As the haze slowly diminished around the gleaming castle, something seemed out of place. Of course, the allure of the castle was as strong as ever but there was still somethig distictly out of place that eclipsed its beauty. To the untrained eye, everything was perfectly normal, nothing out of the ordinary; students were already piling out of the 'horseless' carraiges and making their way back to the breathtaking school that would likely not seem out of place in a faerietale. Somewhere across the murky, dark waters, first year students were making their way in small wooden watercrafts to the place they would soon call home -- to times they would never forget. All of these things were nothing out of the ordinary, they had taken place for at least a thousand years prior, and would most likely happen for many years to come, but still, the aura that emanated from Hogwarts, was not an entirely happy one. Though students were laughing and piling out of the carraiges, and meeting up with friends, there was a distict misery and desolation that colored all the walls around them; spilled out of their mouths with every breath they took. Maybe they didnt even notice, but she did. She noticed all of it.
A light breath of air hinted with the considerable tuft of hair on her head and she trembled slightly, but the wind had nothing to do with it. The place she had considered a home away from home was now but a mere memory, a distant stretch of time that seemed so far away to her now, like a memory that you can't fully grasp, no matter how hard you strain for it. Her past was plagued with losses, she knew good times, sure, but the bad times had slowly crept up on and before she knew it, they had seized her and were drowning her slowly. This time last year, she had been, not necessarily jubilant, but she was lively and satisfied with her life. With the death of the headmaster under her belt, she feared for the worse, and the worse was yet to come; but it was drawing nearer, drifting along slowly--waiting for the time in which to best catch her off guard. As she watched the panic-stricken first years making their way, now, to the vast entrance doors behind Hagrid, she felt a pang of despair wash over her. How she longed to be back in their position, how she longed to be innocent and young-- ignorant and naive, some would call it. She couldn't watch this anymore, it was tearing her apart, this was not her life now, this was her past and she had to get away from it the best she could. It was best to sever all ties rather than leave some straglers out there, hoping to capture her unaware and bring her kicking and screaming back. Clouds were moving overhead and she was sure she could smell rain in the air -- she closed her eyes.
-
"Must you always mess things up? I told you to be here at eleven sharp, not eleven ten." He had just walked into the study, to see a high backed chair facing a roaring fireplace, the only thing producing light in the dreary room. There was a large snake coiled at the base of the chair, with its head in the lap of the man sitting in the chair. "I fear you will never learn to be on time. Have you not had enough punishments to last multiple lifetimes?"
"No sir, I have not been punished enough." It was a mechanical answer at this point. Its not like the boy could explain why he was ten minutes late. The Dark Lord would not accept excuses. No matter how much truth backed it.
"Lucius, take care of it." It was then that the boy noticed the older version of himself standing to the side of the chair, partially hidden in the shadows. The long haired man nodded, and gestured the boy to the door.
The man and the boy walked to another room with a smaller fireplace that produced spare amounts of light. The man closed the door, locked it, and pocketed the key. "My boy, you are a disgrace to the wizarding world. I do not know why the Dark Lord considered involving you in his plans." The usual speech, the usual degradation. However, being brought up in the Malfoy manor, surrounded by wealth but lacking all emotions, Lucius' words seemed to wash over him as his mind went blank, his body prepared and his eyes glazed over. It was routine, simply routine.
"Understand my son, this must be done. For your own good." With a sickening smile, the man pointed his wand at the boy, and executed the curse that has been said many a time within that very room. "Crucio!"
-
"Hermione!" Her eyes flew open and she became anxious, but it was only...
"Hermione where did youu gooo? We've been looking, um, almost everywhere for you, haven't we 'Arry?"
"We 'ave Hermione, we 'ave! Just when I thought the little bugger was going to, er, wait, why are you, um.." Harry trailed off, looking forlorn and confused. Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to releive some pressure, or perhaps out of habit.
"Ron, Harry, I will have no more of this nonsense, you are insulting his memory, getting all liquored up, you know that? I , for one am ashamed in your.."
"Oh lighten up you ol' bookworm, we don't have school anymore, who are you going to tell? Filch?" Ron broke off into a fresh fit of laughter, slowly followed by Harry who had just realized what was going on. They were insufferable.
"Come on you two, we have things to do in the morning and personally, I think we should be getting some sleep if we're ever going to wake up on time. Harry look at me, you know what we've come to do so get a hold of yourself! You too Ron, get to bed or I'll.."
"You'll what Hermione, hex us?" This issued more laughter out of both drunkards and Hermione gave up hope on them, as often happened it seemed. She turned her back as they toppled to the ground, gripping it as if it were moving, and made her way back towards Hogsmeade, the Three Broomsticks.
It was routine, simply routine.
"Will you two wake UP!" Hermione screached, ripping the hangings from around their bed so hard they were near falling off. Neither of them woke up, though Ron shifted slightly, opening his mouth wider and continuing to sleep.
"WAKE UP!" She yelled again, shaking them out of their slumber.
"Wha!" Harry started and Ron merely rolled off the side of the bed with a not so pleasant umph sound.
"WHY! Why do you always.. ohhh my head..." Ron exclaimed rubbing his temples and trying to shield his eyes from the prying sun that was peeking through the window opposite him. Hermione thrust a bottle of reddish, purple liquid into each of their hands and scurried up to make each of their beds.
"When the sun comes up, we have work to do. Both of you need to get ready and get to your posts in the next 10 minutes. I will not sit around here dallying all day because you two always wake up with hangovers, at least this time you both found your beds okay." Hermione then promptly turned on her heal and left the room, went down the hall, past the reception area, past the bar and through the doors that led to Hogsmeade.
Making her way through the hustle and bustle of the early shoppers, she ruffled through her bag for some loose parchment and her favorite oynx quill. She found her favorite spot at Fortesques icecream parlor and sat down, shifting her seat so she could better see the goings on in Hogsmeade. It was only 8, but the all magic community was bustling with activity. She went over the list she had gotten, that they had ALL gotten, from Mcgonagall in her head:
1. Observe activity going in and out of Hogsmeade.
2. present detailed analysis of suspicious activity
3. Keep a sharp eye out for any sort of dark magic -- report at once
4. Make sure to take time out to visit the bookstore and learn all you can, I have spoken to the owner, Mr. Havisham and he was all the happier to let you read
5. Recruit!
'Maybe recruiting could help,' thought Hermione 'but all this report dark activity stuff is shit, theres noone stupid enough to do anything in the middle of Hogsmeade. All three of us know this is just a bunch of bullshit busywork designed to keep us distracted from what we should really be paying attention to, like finding the Horcruxes and...' Hermione was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by a rat scurrying by. She watched as it scuttled around the masses of shuffling feet to a spot some 10 feet away from where Hermione was seated. It travelled a little closer, searching for disguarded food or breadcrums. Hermione, thankful of a distraction from her thoughts, observed the rat. Somehow, she felt connected to it, just trying to get by-- noticing its sleek, somewhat matted fur, and its skinny, paws...missing a finger?
She quickly grabbed up her parchment and quill, spilling her ink; but she didn't care. She folded the parchment and stuffed it in her back pocket, grabbed her bag, holding it upside down. She creeped up behind the rat, and as it raised a rather large crumb to its mouth, she dropped the bag. She would have caught it if it weren't for a passing wizard bumping her, scaring the rat.
"Merlin's beard! Watch where you're going!" She watched the rat scamper off into a back alley way, and chased it behind a trashcan set in a corner. "I've got you this time. There's no escape!" She dropped her bag over the rat, who let out a frantic squeal. Swooping up the bag and securing the flap, she took off at a fast run towards the Three Broomsticks entrance; Harry's post. Screeching to a stop in front of him, she held out the thrashing bag in front of him and he looked at her as if she were mad.
"What are you doing Hermione!" Harry exclaimed.
"R-rat! Missing.. a .. a finger! In.. bag!" Hermione panted, and Harry's eyes grew wide.
"Wormtail? He couldnt be here, not in Hogsmeade, not now, no" Harry babbled, still gazing raptly at the bag in Hermione's outstretched fingers.
"He is! Let's get Ron and head back to the room so we can check on it. Afterwards we'll report to the Order" Hermione regained her composure and headed off at top speed to the Three Broomsticks as Harry rushed off to find Ron.
Hermione got there around a minute before Harry and Ron both showed up panting and Ron looking very confused.
"Lock the doors, shut the windows, Ron; get ready Harry." Hermione then opened the bag quickly and the frantic rat jumped out only to be stopped a split second later by Harry who had performed some sort of binding spell. He the nodded at Hermione who was excited that maybe, just maybe that had actually made some progress in the war. Harry muttered a second spell, for a moment, the rat just glowed a violent shade of purple, but then it faded, and the rat, as scared as ever took off through the wall panelling.
"It was just a rat..." Hermione whipsered, letting the sadness overcome her "I thought we had actually done something...you know, worthwhile..."
"It's okay Hermione, it did look like..."
"NO!" Hermione shouted, alarming even herself "I'm sick of this, they've given us this busy work because they're afraid for us, I'm taking matters into my own hands, Im sick of waiting around -- death is lurking! I can smell it, I can feel it! And I know both of you do too. It's time we leave here and try to do something that matters, I for one am not going to just skip a year of school and waste it. You two can do what you want, but I'm leaving." Hermione then turned on her heal ( as it seemed she did so often) with her nose high in the air, opened the tavern door and slammed it shut, leaving a dull ringing in Harry and Ron's ears.