinet.

Snape looked at her silently, then after a minute asked smugly,"Well, what do you think now?"

Hermione looked at him. He was leaning on his desk with arms folded across his chest with a smirk his face.

She honestly didn't know what to think or feel. She felt a twinge of pain and looked down at her wrist. There was a red mark from where Snape had held it. She rubbed it absent-mindedly.

"I had no idea that Ron told you those things. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Snape looked at her coolly."How could I, Professor Granger, when every time that I came with in visual distance of you, you would turn and go off in the opposite direction? Even if I had written you a letter, I knew that you would not read it." Then he straightened up and said stiffly,"I do not need or want your vindication of my actions."

Hermione knew that she deserved that rebuke.

She bit her lip and knew what she had to do."Professor Snape, I am very sorry for the way I have unfairly treated you. Will you accept my apology?"

Snape sat back in his desk chair. He put his elbows on the arms of the chair and folded his hands. She looked into his eyes, unafraid.

He spoke slowly,"If forgiveness is what you want from me, then you must give me something in return."

Hermione blinked, but maintained eye contact."What do you want in return?"

"I want the one thing that you have never given me; your respect."

This caught her off-guard. "My respect?" she echoed back.

Snape looked agitated."Yes, Professor Granger. Respect. All during your schooling at Hogwarts, I knew that you helped your little friends with their potions while I had my back turned. I knew it was you who stole those ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion, the first time, and yet you lied right to my face!" His eyes grew bright with remembrance."Then you and Harry Potter making me look like a damn fool in front of Cornelius Fudge-"

Hermione edged her chair back. He was starting to scare her. Now she knew what Harry meant by telling her never to piss Snape off. But then she started to assess the situation. She had worked on behalf of the Order, she had become a professor, and as far as she could tell, she was an adult. She was not a school girl who could be bullied anymore.

"-not using my professional title in front of a former student-"

She leaped out of her chair and hit the top of his desk hard with both of her hands. Snape jerked his head up and said to her in a mock scolding voice,"Temper, temper, Professor. You must really learn to keep those emotions in check."

Hermione eyed him cooly."I certainly will, if you learn to behave like an adult and let go of the past."

He said nothing, but looked at her with a satisfied look on his face. Then he stood up, took a deep breath, drew himself up, held out his right hand and said in a business tone of voice,"Professor Granger." Hermione solemnly got up out of her chair also and shook his hand firmly saying, "Professor Snape." As she let go of his hand, she noticed that his eyes were focused on the red mark around her wrist.

Ignoring his glance, Hermione asked in as composed a tone as she could,"Professor Snape, could you please remove the Charm from the fireplace so I can go back to my cottage now?" He nodded brusquely and with a flick of his wand the fire began to roar again.

She was about to throw in the Floo Powder, when a thought occurred to her.

"Tell me, Professor, how did you know that I would come here?"

Snape snorted,"I did not know, Professor Granger. I was owled a letter warning me that I might have an unexpected visitor sometime in the next forty-eight hours. I set up a warning system in the only place that a person could arrive here in Hogwarts, and you know the rest."

"Who sent the letter?" demanded Hermione.

Snape raised an eyebrow.

Hermione sighed." Who sent the letter, Professor Snape?"

Snape sat back down in his chair and smirked."Who do you think it was, Professor? Someone who cares about your welfare, who is worried about your state of mind, someone who...who...loves you."

Hermione blushed. She didn't know what to say or if she should say anything. Snape's staring at her was starting to give her the willies. She coughed and, without looking at him, said in a trembling voice,"Er, thank you for all your help tonight, Professor Snape.",and with a flick of her wrist threw the Floo Powder into the fireplace, muttered her destination and ducked into the flames.

Hermione had just taken off her boots and gown, when she heard a soft knock on the door. She glanced at her watch which showed that it was five-thirty in the morning and stifled a yawn. She padded over to the door, waved her wand and said,"Peepus". Instantly, a small glass hole appeared in the door which she peered out of. Suddenly a large blue eye appeared at the other end and gave a slow blink. Hermione laughed. She opened the door and said,"Come on in, Fred." He looked like he just rolled out of bed. His hair was sticking up in odd patches and his clothes looked horribly wrinkled. He squinted at her and mumbled,"Have coffee?" Without another word he flung himself on one of the fireside chairs. Hermione went to her small sink and poured some water into a coffee pot, which she promptly made to boil. She looked in the cabinet beside the sink and saw only instant coffee, and groaned. She said to Fred loudly,"All I've got is instant. Do you want me to transform it into tea or something else?" Fred replied with an incoherent mumbling. She brought over two cups on a tray with a creamer, sugar, and two spoons, and the coffee pot. After she sat the tray on the table between the two chairs, she looked over to the dozing figure of Fred. Then, before she knew what she was doing, she reached over and touched his face.

He must have been feigning sleep, because to Hermione's great surprise, he opened his eyes and regarded her with a bemused look."So, you do care for me, eh?"

Hermione stuttered."Oh yes! Of course I do!"

"Good! You were worth the trouble then!"

Hermione felt her face go pink."I don't know whether I should thank you or slap you."

Fred leaned forward and looked at her with a wicked gleam in his eye."I can think of a number of ways that you can thank me."

Hermione pushed him back into the chair."Just drink your coffee."

They sipped their drinks with a comfortable silence between them. Finally, Hermione put her cup back on the tray. She glanced at Fred, who had the look of a man content with the world.

"Fred, I have two questions."

He looked over at her."Only two?"

She ignored his flippancy. "How did you know that I just came back?"

Fred laughed and said,"By the seriousness of your voice, I thought you would be asking me what the meaning of life is, but I think that I can field this one. I know someone in the Ministry that regulates the Floo Network, and asked her to do me a favor...the rest is history."

"Ex-girlfriend, huh?

Fred smiled and winked at her,"Why do you want to know? Don't you just care for me as a friend?"

"That brings me to my second question. Why in the world did you tell Snape, um, Professor Snape, that you...you love me?"

Fred looked at her and said in a matter-of-fact tone,"Well, because it's true, and I knew that he would react better if I came straight out and announced my intentions."

"Intentions?" echoed Hermione.

Fred got up out of the chair and stretched then looked down at her."Well, you know that Professor Snape is a suspicious man. I knew that if I told him what I thought was going to happen without telling him my reason behind it, he might infer that I was making excuses for your behavior, or worse, professionally embarrass you with snarky quips about you breaking into his office. I figured full disclosure was the best way to handle it."

Hermione was impressed with Fred's reading of Snape. She was about to ask him how he knew so much about the inner workings of Snape's mind, when something large hit the window.

Hermione and Fred said together,"Owl."

Hermione opened up a window, figuring the owl would come right in, which it did. It perched on the back of one of the chairs near the fire, obviously looking cold.

Hermione looked at Fred and asked,"One of yours?"

"Nope. Probably one of your many secret admirers."

Hermione chuckled as she untied the note from the owls outstretched leg. The note was neatly wrapped around something. She took it over to her kitchen table where she carefully unrolled it. She read the note, then looked at the small bottle quizzically. Fred fed the owl some treats and let it get warmed up.

He had just let the owl out and closed the window when came up and asked Hermione,"So, who's that from?"

"See for yourself." she said as she handed him the note.

Professor Granger:

Upon your leaving, I noticed the red mark on your wrist. Enclosed is a jar of unction oil. Apply it every eight hours for three days and the mark should fade.

Professor S. Snape

Fred looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. "S. Snape? You two must have patched things up better than I thought!"

Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust. "Really, Fred!"

Fred grabbed her arm and said quietly,"Did Snape give you that mark?"

Hermione looked down at it. Her watch had been right on it, so it looked very red. She gently pulled her arm away from Fred and rubbed the mark slowly as she told Fred about Snape allowing her to hear what he said to Ron in the moments before his death.

Fred mouthed the word,"Wow" and said,"Snape told my Dad about Ron's death. The only way that Ginny and I knew anything was that I happened to have some Extendable Ears with me at the time. I remember that he said that there was no way Ron could have lived because of internal injuries. The funny thing is that up until right now, I never gave it a thought as to how he knew."Then he glanced at Hermione. "He never mentioned that you were there. That's strange."

After a momentary pause, he asked,"So why the red mark and unction Oil?"

Hermione replied, "I remember our first foray into the Ministry of Magic, when Ron got attacked by those horrible brains. Madame Pomfrey had to apply this oil to the marks those flying brains gave him because thoughts can cause as much damage as physical wounds. So I assume that the same thing happened to me. When Professor Snape was holding my wrist, I think that shock of electricity I felt was needed to transfer his thoughts to me and that caused this red mark."

Fred looked satisfied with her answer, but she had a feeling that he didn't like Snape touching her for any reason. Then he whistled and walked over to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?"

Fred replied,"I'm taking a shower and getting ready to go out. Want to take one with me and conserve water?"

She conjured some soap and threw it at him. "While you're in there, you might as try and clean up your mind too."

He laughed and closed the bathroom door.

Hermione went outside to see if she could find Crookshanks. She knew he was around daily, as every morning his food dish was empty. She had seen him around the mountains where she got lost. She decided to use her Omniocculars to find him. She was scanning the peaks when she noticed something strange. The highest peak seemed to be shimmering like a mirage. Hermione rubbed her eyes, then looked through the ominocculars again. It was still there. She had to tell Fred.

She ran inside and banged loudly on the bathroom door,"Fred, Fred? Can you hurry up? There's something that I think you ought to see."

A few moments later, Fred opened the door wearing a very thick terry cloth robe. He grinned at Hermione and said,"You rang, Madam?"

Hermione grabbed his arm,"Come on out here!"

They were just about to go out, when they ran right into Dionysus. He looked very flustered and stuttered,"I'm sorry, I didn't know that you had a guest, Hermione. I just came by to see if you were ready for breakfast."

Fred looked like he was going to say something smart, but then he looked at the embarrassed Hermione and Dionysus, and said,"Truth be told, I came here to play a practical joke on Hermione and it backfired, causing newt tails to explode all over me. She has been nice enough to let me use her shower. Let me get my clothes clean, then we can all go into town for some breakfast!"

Dionysus looked relieved and laughed. "Well, if that's what you want to do, that's fine with me. Give me a few minutes to wash myself up, okay?

After they saw the stocky figure of Dionysus disappear over the hill, Fred let out a sigh of relief."That was almost ugly."

Hermione turned and kissed Fred on the cheek and said tenderly,"Thanks for saving my honor."

Fred clamped his hand over the cheek that Hermione had kissed and said solemnly,"I'm never going to wash my face again." Then he turned to Hermione and asked her what he was supposed to be looking at.

Hermione gave him the Ominocculars and told him where to look. Fred let out a whistle."Holy Merlin! There is something shimmering up there! That looks like a spell is going to reverse or something."

Hermione frowned. "You mean like a Concealment spell?"

Fred looked at her. "Exactly. I wonder if we're the only ones that can see it. More importantly, I wonder what's being concealed and why the spell is coming apart now"

"While we're in town, I think we should see Minerva," said Hermione worriedly.

While Dionysus was driving them into town, they explained to him what they saw. Dionysus shook his head. "I don't like it. That's what happened when Lord Voldemort was storming around here the first time around. Weird things appearing, people disappearing; some very horrible things happened around here. The Ministry had to put Memory Charms on whole villages sometimes."

Hermione and Fred said nothing until they got into town.

Fred tapped Dionysus on the shoulder. "Hey, why don't we eat that place over there?"

Hermione looked over to where Fred was pointing and groaned. "You're not serious!" The small restaurant's sign read,"The Sheep's Gizzard–Home of All-You-Can-Eat-Haggis."

Dionysus looked in his rear view mirror to Fred. "Why didn't you say you liked haggis, lad?"

With a sudden pull, he lunged into a parking space. Hermione turned and glared at Fred, who had the look of someone who had been surprised with a very bad gift. Dionysus turned the car off, and bounded out of the car and into the restaurant. With a resigned air, both Fred and Hermione followed him into The Sheep's Gizzard.

The restaurant was actually rather nice inside. It had pictures of different breeds of prizewinning sheep all over the walls and individually framed shearing tools. Fred said that it reminded him of American "theme" restaurants in which there was all matter of old Muggle things hung up in and on various surfaces to give the place a feeling of "nostalgia". Then Fred looked wistfully around and said,"In the old days, Dad would have really liked this place."

Hermione said nothing and concentrated on the menu before her. She decided on just sausage and scrambled eggs, while Dionysus was trying to get Fred to try apple and cinnamon haggis. Finally, when the waitress came over and took their order, Fred relented and ordered it, but Dionysus ordered a cheese omelette with a side of potatoes. Fred looked stunned then laughed and said,"You bugger! You get me to order the stuff, then you go ahead and order normal food!" He stood up and partially bowed to Dionysus and said humbly,"Sir, I bow to your superior wit and joke playing skill." Dionysus grinned and winked at Hermione,"Sometimes you've got to teach these youngsters a few things about practical jokes." Hermione and Fred laughed.

They had just finished their meal, when they heard the front door shut loudly. They all looked up to see Minerva walking towards them with an intense look on her face.

"Quick. Pay the check and come with me."

Fred threw some money on the table and they left with Minerva. Hermione looked at her with concern and a feeling of dread.

They all piled into Dionysus car, and Minerva directed her brother to go to her house. The second that the car stopped, Minerva jumped out and went inside her house. Dionysus, Fred and Hermione followed quickly inside. There they saw Minerva sitting at the dining room table. Hermione felt like she was back at school, waiting her final grades in Transformation. Once they were all seated, Minerva took the wand that was before her and muttered a Locking charm. Then she looked at them all with a restrained look of fear.

"Early this morning, Professor Snape went missing."

Fred and Hermione glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

Minerva breathed out,"Professor Snape was due at a meeting with the staff of Hogwarts, but he did not show up. The staff was immediately worried, as he is known for his punctual arrival times."

Hermione sighed. Actually, he was usually there a few minutes before every one else.

Minerva continued," Once we checked with Madame Pomfrey that there had been no new patients admitted to the hospital ward, we decided to check at his office and his residence in the dungeons. We found nothing."

Fred slouched in his chair."No offence, Professor-"

"Call me Minerva. I am no longer a teacher."

Fred nodded,"No offence, er, Minerva, but Professor Snape doesn't seem the type that leaves an appointment book detailing his whereabouts, so how do you that he, um, wants to be found?"

Minerva looked at him thoughtfully."Despite his reputation for being rather mysterious, Professor Snape is actually very good about telling people his schedule for the day. I think that it goes back to his times with the Order, and the, amen, other organization that he was associated with. Basically, he never knew if he might be abducted or killed, so he always made sure he left a daily schedule for who he was going to meet or did meet that day."

Hermione suddenly had a horrible thought that Snape had written down something like,"Granger broke into office-went to Pensieve-left." in his appointment book. Feigning a mildly interested tone, Hermione asked Minerva,"So, did you find his appointment book or schedule?

Minerva bit her top lip."Yes we did, unfortunately, there was nothing unusual in it."

Fred snorted."Fat lot of good that does us."

Dionysus spoke up,"What about Can't he find out where Snape is?"

Minerva looked at Dionysus with sympathy in her eyes. "You know that just because we are wizards and witches, that we don't have omnipotent powers. We may be able to use our powers to try and find him, but there may be other powers that don't want us to."

Hermione and Fred both sat up straight. Fred asking the question that was in Hermione's mind, "Which powers are that? I mean, last time I checked, Harry killed Voldemort. What other powers could there be out there?"

Minerva shifted uneasily in her chair and cleared her throat loudly,"After Voldemort's death, there were some notorious Death Eaters that we were unable to catch and punish. There are also many that we don't know about. Cudmore has had, um, information that some of these people have banded together and are trying to take up where He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named stopped."

Fred stood up, his voice was barely contained "You mean after all we went through, all the people that were killed and tortured, so that we could finally defeat Voldemort, you're telling me that it was for nothing! These Death Eaters are still running around and we DO NOTHING TO STOP THEM!" Hermione looked at Fred, who was shaking in fury. "My brothers die, and the Ministry still doesn't have the balls to hunt these bastards down and kill them! Why doesn't Cudmore do anything..." Fred looked like he was going to explode, then seeing the startled looks on Hermione and Dionysus's features, he breathed in deeply and sat down. He smiled and laughed weakly,"Sorry about the interruption, Minerva. You were saying?"

Hermione saw that his hands were still shaking. With a lingering look at Fred, Hermione turned to Minerva and asked,"Does Cudmore have any names and places?

Minerva stared at Hermione. "No, but before he left for the wizarding conference in Paraguay, he told me that I had best be on the look out for anything unusual around here." She tilted her head to look at both Fred and Hermione, "Have either one of you seen anything, other than your werewolf attack, that is unusual?"

Hermione looked at Fred and said in an overly casual voice,"Should I tell her or should you?" Fred gestured to Hermione and replied,"Be my guest."

Hermione launched into what they had seen at the pub, Snape's unusual appearance at the shelter, then the mirage-like image that they saw on the mountain. Minerva looked very surprised at what he told her and questioned him for specifics.

"You mean Professor Snape never told anyone that he was with us at the werewolf attack?" asked Fred.

Minerva shook her head."I have a feeling that is why he has gone missing. He must have figured out why there have been an unusual amount of werewolf sightings in the past few months around here."

Dionysus looked at all the concerned faces around him. "So what do we do now, Minerva?"

Minerva got up and said sternly,"We are not going to do anything. I am going to owl Cudmore and tell him what's going on. There is no other way to reach him. Then I'm going to notify the Aurors and have them investigate this. You three,"here she motioned to Fred, Hermione, and Dionysus,"are going back to the farm and not doing anything. Understand, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley? No heroics!"

With that Minerva, swept into the parlor where she grabbed some parchment and a bottle of ink and quill and sat at her desk and began to write.

The three of them went out to car feeling jumpy. It took Dionysus four times to turn over the car, when he finally did, he hit the accelerator too hard and the car flew forward, causing Hermione and Fred to thrown back in their seats. By the time they got back to the farm, they were all a bundle of nerves, so Dionysus suggested that they all take a nap and see if they all didn't feel a little better after that. Then he turned and quickly walked up to his house, while Hermione and Fred turned to the cottage. Once they got inside, Hermione sat on one of the kitchen chairs and took off her shoes. She was suddenly so tired that she could barely keep her eyelids open. Fred stood beside her, looking unusually awkward. He coughed nervously as Hermione's head rolled back on the chair.

"Well, I'm going to Apparate back to my hotel."

Hermione lazily raised her head up. "Why?"

"I'm tired too, so I'll just go back there and have a lie down."

Hermione took off her socks and walked over to the bed, where pulled back the covers. She sat at the head of the bed for a minute before she looked up at Fred. "Please stay with me. Right now, I'm feel too jumpy to be here by myself."

Fred had a blank look on his face, but said nothing as he took off his shoes and carefully sat at the head of the bed. By now, Hermione had slipped inside the covers and was starting to breath in long and deep breaths. He waited for a moment, then quietly put a locking charm on the door. Then he slowly got up, as not to disturb her, transformed one of the fireside chairs into a small bed, and immediately fell to sleep on it.

Hermione swore that she heard a noise next to her. She laid deathly still, waiting to see if it would come back. Then she heard it again. She slowly moved her body into a curve, so she could get her wand out of its holster. She was about to draw it out over the covers, when she heard something fall to the ground and then a muttered curse. She giggled and said in a sharp voice,"Tonks?"

She could feel Fred start. "Merlin almighty Hermione, I'm not that clumsy! Is this the thanks that I get for making you supper?"

Hermione quickly got out of bed and went over to see what he was cooking. As she did, she noticed the transformed bed by the fireplace. She leaned on one of the kitchen chairs and waited for Fred to turn around. When he did, she nearly knocked the bowl that he was holding out of his hand by hugging him tightly. She looked up at him and said softly,"Thank you for staying with me." Fred was so surprised that he didn't know what to do, so he decided to put down the bowl of eggs down gingerly on the table and returned her embrace.

Then she suddenly dropped her arms, stepped back, and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry Fred, that was...was...a bit too much."

Fred laughed and grabbed the bowl and began to beat the eggs together."No it wasn't Hermione. It was just perfect." Then he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Hermione said nothing for while as she watched Fred slide the egg mixture into a self-heating skillet. Then he conjured a spatula to flip half of it over to make an enormous omelette. While it was cooking, he waved his wand over it, and an identical omelette appeared next to it. The frying pan extended itself to accommodate them both.

Hermione's curiosity got the best of her and she said,"How did you do that?"

Fred threw an amused look at her and replied," Simple multiplying spell. That was actually one of the first things that Mum taught us when we got our own flat." His voice imitated Molly Weasley perfectly,"I don't see why you boys have to have your own place; you're just babies, and I'm worried that you'll not be eating the right things and be out all night." He smiled to himself,"She read us like a book."

With that, Hermione got up and got two plates and some utensils out of the cabinet. Like everything else in the cottage they had the appearance of being very old and very worn.

They ate their omelettes in silence, too hungry to talk.

Finally, after they had finished eating, Fred said "Scorgify" to the plates and cooking items. He leaned back in his chair and smiled at Hermione. "So, any idea as to where we should start?"

Hermione looked confused. "Start what?"

"Start looking for Professor Snape!"

Hermione laughed,"You are not serious, are you? Cudmore and the Aurors are probably at Hogwarts now and have figured out where he is."

Fred looked deep into her eyes and said in a grave tone,"You honestly expect that lot to be able to do this in a timely manner? By the time they do all their paperwork and get the okay from the Ministry, he'll be dead."

Hermione didn't quite believe what she heard,"Let me get this straight, you want to look for him yourself?"

"Of course not! I expect that you will help me."

"Did I miss something here? Was I supposed to do readings or something?"

Fred sighed. "I know that this is really strange, but I...I...owe him one."

"What!"

Fred continued,"When we were in the Final Battle, I got cornered by some goblins and Snape killed them all. So, I figure I save him from whatever mess he has gotten himself into and I don't owe him anything. Simple as that." He flashed a quick smile at her, but didn't make eye contact.

Hermione had a feeling that Fred wasn't telling her the whole story, but decided this was not the time to call him on it. She grudgingly said," I'll help you, but if this gets too dangerous, we get Minerva, okay?"

Fred got up out of the chair and walked behind her and whispered in her ear,"Thanks."

Hermione continued to sit on the kitchen chair, lost in thought. Then suddenly she bounced up and ran to her teachers gown. She rummaged around in it until she found the slip of paper she was looking for. Fred looked at her like she was crazy, but leaned over her shoulder to look at the paper when she told him she had found them in Snape's office. It was a small clipping that looked like it had been snipped out of the Daily Prophet-

WANTED

Subjects for scientific query into the condition of lycanthropy. Subjects must be in good to prime physical condition, and must have been infected for most of their life. Study being conducted by Dr. Olaf Macoy at Castle Adrad, Scotland. All inquires cheerfully answered.

Hermione frowned slightly as she continued to look at the clipping. "What would Snape being doing with this? As far as I have seen, he has no interest in lycanthropy whatsoever." She paused for a minute."Well, except for the time that he had to make the Wolfsbane Potion for Professor--"

Hermione and Fred said together in a hushed voice,"Remus Lupin."

Fred sunk into one of the fireside chairs."That's why Snape disappeared. He went to save Remus from whatever this Macoy fellow is doing to him. It all makes sense now. The first werewolf that we saw, the shelter, everything!"

Hermione looked unconvinced. "There is something odd about this whole thing. For starters let me look up this Dr. Macoy in one of my books. Fred, go over to that bookshelf over there and get Scotland: Serious Sites for Serious Tourists and look up Castle Adrad."

Fred did exactly as he was told, and for a few minutes both of them scanned through the books for the information that they were looking for. Hermione shut her book loudly and began to pace in front of the bookcases. She looked annoyed, then threw some Floo Powder into the flames and said,"Madame Pince." Instantly her head appeared in the flames and she asked Hermione, in a rather sour voice, what she wanted. Hermione replied that she wanted all the books on healers and potion makers that specialized in lycanthropy for the past two hundred years. Madame Pince scowled and said she would give her the books in one hour, and disappeared into the flames.

Fred motioned Hermione to come over to him,"Hey! Take a look at this! It says that Castle Adrad has been abandoned for over four hundred years and is in "a spectacular ruined condition", whatever that means. It also says that it's supposed to be haunted,"Fred rolled his eyes" because of all the killing that was done there during the Scottish uprisings." He looked up from the book and said in a droll tone of voice, "Sounds like a wonderful, happy place to conduct research to me."

Hermione looked at the book eagerly,"So this was some sort of trap. Does it say where it is?"

Fred paged through the book. "Oh yes, here it is. Its ten miles from Kilhearne. Oh shit, that's near to where we are, isn't it?"

Hermione gasped,"That's where that mirage is!"

Fred closed the book with a snap. "We have to get there as soon as we can. Let me Apparate back to my hotel and I can get us brooms."

Hermione shook her head. "We can't, Fred. Remember that there are Muggle farms all around here and we can't risk being sighted. I have another idea. Let's Apparte to the shelter and then walk up there. It should only be a mile or so. If we see anything, we can always come back here."

Fred thought about her plan for a minute, then looked her right in the eye and said,"Let's get going then."

They decided to leave a note for Minerva on the kitchen table detailing what they had found out and where they were going. Fred apparated back to his hotel to pick up some items, while Hermione changed into more suitable clothing. She chose a pair of jeans paired with a black button down shirt made from heavy cotton and decided on duck boots in case it started to rain. She had told Fred to dress in Muggle clothing in case they were seen by a local farmer. They could always act like they were lost tourists from the City, if questions were asked. She had just tightened her wand holster, when she felt a slight draft then heard a popping noise.

"Fred? Is that you?"

A deep voice from behind her replied"Ho, ho, ho! No, it's not! It's Santa Claus, here to give all the good boys and girls presents."

She turned around and almost laughed aloud. Fred's "adventure" clothing, as he called it, consisted of a black cashmere turtle neck sweater with a pair of gaberdine black pants, and a fine pair of dragon hide boots.

Hermione exclaimed,"Holy cats, Fred! All that clothing is so expensive! It will be ruined by the time this all done with. Is that really cashmere?"she shook her head, but went up to him to fuss with his collar.

Fred looked highly amused and said,"If you must know, I get cold rather easily, hence all the protective clothing, including this." With that he produced two traveling cloaks, but they were unlike anything Hermione had ever seen. They were identical, except that one was slightly longer than the other. Both were made from a fine, supple skin that seemed to change color depending on the angle and type of light that they were viewed in. Fred watched Hermione's face as she held the cloaks this way and that to better admire them.

"They're both made from the skins of the Black Forest Horntail. They change colors to blend in with whatever environment that they're in. It's much better than the Concealment Charm. You know how reliable that is." said Fred somewhat arrogantly.

Then with a sweeping motion, Fred took the shorter cloak and quickly fastened it around her neck. He smiled at her and said softly,"You make it look beautiful."

Hermione blushed furiously,"Fred, I can't accept it... it's too...too...expensive."

Fred held up his hand and said,"No, think of it as a payment for going with me to repay my debt to old Severus. Besides,"he said with a wink,"my old girlfriend was allergic to it."

Hermione was about to reply when Fred went up to Floo powder can on the fireplace mantle and muttered to himself,"I hope we have enough here...yes!" Then he looked over to Hermione and said," Can you bring two flasks to put some of this in? You never know when this might be handy."

As he carefully poured the powder into the flask, Hermione thought about what they were doing. She was not as scared as to what could happen to herself, but what might happen to Fred. She breathed in nervously as she hoped that she wouldn't have to deliver any devastating news to Ginny or Mr. Weasley. Then her mind wandered to Professors Snape and Lupin, wondering if they were still alive.

The shelter seemed colder and danker than when they had last been in it. Fred observed that it was probably because he had made the only light a portkey, and had forgotten to put it back. Hermione responded by saying that it was already after seven o'clock and that they should get a move on. As they slowly made their way down the side of the hill, they both said "Lumos" so they could see where they were going. It was getting dark rather quickly. Hermione held the map next to her wand. She could see that they were only about two miles from the castle should be. Finally, after walking through some unpleasant stuff that Fred assured her was not just mud, they stopped in front of a ruined castle. Fred looked over her shoulder at the map then held his wand aloft to see if he could see what was around them.

"Well, I'll be damned. I don't see anything here." he said in a low voice.

Hermione squinted at the ruins above her. Not only did the ruined castle not shimmer, but there was no sign of movement, which was odd. She thought that they would have seen a lone tourist or a sign of human intrusion, but nothing. Hermione was finding this to be very unnerving. She felt Fred glancing around nervously, then she said in a voice that startled them both. "Let's walk along the perimeter and see if there's anything suspicious." Fred nodded and they both started around the castle. They had only gone a few feet, when they heard a scraping noise. When they looked up to where the sound had come from, it stopped.

Hermione whispered to Fred,"Didn't that book say that this place was haunted?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because I think that Red Caps are trying to kill us."

Fred glanced up,"That explains that funny noise. They're trying to loosen those stones on top of the turret to hurl at us."

Hermione looked at him and said quietly," On the count of three, we utter the Cross Charm. Once we do that, they should scatter for cover and then we can see if there's a way into Castle Adred."

They said the Cross Charm just in time to see a large stone block come bouncing by with only a few feet to spare. There was a collective scream as the Red Caps saw the golden cross hover over their heads, then the sound of small feet running up and down steps. Hermione managed to spot one running for cover under a large shrubby tree. She grabbed Fred's arm and hurried over to the place where she had seen the Red Cap go.

"Come on Fred! Let's see where he's going!"

"Wait, Hermione! I just want to tell you two things. If were lost or separated, try and get back to the cottage and secondly-

"Yes?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Be careful. If anything happens to you-" he looked at her with a burning intensity,"I'll never forgive myself."

Hermione was glad that Fred couldn't see her face in the dark. She replied without thinking," Fred Weasley, I think that I'm falling for you."

Hermione was under the shrubby tree before Fred could manage to say anything.

Hermione could plainly see the hole where the Red Cap went through in was approximately four and a half feet tall, just enough for the elf and his hat. She crawled in on her hands and knees with her wand in her mouth, illuminating the way. She could hear Fred trying to muffle the curses he was saying as his knee dug into a particularly sharp rock. She motioned for Fred to stop as they came to a fork in the tunnel.

"Where do we go now?"whispered Hermione.

"Any way. My knees and back are killing me."Fred tapped Hermione's leg."Try the left."

Fred's guess was as good as any, thought Hermione. She did notice that the left fork didn't seem to be as well traveled, so she followed Fred's advice. They crawled for what seemed to be an eternity, and just when it seemed it would never stop, they saw the tunnel abruptly come to an end. Fred glanced at Hermione as she sat down with her back to the end wall and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"So what now?" said Fred with a groan.

Hermione looked around and shrugged her shoulders,"Do we go back the other way?"

Fred tapped his wand against the tunnel wall. "No, I think that there's a way to get out of here. It seems awful funny that they would create a tunnel and then not have it go anywhere."

Hermione nodded her head in agreement."Maybe if we used Alohamora on all the walls, something will open."

Fred began to mutter and wave his wand at the walls, as Hermione began to do it on her end. They had just about given up, when in a fit of pique, Hermione tapped the wall above her and said,"Alohamora." Instantly a large hole opened up above them.

Fred looked at her with admiration and said,"You should lose your temper more often."

Hermione smiled and said,"Yes I should. I do seem to get more results that way."

Hermione looked around to try and figure out where she was. From what she could see, it looked like they were in the dungeons. Fred quipped something about Snape being right at home here, but Hermione didn't respond. Creeping along the wall, they saw that there were a number of little warrens, all about six feet by four. What was curious was that they all looked like they were being used. There was straw on the ground that looked fresh and large pail of water was in a corner. There were funny reddish-brown smear marks on the ground which Fred said looked like blood. All Hermione wanted to do was to get out of there. Then Fred nudged her and pointed forward. She had seen the stairs too and was just about to go up the steps, when she heard something rustle. She and Fred ran to one side of the staircase and listened intently. They were just to go back up the stairs, when Fred saw something move behind her. He wheeled around and gasped. Hermione pivoted quickly around as she heard Fred. She could hardly believe what she saw.

It was Professor Remus Lupin, but not the way that Hermione had remembered him. His hair was long and matted and almost completely gray. His face was pale and gaunt, making the lines on his face look harsher. His eyes were the scariest of all, however. Instead of the kindness that had always showed in them, all Hermione saw was raw anger. The terrified look on Hermione's face made Professor Lupin leap back into the shadows. Then, a second later, he spoke in a husky whisper.

"Hermione? Ron?"

Fred gave a worried glance to Hermione,"Uh, Professor, this is Fred. Ron is dead."

Professor Lupin coughed loudly,"I'm sorry, Fred. It's just that you looked like Ron for a minute. I...I...I'm not feeling my best at the moment."

Hermione rushed up to the bars that imprisoned him and said hurriedly,"Tell us how to get you out."

Professor Lupin said nothing, but merely pushed at the bars. Fred and Hermione saw that they swung out easily. Hermione motioned to go inside, but Fred grabbed her before she could. He looked at Professor Lupin warily.

"You want to bite her, don't you?"

Professor Lupin sighed, replying with a simple,"Yes."

Hermione drew back in revulsion. Fred remained where he was, although he had his wand out at the ready.

Lupin spoke slowly," Right now, I'm right between my man phase and my werewolf phase. I can speak, and to a certain extent reason like a man, but...but...I have this driving desire to kill and infect...others." Suddenly, his voice went up an octave,"They can't control me...they're waiting for me to die!

Fred spoke to Lupin in an even tone of voice,"Who can't control you, Professor?

Lupin looked at Fred, his eyes dilated in anger and fear,"Dr. Olaf Macoy. He was the one who started the clinical studies. He's the one who suggested that I take the first dose! He's the one who's done this to me!"

At this, Fred and Hermione stepped back cautiously. Fred whispered to Hermione,"Say, you don't have any silver bullets or anything do you?"

"Are you kidding? We can't kill him!"

"Hermione, if there's a choice between me dying or him, he definitely going to be dead. Besides, I know the Killing Curse. It will be quick and painless." Fred added grimly.

Hermione stared at him,"How in the world do you know that?

Fred turned to her and said tersely,"Snape."

She said nothing. It now made sense why Fred knew so much about Snape's personality and his willingness to go out and find him. Hermione pushed this to the back of her mind. They had a much bigger problem a head of them.

Hermione looked at Professor Lupin warily,"Professor-

Lupin made an funny noise, like a choked laugh, and said,"If anything, it is I who should be calling you Professor, Hermione. Please call me Remus from now on."

Hermione smiled slightly and said, "Okay, Remus. Tell us what the hell is happening here."

Remus pulled the barred door towards him and pulled it shut . He noticed Hermione and Fred's glances, and said "For your protection from me." Then he looked at Hermione and said sadly,"This is all my fault."

Fred rolled his eyes and said in an exasperated tone ,"Obviously."

Remus clutched at the bars, his long, razor like nails flickering in the dull light of the torches. Fred leaned back slightly.

Remus growled,"Do not make me angry right now. In fact, could you get out of my line of sight?"

Hermione and Fred started to go up the stairs.

"No, not you Hermione! Just Fred! I'm...I'm...sorry Fred, in my human condition I like you, but like this...I find the sound of your voice very...aggravating."

Fred grabbed Hermione's arm and said to her in a whisper,"For Merlin's sake, don't go too near him or upset him! Remember about what Minerva said about a werewolf tasting you! I'm going to go back to the tunnel exit, but if you feel like he might do something, just tap your wand three times in your hand, and I'll be right here." He kept glancing behind him as he headed into the darkness.

Hermione nodded at Fred at he went back to near where the Red Cap hole was.

Hermione went back to Remus's cage and said,"Look, we know that you were lured here by that fake scientific study...

Remus stared at her,"It's not fake. I worked with Dr. Macoy myself. He is a brilliant Muggle-born researcher who I thought wanted to help us control our conditions, but he had other ideas."

"Like what?"

"Well, Dr. Macoy decided that he needed thirteen of us to make a proper experiment for his new anti-lythancopsy potion, Argentglan. So he injected six of us with it and the other seven he used as a control group. It was amazing at first. None of us felt tired or sick before the week before the full moon, then when it was the night that we transformed, we only turned into a werewolf for an hour or so, and it wasn't even that bad." Remus sighed. "Then horrible things started to happen."

Hermione edged toward him. It was getting very hard to hear him.

"One night, one of us came back to the castle and there was blood all over him. He had no idea how it got there. He had blacked out and when he had come to, he was face down in the dirt. Then the next night, I woke up in my bedroom and I had sheep's wool and blood all over me. I had no recollection that I had even left the room, much less gone outside. When I went downstairs and told Dr. Macoy, he assured me that this was a temporary lapse, and that the next few injections should bring me under control." Remus laughed sharply, and said bitterly,"Little did I know how right he was."

Remus continued, his voice was starting to sound strained,"We began to realize that something strange was happening to the six of us. We all had the same nightmares; a voice telling us to kill, not to resist, then waking up, and being soaked in blood. We all had the strong desire to establish our ranking order in the pack, so fights broke out. They couldn't let the two women in our group near the men because...because...of obvious reasons. I could feel that my resistance to the Argentglan was weakening. I knew that I needed help from someone who was excellent at making potions for this sort of thing, so one day when I was recovering in my bedroom, I managed to use some of the Floo powder that I had sneaked in from the library and contact Professor Snape." Remus managed a dry laugh."He was none to happy to see me, but said that he would meet with me. I told him about a shepherd's shelter that I remembered from one of my, er, midnight walks, and he agreed to meet me there. You know the rest."

Hermione gasped,"You were the werewolf that saved Fred's life!"

Remus blinked slowly,"Yes. I was so badly torn up from that encounter with the other werewolf, that I almost died."He snorted then said softly,"If only I had."

Hermione took a step forward, but she heard a loud cough from near the Red Caps hole, and fell back.

"I knew that Professor Snape would wait for everything to calm down before acting again, so I awaited his arrival at the fireplace. Then last night they took me down here and put me in the dungeons. When I asked why, they said that I was not progressing as well as they had hoped, and felt that it might be better if I were isolated." Remus shuddered.

"After midnight, I saw the others come in here. Out of the original thirteen, I counted only eight. It was only then that I realized that they had all turned into complete werewolves. It didn't matter when the moon was full, as long as it was nighttime, they would turn into their savage halves. I tried to get them to understand what was happening to them, that they were being controlled but...they don't care. They love the power of being a werewolf too much."

For the first time since she saw Remus, her compassion overrode her fear. Before she could stop herself, she lightly touched one of his fingers. Remus leaped back like a wild animal and hunched his shoulders forward, and made a strangled growl. Hermione froze in fear. She was only too aware of the flimsiness of the metal bars that separated her from the werewolf. She backed up slowly and tapped her wand three times, but then, with a ear splitting shriek, the door at the top of the stairs opened, and in stepped four men.

Remus looked up and made a loud shuffling noise. Hermione could see that he had tried to hide himself in a corner of his cell. She drew her wand out. They weren't going to take her with out a fight. She squinted into the darkness, tapped her wand three times in her hand and mouthed the word,"Fred?" The men came down the stairs slowly, laughing and telling jokes. Finally one of the men turned to go to Remus's cell. The man looked up at surprise at Hermione before she was able to Stun him. She started to sprint towards the Red Cap hole, but in an instant she was on the ground, the victim of the locomotor rigorous curse. One of the men sauntered over to her, and pulled her to feet.

She leaned heavily on him. The other man looked at her with a sneer on his face and said in a nasty tone of voice,"So what do we have here? What are you doing here?"

Hermione said nothing and glared at him. She was wondering where the hell Fred was.

The man got close to her face and said in a deadly tone,"The doctor will take care of you. You won't feel a thing."

Hermione groaned. Didn't henchmen ever say anything original?

They dragged her up the stairs, taking care to hit her knees on each riser as they went up. She saw out of the corner of her eye that the man she had stunned had the spell removed and was picking up her wand. By the time they had reached the top, Hermione realized that if they lifted the curse off her she couldn't stand, as her knees were so badly bruised. Then the taller man of the group muttered, "Finite Incanteum" and she fell on her hands and knees as the both the spell and her legs gave way. The two men on either side of her roughly pulled her up, but she was barely able to stand. They began to lead her down a long hall. It was handsomely done, like an old manor house. There were ancestral portraits on the walls and banners with coats-of-arms hanging from the immense ceiling. A long, elaborate rug went down the length of the entire hall and floating chandeliers provided a glittering, if somewhat, cold light. Hermione was surprised to see a large door on the right side which read,"Laboratory" then another door a few feet away on the left that was elaborately carved with images of plants and animals. One of the men opened the carved door and abruptly pushed Hermione through the doorway.

It was the kind of room that Hermione had read about in books. The room was spacious, with walnut paneling nearly to the top of the ceiling. There were bookcases upon bookcases, all filled with leather bound books. Scattered all around were comfortable looking leather club chairs and couches, with candles floating all around them. Then she heard a slight cough and spun around to look for it's source. It seemed to have come from a large wing chair near the massive stone fireplace. She walked quietly to the chair, unsure as to what to expect. In the chair was a very slender man, who looked rather absurd in such a over scaled piece of furniture. He had brown hair that was parted to the left and was receding a bit. The most unusual thing about his appearance was that he was wearing a lab coat and trousers. He was very pale, and seemed to be gazing into the fire as she walked to him.

"Please warm yourself up by the fire."

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. It sounded oddly child-like. She said nothing, but did as he directed.

After she had warmed himself, he turned to her and said,"What business do have here?"

Hermione looked at him and said softly,"I want you to release Professor Remus Lupin into my custody."

The man laughed stiffly,"I'm sorry, my dear, but that is impossible. You see, both he and your little rescue party are never going to leave Castle Adred."

She grabbed the arms of the chair."Fred?"

The man smiled heartlessly. "Ah, yes, I knew it was a Weasley, but I'll be damned if I remembered which one." He stared at her, then to her astonishment, drew out a wand and made some quick movements with it. "Now if you excuse me for a minute, I have to change..."

She could hear him walking around the room, his light footsteps going to the bookcases and then stopping. She heard him idly leafing through books and then putting them back. Then she heard him open the door and go out. The clock on the fireplace mantle chimed that it was eight o'clock. A few minutes later, she heard the door open, but the footfalls sounded heavier and the strides longer. Hermione tried to get up, but quickly realized that he had used a restraining spell on her chair. She was raking her brain trying to figure out if she knew any hexes that didn't require wands, but with a feeling of powerlessness, realized that were none.

The footsteps stopped behind her. A familiar, drawling voice said to her,"You can get up and look now." She slowly rose from her chair and stared into the fire for a minute, then turned around and looked at the figure in front of her. It was Draco Malfoy.

He had changed considerably since she had last seen him. He was a good six feet tall, with broad shoulders. His skin was as pale as she remembered, but his face had filled in a bit, which had softened the pinched look that he had when he was younger. His blond hair was slicked back and his eyes were the same disconcerting light gray that had always made her uncomfortable when he looked at her.

She recovered from her surprise quickly and said."Draco Malfoy. What an unpleasant surprise. I see that Mumsy managed to get you out of Azabazan in short order."

His eyes flickered on her torn and muddy clothing."It's wonderful to see that you're living up to your parentage, Miss Granger."

Hermione clinched her fists in anger and glared at him but said nothing.

He laughed softly and sat down in the wing chair by the fireplace. "Come now, Miss Granger, please, sit down. You must be weary from your travels."

Hermione sat on the very edge of her chair, and kept a straight posture as she stared into the fire.

Malfoy loosely crossed his legs and pulled out his wand from his robe. Hermione noticed it out of the corner of her eye, but didn't move. Then he made some complicated little motions with it and suddenly the flames in the fireplace became alive. Hermione braced herself for the worst, but found herself secretly delighted by what she saw. The enchanted flames were doing a Punch and Judy skit, and, she had to admit, that it was pretty funny. After a particularly silly bit, she found herself wishing that Fred was there to see it with her. Suddenly, she was furious with herself. What in the world was she thinking? Why wasn't she trying to think her way out of this?

She stood up and turned to Malfoy, who from the look on his face was finding the Punch and Judy play amusing also, and demanded that he tell her where Fred was.

Malfoy sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid that I can't tell you that Miss Granger. In fact, I dare say that Weasley's life depends on your co-operation with me."

Hermione mentally braced herself as she said,"What do you want from me?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, then leisurely rose up from his chair and walked up to her. He bent down as if to kiss her, but instead whispered, "Nothing...yet."

She could barely contain a shudder of horror.

He walked away from her and stopped at the door and said in a light tone,"Dinner will be served in forty-five minutes. These two men will escort you upstairs so you can make yourself presentable. Do not be late." Then he walked out and disappeared from sight.

Two of the men that had first discovered her stepped forward and grabbed each arm. She didn't struggle with them as they went up a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the hallway. When they got to the top, she saw yet another hallway. This one was just as grand as the ground level, but instead of ancestral coats-of-arms, it was decorated with rather unpleasant hunt scenes and eerie forest scenes that seemed to full of dangerous creatures. The guards opened up the door to one of the many bedrooms that lined the hall. Hermione guessed that this was where Dr. Olaf Macoy, or Draco Malfoy as he was now known, kept all his patients when they were still in their human form.

The bedroom was actually on the modest side. It was not as elaborate as most wizard rooms that she had seen, but she knew it was not meant to impress the people who stayed there. The guards closed the door, and she heard them mutter something to make sure she didn't try and get out. She thought that was dumb, as they knew she didn't have her wand. But, she realized suddenly, she did have Floo Powder. She raced over to the fireplace, but noted with distress that it had been charmed. Disappointed, she went into the bathroom to take a quick bath and to mull over what to do next. She knew that she had to keep herself and Fred alive by any means possible. She didn't know if anyone knew where they were, but she wasn't going to die without a fight.

Hermione looked at herself nervously in the reflection of a large full-length mirror. The only pieces of clothing in the large wardrobe in the room was a deep burgundy heavy silk robe and matching shoes. She felt very uncomfortable not only wearing clothing that wasn't hers, but also wearing such high and pointed shoes. She had noticed that when she slipped on her shoes, a small jewelry box appeared on the table next to the bed. She grabbed a quill from the desk next to the door, and opened it up. Without touching anything with her hands, she looked through the contents. There were several handsome garnet necklaces and gold chains, along with matching earrings, bracelets, and rings. She let the lid of the jewelry box snap shut. As if on cue, she heard a knock on the door. She jumped, but then breathed in deeply, and with a final check on her appearance, went to the door.

The guards escorted her down the halls and staircase again. She noticed that they kept glancing at her, then looking straight ahead. Hermione was relieved when they finally reached the large carved wood door that had lead to the library. When the guard opened the door after a gently knock, Hermione was amazed. The library had been changed in a large medieval dining room. Iron chandeliers hung in midair above a long, rough hewn, table. The twenty or so chairs that surrounded it were upholstered in a dark gray velvet, and all around the room hung tapestries the likes of which Hermione had only seen in Hogwart's. As her eyes swept the room, she noticed that there were three place settings. She was wondering who would come and eat with them. Then, from out of nowhere, Malfoy appeared. He was wearing a midnight blue wizards robe with a dark silver trim around the cuffs, hem, and neckline. It was understated in an elegant way, and Malfoy looked at Hermione with a self-satisfied smile as he noted her admiring glance.

"My, Miss Granger, don't you look lovely. I trust that everything fits properly,"His eyes slipped approvingly over her, but then a slight frown clouded over his features."I noticed that you are not wearing any of the jewelry that I have provided for you."

Hermione looked him straight in the eye and said matter-of-fact voice,"It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture, it's just that I don't trust you."

Malfoy looked startled by her directness, but managed to give her a condescending smile. "I should have known that you could not be lured into wearing enchanted gems. You always were a clever witch."

Hermione's heart was racing,"What would the gems have done to me?"

Malfoy shrugged his shoulders casually and began to walk to the fireplace,"Oh, the usual. Opened your mind to certain suggestions and make you lose your power of resistance to my will."

Now Hermione was furious; she hated playing games."If you are so intent on controlling me, then why not just use the Imperius Curse?"

He looked at her darkly,"Now where would the fun be in that?"

Hermione distanced herself from him and said in rather disinterested voice,"I don't understand why you are keeping me here."

Malfoy slowly turned to her and said softly,"Actually, I owe all this to you. It started at Hogwart's, Miss Granger, where I worked under your shadow. I was always the top of the Slytherian class, but Father had other plans. He wanted me to be the best student in school, but there you were, always getting the highest marks in the class. All your professors liked you, including Serverus, even though he thought you were a little too anxious to prove yourself."

Hermione hoped that she concealed her surprise at this last statement.

"Father was the hard on me. He would constantly berate me on any grade other than Outstanding. Once, when I got a "D" in History of Magic, he used the Crucias on me until I swore that I wouldn't allow that to happen again. Of course, it didn't." Malfoy stared into the fire before continuing."Father was forever telling me not to let a Mudblood get the best of me, a pureblood from the very finest and oldest of families, that it was a point of honor. But he didn't know how hard it was to keep up with you." Malfoy turned to her with a penetrating look. "So I decided that I would do something that would make Father forget all my shortcomings and show how useful I could be for the Dark Lord. I decided to study potions."

Hermione could hardly believe it. Why did all roads seem to lead to Snape?

"I took classes with Severus three nights a week. He told me that I showed an uncommon talent in researching potions. As I became more deeply involved in my research, I found that one could control almost any creature if one had the right ingredients, right books, and more importantly, patience. Unfortunately, just as I had reached this conclusion, I was forced to leave Hogwart's because of, um, family matters. I tried to convince Father that my way was the best way to get control of the wizarding world, but he dismissed me as a delusional child, and said that Voldemort would return things to the way that they were supposed to be."Malfoy smiled cruelly, "If only Father had listened to me."

Hermione stood stock still, waiting for Malfoy to continue his story.

"Mother wouldn't allow me to become involved in the Death Eaters, so again I turned my attentions to potions. I could no longer owl Severus as communications were being watched by the Ministry and others, so I began to look at other sorts of potions." Malfoy flashed a wicked smile at Hermione."I started to investigate Muggle medicine. Dangerously fun fields like psychotrophic and mood enhancers. I had a revelation that if I smart and careful enough, I could combine the potions and the Muggle medicine to create a new, almost full-proof way of controlling any man or creature that I wanted to. But I needed to experiment first."

Hermione put her hand to her mouth. She had realized why Malfoy had been sent to Azkaban.

Malfoy smirked at her and said,"Guessing by that look on your face Miss Granger, I know that you have figured out the true reason why I was sent to prison. It wasn't because I was a "known associate of Lord Voldemort" as the Ministry announced. It was because they caught me doing unlawful experiments on Muggles and magical creatures. Fortunately, Mother pulled some strings and I got out, but after that I knew that I had to assume a different identity. Hence the birth of Dr. Olaf Macoy, Mudblood researcher. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Then Malfoy looked up to the large clock perched on the mantlepiece and said,"Goodness, here I am going endlessly on about myself and you, my guest, are probably famished." He tilted his head slightly towards the door and said in his drawling voice,"I believe our last guest has arrived."

With that, there was a sharp knock on the door. Malfoy waved his wand at the door and it opened up slowly to reveal the black shrouded figure of Professor Severus Snape.

Malfoy crossed the room to greet him. Snape shook his hand and made a small bow as he released Malfoy's hand. He lightly tapped Snape's arm to lead him over to Hermione. She noticed that when he did that, Snape flinched involuntarily. Hermione could tell that Snape didn't recognize her as her back was to the fireplace, and she was wearing a long, rather flowing robe, but she was still surprised that he bowed slightly before her.

Malfoy laughed and said with an amused tone,"Goodness, Severus. There's no need to be so formal, as I believe that you are all ready well-acquainted with this witch."

Snape looked questioningly at Malfoy, who then pulled Hermione close to him and said,"It's amazing what the right set of robes will do for a witch, isn't it?"

Hermione blushed as deep as the color of her gown. Snape blinked slowly and then said in a deliberate fashion,"It is delightful to see you out of our professional roles, Professor Granger."

Hermione made herself look into his eyes and flash a dazzling smile,"Likewise, Professor Snape."

Malfoy scowled and abruptly clapped his hands. Instantly, the table was covered in silver platters with peaks of steam leaking out in small tendrils. Malfoy took Hermione's right arm and led her to the table, where she sat down. Then he took his place at the head of the table, with Snape on his left.

Malfoy lightly picked up the silver goblet in front of him and said loudly,"A toast! To Hermione Granger and Severus Snape...the two people who started me out on this long path to my dreams!"

Hermione gave a weak smile and raised her goblet up a little, then put her mouth on the rim, but didn't drink. Then she took her napkin from beside her plate and gently patted her mouth. She didn't want to take the chance of Malfoy poisoning her...or worse. Then he looked at them both, and with a victorious glance, said,"Come on now! Let's eat! Tomorrow will be a busy day!" With that, he began to dive into the food that was already on his plate.

Hermione saw Snape put down his knife and fork and ask in a oily voice,"May I ask, Draco, what is on the agenda?"

Malfoy looked at him with his pitiless cold eyes and remarked,"Well, the castle should be fully visible so I suspect that we will have visitors. Also, it is the last day for the first batch of experiments. We will have to start working on getting the staff vaccinated against lycanthropy if we are to be working with more werewolves."

Hermione swallowed her food quickly,"You already have the vaccinations completed?"

Malfoy turned to her, giving her his full attention, "Yes, I was actually working on it before I started my experiments with the werewolves. I didn't know how they would react to the Argentglam, so I decided that it was healthier to be safe than sorry."

Hermione said nothing, but resumed eating. She noticed that Snape had only eaten whatever Malfoy ate, and even then, it wasn't much. Hermione now knew why there had been all those rumors of him being a vampire in school. Another thought crossed Hermione's mind.

"So, what will happen to that first batch of, um, what did you call them? Experiments?"

Malfoy looked thoughtful for a minute then replied,"I will have to destroy them."

Hermione's fork, which she had been holding, dropped with an echoing clatter to the ground. Snape looked up at her, annoyed.

"No, you can't kill them! It's wrong...Remus."she felt her eyes well up with tears.

Malfoy reached over and lightly grasped her left hand, which was surprisingly cold, and said in a soothing voice,"My dear Miss Granger, may I call you Hermione?" Hermione made no response, but stared directly into his eyes. Malfoy continued,"It's the best way to handle the situation. These creatures are more monster than human. What sort of life would they have on the outside? Besides, they have grown too powerful for me to control, and they would be a menace to the world at large."

Hermione pulled her hand away from Malfoy and pushed her plate away."They wouldn't have been put into this situation if it wasn't for you."

Malfoy leaned over and said in a soft whisper,"That's the problem with academic people like yourself, Hermione. You don't understand that large gains for society are often made at the expense of countless thousands."

Hermione raised up her head defiantly and stared right into Malfoy's cold eyes,"No, our problem is that we recognize people like you for what they are: despots and mass murderers."

Malfoy smiled mysteriously then said,"Shall we continue this conversation in my chambers?"

Hermione made to get up from her chair, away from Malfoy, but as she did a large explosion rocked the dining room. She fell back into her chair and looked at Snape. His face was an unreadable mask.

Snape turned to Malfoy and said in a bored voice,"It appears that we have some unannounced visitors."

Malfoy got out of his chair with wand at the ready and said in an authoritative voice,"Severus, please escort Hermione to my chambers and then meet me on the turret top. I have some matters that I must attend to." Then he paused next to Hermione then walked to the door.

Hermione felt his presence chill her blood. She had to get out, and knew that in all the chaos and confusion of a battle, that the odds were on her side. She saw Snape get out of his chair and rush over to her. She grabbed the knife on her plate and held it in front of her.

Snape looked at it with a sneer,"Really, Professor, do think that Muggle toy will hurt me when I have one of these?" He brandished his wand at her.

Hermione said in a deadly tone,"I don't care if you think that it's a futile effort, but I'm not going to be Malfoy's victim tonight, so get out of my way."

Snape lowered his wand and said quietly," Good. He's gone down the hall. Come with me, and I'll get you out of here."

Hermione remained seated and holding the knife,"Why should I trust you?"

Snape replied in a waspish voice,"Do you have a choice?"

Hermione glared at him. "I suppose not."

Snape looked at her with a scowl and said impatiently,"You will have to trust me and do everything that I tell you to, with no questions asked if you want to see Weasley and Lupin again."

Hermione looked at the seriousness in his face and carefully put the knife down next to her plate.

As they opened the door, another explosion made the castle shudder. Bits of plaster fell down on them. Snape hurried down the corridor to the door marked "Laboratory"and quickly went inside, with Hermione fast on his heels. She was amazed to find a fully functional Muggle laboratory with all the latest technology. Hermione knew that Malfoy must have spent a small percentage of his father's fortune on this set-up. Snape motioned to her from across the lab. She went over to him and found that he was holding a very large syringe. She took a few steps back and desperately wished she had her wand right now.

Snape held his free hand out to her and said,"We don't have time to play this game, Professor. We both need to have the vaccination against lycanthropy before we attempt any rescue missions."

Hermione rolled up her sleeve and tuned away as Snape gave her the injection. Then he took another syringe and filled it up with an amber colored liquid and gave it to her, with instructions on where to inject him. He rolled up the sleeve on his left arm. Hermione glanced at his arm and saw that his forearm was wrapped in bandages. As she gave him the injection she asked him, in a curious tone of voice,"Was this the arm that caught on fire?"

Snape winched as he rolled down his sleeve,"For your information, Professor, I was trying to use an unproven potion to try and erase the Dark Mark off my arm, but all I received was a third degree burn."He looked at her coldly."Satisfied?"

Hermione nodded, feeling a small knot in her stomach, then she asked,"So where do we go now? To the dungeons where they have Remus?"

Snape stood still, then he ducked down behind the lab table. Hermione followed, quickly rolling her sleeve back down.

The door swung open and she heard the voices of two of the men who had first captured her.

"What are we supposed to be looking for in here?"

"All I heard him say is that he wanted the anti-lythan-whatever potion in the back corner of the lab. He said that it was honey colored and it should be marked."

Hermione heard hurried footsteps coming towards them. She threw a panicked looked at Snape, but he was crouched low, his wand out, looking in front of him intensely. Then as the two men rounded the corner, Snape carefully aimed his wand at each of their hearts and muttered,"Aveda Kedavra." They both fell before them dead, with a slightly confused look on their faces. Hermione stared at the dead men barely two feet in front of her. Snape breathed out sharply, then turned to Hermione and said in a stilted voice,"Let's go before Malfoy realizes that his servants are taking too long."

Hermione wanted to say something, but found that she couldn't after looking at Snape's face, which was still contorted in a horrifying grimace of hate and rage.

Snape stood up and seemed to calm himself, then he looked down at Hermione, who was still kneeling on the ground,"How did you get in to the castle?"

Hermione looked at a place just over Snape's shoulder so she didn't have to make eye contact with him. "We Apparated to the shepherd's shelter, then we walked here. We knew that there were Red Caps here, so we scared them with a Cross Charm and noted where they hid. Then we went down one of the tunnels and we popped up in the dungeons and saw Remus."

Snape's eyes bored through her,"Malfoy said that he had Weasley in the dungeons for safe keeping. Do you think that you can make it down there?"

"If I had my wand, yes."answered Hermione, looking Snape in the eye.

Snape turned around and cursed under his breath,"Very well. We will both go down there, but you will act the part of a female victim, understand?"

Hermione smiled weakly and said,"I hope I get nominated for a BAFTA award."

"I'm sure you will be convincing. I've seen you act before,"replied Snape, with a very slight smile. He extended his hand to her and she got up and brushed the dust off her dress. Then she looked at him and said,"Let's go."

She was actually surprised that they didn't meet that many people on their way down to the dungeons. Just as they were a few feet from the dungeon door, one of Malfoy's men came up to Snape and asked him why he wasn't outside fighting, but Snape just gave Hermione a good shake and said something about Malfoy needing a plaything, upon which Hermione instantly began to cry. The man laughed and said that he wouldn't mind having something to do after this whole thing was over, as he stared at Hermione intensely. Snape hit him across the face and told him to mind his business, and not Master Malfoy's. The henchman pulled out his wand, but took one look at Snape's face, and put his wand down and fled. Snape watched him go down the hall, and then turned to Hermione and whispered,"Quick! Down the stairs!"

Hermione did as she was told. It was a lot harder to go down them in a long robe and heels in the dark, so she knew she had to be careful. A few seconds later, she heard the door open then close softly. She heard a two or three footsteps, then Snape muttering,"Luminous." She saw the stairs bathed in a pale light. She quickly went down the remaining steps, to the cell at the foot of the stairs. She motioned for Snape to follow her. They both peered into the cell and saw a huddled form in the corner. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. She glanced at Snape, then asked quietly,"Can you please open up the door? I don't have a wand, remember?"

Snape, however, didn't move. He seemed to be staring intently at the creature in the corner. Finally, he blinked a few times and said,"Alohomora!" to the cell door and then walked quickly away towards the Red Cap hole. Hermione went immediately inside and knelt next to the barely moving shape. She pulled the arms away from its face and made a sharp gasp. It was Fred. The only reason why she recognized him was his red hair. His face was severely cut and bruised. His bottom lip was swollen and open, with dried blood on his chin. His clothes were torn to shreds and there were spell and hex marks all over his body. She brushed the bloody hair from his face and whispered his name. A few seconds later, she heard a dull groan.

"Fred? This is Hermione. Can you move your legs?"

Fred tried to straighten out his legs, but made a choking noise and quickly pulled them back. Snape was suddenly beside Hermione. He touched Fred's side lightly, but Fred shuddered with pain and tried to move away from him.

Snape frowned and turned to Hermione."This is not good. I believe that Mr. Weasley has several cracked or broken ribs, and maybe a broken leg. Moving him would be difficult in the best of conditions, much less in the present situation. Also, I see that Lupin is not down here. That raises the disturbing question of where he could be lurking."

Then he sat down on the straw and looked straight ahead, obviously lost in thought. Hermione looked furtively at Snape. She had to do something, so she decided to bandage Fred up. She looked around and realized that they wouldn't provide linens for werewolves, so she had no source for material. Then she looked down and realized she had more than enough material on her. She abruptly stood up and peered down at Snape.

"Professor Snape-"

He started out of his thoughts, stood up, and looked at her with a sharp glance, then said in a measured tone,"I believe that the present circumstances warrant a more, um, informal code of conduct. Until this is over, you may call me by my given name."

Hermione took a second to digest this, then replied,"I'll call you by your first name, if you promise to call me by mine, Severus."

A strange, fleeting look passed through Snape's features. Then he asked her hurriedly,"What is your idea?"

"I want you to cut the hem of my dress so I can at least staunch some of Fred's bleeding."

Snape nodded and muttered,"Diffindo"as Hermione saw a foot of material fall to her feet. She took the fabric and tried to wrap up the worst wounds, but quickly ran out of makeshift bandages.

Hermione looked at the pathetic figure of Fred, and half said to herself,"I don't know how we're going to get out of here. Fred isn't going to last for much longer."

Snape scowled,"We can't use the Red Cap tunnel. Those creatures would notify Malfoy the instant we tried. I'm sure they are the ones who captured Weasley and brought him to Malfoy." His eyes briefly concentrated on Hermione's face."Wait here", he said mysteriously.

Hermione was about to ask where she would go, but in that instant Snape had already gone up the stairs, hesitated slightly at the door, and gone out. Hermione knelt down beside Fred, and held one of his hands. They looked so pale and felt very cold. She closed her eyes and could feel the life slowly drain out of him. He tried to cough, but when he did he made a pathetic hacking sound followed by short, gasping breaths and a low moan of pain. She tried to raise him up so he could catch his breath, but he let out a sharp cry of pain. Hermione felt herself tear up, but denied the tears to run down her face. She could let Fred know, either consciously or not, that they were in trouble. She turned her head slightly as she heard the dungeon door open, backed into a dark corner of the cell and didn't move. Then she heard a soft patter of feet coming down the stone steps. The feet paused for a moment, then a man's voice crisply announced,"Hermione."

Hermione stepped out of the shadow with a look of relief on her face. Snape said in a rather breathless voice,"It took me longer than what I thought, but here is a wand."

Hermione took it from Snape and felt a strange twinge from it. Snape noticed her startled look and explained,"The person who had that wand used Dark Magic, so if you're not used to the power, it will give you a bit of a snap."

Hermione was tempted to use the Priori Incantum, but decided that it was better not to know. She turned to Snape and asked curiously,"How does it look out there?"

Snape replied in a flat tone of voice,"It seems that there is a battle going on between the Aurors and Malfoy's men. I believe Harry Potter is out there with them."

Hermione's eyes lit up,"Harry! He'll be able to help us!" Then she frowned and said dejectedly,"No, he won't. He probably doesn't know where we are and then we have Fred to carry out. Oh, damn it!"

Snape said in a soft voice,"There is only one thing that we can do. We will do the most foolhardy and dangerous thing possible. We will go out the front door."

Hermione looked at him quizzically and said,"And you always were saying that Harry was reckless..."

Snape ignored her and continued,"First, you are going to Transform Weasley, then I'm going to Petrify him and put him on a stretcher. Next I'm going to use the Concealment spell on you. Sometimes the only way to escape is the most obvious way possible, and I doubt that Malfoy's men will question anyone trying to help a fallen comrade." He looked at her pointedly."Time

is of the essence."

Hermione said nothing but concentrated on Transforming Fred's red hair to jet black and his Muggle clothes to tattered robes. As soon as she was finished, Snape took a deep breath, then made several quick movements with his wand and said sharply,"Petrify!" Then he conjured a stretcher and gently levitated Fred's body on it. Hermione reached out and touched his face and drew back when she touched cold stone. Snape coughed abruptly and said in a low voice,"It's the only spell that will keep him alive. If we had tried to move him, the pain that he would suffer would cause him to move and maybe more internal bleeding. Also, this keeps him from giving us away." Hermione knew that he was trying to reassure her in his own way, but she felt like she was watching Ron's fate all over again.

Once they were outside of the dungeon door, Hermione was stunned at what she saw. The formally grand hallway was almost destroyed. The beautiful banners and ancestral portraits were smashed up, lying in sad heaps along the shattered remains of the walls. She could hear shouts and the screaming of spells, jinxes, and hexes. Every once in a while, the earth under her would tremble slightly. That made it doubly difficult to step around all the debris, especially wearing uncomfortable shoes. Snape had performed a Concealment Spell over her, but she still felt very visible and vulnerable. Finally, they reached the front door. Snape lowered Fred on to the floor and raised his wand to open the door. He whispered to Hermione that he didn't want her to use her wand unless it was absolutely necessary. The second before he could utter "Alohamora", the door was flung open. Several of Malfoy's men came running in, looking over their shoulders and casting random spells. One of the spells directly hit Hermione, causing her to fall unconscious on the ground. Almost immediately, the Concealment charm wore off, exposing her to view.

Snape cursed his luck, and was just about to go over to her, when he heard a noise outside the door and waved the wand over himself, saying the Concealment charm. Running through the open door, Malfoy turned around and stopped suddenly yelled in a victorious voice,"This is the best that the Ministry has to offer?" Then he slammed the door before a spell would have hit him squarely in the chest. Snape stood still, not daring to breathe, as he watched Malfoy glancing around the entry hall madly. It didn't take long for Malfoy to find Hermione's body lying on the floor. He hovered over her for a minute, as if he was undecided about as to what to do. As Malfoy smiled widely, Snape noticed that he looked very much like his father, and instinctively held his wand before him. Malfoy knelt over Hermione, and lightly patted her face and said in a light, sing-song voice ,"Hermione, Hermione...wake up, dearest."

Hermione coughed slightly and took a deep breath. Her eyes fluttered open and for a second her eyes met Malfoy's in shock. Instantly, she tried to get up to and run from him, but with a swift gesture, Malfoy put his wand to her head and said in a rough whisper,"I think I just found my way out of here." He got up suddenly and grabbed her arm and forced her up. Hermione almost fell, but willed her wobbly knees to stay strong. He pulled her to the staircase leading upstairs, she balked and threw her weight backwards. It deterred Malfoy for only a second, as he wretched her up the stairs. She almost fell, but caught herself as he went up the stairs two at a time, dragging her behind him. Once they got up to the top of the stairs, he broke out into a run for a door down at the end of the hall. Hermione looked at some of the hunt scenes on the walls for a second and saw that the wild animals that she had seen just lurking in the background before were now prowling around the edges of the pictures, looking ravenous. Before she could think any more on it, Malfoy shouted "Alohamora" to the door, ran through it as it opened, and flung Hermione on the floor. He immediately turned around and made some elaborate waves of his wand at the door, at which it shut tightly. Malfoy stood looking at the door, panting heavily . Then he seemed to regain his composure, and walked over to Hermione. She looked at him with alarm. His formerly fine robes were smoked and singed from missed spells and hexes and his normally flawless hair was in a state of disarray. What frightened Hermione the most, however, was the flicker of madness that she saw in his eyes. She knew that he was clearly desperate enough to do anything.

Malfoy seemed to sense Hermione's assessment of him, because he blinked a few times and tried to fix his hair with a few quick run-throughs with his fingers.

Then he said to her in a light tone," Come here, Hermione. I have to show you something."

Hermione quickly got up off the floor, looked at him with large eyes and said in low growl, "I don't think so, Malfoy."

Malfoy took a step closer, then abruptly stopped. He looked at her questioningly then threw his head back and laughed,"Goodness, Hermione, you don't think I intend to have my way with you! Even though you are a Mudblood and quite expendable, I'm afraid that I have other plans. Mainly, my self-preservation. Now be a good girl, and don't make a fuss." At this, he waved his wand threateningly at her.

Hermione slowly got up off the floor, keeping her eyes on Malfoy and wondering were Snape was. She had promised herself to give him another chance, and so far he seemed to be on the good side, but was he really? Suddenly, she felt a pain on her right wrist, and began to rub it lightly. She had forgotten to put the unction oil on it, and now it was acting up. Malfoy grabbed her wrist, and she tried to draw away. He looked at the mark, then at Hermione's face with a sneer on his lips.

"Well, well, what's this?"

"None of your concern, Malfoy. Let me go!" She tried to tug her hand away from him, but he held it in a vice-like grip. He began to trace it with his wand, with a slight smile on his face. Malfoy looked at her with a slyly and said in a smooth voice,"Did Weasley do this to you?"

Hermione cringed and spat back,"Of course not! What business is it of yours, you disgusting pig!"

He stared into her eyes with detached interest,"Just curious, of course. He talked about you incessantly throughout our little discussion in the dungeon."

Hermione stared at him, then shook with rage,"You! You're the bastard that tortured him! You son of a—"she drew her left hand up to hit Malfoy, but he pointed his wand straight at her.

"I wouldn't do that, Hermione. I will only take a certain amount of insults from a Mudblood in one day, and I'm afraid that you have exceeded your limit."

She slowly put her hand down but was still trembling in anger. Then she drew in a sharp breath and exhaled slowly. Hermione looked into his cold gray eyes and said in a smug voice,"I think what is really bothering you is that a pureblood, even if it is a Weasley, has a romantic interest in me."

Malfoy laughed derisively,"Oh really, Hermione! Do you think that I care what a blood traitor does with a Mudblood?

Hermione replied in a soft voice,"Yes I do, Draco. I think you're worried that purebloods may become extinct. But tell me, why aren't you married with a brood of your own? " She looked at him with a fake pout on her face,"Are all the attractive cousins taken?"

Malfoy grabbed Hermione by the throat and drew her close to his face. She could feel the chilling coldness of his hand going all the way down to her feet. But she looked into his eyes. If she was going to die, now was as good a time as ever. Malfoy bent close to her and whispered to her,"Now I see why Weasley likes you, Hermione, you're not afraid." He looked at her like he was going to say something else, but he merely released her from his grasp.

Hermione took in a large gasp of air and felt the area around her neck. She was sure that she would have large bruises around her neck tomorrow, if she survived tonight. Malfoy seemed to have regained his composure and looked at her with his usual haughty manner.

"Come now, Hermione. We have to go up to the turret top, so the Aurors can see you, so I can make a quick exit."

"I see. You intend to have me as a hostage. Hasn't anyone every told you that these situations never work out? Usually the hostage taker dies at the end."

Before Hermione could react, Malfoy waved his wand at her and said,"Silencio!". When Hermione wanted to say something but found she couldn't, so she settled for glaring at Malfoy.

Malfoy said with a tone of satisfaction in his voice,"The perfect woman. Lovely to look at and wonderful to hold, but no more voice with which she can cuckold."

He regarded her with an amused glance, then muttered something to one of the bookcases and it slid open, revealing a treacherous looking curved staircase. Malfoy bowed slightly to Hermione saying,"Ladies first." in a gratuitous sort of voice. Hermione turned her nose up at him and had just decided to fight him every inch of the way up the staircase, when there was a scratching noise at the door. Malfoy walked a few steps to the door, then thought better of it and motioned for Hermione to go up the staircase. The next second later, the door was blown off its hinges and landed with a dull thunk where Malfoy had stood only moments before. Hermione immediately ducked down and saw something shadowy slink into the room. Malfoy didn't move, and seemed to be trying to squint through the dust to see what was there. Then they heard a bone-chilling sound; it was a cross between a human scream and the cry of a wolf. Hermione saw Malfoy's hand shake slightly, as if he was in a chilly draft. Malfoy grabbed Hermione by the hair and said in a low hiss,"I know that this is what you're after, Lupin, but you'll never get her. She's my way out of here, dead or alive. Now back off, or I will subject her to the Crucias."

Hermione screamed silently as she saw a shadowy figure come into view. It was Remus, but just barely. He was standing on two legs, but he had all the physical attributes of a wolf. His teeth were bared in a sort of hideous grin, and in one of his paw-like hands he was holding a wand. Every few seconds, he would lick his chomps, his black eyes staring hungrily at Malfoy. Then, with a faltering, high pitched voice, Remus said,"I don't want...Hermione...I want you! I know who you were...I can still smell your scent...Look at what...you did...to me!" and he howled in horror. In a low, deep growl, he said,"I won't need this to kill you." Remus took the wand that he had and placed it in his mouth, where he neatly bit it into pieces. Hermione recognized it as the wand that she had earlier.

Malfoy went white with fear. He raised his wand and uttered,"Aveda Kedavera" to Remus, who promptly darted out of the way of the curse. Malfoy began to shake visibly and called in a falsely brave voice,"You were lucky that time, Lupin, but next time you'll be dead!" Hermione heard a whining sort of laugh near the bed, then a heavy panting. Malfoy pushed Hermione down on the stair and whispered in a terrified voice,"Go up the stairs now!" She ran up the stairs, stumbling, unable to see anything in the dark. A few times she would hear Malfoy turn and utter a few curses, presumably to keep Remus from attacking him. But in the claustrophobic confines of the staircase, all Hermione could hear was the sound of her heels hitting the stairs and her own rapid breathing. Finally, she reached the top and hoped that the door in front of her would open without magic, which it did. She looked around quickly and saw that they were on top of a turret. The cold wind that greeted her almost carried her off her feet, but she ran over to a low edge. Malfoy was close on her heels, but was looking fearfully behind him. He grabbed her by the nape of her dress. "Don't you dare try and get anyone's attention, Hermione, or by Merlin's robe, I will kill you." and he pulled her back to him. Malfoy had his back against one of the high walls with Hermione in front of him and his wand to her head. They both stared at the gaping black hole in front of them from which they had come. Then two yellowish looking eyes peered at them in the doorway. Malfoy immediately yelled out the Killing Curse, but she saw it deflect harmlessly on the inside wall of the staircase. A loud boom caused both Malfoy and Hermione to be temporarily distracted. Above them, Hermione saw a figure on a broomstick throwing spells at three other figures circling around it. She felt Malfoy squeeze her painfully, then draw her close to him as she could hear his heart pounding as he desperately looked around the turret for Remus.

Malfoy yelled out,"Werewolf! Do you know what the Finis de le Maison Spell is? "

Silence met his question.

Malfoy continued,"It's part of the Ancient Magic. It says that if the master of the house murders with his own hands, a guest, that his entire house, and everything and everyone in it, will be destroyed. Of course, there are certain penalties that will come to pass if it succeeds,"Malfoy grimaced, "but that's a risk I'm willing to take." He looked down at Hermione and grinned,"It looks like you are the unfortunate guest tonight, my dear Mudblood."

Hermione began to kick and tried to scream, but Malfoy held on to her tightly and pulled her over to one of the low turret walls to throw her over. Suddenly, she felt eyes on her and she looked over and saw Remus focusing intensely on her. She met his glance, and noticed that he had redirected his gaze to Malfoy. She realized what he wanted her to get out of the way which she did by letting herself go limp in Malfoy's arms. Malfoy staggered under her unexpected dead weight and let her fall to the ground. He looked down at her in surprise, then looked up to see Remus charging him. Before Malfoy could react, Remus hurled himself against him. Hermione could feel the brush of fur against her as both Malfoy and Lupin went flying into the air, and over the low turret wall. She quickly got up and looked over the wall to see both figures laying on the ground, lit by a spell that pierced the dark mountain night. Neither Remus or Malfoy moved as she saw five or so Medi-wizards rush to where they had both fallen. One of them looked up at the turret and saw Hermione. She began to wave at her, but Hermione retreated behind one of the high turret walls and began to cry.

She didn't hear the gentle whoosh of a broom as it circled the turret, nor did she hear the rider hover above her, then quietly descend to the turret roof and lightly dismount. The rider looked at her awkwardly for a little while then said in a soft voice,"Hermione?"

Hermione jerked her head up and looked around her. She sniffled and said in a hoarse voice,"Who's there?" The harshness of her voice startled her.

The rider stepped forward and said in a hesitant tone,"It's me...Harry."

Hermione blinked away the tears and ran up to him, burying her head in his shoulders,"Oh my God, Harry! I'm so scared...Fred...what about Fred? And Snape? Remus...he's dead, isn't he?

He held her and patted her gently on the back. Finally, he said to her,"Fred is at St. Mungo's and Professor Snape is around here somewhere. I saw him myself not more than five minutes ago." Harry smiled at Hermione and said quietly,"I don't know about Remus, though. Let's go down and ask a Medi-wizard, if you're up to it."

Hermione nodded and dried her eyes and got behind Harry on his broom. He pushed the broom gently up and they went over the turret. They landed a few feet away from the scene. She saw a flurry of activity around them both, but the Medi-wizards now working on Remus kept looking at him worriedly. She knew that they were afraid of what might happen if he woke up. Before Harry could stop her, she went over to Remus. His breathing was shallow, but he looked relatively unhurt. She knew from experience that he probably had some type of internal damage, but it looked like the Medi-wizards had the situation under control. She heard one of them say that he would have to be put into the isolation ward, but that most likely he would pull through. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief but wondered if they could treat the lynchothopy that Malfoy had injected him with.

She peered over the Medi-wizards bent heads and saw Malfoy slowly breathing in and out. Suddenly, a she heard a commotion a couple yards away. Hermione looked to where it was and saw a woman fighting off a handful of Aurors that were still securing the scene. Hermione could hear her saying,"That's my son, you idiots!" at which the Aurors released her and she came running up to Medi-wizards and began to bark questions at them. Hermione noticed that time had not been kind to Narcissa Malfoy. Her hair was a washed out-color of blonde and she was very thin. Her eyes looked like she had just been crying and her face was a blotchy red. Soon she was arguing with one of the older Medi-wizards, finally telling him that she wanted to Apparate him home where,"He would get excellent care from the best that galleons can buy." One of Aurors, who Hermione didn't recognize, walked up to Mrs. Malfoy and told her she couldn't take him as he was under arrest for Experimentation on Magical Creatures and Muggles. Hermione heard words come out of Mrs. Malfoy's mouth that made her cringe, so with one last look at Remus, she turned to find Harry.

Harry was sitting on his broom as it levitated four feet off the ground. Once he saw her, he jumped off and ran to her. He put his hand over her shoulder lightly and asked how Remus was doing. Hermione sniffed and said that he looked like he was going to pull through, even though she didn't know what the long term effects were going to be.

Harry said nothing, but squeezed her arm.

Hermione jumped and yelled,"Ow!"

Harry looked at her with concern and said,"Just stay here for a minute, I'll get a Medi-witch to look at you."

She pulled him back."No, really Harry. I'm all right, I'm just sore. Malfoy was pulling me all over that horrible castle by this arm, and now I'm starting to feel it." She said softly,"I'd really like to see Fred. Make sure he's okay."

Harry looked intensely at her, then said,"If you're sure you're don't need a medi-witch..."

Hermione nodded. Harry excused himself, and went over to one of the Aurors and talked to him for a minute. Then he returned to Hermione and said,"I had to tell Patrick that I was going with you to St. Mungo's. I have to be back in fifteen minutes to do part of the investigation, then go back to the Ministry to write a report." Harry smiled wearily at her,"Ah, the glamorous career of being an Auror."

She grinned at Harry, knowing full well that to him the hours of boring paperwork was worth the half an hour of excitement anytime. Hermione watched him as he pulled out a paper napkin from his pocket, dropped it on the ground, waved his wand over it, and said,"Portkey" He looked up at her and said,"Ready when you are."

Hermione took a last look at Castle Adred and saw the ruined castle connected to the still shimmering mirage castle. She smiled to herself at Malfoys' cleverness. He had used a very elaborate Illusion Charm to show how the ruined Castle Adred had appeared in its heyday. Any Muggles that would have come near would either be chased away or killed by the Red Caps until Malfoy had decided that he would want to "show" the castle and use it to trap Muggles for his experiments. Hermione shivered, not knowing if it was from the cold or from evil in Malfoy's plan. Then she nodded at Harry, and together they grabbed the napkin and were instantly transported to St. Mungo's.

Fred looked better than what Hermione had expected. Most of the cuts had been healed up as well as his three broken ribs. The care giver told Hermione and Harry that Fred also had a broken ankle and a fractured wrist and that he was very lucky. The nurse had just walked out the door when Fred's eyes popped open and he coughed. Hermione jumped back and held her hand over her heart. She glared down at him and said in a mock angry voice,"For God sake's Fred, do you want me to be a patient in here too?"

Fred grinned broadly at her then winced. The large bruises on his face still hadn't healed. Then he croaked,"Harry! Long time, no see. Do I have to be in a hospital for you to visit me?"

Harry laughed but looked embarrassed,"You know how it is, Fred. I'm the new guy so I have to work all the evening shifts and then any emergencies that come up, so I'm either asleep or I want to be."

Fred coughed again, which Hermione took as a laugh, then replied,"Yeah, that's what Tonks used to say. Speaking of Nymphormora, how's she doing, Harry?"

"She's the new district manger in London. They wanted to transfer her to Hamstead Heath, but she wouldn't hear of it. You know how Tonks is, she couldn't survive one day in the country. Remember what happened with her and that cow? The Ministry had their hands full with that one!"

Harry chuckled and Fred clapped his hands in lieu of coughing. Hermione smiled at both of them.

Then Harry said,"Maybe we can go back to that dive in Bath after you get better...what was the name of that place?"

Fred turned pink and said,"Stonehenge's."

Harry's green eyes flashed mischievously,"Yeah, I hope Aimee still works there. She really liked you."

Fred began to cough so hard, that Hermione was tempted to call back the nurse, but Fred stopped long enough to say,"Go on, you bastard!"

Harry looked down at his watch."Oh broomsticks! I've got to get back to Castle Adred or Patrick will transform me into a Blast-Ended Skewert! I'll owl you once you get better, Fred."

Harry clasped one of Fred's hands and looked him straight in the eye. Then he turned to Hermione and said,"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Then he gently held her for a long time and left.

Hermione looked at Fred and raised an eyebrow. "Aimee?"

Fred's face twitched as he said,"That's for me to know, and for you never to find out."

Hermione laughed and shook her head,"Boy, are you something else!"

Fred tilted his head on his pillow to better look at Hermione, then said in a raspy voice,"Did you mean what you said earlier?"

Hermione stared at him with a blank expression as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. Then she looked at him and then lowered her eyes. She drew near to him and held his hand."Yes, I am starting to care about you. You have to give me time, though. I've never done this before."

Fred looked surprised,"Viktor?"

She sighed and said with an air of resignation,"Why does everyone assume Viktor and I had this passionate fling? He is a very good friend, but no real sparks. It was more on his side than mine."

Fred muttered,"The relationship with you and Ron had hardly begun when-"

"Ron was murdered."ended Hermione.

Fred blinked and said in a determined voice,"However long it takes makes no difference to me, Hermione. I'm in this for the long haul." Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Hermione kissed Fred on the cheek and got out of the room as fast as possible. She felt fortunate that she had not seen Ginny or Mr.Weasley at the hospital as there was no way that she could handle Fred's family after tonight's events. All she wanted to do was go home, get washed, and go to sleep. She hurried down to the hospital fireplaces and threw in Floo Powder, but as she was about to walk into the fire, she swore she could hear someone calling her name. She hesitated for a second before saying,"The Cottage" and ducking into the fireplace.

She was relieved to be back at the cottage. As she walked into the room, however, she noticed a few odd things. First, there was a large stack of books on the floor by one of the fireside chairs. Second, the note that they had left Minerva on the kitchen table was gone, and lastly, Crookshanks was curled up on her bed. She walked slowly to her bed and petted the already awake Crookshanks, which made him purr something fierce. She could tell that he had been worried about her. Hermione went back to the fireplace and realized she couldn't Charm it because she was without a wand, stared at it for a minute, then staggered into the bathroom where she took a hot, soapy, bath. She made a mental note to thank Minerva for the luxurious bathtub when she saw her again. She had just walked out of the steamy bath and put on her nightgown, when she heard a knock on the door. Hermione debated whether or not to answer it but decided that she had better or she would never get any rest. She opened the door and to her relief found Dionysus standing before her. He looked at her for a second, then before she knew what was happening, he was holding her in a bear hug. Hermione was too tired to protest.

"Thank God you're alive, Hermione! We didn't know where you were!"

Hermione gave him a weak smile and said,"I'm sorry if I worried you Dionysus..."

Dionysus frowned and said rapidly,"Sorry? We didn't know your whereabouts until a half an hour ago. Minerva is sick with anxiety, especially after she told you two not to do anything stupid, which is exactly what you did anyway." He looked at her again and shook his head." The least you could have done was left us a note."

Hermione blinked and rubbed her temples,"But we did! I left it on the kitchen table for Minerva, but when I got in I noticed that it wasn't there..." She sat down on one of the rickety kitchen chairs and sighed. "Dionysus, I didn't mean to cause you all this worry and stress, but what I really need right now is about ten hours of sleep. Everyone is fine, except for poor Remus. But I promise that I'll tell you and Minerva everything when I get up, okay?

Dionysus looked annoyed for a second or two, but seemed to think better of it. He went to the door and stepped out. As he turned to close it he said to Hermione kindly,"Get a good sleep, Hermione. I'll make sure no one bothers you, and if you want a dreamless sleep, I believe Minerva put a sleeping drought in the bathroom cabinet."

Hermione half closed her eyes and said in a dreamy voice,"I don't think I'm going to need that, Dionysus."

He pulled the door to and she could hear a sharp click as the door locked. With a loud yawn, Hermione crawled into her bed and fell into a deep sleep.

When Hermione looked back on the next few days, she could hardly remember any of it. It seemed that all she did was tell various Ministry agencies what happened to her at Castle Adrad. She wished that she had access to her tape recorder so she could have just played it to everyone who asked her about what happened to her and Fred. In between the interviews, a Medi-witch by the name of Brunhild Leister, had come to the Cottage everyday to check on her many bruises and sprains. Hermione was actually a little relieved when Medico Leister told her not to do much and just to sleep and make sure that she took her potions on time everyday.

Dionysus made sure that she had three square meals a day, and worried over her like a mother hen. When she felt her strength coming back, she asked Minerva and Dionysus to come over to the cottage and help her piece together what happened. Minerva told her that Madame Pince had come back with the books Hermione had requested, only to find no-one there. She had walked around the cottage, trying to find Hermione, when she saw the note for Minerva. She flooed to Minerva's house and showed the note to Minerva, who read it, and immediately notified the Aurors as to what Hermione and Fred had figured out. By the time Minerva and Dionysus had been notified as to what was going on, everything had ended, and nobody knew who was where. When they heard that people had been injured, they assumed the worst.

"That's why I was so cross with you when you came back here,"Dionysus said softly."we had heard so many different rumors and then, all of a sudden you're here...

Minerva glanced at her brother,"Come now, Dionysus, Hermione is a smart and clever witch, whose only character fault is that she doesn't listen to a thing I say.

Hermione looked at both of them with her mouth open,"What? I always listen to you! It was Fred that made me go!

Dionysus began to chuckle,"Right you are, Hermione. I can tell that he dragged you out of here, kicking and screaming. That Fred must be a one smooth talker!"

Hermione smiled. Minerva raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Deciding to quickly change the subject Hermione asked,"So has anyone heard about Remus or Malfoy?

Minerva adjusted her glasses slightly."About Malfoy, we only know a few scattered bits. It seems as soon as he was stabilized at St. Mungo's, he mysteriously disappeared out of his hospital room. No doubt that Narcissa had something to do with that."

"Can't the Aurors find her?"

"Normally, yes. But the Ministry and others think that she may have help eluding capture,"

"Former Death Eaters?", queried Hermione.

"The consensus at this point is yes, but no-one knows who they may be connected with. Unfortunately, this may be the beginning of a bigger event that they are co-ordinating."Minerva looked at Hermione thoughtfully."Thank goodness that we have Harry."

Hermione agreed, but thought that it was awfully silly for the Ministry to wait around for something to happen. As she recalled, that was what happened the last time. She knew Fred would be less than thrilled.

Minerva cleared her throat and went on,"Well, poor Remus is another story. He was badly hurt by that fall that he took, so he had to into intensive care. Naturally, it was difficult to get any medi-witches or wizards to see him, as they were concerned about being bitten. I believe that they ended up asking a doctor from Bavaria to have a look at him. Anyway, the medi-wizard diagnosis is not good." She paused and said in a soft voice," Remus has between three to six months to live."

Hermione felt her eyes well up with tears. Dionysus reached over and patted her on the back. Hermione managed to choke out,"Does his family know? What about Tonks?"

Minerva looked at Hermione sympathetically."You know that he was never close them, or rather, they never allowed themselves to be close to him."She sniffed a little too loudly,"I'm sure they were notified. As for Tonks, well, you know that they haven't seen each other in a year, but I will make sure that she knows about Remus' condition."

Hermione fought not to let her tears flow. Remus was one of the few members of the Order that she had felt close to. The others either had their own families and responsibilities or they treated Hermione and Ron like children, but Remus always treated them with kindness and respect. Even when things were at their worst, you could always depend on Remus to tell you exactly what was happening. She still felt that he was one of the few people that she could trust, and now, more than ever, was the time to tell him that...

"Where is he, so I can visit him?

Minerva looked worried," What if he breaks free of his restraints and bites you?"

"I've been vaccinated."

Minerva pulled at the bun in her hair,"I don't think it's a good idea. This vaccine, how do you know it works, and that it wasn't a placebo?"

"Before we left the castle, Professor Snape seemed so sure that Malfoy had come up with the real thing, that he made sure both of us had shots."

Minerva seemed to ponder this and replied,"I will talk to Professor Snape about this and see what he says about the vaccine."

Hermione took a deep breath said replied in as calm voice as she could muster," Malfoy took Professor Snape on a tour of the castle and the laboratory. I know that Malfoy bragged up the fact that he had come up with a vaccine for lycanthropy to show Professor Snape what a prize pupil he is! Modesty is not a Malfoy trait, you know that."Hermione smiled brightly,"Besides, I'll just go and visit Remus when no one is looking."

Minerva eyed her wearily,"On your head, be it then. But at least ask someone to go with you."

There was only one person who Hermione would ask to go with her. Harry.

Now all she had to do was work up the nerve to write to him.

Four days later, she woke up and felt wonderful. Her arm, which had been severely sprained, felt strong and supple. She ran into the bathroom and looked at her neck and noticed that the bruises that Malfoy had given her were so faint as to be almost non existent. Before Hermione took a shower, she heard a distinctive thud on the window and went over to open it. A large eagle owl flew in and promptly perched on the edge of the kitchen table. She retrieved the message from the owl's leg and opened it, hoping it was a message from Fred.

Dearest Hermione,

Hope you are well. I'm going to be released from the hospital today at noon. I want you to pick me up from there. Dad and Ginny would just get too worked up.

Yours,

Fred

Hermione smiled and carefully folded up the note and laid it on the kitchen table. She gave the owl some treats, and closed the window after he gracefully flew off. She was so excited to see Fred again, that she almost forgot about the other stop that she had to make first. But after she reached in her wand holster and came up empty-handed, she remembered she had to Floo to Ollivander's. With a resolute sigh, she threw the Floo Powder into the flames and walked into them, loudly speaking,"Ollivanders!".

Hermione never liked going into his store. It had a strange, still air that made her feel like she was walking into a deserted graveyard. Nevertheless, she needed to get a wand, as she felt very vulnerable without one. She slowly stood up after having to duck out of the fireplace, when she heard a small bell sound in the back of the store.

"May I help you?"

Hermione turned around at looked at Mr. Ollivander, who had still managed to sneak up on her. I wish someone would put a bell on him, she thought

"Yes, I need a new wand."

"Your name, please?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Congratulations on your appointment to Hogwarts."

"Thank you."Hermione smiled slightly.

Mr. Ollivander had gone immediately to one of the stacks on his left and began to get down one of the many boxes high on the shelf. He seemed to find what he was looking for quickly, and hurried to Hermione with a purple box. Wordlessly, he opened it for her to examine the wand. Hermione took it out and said a simple spell, but nothing happened. She tried it again, this time saying the spell in a loud voice, but still nothing. Mr. Ollivander looked from her to the wand, then to her again. He took the wand from her hand and looked it over closely, and tapped it gently against his palm, then handed it to Hermione. She grasped the wand tightly and concentrated on the spell as she said it, but still nothing happened.

Hermione shifted her weight to her left foot and asked in her nicest tone, "Is it possible that you have given me the wrong wand?"

Mr. Ollivander looked like she had just slapped him."I can assure you that I have never forgotten a clients wand type!"

"So how do you explain this? Do you think that maybe this wand was placed in the wrong box?"

"Impossible. I place all the wands in the correct boxes myself."

Hermione was just about to say something smart, when she heard the door open. She turned around and saw Harry. He smiled and walked over to her.

"Hello, Hermione!"

Yesterday, she had tried numerous times to write him a letter explaining the events at Castle Adrad, why she was with Fred, and why she hadn't talked to him for a year. All of her attempts were found crumpled up on the floor of the Cottage. After seeing Crookshanks bat them about the place, Hermione had resolved that she would try again tomorrow. Suddenly, she realized that it was tomorrow.

"Harry! What are you doing here?' In a second, all the reservations and fears that she had about talking to Harry were gone.

"Well, I just left Flourish & Blotts , when I saw you in here and so I decided to see what sort of trouble you were getting into." He looked at Mr. Ollivander and Hermione's agitated features and added dryly,"Seems that I was right. So what's going on?"

Hermione tried to use the wand again, with the same results. Harry frowned slightly then turned to Mr. Ollivander and said,"I know what's wrong. She's changed."

Mr. Ollivander's features lightened noticeably as he nodded emphatically. "Just like you did."

Hermione looked at Harry questioningly as he continued." After I defeated Voldemort, I tried to use my wand but it wouldn't work. I asked Cudmore and he said that sometimes after a life-altering event, that we don't access our magic in the same way. So as a result, our wands, aren't "ours" anymore. We have changed, but our wands haven't, so they don't work."

Hermione looked perplexed."I still don't understand it, though. I haven't gone through any great battle or anything that I would deem as spectacular or life-altering."

Harry smiled in a mysterious way and replied softly,"Haven't you? You fought a truly evil person and fell in love with some lucky red-haired guy all in the space of a relatively short time. If that doesn't qualify for a change in one's life, I don't know what does!"

She blushed and thought about what he had said. She didn't know how Harry had known about her and Fred, but she had a strong suspicion that nowadays Harry knew more than he let on. But there had been some significant events in her life recently. Not only those things that Harry mentioned, but also the fact that she felt that she could now lay Ron's death peacefully aside and forgive the man who had taken his life.

Hermione looked up at Harry and asked,"So when did you become a philosopher?

Harry grinned,"Around the same time I became an Auror."

Harry stayed with her though out her arduous wand-fitting time at Ollivander's. Harry was, Hermione was shocked to admit, very helpful. He and Mr. Ollivander would at times share their opinions about which wands Hermione should try. Finally, after a half an hour, Hermione found a sixteen and three-quarter sequoia with a unicorn hair core. She was surprised at how light it felt, in comparison to her old one, but didn't mention it. After she paid for it and thanked Mr. Ollivander for helping her, and she and Harry went out into Diagon's Alley. It was a cold, but clear day. All the shoppers around them were bundled in long and heavy cloaks, but would smile appreciatively as the warmth of the sun's rays would hit them. Hermione looked at her watch and was surprised to see that she still had forty-five minutes until she picked Fred up. Harry was sauntering next to her, his arm through hers, looking quite relaxed. Every once in a while, a witch or wizard would come up to him and shake his hand and tell him what a brave and wonderful thing that he did, then go on their way, looking flush with excitement.

Hermione turned to Harry after the fifth time that this happened and asked,"So, when does this start to bother you?"

"What?"

"All your adoring fans."

Harry laughed,"Honestly, it really doesn't. After all I went though, it's nice to be appreciated." Then he frowned slightly and added,"Except when I'm on a date."

Hermione giggled,"Really? They bother you when you're on a date? That must make for some interesting conversation."

Harry looked at his feet and said,"Well, I have to say that most of them aren't too fond of that part. They like all the free perks that they get, but when it comes to the inconvenient part, like having everyone know your name and such, they get a little upset."

"Seen anyone lately?"

Harry looked at her and went slightly red,"I was going out with Parvati."

Hermione stopped in the center of the Alley and looked straight into Harry's eyes."You have got to be kidding me!"

Harry looked apologetically at her,"Notice I said,"was". It didn't work out. She's too busy and so am I." He looked at her curiously then said,"You had no idea, did you?"

Hermione shook her head,"I've been having so many problems myself, I haven't really kept up with anyone..."

"What sort of problems?" Harry stood still and looked at her intensely. She had a strong feeling that she was about to be interrogated.

Hermione bit her lip and didn't say anything for a minute. Then she looked over and saw a bench by a deserted ice cream shop. She sat down on it, and motioned for Harry to do the same. Harry sat down next to her, and looked at her with the same unwavering attention he had before. With a sigh, she told him about what had happened at the Riddle house, her subsequent nightmares about Ron, and her "nervous breakdown." Harry didn't say much; he mostly nodded and would occasionally ask a question. Then she recapped what happened in the Penseive and gave him a brief synopsis of what happened at Castle Adrad. After she ended, she looked at him expectantly. Harry looked down at his hands as he tried to formulate a question. Finally, he asked her the one question that she was completely unready for.

"Why didn't you come to me immediately with any of this?"

Hermione looked at him blankly. How could she tell him that she thought that he would have laughed her troubles off? That he would have said that she was weak and to buck up and not let it get to her? She realized that she had told herself a pack of lies, but how could she admit that to Harry?

She cleared her throat and began hesitantly," Because ... because I thought that you had enough to do without worrying about some soft-headed school friend and her silly problems." Harry jerked his head up and looked at her in surprise. She waved her hand gently at him,"No, Harry, wait. I...I thought that what I experienced was nothing compared to what you went through. You know, with Voldemort and all, so I just kept my nightmares and feelings to myself."

Harry grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard and said in a surprisingly hard voice,"Hermione, what I went through, what we went through, was not normal! How many seventeen year olds in the wizarding world have the same life and death worries that we did? None that I know remember." He looked grim and continued,"There is a part of me that wants my childhood innocence back. Before the Goblet of Fire and Sirius' death. To that time when it was just you, me and Ron out to solve some mysterious goings on at Hogwart's." Hermione was surprised to see Harry's eyes tear up as went on,"Now, like some old man, the only things I have left are memories. Even then, most of them aren't pleasant" He bit his lip and ran a shaking hand through his hair, then suddenly he looked into Hermione's eyes. His shoulders and face relaxed as he said quietly,"No, I have you. " Suddenly, Hermione saw in Harry's green eyes all their adventures. She saw herself on the train to Hogwart's, Ron in the girl's bathroom, Sirius in his animagus form, Ginny in the Chamber, Ron laughing as he was practicing Quidditch, herself dressed up for the Yule Ball, Fred and George blasting out of school, the Burrow, then the images began to go faster until she could only make out bits and pieces. She inhaled quickly and blinked. As quickly as it had started it ended. Hermione looked at Harry dizzily.

"Harry..."

"Yes?"

"You're an Occulems?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Good. I'm not losing my mind." Hermione started to breathe normally again. Then she looked up at him and said softly,"We're linked."

Harry smiled,"Into eternity, I'm afraid. But it wasn't because, er, I let you see my memories, but because we're best friends, Hermione. Even if oceans or continents separate us, we will still be together, do you understand?"

Hermione looked into his face and smiled radiantly,"I understand now. I love you Harry."

Harry pulled her towards him and hugged her,"I love you too, Hermione."

Hermione ran down the hospital hall to the nurses front desk. It was twelve o'clock and she hoped that Fred wasn't released yet. The answer to her question was suddenly in front of her as she rounded a corner and literally fell into the arms of a man in a wheelchair. Embarrassed, she immediately jumped out and was just starting to offer profuse apologies, when she looked up and saw that it was Fred. He was trying desperately not to laugh, but his cheeks were a bright red from trying.

Hermione's temper flashed,"Thanks for making me feel like an ass."

Fred burst out laughing,"No problem. I see that you do it well enough on your own."

Hermione glared at him, then the nurse who was wheeling him, because she was giggling. She noticed that the nurse was pretty, and surmised that was the reason why Fred had let her wheel him out to the Apparation pad. Hermione chuckled to herself, then smiled at the nurse and said sweetly,"If you don't mind, I'll get him out of your hair for you."

The nurse laughed and replied,"Oh, he's no trouble. At least not right now." With that she, handed over the wheelchair to Hermione and walked away, giving Fred a quick wink. Hermione groaned. "Heavens preserve me."

Fred looked at her with wide, innocent eyes."I'm sorry Hermione, but it's hard to keep all the ladies away from me all the time." He smiled at her slyly.

"Come on, Casanova, we are going back to your flat and get you situated."

Fred made no comment, but noticeably relaxed. As they were walking down a long, deserted corridor, and wicked idea popped into Hermione's head. She grabbed on tightly to the handles of the wheelchair and began to run down the hall. Fred threw his hands up in the air and made whooshing sounds. When they picked up enough speed, Hermione leaned forwards and picked her feet off the ground. For a second, she felt like she was flying on a broom, but felt much safer. Near the end of the hall, she put her feet back on the ground and gently slowed down the wheelchair. Fred turned around with a surprised look,"Hey! Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. I've always wanted to it, and, well, why the hell not?"

Fred turned slightly in his wheelchair and clumsily patted her on her hand,"It's nice to see the positive effect that I have on your life."

Hermione smiled to herself and thought,"You have no idea."

The staff at Hogwarts was glad to see Hermione back and looking so well. There had been strange rumors floating about the school about how Professor Granger had somehow managed, while on holiday, to solve some werewolf trouble in the lowlands of Scotland. Finally, on her second day back, there was a huge article in the Daily Prophet about Draco Malfoy and Castle Adrad. Not surprisingly, her name, as well as Harry's, was prominently featured in the article. She also noted that neither Fred nor Snape was mentioned, except as "other members of the search party for Remus Lupin, former professor of Hogwart's and werewolf." She wondered how many strings Fred and Snape had to pull to get their names out of it. Because of all the publicity, she decided to let her classes question her about the article and get it out of their systems. She was relieved to find that after an half an hour of questions, that the students had their curiosity filled and seemed ready to resume their lessons.

At dinner, she sat at her ususal spot at the staff table. She was thought it odd that Professor Snape had chosen to sit on the other side of Professor Flitwick, but quickly dismissed it from her thoughts. Before desert, Cudmore stood up and walked to the center of the dias. He smiled out to the students and in a few seconds, the whole Hall had become silent.

"I have a few announcements to make. First, as you older students may know, this is a Hogsmead weekend." A thunderous applause followed."I don't have to remind you that we here at Hogwarts expect nothing but exemplary behavior from all of you." Hermione noticed a few glances towards on student in particular seated at the Ravenclaw table. Cudmore cleared his throat slightly and went on,"Also, O.W.L.S tests are coming up, and-yes, Mr. Flitch wants me to tell you not to use the second floor bathrooms as they are broken, but the best news of all is that two professors here at Hogwarts have been asked by the world-renown Wizards Studying Muggle Medicine to do research and come up with a cure for lycanthropy!"

A gasp came from the Hall. Hermione could feel all eyes rest on her. Cudmore continued,"May I congratulate Professors Granger and Snape and wish them success!"

Hermione felt her face freeze in a weird, lopsided smile. She stood up and bowed slightly to the clapping students in front of her, then sat back down. I'm going to kill Cudmore, she thought grimly to herself, why the hell didn't he tell me about this before dinner...

Finally, Cudmore silenced the applause and told everyone to try the fresh treackle tart. As he sat down to the table both Hermione and Professor Snape said in the same hissing voice,"Headmaster, a word in your study." Cudmore looked at them with a surprised glance, while Professor Flitwick giggled aloud. Hermione felt her cheeks turning pink, so she quickly turned and stared at her tart.

After a few tortured minutes of moving the tart around her plate, she calmly got up and walked out of the Hall to clear her mind. She went to her rooms, and got out a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing to Harry about seeing Remus. She had just finished when she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it up, she saw that it was Cudmore.

He nodded at her and politely asked,"May I come in for a moment?"

With a curt nod, she waved him into the room.

Cudmore sat in the chair the nearest to the fire and stretched out his legs, then motioned for Hermione to sit on the chair beside him. Hermione had always felt herself on her guard when she was around him. He had a quiet, cat-like silence about him. Professor Flitwick had observed shrewdly when he was announced by the school governors to be the next headmaster, that it was like they wanted one of their own people to be on the inside. Hermione had took that to mean that the governors wanted to know, from now on, everything that was going on in Hogwarts. There was to be no more Dumbledore-like secrecy from now on.

"I realize that this came all of a sudden, Hermione, for which I do apologize. I, myself, just received the owl before dinner. I was so excited and proud, that I forgot to notify you and Professor Snape before my announcement. For that, I beg your forgiveness."

Hermione bowed her head slightly.

"As you know, Hermione, there has been scant research in the wizarding world about lycanthropy. So when you and Professor Snape told the Aurors about the lab that Draco Malfoy had created, many members of the Ministry were very concerned. They felt that the Ministry hasn't, shall we say, been keeping up with certain advances as well as they should have. Some influential people persuaded the WSMM that research should be done before Malfoy, or anyone like him, starts it up again."

Hermione nodded slightly,"Better late than never, I suppose, but why chose Professor Snape and I?"

Cudmore responded,"Well Hermione, that was the easiest part of the Ministry's decision. It was because both of you have been vaccinated against lycanthropy and also because they believed that the two of you would bring your own set of strengths to the project. Snape is a renown potion Master, and you are very skilled in Muggle and Wizard research. They believe it will be a combination of Muggle and Wizard knowledge that will bring about a cure."

She gave a short, irritated laugh,"I guess it's just my lucky day, isn't it? What about my Transformation class?"

Cudmore sat up in the chair and leaned forward,"You are to work on the project between school sessions and any other spare time that you have. To make this easier, I have hired a witch's assistant to help you with various school chores that you have, like grading papers and sitting in during exams."

Hermione was not happy about this. It was just like Harry said, once Cudmore wants you to do something, there is no way to wiggle out of it. He had first hand experience with the man, as he used to be his superior at the Aurors. Better to be done with it, thought Hermione.

Hermione leaned back in her chair and said in a nonchalant tone,"Very well. When and where do we start?"

"I thought that you might like to floo Professor Snape tomorrow morning and set a meeting to discuss such matters,"Cudmore said as he slowly rose to his feet and headed towards the door.

Hermione nodded, and got out of her chair. She quickly reached the door before Cudmore, and opened it for him. "Goodnight", she said