Disclaimer : Still borrowing J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters. Still not making any money. Sigh. Life can be so unfair!

A/N: I originally wasn't going to include much of the D.A. Professor, but one of my reviewers (slyswn) inspired me.Hm, some of my dearly beloved reviewers said that they weren't quite sure what was going on (mainly Lorett, Taintless, and Alexis) with our brilliant heroes. So I'm going to give you a hint and a promise. Ready? Now, this hint doesn't take too much brain power: Look at the title of the story. Think of what happened last time. Remember that all these little sections (you know, the three different plots I have going here) WILL TIE IN WITH EACH OTHER. Maybe some earlier than others...That help at all? Hope so! Er...if not, know that I'll be explaining it in about four chapters or so. Remember, the characters don't know either...you're supposed to be a little in the dark.

And (drumroll here), I've decided to add a little "Last Time" blurb to my stories! Lorett (darling that she is) suggested I try that, so I hope that it'll be a little easier to get back into the rhythm of things. Let me know whether it helps, should be longer, etc. It'll only be for the HG/DM plot, but I hope that's okay. Okay. I think that's it...so here goes. A little action for the weekend!

Last Time:

"What does Sensing do?" Hermione asked.

"What? Don't tell me you haven't heard about it?" Ginny said said, aghast.

"I did grow up in a Muggle environment," Hermione reminded her. "Books can't make up for all those years."

"Oh, right. Well, it's a very ancient form of magic; I'm not quite sure why everyone calls it Dark because it's far older than evil. I suppose it's because You-Know-Who tried to use it some, but failed. Two or three of his Death Eaters found out how, though — I know Lucius Malfoy knows how, for example — but I think the other two were killed in the war. To be honest, no one quite knows how it works or what it's purpose is anymore; all we know is that it allows the one who Senses to see into Reality, or the mechanics of how our world works." She glanced at Hermione's face. "Get all that?"

Hermione shrugged. "Enough, I think."

Ginny looked back at the book. "Well, when you figure out how to open it, let me know. I would love to learn how." She glanced over at the table in the corner at which Harry and Ron were working. "Come join the homework party?"

"Finished all mine," Hermione answered absently. "I think I'll stay here and work a little longer."

Ginny nodded. "Right, then." She stood and walked away, unaware of what her explanation had unlocked.

Chapter 6 - Hands

At the corner of the fire, Age hunched protectively over a single flame. With clawed fingers, she deftly reached out to stroke it, tender with gentle touches and soft hisses. It turned the color of emptiness for a single moment, then sparked again in defined form, straight-backed and bearded. She chuckled sweetly, breath forming a fist that drove downwards onto his spine.

The thumb pressed, forming the beautiful arch of the elderly. A forefinger hooked the chin, bringing his eyes upwards and elongating the neck in a permanent leer of short-sightedness. His mind, powerful but not untouchable, was clouded, perception covered with a sheer veil.

She was the crippler, agent of wisdom and death. Though she gave wisdom, it was simple to take it away.

And break the victim.

"Hermione!"

The red curtains surrounding her four-poster bed created an artificial night that, after a long night of homework and Dreaming, made it extremely hard for her consciousness to swim out of the depths of nightmares. Hermione groaned and rolled over, striving to return to the darkness even for another moment of rest — something she seemed to be unmercifully short of these days.

"Hermione! Wake up!"

"Go 'way, Ginn..." she mumbled into the soft puddles of her pillow.

Light pounded her closed eyelids, piercing the escaping blackness with a sharp violence that wrestled her from the throes of sleep. She moaned again and put her hand over her eyes to shield them, however briefly, from the fingers of daylight and wakefulness.

"Come on! You're late!"

Hermione sat bolt upright, all thoughts of rest vanished. "What? I'm late?" she said, horrified. "I've got Defense Against the Dark Arts next!"

"Then hurry up. God knows the woman hates waiting. Impatient old bitch."

"Ginny!" Hermione admonished, throwing her black robes around the day-old clothes. "Don't say that about a teacher. Professor Nockford has been great — I mean, at least she teaches, which is more than Umbridge ever did."

"Oh, God, don't remind me," Ginny groaned. "I wish I was there with you when the centaurs carted her away. That must have been hilarious. Don't tell me not to laugh," she added quickly, seeing the reproachful look on Hermione's face, "because she deserved it."

"I wasn't going to," Hermione said, grabbing her wand and shoving it in her bag bursting with schoolbooks. "Come on, or you'll be late, too."

"Already am," Ginny said, lazily following her down the spiral staircase. "I have Potions next; the longer we take, the better."

They parted ways outside the Portrait Hole, Ginny to the dungeons and Hermione down the wide staircases to the third floor. She hitched up the bottom of her robes — they never fit very well; her build was just between sizes and nothing Madame Malkin did could fix it — and sprinted towards the classroom. Ginny was right; Professor Nockford was impatient and had no tolerance for tardiness.

Oh God, oh God, Hermione thought, her breathing heavy, this has got to be the worst week of my life. Late for Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm just glad we finished with Patronuses and are moving on to hexes —

Her internal monologue was cut short by a collision. Her bag flew off her shoulder, scattering parchment, quills, and text books. Her wand rolled in the opposite direction, smoking slightly, to rest by the corner of another bag equally empty.

"Fuck!" an irate voice said, somewhere by her feet. "Granger, watch where the hell you're going."

Hermione sat up, rubbing her forehead, and cursing her luck. She had kept their previous encounter to herself, had prayed that no others had witnessed it. After a week of unremarkable happenings — if a week could ever be described as unremarkable at Hogwarts — she had slowly relaxed. It seemed as if Malfoy looked at her slightly warily the first couple days, but the new trait had quickly been overshadowed by his ever-present disdain and sarcasm. At least he never mentioned it again, and she, taking his cue, responded to his jeers with the same indifference she had always applied.

"Then move out of my way next time, Malfoy," she sighed, crawling to retrieve her things. When they were stuffed haphazardly in her bag, she turned to look tiredly up at Malfoy. He had remained standing — it would have been very hard to knock him over as she only came up to his shoulder — but was examining a small hole in the sleeve of his robe. "It's just a burn. Easily fixed."

His face didn't show it, but the wand had caught his flesh, too, sketching a reddened blister across his forearm. He said nothing, busy disguising the pain. He gingerly squatted down and, with a swish of his wand, gathered his books. He saw her wand still resting by the corner of his bag, and Hermione's hand absently placed on top of it. Her gaze was momentarily distracted by the opening of the classroom door.

His mind, though insisting his eyes turn in the direction of Hermione's, found his body no longer obeyed him. His eyes remained adamantly focused on the chewed nails in front of him, noticing the ink specks on each tip. His hand crept forward, following an impulse that was not his own, fingertips itching to clean her hands. Her filthy hands, filled with Muggle blood. Fear filled him.

Hermione, looking guiltily up at the forbidding figure of Professor Nockford, wrenched her gaze away when she felt a slight touch on her hand. Malfoy bent over it, his long fingers gently tracing the curves of her thin fingers. His pale hand crawled upwards to rest on the smooth back of her hand, thumb drawing wide circles on the sensitive knuckles. He seemed the image of innocent concentration; only a slight twitch at his temple revealed the battle of wills inside him.

Involuntarily, she shuddered. The wand under her sweaty palm responded with a loud crack, throwing Malfoy bodily backwards, his head landing hollowly on the hard hall floor.

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss Granger!" Professor Nockford barked. Her beady eyes leapt with the flames of impatience and anger. "In class, immediately."

Hermione meekly complied, a little breathless from a mixture of mortification and inner glee at Malfoy's humiliation. She heard the sounds of Malfoy's frightened pleas of reason and Nockford's strict lecture. Then, silence filled the echoing hall.

Nockford returned, wiry hand firm around Malfoy's elbow. "I want to see both of you after class," she said, thrusting them up the aisle. Pink-faced, Hermione quietly took her seat with Ron and Harry, meeting Malfoy's shocked glare only briefly.

"What happened?" Harry whispered into her ears.

"I bumped into him in the hall. Things got nasty," she said. Noticing their heated gaze directed towards the Slytherin end of the room, she added, "I took care of it. It's all settled."

Professor Nockford rapped the front table with her abnormally long wand, sunken eyes taking in every slight motion of each member of the class. Her long hooked nose, complete with a very large wart on its tip, sniffed irritably. She was a practical witch — she had to be, being half-hag made for a hard childhood — and had little patience for pettiness.

"You all did very well with your Patronuses last week," she began. The praise rolled unnaturally off her lips. "Many of you created a full Patronus — some more easily than others," she said, her eyes picking out those that had been part of the D.A. group the previous year, "though I must remind you that the production of these guardians is extremely difficult when under the stress of a Dementor's presence. My original thought was to try each of you against an imitation Dementor; Mr. Potter had suggested a Boggart. However, there seems to be an unnerving lack of Boggarts at this present time, so we will instead be practicing some of the more difficult Jinxes.

"Now, the following Jinxes are meant to be used against true enemies, those whom you wish to hurt, not in the little spats that seem so common here. These Jinxes can do extensive harm if cast properly. Yes, Mr. Thomas?"

"Are they Dark?" Dean asked hopefully.

Professor Nockford stared at him, amused. "Would I still be standing here if I taught Dark Jinxes?" she asked drily. "No, Mr. Thomas, I'm afraid these are not Dark, but in the grey area. Still acceptable — barely.

"All the same, these are extremely important for defense. These are not difficult to block, so must therefore be only used in the most life-threatening situations. Sent with enough force, these Jinxes can put anyone in the hospital for months." She paused. "If I find anyone with the symptoms of having one of these Jinxes cast on them, both the victim and the offender will be sorely punished. Understand?"

The class murmured their assent.

"Good. Now, watch carefully." She flicked her wand, quickly creating a dummy from the vase on her desk. With another flick, it began to breathe. It was not conscious, but could accurately convey the reactions felt by any sensory actions. "The first of these four Jinxes was designed to create an artificial blindness that lasts either until the counter-curse is cast or until it wears off, which can be anywhere from ten minutes to ten years. Occadio!" The mannequin tossed its head wildly, and took a couple of hesitating steps towards Nockford.

"When the enemy is in this state of blindness, you can get away with just about anything. The following three curses are all very painful, though none of them borders on the level created by an Unforgivable Curse. First, there is the suffering: Dolcius!" The dummy dropped to its knees, mechanical limbs wrapping around its midriff. "Then, the tearing: Dilanio!" It fell back, legs rising and separating into the air. Slowly, they began to pull apart, as if an invisible pair of hands was trying to rip it apart. "And finally, the cutting: Venius!" The mannequin howled, an eerie scream that caused Neville Longbottom to cower into his arms. It frantically scrabbled at its heart, as if trying to stop an invisible tide of blood.

Professor Nockford watched impassively, before finally waving the dummy back into the original vase. "That last one is particularly nasty," she said. "It literally cuts every vein in the body." The class winced collectively. "I'm surprised that the Ministry of Magic hasn't outlawed them, to be honest, but I assume that they were helpful in the war. Allowed captives to be hurt, not killed. There are even rumors that these Jinxes are still used today in torture."

Hermione's hand shot into the air. "I've read that torture has been outlawed in most magical communities, including Great Britain," she said. "I highly doubt that the Ministry of Magic currently commits such a horrible practice."

"So did I, Miss Granger, until I found otherwise," Professor Nockford whispered. She was silent for a moment. "Right. Pair up," she said, voice restored to its earlier vigor. "I'll come around the room to cast shields on each one of you. I don't want any injuries."

Soon, the class was filled with flashes of green, purple, orange, and crimson light. Hermione, paired with Neville, quickly mastered the spells and sent them lazily across to Neville and spasmodic intervals. However, though she found the mechanics simple, her aim was less than desirable. Once, she sent the Cutting Jinx towards Neville only to see it narrowly miss his ear and fly towards Nockford. Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth in horror, watching her expulsion flash right before her eyes, before Parvati tripped and interrupted its path with her shield. She was more careful after that.

She wasn't surprised to see that Malfoy was as equally bored with the lesson; he Jinxed Crabbe every few seconds and hit him perfectly every time. Whether it was from prior experience or natural ability, however, Hermione couldn't tell. He only looked at her once, face revealing nothing, but she imagined he must be feeling a similar dread for their swiftly approaching conference. Whatever assumptions Nockford made, they would be far from the truth.

When the bell rang, dismissing Gryffindors and Slytherins to their second class, Hermione and Malfoy stood before Professor Nockford's desk. She assessed them over her long nose, eyes gliding between them. Finally, she leaned back and crossed her arms, saying, "Explain."

"Well, Professor," Hermione started, breaking Malfoy's resentful silence, "I overslept this morning and was running to get to class on time, when I collided with Malfoy. Our stuff flew everywhere, and as we gathered it — now both of us late for class—"

"Thanks for that, by the way," Malfoy interjected.

"— no problem — we exchanged some...words. I assume that's what brought you outside."

"Partly." She pursed her lips. "What I saw, however, was not two students 'exchanging words.'" She looked between the two. Neither of them answered her, but remained stolidly unaware of the other. She sighed, tiredly rubbing her temples, and bluntly put it out into the open, "I refuse to pardon the two of you for being late for highly personal reasons. It is my understanding that all romantic interactions are to be kept —"

"Romantic?" Malfoy exploded. "That wasn't bloody romantic —"

Hermione, at the same time, interrupted with, "Professor. Malfoy and I have been nothing but enemies from the day we met — ask any teacher; they'll agree —"

"— it was accidental. I don't care what you think, but that wasn't me who did that! It was something...someone else," he finished lamely.

Nockford leaned forward. "It wasn't you?" she asked, frowning. "I thought as much. Tell me, has anything else of this nature happened before?"

The two exchanged glances.

"Well, yes," Hermione said slowly, "only it was me. In Potions, about a week ago, the same thing happened with my hand, over..over his." She looked at Malfoy's pale hand, hanging limply by his side, disdainfully.

Nockford stared past them thoughtfully. "I'll look into it," she said. "You are dismissed." She turned to the tall stack of papers lying on the desk.

Hermione gaped at her. "Th-that's it? No deduction of House points? No detention?"

Malfoy, buoyant by the unexpected understanding, sauntered towards the door. "Count your blessings, Granger. Don't make it worse for yourself."

Professor Nockford looked at her sternly. "You are dismissed, Miss Granger. Oh, but Mr. Malfoy —" he stopped at the door "— please tell me if anything of the sort happens again." He nodded curtly and disappeared. "The same thing goes for you, Miss Granger." She glanced up at the girl, standing lost in thought in front of her desk. She smiled at her, a tender and gentle expression that was oddly natural on her face. The blemishes and ugliness of her hag heritage slipped away. "Miss Granger, feel free to come to me at any time, no matter the cause. But now, I must ask you to leave."

"Yes, ma'am," she said, suddenly light with the honor of this invitation. "Thank you." She slowly followed Malfoy's path out the door.

Just outside, she felt a strong arm push her against the cold wall.

"We won't have to worry about this happening again, will we, Granger?" Malfoy hissed in her ear. She struggled against his choking hold, but found his body impossible to move. She stared up at his dangerous eyes. "Because, Granger, you're not going to come near me for a very, very long time."

He pushed her to the ground and strode off without a backwards glance.

It was then that Hermione knew that Draco Malfoy was scared shitless.

Lucius Malfoy turned to the wall, knife in hand, his eyes scanning the flesh a flaw, any defect. When they alighted on a thin scab to the right of the Wound, he smiled and approached it.

"It looks as if we are not the first," he told Wormtail, examining it with the tip of the dagger. His eyes skimmed the flood of blood, and with a hiss, followed his hand downwards as it clutched at a hilt imbedded in the throbbing wall. A skeletal hand remained tight about the rusted blade. "He was not successful. But we will be."

And, slowly, he raised his knife-hand to the wall.

Hermione, floating behind him, saw what he was about to do and tried to scream, but felt only the blood rush across her tongue. She squinted her eyes shut, but even then, she could still Hear.

The throbbing stuttered and gasped with slicing pain as the wall of the Heart split.

A/N: You like? Didn't like? Drop me a review and let me know...I will update again next Friday. (Finally got into the rhythm...I'll be updating every Friday, I think. Except for this week. I got a premonition that it wouldn't happen, so I decided to give you an early treat!)

Right. On to thank-you's:

Ally: Hello, dearie. Glad you like the Potions scene...it was remarkably hard to write, simple as it was. Hmph. Sometime these things can be a pain...this one was hard, too, really. But fun. Well, they're all fun. I haven't seen you around for awhile, dear! Hope everything's okay...I'm still waiting impatiently for that update. (Glares pointedly at you. Yeah, you.) Hehe, I love you. I do. And, just for you, another scene where they lose control! That'll be the next FEW scenes actually. All escalating. FUN!

Lorett: Darling! Hiya. So glad when I got your review. It was really, really helpful, too. D'ya think the blurb helped at all? I'm interested to see whether this chapter was a little clearer. I want to be cryptic, but not TOO cryptic. Sometimes, really complicated stories can just drag on and on and on and on...I definitely don't want this one to become one like that. Ooh, I'm really excited about some of the upcoming scenes though! Not that I can tell you, but I just wanted to share. Tehehe. Hope that the next update of Keys isn't TOO long in coming. Hem hem. Love you much! I do!

Taintless: Help at all, dear? Like I told Lorett, I want to be cryptic, but not so much you can't guess a little here and there. Let me know if it becomes too heavy...I always want to hear suggestions! (Compliments are nice, too, though. Hm...you're really good at giving those! Aw, I love you. And them. But most of all you.) Hope to hear from you real soon, girlie. Talk to you later, darling!

Slythswn: I'm so glad you got what was going on! You were one of the few. Ah, hope this chapter pleases. And as for the Sensing thing...that'll come soon. It plays a REALLY big part in the story, but it probably won't be explained more than what I did last chappie. You think it's enough? I mean, you'll get more acquainted with it when it really comes into play...and the content of the BOOK, of course, will be delved into. It'll be explained a little bit more, I guess, but only cryptically. Right. So luv ya! To pieces!

Everyone else who's reading and not reviewing: Thanks for stopping by. There's still a little button down there though, who's begging for some attention.

Kisses to everyone!

Alison