Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I own The Da Vinci Code. Such a shame…

I'm so happy because I got my mark for my history assighment back...B+ hehe...yay!
Well, enjoy the chapter, it's one of my favourites.

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'Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending…' – Maria Robinson

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The map shined a brilliant red colour, rather than in the pencil marks they had seen before. Its lines could be made out easily as could the street names. A picture of the castle was at the very top of the page; every single detail had been drawn. Near the bottom a single line ran down the page before fading.

"This was a page full of weird lines only five minutes ago," Sirius murmured as he looked over her shoulder. "How is it that now it's a map of Hogwarts?"

"I have no idea what happened," Hermione answered. "I was just looking down at it, and then I looked to the blank letter before moving back to the map." She grinned as she tapped the blank letter. "It was this. This is the key to the lock."

Sirius frowned. "What do you mean?"

Hermione drew in a deep breathe to calm her excitement. "I mean that without that letter," she started and pointed to the still blank paper, "we would've never have known this was a map."

Somehow Sirius' frown deepened. "How so?"

"You're blind," Hermione muttered before breathing in again. "It's as if they are connected. They are the key to one another and we need to use one to solve the other," she told him and grinned. "Just like a key and lock."

"So you're telling me that if we use this map, we will figure out what this," he held up the blank letter, "is."

"Yes."

Sirius shook his head and dropped the paper to the table. "This isn't making any sense Hermione." He moved away from the table to lean against the door frame. "This could be a trap."

To Sirius' disgust Hermione grinned. "You're looking at this all wrong Sirius," she told him enthusiastically. "This isn't your everyday letter. I've been sent a map of Hogwarts and you've been sent a blank letter. If you think logically, you'll see that they have to link; they are the key to one another."

"Hermione-"

"And you know as well as I do that a map of Hogwarts drawn with this much detail is a big deal. It has to mean something."

Sirius shook his head again. "What if it's a trap?"

"Sirius," Hermione said slowly as she stood from her seat. "This map has been sent just months from Dumbledore's death. The person who sent it has involved you. Whether or not this is a trap, it is a big deal."

"You were the one telling me, just five minutes ago, that you wanted piece and quiet. That you wanted to live a life of nothingness." Sirius shot back.

Hermione's cheeks puffed in anger.

Crossing slowly back to the table, Sirius frowned at the map. "I agree. It's big. It's a treasure hunt."

Hermione leant over the table next to Sirius and followed a particular line with her finger, sliding it up until her finger rested on the odd mark that rested just below the Greenhouses. She moved her face closer to the paper to see the mark better. "It's a cross."

"In maps, isn't it always x marks the spot?"

Hermione grinned at him. "This was down by a wizard, not muggles."

"Obviously," he said grimly. "Who else would know that much detail about Hogwarts?"

Ignoring her disgruntled companion, Hermione looked closely at the cross. "The cross is near Hagrid's hut." She paused and leaned over until her nose was inches away from the paper. "It's in the forbidden forest."

Sirius frowned. "It's a treasure hunt and the 'mark' is in the forbidden forest…" his voice trailed of as his frown deepened. "This isn't sounding right Hermione. What if it's a trap?"

Hermione let out an irritated sigh as she shoved the map into the pocket of her jeans. "It points to Hogwarts. How can it be a trap?"

"It's in the forbidden forest. You know what kind of things are in there…" he shrugged.

Hermione raised a brow and said, "I'm going to follow this Sirius, without you or not. I've been stuck in this house for two months wallowing in my pain." She pushed a curl from out of her face. "What if this concerns Dumbledore? What if he wanted me to do this?"

"Wouldn't he have told Harry and Ron, not me?" Sirius shot back.

Hermione shrugged as she moved towards the living room and Sirius followed. "You have seen more than any of us have-"

"Not really."

Stopping at the foot of the stairs Hermione swung to face him. "And if it was Dumbledore who sent us this, he has a good reason. Don't fight fate Sirius because if you try it will bite you in the ass."

Sirius grinned. "I'm not fighting fate, that's definitely something I wouldn't do." He paused and pointed his finger at her. "I'm just saying that if this is a trap, we will work together. I don't want you telling me to run."

"Deal," she answered and stuck out her hand.

Sirius shook it wildly before dropping it. "If this is Dumbledore's work, it won't be easy." He stopped, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "He once caught James and me sneaking into the girls' shower in sixth year. We had to-"

"Do I really want to know?" Hermione asked, stopping him in mid sentence.

A feral grin crossed his face. "Probably not but believe me it wasn't me who wanted to sneak into the girls shower. James just wanted to watch his Lily-bug-"

"Sirius!" Hermione stopped him again. "I'm going to go upstairs to get my jumper then we'll apparate to Hogsmeade," she told him before turning around and practically running up the steps.

Hermione opened the door to her room and squeaked as she felt someone push her gently through the doorway. "Why did you follow me up?" She hissed without turning and quickly picked up her jumper from the end of her bed.

When she turned around to face him, she saw him standing in the middle of her room; hands on hips as he carefully took in every detail of her room. When Hermione cleared her throat, Sirius' eyes connected with hers and he arched a brow.

"Nice room."

Hermione folded her arms across her chest. "My dad painted it," she said nodding to the aqua walls.

His handsome features contorted into a frown but he quickly smoothed it and made his face blank. "Nice," he murmured.

Hermione shoved the dark green jumper over her baggy black shirt and tucked her wand into the pocket of her jeans that was not occupied by the map.

"Give me your hand."

Puzzlement wiped over Hermione's face as she stared at him. "Why? I can apparate."

"I'm not questioning your ability at apparating Hermione; I'm just making sure you won't run off on me as soon as you are at Hogsmeade."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why would I run off on you?"

Sirius stubbornly crossed his arms. "It isn't a big deal-"

"Then why are you making it one?" Hermione cut in.

Sirius gritted his teeth. "Will you just take my damn hand?"

"Why do you think I would run off on you?" Hermione questioned with an arched brow. "You know I wouldn't do that. This includes you as much as it includes me."

Sirius' jaw firmed and he let out an aggravated sigh. "I don't want you to run at what you see."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean? What would I see at Hogsmeade?" When Sirius failed to answer Hermione's spin went rigid. "What happened there?"

Silence drifted between them before Sirius sat on the edge of her bed. "Hogsmeade was attacked not too long ago."

"Why didn't I hear about it?"

"It had been a month since your parent's death and you hadn't come out of this house." He looked at her earnestly. "We didn't think you needed another shock."

Hermione frowned. "Who did it?"

"We don't know," Sirius said. "Remus and I arrived moments after Fred and George alerted it. It was horrible," he continued, his face cringing, "all of the shops and houses were on fire. There were bodies strewn across the dirt…" he paused before saying, "this was in broad daylight. I could hear the cries of children all over the village."

"Who would do that?" Hermione gasped.

"The same group that kills muggles for fun, that take pleasure out of murdering people's loved ones."

Hermione shook her head in disgust. "It's sick."

Sirius let out a heavy sigh. "The village is in ruins; there isn't anything left. Most of the owners of shops were killed before being burnt in their own buildings."

"What about Hogwarts?"

"The greenhouses were destroyed as was Hagrid's hut," he answered. "It was lucky that it was the holidays but damage was done…Hogwarts has shut down."

Tears shined in Hermione's hazel eyes. "But Harry-"

"Harry has done the best he can since the beginning of holidays," Sirius said firmly. "He was shaken at Ginny's death but he has been leading the Order diligently since Dumbledore's death. He wants Voldermort dead."

"He should be the one to do it."

Rising from the bed, Sirius gripped her arm. "I agree but there isn't anytime to talk about that at the moment."

"But-"

Sirius stopped her. "Now that I have told you what has happened, can you see why I might think this is a trap? That we may be walking straight into Voldermort's open arms…"

"I have a feeling about this Sirius," she told him.

Sirius once more before saying, "Fine but remember that Hogsmeade is not a pleasant sight, nor is Hogwarts."

Hermione nodded and suddenly felt the pull of apparating gripping her tightly. An instant later Hermione gasped. It was worse than she thought.

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Another one down. And someone thought this story was over…ha!

I'm having fun writing this story and I've got lots more twists to come.