Chapter 19

Hermione was sitting on the sofa in the common room. Harry and Ron sat on the carpet, leaning against the sofa she sat on, next to the fireplace.

Ah,

And, Lavender Brown.

The unbearable tart sat on the other side of the sofa.

Hermione was grateful for the distance she was keeping from her. Lavender's squeaking and squealing every time Ron moved a chess piece was beyond endurance.

Looking though the book she was reading, it felt as if the universe was testing her temper and self-control. Usually Hermione was very understanding and friendly, but it was quite a challenge restraining herself from cursing the life out of the dreadful hag.

Especially because the day after sending the letter to her cousin, Hermione received the book she asked for, with a short note attached from Niklaus;

Dearest Cousin,

We are all delighted you finally saw the light and decided to embrace your true identity,

I picked a good one for you.

Have fun,

Klaus.

Dammit Klaus… she thought, assuming he babbled out what she has requested, but then she remembered that her Great Aunt Amelia was a seer. Which, make perfect sense, as to why she has received it so quickly.

She was now reading through the book, but Lavender proved to be a source of constant background noise, that had Hermione pause every few minutes.

Normally, it would be quite risky to be sitting in such a public setting with it, but it was written in the old druidic runes that nobody but her could understand. The knowledge of language of the old religion was passed down in the family through generations.

Every Greenfell knew it, and every Greenfell had an obligation to their family, to teach their children, whether they inherited the magical ability or not. It was often that their druid gift would spark their interests in the oldest books that belonged to the family. And they did it to make sure the language of old religion can never be lost entirely.

Because as long as there's only a handful of druids left alive, who speak, practice and live by the old traditions, the connection to the old magic will be preserved and guarded until the right time comes, when it can be returned to the land again.

Or so the prophecies say.

Anyway, seeing Hermione Granger with a strange book was nothing but normal. And if anyone asked, which nobody ever did, she could always say she is studying for the ancient runes.

Ancient runes were a much-updated version of the old language and looked very similar, and at a first glance many would not be able to tell the difference until they looked into the content of it, as it would make absolutely no sense.

Because one way to get rid of something that existed for hundreds of years, is to introduce something seemingly similar, and wait until it completely replaces the old version.

"Check-mate" Ron won another game of chess. "One more?" He suggested.

"I think that's enough for today Ron." said Harry. It had been a quite a long few days and he was fairly tired. Hermione could see that Lavender's screeching was getting to him.

"Oh Won-Won! You won again!" Lavender squeaked, making Hermione close her eyes hard and count to ten. She had never in all her life met anyone who got on her nerves as much as Lavender did.

And she had to bear living in the same room as her.

Usually, Lavender kept close to Parvati, and neither bothered Hermione at all. But, ever since she started to go out with Ron, Lavender was keen to have lots of in-depth chats with Hermione about Ron's feelings. And as much as Hermione likes Ron as her friend, it was most uncomfortable having to listen to her go on and on about it.

That went on until after the Christmas break, when she found out Hermione spend her entire winter break with Ron and his family, which wasn't exactly the entire truth of what they all did during the winter break, but nevertheless Ron seeing his girlfriend upset, tried to explain it by telling her that Harry and Hermione often stayed over at his house during the breaks, which only made the situation worse.

Because, Lavender was now jealous of Hermione to the point of following the three of them around, all the time.

Hermione even caught her glaring at her a couple of times, whenever she spotted her with Ron. Hermione thought it was quite ridiculous until Draco pointed out to her, some not so subtle actions of Ron's. She didn't think much of them before, but after talking to Draco, she began to notice them more and more.

Once he even touched her face in a very intimate way, and few hours later Hermione found herself on the receiving end of a bat-bogey hex.

Except, it never hit her because Draco got in the way and deflected it.

"That wasn't very wise." He hissed at Lavender, making it look like he believed she attacked him.

"Do you have a death wish Brown? If this is your way of flirting, no wonder Weasley is the only one to fall for it. You better get out of my way or I'll make sure you won't have a chance to find a real boyfriend." Stuttering Lavender quickly turned and ran away scared. Harry was quite vocal in the Gryffindor Common Room, about his suspicions about Draco and whilst some dismissed it, there were those who began to avoid him even more so than before, and became visibly wary of him.

"Nice one." Hermione said, after he turned to her with a smirk.

Draco was quite depressed lately, due to his impending, cursed task and forthcoming doom that was sure to follow, whether he completed it or not. Making Gryffindors run in fear was one of very few things that brought smile back onto his sort of handsome, but tired face.

"You should curse her back, but properly." He emphasised it enough for Hermione to know he meant Dark Arts.

"And to save you from Scar-head and Weasel, I will make it look like I did it." He smirked pleased with his brilliant idea. "I know you're a goody two shoes half of the time, but try it, it will make you feel better." He encouraged.

"Is that what you do when you're feeling down? Curse every person who gets in your way?" She asked amused. "And what do you mean half of the time?"

"Well, we both know you're not above using dark magic." He whispered in her ear, making her look around to see if there was no one around who could overhear, but there was no one, they were alone.

"That specific kind of magic, shouldn't be used like that Draco!" She whispered back anxiously. "Besides it was only once, remember."

"Because everyone is so successful at it the first time they try." He said, implying it might not have been her first time using dark magic, but Hermione didn't reply. Instead she walked away.

He shook his head subtly, still not over the fact that she saved his life using dark magic. It was something he would never suspect her of, even taking into account her passion for gaining all sorts of knowledge. Dark Arts was not something Draco would ever consider to be within Hermione's line of interests.

"Is ancient runes your favourite subject now?" He asked nonchalantly, when his breath levelled after running, making her look up at him. "What? Surely you didn't think you were the only observant one? You've been reading that one book for weeks now, it must be fascinating what's in it."

"Have you really got no other pressing matters to attend to? Like, I don't know, trying to assassinate Dumbledore?" She asked, making him sigh loudly.

"Sadly no, he's not here and I don't know where he is. If he doesn't come back to Hogwarts within the next couple of days, my time will soon run out."

"How long do you have?"

"Until Easter."

Hermione sometimes thought about her personal feelings regarding Draco, having to kill Dumbledore. One of them had to die in that equation.

Would she rather Draco stay alive or the headmaster?

She didn't think there was an answer to that. Ultimately, she decided that Dumbledore had it all under control. Ever since he revealed to the Order that he was dying, it seemed to her that he did have a plan, he was Dumbledore after all… and Draco would probably be the one to come out of it alive.

"That's only a few weeks left." She said. "But at least you managed to fix the cabinet."

"How do you know about that?" He turned to her surprised. How did she know so fast when he only fixed it last night?

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk, and happened to pass by, so I went to check how you were getting on with that."

"Do you ever wonder what Potter and the rest of your precious order will think, if they ever find out about how you knew about all this and didn't tell anyone?" He folded his arms.

"No, because Snape knows, and if he knows then Dumbledore certainly does too. Harry has his suspicions, and the order has other things to worry about. Me knowing about any of this doesn't change anything. I can't stop you, but I'm not helping you either." She reasoned.

The fact that she knew meant nothing, because Dumbledore knew, and if he chose to keep it to himself, then who is she to interfere?

She felt like she was partially trying to convince herself, because in all honesty, she preferred if Harry and Ron never found out she kept so much from them. She never meant to lie but they wouldn't understand and if was better this way for everyone.

"Playing neutral, are you? Having insight into both sides, and not doing anything about it but still holding the power over our heads. How does it feel? Being able to influence our future as you see fit… how sly Granger." He drawled.

"That's not sly, that's clever." She replied. "I would think, by your Slytherin standards, my innocent, selective withholding of facts from my friends, who have their own secrets they keep from me, I might add, would seem like a child's play to you. If it's anything more than that, then I'm afraid you've gone soft, Malfoy."

"I have been going soft on you lately… I might have to redeem myself in the eyes of my ancestors, before I am reunited with them, and tell Potter about your diabolical nature, shattering all the trust he has in you, thus successfully breaking his foolish heart." He reasoned that the mission he must carry out will end in his own death whether he succeeds or not.

"And Harry will totally believe everything you say."

"Granger there is a lot I can say to him that will make him at least question your motives." He smirked, thinking of all the blackmail he has collected on her since their third year.

They weren't friends right away, it took time. But during that time Draco picked up some very interesting facts about Hermione Granger, and he could use them as his safety ticket if he ever had to prove that Granger and he were friends. Not that he would ever need to but how else would he know of Hermione's habits?

"And in theory, what would I have to do for you to reconsider keeping your mouth shut?" She asked, deciding to play along with his hypothetical charade he would never go through with, anyway. As much fun as he would find in following through with his threats, it simply wasn't safe for him, because the first question raised would be why was he willing to befriend her in the first place? And he could never get away with extracting information from her excuse, because she knew too much about him.

"Curse Brown." He smirked.

Well done Malfoy, how clever.

Did he think she never thought of it? It's not like she couldn't do it either, but could she really deal with the implications of it?

Lavender was her friend's girlfriend, and as unreasonable and annoying as she was, could Hermione justify cursing her and keeping her conscience clean? Wouldn't it go against her own values that contrast this exact use of the dark magic Hermione was so against all these years?

All the hanging around Slytherins really did have a bad influence on her, because Hermione found that as long as Harry and Ron didn't find out, she didn't care.

But still, using the druid magic to satisfy her own minor vendetta against Lavender Brown was pushing the boundaries of her morals. She bent them for Regulus and she bent them for Draco, but cursing Lavender wasn't a priority enough.

"You're trying so hard to tempt me yet I can't help but recall that Slytherins never do anything that doesn't benefit them in some way. And what exactly will you be getting out of this?"

"Fun" He replied simply.

"You are right. We never do anything without gain but it doesn't need to benefit me right away. Having the advantage of knowing you used dark magic to curse Brown, something the Scarhead will never know, and if he ever finds out he will have a meltdown, and I will wait for that day to have the satisfaction of telling him 'I was there when she did it'."

"Seeing how invested you are, almost makes me feel sorry to tell you I will not be giving you such advantage."

"That's your loss." He replied.

Did he still think she would do it? Because she certainly would not have…

At least that's what she thought before returning to her room later that day… only to accidentally overhear Lavender and Parvati through the door that wasn't shut properly;

"But wouldn't that be perfect? Ron and I as the Golden Couple next to the Harry Potter! We would be the Golden Trio" She heard Lavender's irritating voice, standing behind the door.

She didn't mean to eavesdrop but something prevented her from going in.

"But what about Hermione Granger?" She heard Parvati's voice. "She has been friends with Harry and Ron for years."

"Ah, her… well, I will soon replace her. I'm Ron's girlfriend, she has just been following them around for years, it's only a matter of time before I teach her that she can't win. I will destroy her! Won-won is mine! I'm glad I was able to save him from her clutches before it was too late… first Viktor Krum, then Harry Potter, she was about to go after Ron next, no doubt. Typical of her, trying to score another trophy boyfriend the minute he gets interesting."

"I heard she was flirting with Cormac Maclaggen just before the winter break. Do you think she was trying to make Ron jealous?" Hermione clasped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from sniggering bitterly.

Their speculations couldn't be further from the truth. She was going to replace her, was she? And destroy her?

The audacity of this girl…

All of a sudden Draco's suggestions seemed much more attractive to her…

Lavender might have been her roommate, but she was never her friend. If anything, having to live with her made it even more of a reason for Hermione to curse the daylights out of her, because she deserved it. And if she was being honest with herself, her entire being wanted to, to some extent, punish her for everything Lavender has done to her since the first year.

It wasn't anything specific or anything big. It was a multitude of the small things like talking behind her back, hiding her belongings, saying awful or nasty things to her about her appearance, her blood or making up rumours.

It was Lavender Brown who sold Rita Skeeter all the gossip about Hermione, most of which she created herself, during the tournament in their 4th year. It wasn't anything Hermione has taken personally and adapted as a personal vendetta against Lavender, but it only added to her already magnified negative feelings towards the girl.

Having her try to befriend Hermione when she started going out with Ron, was mildly irksome, but now that she has changed her mind, and became even worse than she was ever before…

Hermione, as much as she wanted to escape her family's clutches in every sense of the word, was born into one of the wealthiest and oldest families in Britain, and she had her own pride. And if Lavender chose to start a war over Ron, then so be it.

Hermione walked in, making the two girls change the topic immediately to clothes and make up. Lavender even had the cheek to ask her what colour of her dress would Ron prefer.

By then Hermione has made up her mind.

The very next day she went to find Draco after his transfiguration. He was the last one to leave, so with nobody else around she grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alcove.

"What is the meaning of this Granger? If you want to snog, I'm afraid I must let you down, you're not my type." He smirked.

"What you said yesterday… I changed my mind. Do you want to help me?" She asked looking into his eyes. His demeanour changed slightly for a second and a strange emotion flickered through his handsome face, before the smirk returned onto his lips.

"Really?" He asked. Seeing her nod, he developed an expression of satisfaction and joy on his face. "What can I do for you?"

"I need you to find a nice mandrake root, preferably in a way that Professor Sprout doesn't notice it being gone." She requested.

It wasn't like she couldn't have gotten it herself, but if they were to get caught, it would be easier to explain if he was the one to get caught rather than her.

"My, my Granger… You make it look like you're a saint but you're much more fun than I thought. Meet me in the Room of Requirements at midnight."

"That fast?"

"I don't exactly have anything better to do until Dumbledore is back, do I?"

"I suppose you don't."

"What made you change your mind?" He asked giving her a calculating look.

"Amongst other ridiculous things that came out of her mouth last night, I overheard her telling Parvati about wanting to 'destroy me and replace me at Harry's and Ron's side', before I have a chance to take Ron away from her. Considering everything she has done and said about me in the past few years, I think it's about time I take her off her high horse."

"But you don't want her to know it was you, do you?"

"No, that would only make her more successful at 'removing me from Ron's side'. Besides, I can't keep all the fun to myself, can I?"

"Too right you can't, but not having those two cretins by your side wouldn't be a massive lose to you." But they're still my friends and I would prefer to keep them.

"No, but there're all I have."

"You have me." He said quietly, almost reluctant to say it out loud, as if he was too scared to say those words. They meant commitment and that was probably one thing nobody could guarantee them in times like this.

"But we can't let anyone know about that, can we?" Hermione said softly. She could see him think deeply about that fact and after a moment of silence he only said;

"Midnight in the Come and Go room. I'll be waiting"

And with that, they parted their ways.

Watching Lavender fall asleep, Hermione got up, and grabbing her spell book she quietly left her dormitory. She slipped a sleeping potion in Lavender's and Parvati's drinks to make sure they would not wake up while she was gone or upon her return.

Hermione quickly made her way down the corridor to the stairs and down. By the time she made it to the Come and go room, Draco was already there waiting for her, with the biggest grin she ever saw on his face.

"You're early." She said looking at the time.

"I never thought I will ever be stealing a mandrake root from the Hogwarts's greenhouses to meet Hermione Granger at midnight, attempting to curse another student." He laid out standing straight, looking at her as if he didn't entirely believe she really turned up. "Of course I'm early."

Hermione went up to see the mandrake root. It was small and thick enough, to hold a lot of essence yet be easy to hide. She smiled.

He picked a perfect one.

"What will you do with it?" He asked curious, looking between her and the mandrake she inspected.

"I will plant it under her bed and keep it there until she loses her mind." She said so calmly, he took a double look at her. Seeing his perplexed expression, she smiled.

"Just kidding. I will remove it as soon as she starts hallucinating. I've never done this before, and I don't want to accidentally kill her."

"Of course not, but if that happens, I will keep your secret." He smirked clearly finding this fun. Did he think she wasn't going to go through with it? "Why do you need a mandrake for this?"

"To magnify her paranoia and drive her semi-crazy with it."

"Would it, let's say… strengthen any ill feelings she has towards you?" He asked.

"That's possible"

She shook her head and opened her spell book on the right page, and then went to find a cauldron with a thick, dense, black liquid similar to dark mud inside it. She made it earlier that day and hidden it behind a barrier spell that would prevent anyone from finding it. She picked it up and put it on the table with a stove underneath it.

"I made this in advance and left it here earlier" She said to Draco as she set fire to it.

She took out a handkerchief and threw it into the cauldron.

"I needed her tears, so I made her cry. She used it to wipe them." She explained to Draco who was observing her every move. He wasn't smirking anymore either. Maybe he really thought she was bluffing.

"What did you do?" He asked thrilled but with a wary edge, still unsure of where this was going.

"I made her think of her worst memory. It was a simple spell and it worked well."

Hermione took the root and dipped it in the potion.

She then pronounced a spell;

"Mid þæm wundorcræft þæs ealdan æwe ic þe hate nime Lavenderes wopdropan ond þa gemengan mid his blod. Sy he under wittig ond deofol seocnes his heorte afylþ"

Her eyes glowed gold and the potion began to boil. Hermione felt Draco stiffen next to her, but he didn't run.

She took out the mandrake and wrapped it in a cloth.

"This spell is a particularly funny one. It said that for those without magic, the root would pierce the very recesses of the soul, twisting the unconscious into the very image of fear and dread. But since Lavender is a witch it should only give her a few nightmares. Nothing too lethal, right?" She asked and he nodded his head, automatically, looking at her with his big eyes opened wide.

"But then I read up on it, and it said that depending on how strong or weak she is mentally, it might cause her to hallucinate a bit, sometimes it might worsen any illness or pain she was feeling originally."

"You're eyes glowed gold." Draco gulped.

"This was your idea remember." She replied seeing how he was panicking slightly.

"I thought you were going to use normal dark magic, I don't know what that was!"

"What's normal dark magic, Malfoy?"

"The kind that doesn't make your eyes glow gold. You didn't even use your wand!" He accused her looking a bit startled.

"What's so scary about my eyes glowing a bit of gold?" She asked wanting to find out how much he knew about this type of magic. She knew there were many tales around, about the monstrous Druids. But she never really understood the real depth of the fear Wizarding community held for them. Professor Snape certainly didn't react as strongly as she would have expected him to.

"Look, I know you're a muggleborn so you might not understand everything about this world as well as I do, but eyes glowing gold… that's not normal, even by Wizarding World standards, even the darker side of it." He was looking at her with pure seriousness and she began to think maybe she should have been more careful.

What made her think it was okay to do this in front of him so openly?

"Stop being a baby Malfoy, my eyes glowed gold, so what? Just don't go around talking about it, okay?"

"Granger listen carefully because I will only say this once." He looked into her eyes. "I don't know where you got this book from but get rid of it for your own good. Dark magic is dark and dangerous, but what you just did here… I have only once in my life came across a mention of eyes glowing gold, and that was in one of the history books we keep in the library at the manor. One of those that contains the parts of our history that the Ministry doesn't want anyone to read about anymore. Have you ever heard of druids?"

"No." Hermione Granger not knowing about something, that was certainly a first.

"They were the ancient, very powerful and extremely dangerous dark wizards from Merlin's time. The magic they used was very different from ours. Nobody really knows much about them anymore but the book said they were the darkest creatures in history, born out of the darkest magic that ever existed, and the book specifically mentioned their eyes glowed gold. So, you better get rid of that book, and make sure nobody ever finds it, do you understand?"

The intensity with which Draco was looking at her, and the seriousness with which he spoke made shivers go down her spine. Draco Malfoy, the second youngest death eater ever, looked alarmed and nervous. This said a lot about how druids were portrayed by the modern wizarding world.

Malfoy, the hair to one of the reportedly darker and older families of the Sacred 28, was clearly afraid of the druids. The most comical part of this was that Draco's mother was a Black. She couldn't help but smirk thinking about Draco's reaction to the fact that he had druid ties himself.

Merlin's beard!

Draco had druid blood in him. Just like Regulus.

Was this why she was pulled towards these two Slytherins? Because her natural druidic instincts led her to them like magnet? Because their blood was druidic and their magical core could handle the old magic?

She would have to ask Grandfather Claudius about the Malfoys. She knew he had all the necessary records of wizarding families with druidic heritage.

The Greenfell family kept strict watch over those bloodlines for hundreds of years, and it was the head of the family who was tasked with keeping them safe and up to date. Hermione figured that honour would befall her if Klaus didn't collect his marbles soon.

"Alright, I won't use it anymore." Where you can see it. "But I will keep the book until I learn more about Druids. Usually when something is old history and one that someone wants to wipe out of the written records, there is much more to it than we know. Like, if they were so powerful and dangerous, how come they went extinct and nobody knows about them anymore?"

"Merlin took their magic." That again…

"Still, I want to keep the book, and if it has anything to do with druids, it's even more of a reason to keep a hold of it, don't you think?"

"No, Granger, it's the exact opposite. If this book is what I think it is, then you want to be as far away from it as possible."

"Why?"

"Because Druids are alive only in scary stories mothers tell their naughty children, that's why! So, don't do anything reckless that will make them suddenly emerge and join the dark lord, or worse… Kill us all off."

The melodramatics…

Don't worry Draco, you're safe. Druids don't kill their own if they can help it. She thought to herself amused.

Hello, hello my lovely people!

I can't thank you enough for all the amazing reviews you've been posting! You're the most wonderful bunch and I'm so grateful! Reading the reviews always makes me smile and it gives me energy.

I promised myself I will update on Fridays until my deadline, but I'm weak.

Every hero needs an enemy for their identity to develop, and since Draco has gone a bit soft, I had to made Lavender the new villain.

I thought it was about time for Hermione to experiment with her real powers, but I will try not to go over the line with semi-darkish-vibe Hermione, because I don't want her to be lack-of-empathy-cruel, but more of a self-preservation-dark-when-she-needs-to-be, because she is a brave Gryffindor, who is getting over her fear of 'becoming a dark witch, if she gives into the druid magic'.

And, her friendship with Draco has changed her mind about the dark side, which she had a minor prejudice against since her first year, because of being exposed to strong opinions like Ron's, who sees the war as very black and white.

Hermione is also attracted to the darker side of things, because it's within her. Ironically, it's in her blood. The customs and the privilege and the duty to her family. She grew up with her druid heritage, and even if it was kept to a 'subtle and clean' keeping of traditions and stuff like that, her house is saturated with old magic books and artefacts and being around that stuff since she was born, it's easy for her to grasp because it's her 'normal'.

Anyway, I can't wait for you to read the next chapter.

As always, thank you for reading! Do let me know what you think :)

Lots of love!

Livxoxo