Within a few hours of McGonagall asking questions at Hogwarts about Harry and Ron, Severus had heard what was happening. A trip down to Hogsmeade with Bellatrix, on the pretext of a quiet drink away from the school, revealed that questions had also been asked down in the village by Ginny and her twin brothers. It would seem that the disappearance of Harry, Ron and the others had been acknowledged by those left behind and they'd started making a move in finding answers.
Once Severus and Bellatrix knew what was going on, it didn't take long for word to spread around the rest of the school, courtesy of the Slytherins. Not that anyone could prove where the rumours started as the Slytherins were far too sly to be caught spreading gossip. But regardless of where the gossip had started, the end result was the same. The school was buzzing at the speculation that Harry and Ron had gone missing, along with two of Ron's brothers and a former Professor.
With rumours already swirling it came to no surprise to anyone when one morning The Daily Prophet arrived featuring Harry and Ron on the front page, declaring them missing people. According to the article that accompanied the pictures and headline, the pair had vanished without a trace alongside Ron's oldest two brothers and Remus Lupin. Officials investigating their disappearance had made a public appeal for information, and anyone who had seen any of the missing people were being urged to get in touch. Although not surprisingly there was no mention of Sirius, and the fact he was also missing. Clearly The Order were keeping quiet about the fact they'd been harbouring a wanted criminal.
With the official confirmation of Harry and Ron's vanishing act, the rumours went into overdrive and several wild theories about their whereabouts reached Hermione's ears. Of course it was inevitable that suspicion would fall on Hermione, her father and the Slytherins, but luckily no-one had the sense to mention those rumours to Hermione's face. But she wasn't deaf and blind, and she heard the whispers and was aware of the extra attention she was receiving.
Deciding it was best not to make a big deal of the rumours, Hermione studiously ignored them and carried on with her daily life. That was until one morning a few days after the news had officially broken and she was stopped just outside of The Great Hall by Dean and Seamus. Since she had embraced her true identity almost two years previously, neither Dean nor Seamus had spoken to Hermione, but they'd never said or done anything against her and more importantly they'd returned to school once her father had become Minister. So Hermione did believe that while they may be wary of her, they didn't hate her the way Harry and Ron had done.
"What can I do for you boys?" she asked with a sweet smile as the other Slytherins, aside from Draco who refused to leave her side, headed into breakfast.
"We want to ask you something," Dean said. "And we're hoping our previous friendship will stop you from getting mad at us."
"I promise I will not get mad," Hermione vowed, suspecting that whatever Dean and Seamus had to say was about Harry and Ron. "You can ask me anything, and because of our previous friendship, I will answer you honestly."
"Do you know what's happened to Harry and Ron?" Seamus asked.
"No, I don't know what's happened to them," Hermione replied, figuring that she was at least half telling the truth. After all, she had no idea what, if anything, had happened to them since the last time she'd seen them.
"So you didn't see them over the weekend?" Dean asked. "McGonagall asked us about them, and we heard Ginny and the twins were asking around Hogsmeade."
"I heard that as well," Hermione said, not revealing that the person she'd heard it from had been the headmaster himself.
"So we think that must mean that they were at least heading to Hogsmeade the last time they were seen," Dean continued.
"That does make sense," Hermione agreed with a nod. "But I haven't seen them since just after Christmas. I believe it was the day they came up to Hogsmeade to see you two."
"That was the last time we saw them as well," Seamus admitted. "Are you sure you've not seen them since then?"
"Positive," Hermione replied. "Of course I read about them having a run-in with the same gang that injured Draco, and I know about the fire at The Burrow and poor Arthur passing away. But that afternoon in Hogsmeade was the last time I've seen them. Besides, I wasn't even in Hogsmeade over the weekend."
"You weren't?" Seamus asked in surprise. "I was sure I'd seen you in the village, Malfoy."
"I was there, but Hermione wasn't feeling great so she stayed here," Draco answered.
"Yep, I curled up in the library with a book," Hermione said. "I was there all morning. You could ask Madam Pince if you don't believe me."
"No, we believe you," Dean said, giving Hermione a small smile. "We just had to ask. I hope you understand."
"I do," Hermione replied.
"Well, I don't," Draco snapped, giving the two Gryffindors his best icy glare. "I hardly think it's fair to accuse you of doing anything to Potter and Weasley, when they have been the ones doing things to you. You walked away and let them get on with their lives, but they couldn't let you go. They were the ones who tried to kill you."
"Kill you?" Seamus spluttered. "I thought that was Parkinson."
"Pansy was solely responsible for the second attempt on my life, but she was in cahoots with Harry and Ron when I was poisoned down in Hogsmeade," Hermione said. Even though the Slytherins had known about Harry and Ron's involvement in her poisoning, they'd kept it quiet, but now Dean and Seamus knew the whole school would learn the truth, and Hermione was hoping it would stop people from being too helpful in tying to find Harry, Ron and the others.
"I can't believe they would do that," Dean muttered. "Not that we're saying you're lying," he hastily added, catching the furious look on Draco's face. "It's just hard to believe they would go that far."
"I found it hard to believe as well," Hermione said with a small shrug. "But Pansy gave my father her memories, and she was telling the truth. They helped her."
"What was he going to do about it?" Seamus questioned.
"Not kidnap them if that's what you're thinking," Hermione said, easily able to see the direction Seamus's thoughts had drifted. "The truth is, he is still mulling over his options. He doesn't want to let the matter drop, after all, I could have been killed. But he doesn't want it to look as though he's got a vendetta against Harry or the Weasleys. He offered a fresh start to everyone, and he wants to stick with that. He wants to prove to people that he is genuine and his past does not define the man he is today. But I guess with Harry and Ron vanishing, it solves the problem for a while."
"Why just a while?" Dean asked.
"The problem will be back when they turn up again," Hermione replied.
"You really think they'll turn up again?" Seamus asked. "You don't think they're dead?"
"Maybe if it was just Harry and Ron who had gone missing, I might have thought they could have had an accident. But they had at least three older wizards with them. That amount of people can't have all met with the same accident. And since I don't believe there's been any foul play, at least not on the part of anyone I know and trust, I have to think they've just ran off. I know they were tying to raise an army to fight against my father, maybe this is their way of getting support, by pretending to be missing."
"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Seamus questioned sceptically.
"So was trying to kill her when she'd done nothing to them, yet they did that," Draco pointed out.
"I guess," Dean muttered with a thoughtful nod.
"We're sorry if we insulted you, Hermione, we just had to know," Seamus said.
"As I said, I understand," Hermione replied with a serene smile. "But I can promise you, I had nothing to do with Harry and Ron going missing, and neither did anyone else I care about. All we want is a peaceful life."
"We all do," Dean said with a sigh.
"Not all," Draco corrected. "Potter and Weasley have never wanted to settle for peace. I'm with Hermione on this one, this is just another of their games. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they turned up in a few weeks, claiming they've been kidnapped and tortured by Hermione or her father."
"Well if that does happen, we'll make sure everyone knows the truth," Seamus vowed.
"Yeah, we won't let anyone try to blame you, Hermione," Dean agreed. "We know you're innocent."
"Thank you boys, your faith in me means a lot," Hermione said softly.
Going their separate ways, Hermione and Draco watched as Dean and Seamus headed into breakfast and over to the Gryffindor table deep in conversation. It didn't take a genius to see that they were seriously thinking about what Hermione and Draco had said, and were already starting to see Harry and Ron as the villains of the piece yet again.
"So what did Thomas and Finnigan want?" Blaise asked when they joined their friends and cast their usual privacy spell to ensure no-one could overhear them.
"To ask if I knew what had happened to Harry and Ron," Hermione answered.
"They asked you that?" Theo gasped in horror. "To your face?"
"Yes, they were very open about their questions," Hermione replied, chuckling at the awestruck look on Theo's face.
"They do say Gryffindors are brave, and that was certainly brave," Theo muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I would never have had the nerve to ask you something like that."
"Because you know the answer," Daphne pointed out with a roll of her eyes.
"Even if I didn't know what had happened, I still would never have dared to ask Hermione," Theo argued. "She might have hexed them on the spot."
"And where would that have gotten me?" Hermione laughed. "If I'd done that, everyone would be convinced I was behind Harry and Ron's vanishing act."
"So what did you tell them?" Blaise asked.
"That I hadn't seen either of them since that time they visited Dean and Seamus just after Christmas," Hermione said. "We may have also let it slip that they were part of Pansy's first plan to try and kill me by poisoning me. Oh yes, and I implied they'd simply ran off to try and pretend to be in trouble to gain support."
"And I suggested they might even turn up in a few weeks claiming we'd kidnapped and tortured them," Draco added with a smirk.
"And Thomas and Finnigan bought that?" Blaise questioned.
"Every word," Hermione confirmed with a smirk. "I think that before long some new rumours will be circulating, rumours which will claim Harry and Ron aren't missing, but are simply playing games."
"I love it," Blaise cackled. "You are such a devious Slytherin, Hermione."
"Why thank you, Blaise," Hermione purred with a smug smile on her face. "But let's just see if I'm right, shall we? Let's wait and see what the latest rumours will be."
The new rumours actually began to circulate before the end of the day, and as Hermione predicted sympathy for Harry and Ron was long gone. It seemed to be common knowledge that they'd played a part in the first attempt on Hermione's life, and several people, even those she didn't know very well, had spoken to her and expressed how sorry they were to learn her former friends had tried to kill her. And with the knowledge of Harry and Ron's part in her attempted murder exposed, people began to speculate that they'd ran away to avoid facing justice. Not to mention Voldemort, who everyone expected would be out for blood from the pair who had tried to kill his daughter.
It took longer for the rumours that their vanishing act was just a ploy to begin, but within a few days it was the most popular story in Hogwarts. Almost anyone who discussed the missing group brought up the rumour they were hiding on purpose, and when they did return they would have some wild story about Hermione and her father being responsible for their disappearance. But if that did happen, very few people at Hogwarts would be believing them, and since the rumours had also spread outside of the castle thanks to Severus and Bellatrix informing Voldemort and Lucius what was being said up in Scotland, the opinion was soon shared in the vast majority of the wizarding world.
Within a month of going missing, Harry and Ron were no longer thought of as the victims. The vast majority of the country believed that wherever they were, they were safe and had vanished of their own accord. And if they did turn up with a story about being kidnapped and tortured, no-one was going to believe them. Not that they were going to turn up as even though Voldemort toyed with the idea of letting them go to prove the rumours right, ultimately he wasn't going to give up his victory. As long as Potter lived, he could be brought down, so he was going to make sure that Potter died and he would reign supreme until it was time to hand things over to Hermione and watch her dominate the wizarding world as only she could.