Hermione was quite pleased when she was able to compose herself into what she deemed an acceptable level of nervousness. The two walked a few minutes in companionable silence before Fleur spoke.
"Why did you decide to write your book?"
"It was accident really."
"You accidentally wrote a book?"
"Sort of. It started as my notes from several excavation sites. A friend happened to see them after I forgot to put them away, and suggested I turn them into a book. I guess the idea just stuck. It wasn't too difficult to do- I tend to take rather extensive notes anyway."
"Somehow I'm not surprised by that. I'm glad you "accidentally" wrote it. I was using Advanced Ancient Runes, a completely uninspired book by a completely uninspired author, if you ask me." Fleur scrunched up her nose in displeasure. "I had half a mind to write my own until yours was published."
"What would you have focused on?"
"The practical applications of Ancient Runes. Literature on the subject seems to either be a 'istory lesson, or a theoretical guide. At 'ogwarts they barely covered rudimentary warding, which makes up 80 percent of what most people use Runes for, before I started. We had an entire course just on warding at Beauxbatons."
As much as Hermione wanted to adamantly defend her school, this was something that had bothered her while she was a student. Instead, she opted for a halfhearted argument.
"Well perhaps Hogwarts wanted us to have a solid foundation before expanding into more complicated subsets."
"It's not a foundation, it's a glorified 'istory lesson, and a boring one at that."
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
"'Ow can one repeat the founding of the fourth law of translational warding?"
"I would think a professor would be able to work that one out." Hermione didn't try to keep the amusement out of her voice this time.
"Ah, you are pulling my arm."
Hermione laughed, much to Fleur's confusion.
"What?" Fleur said.
"Yes, I am pulling your arm." Hermione responded with a smile.
"Well, I'm trying to direct the curriculum towards practicality. The students seem to be enjoying it more than your 'istory lessons."
"I bet they do."
They approached the base of Arthur Seat. Instead of walking along the cliffs or in the small valley, both of which were crowded with muggle tourists, Fleur led them to a muddy area thickly covered with shrubs. She motioned with one arm for Hermione to walk through them. Hermione made no move to continue on, instead glancing at the brambles before turning to Fleur, a confused expression on her face.
"Are you going to go, or should we just wait out 'ere for the rest of the day?"
"And how exactly am I supposed to walk through that?"
Fleur raised an eyebrow. "It isn't obvious?"
Hermione crossed her arms and attempted to level a glare on Fleur, but only succeeded in amplifying Fleur's smugness.
"No it's not obvious."
"Perhaps you are out of practice then?"
She turned without waiting for a reply, pulled out her wand with a small flick, and stepped directly onto where the shrubbery should be. Instead of sinking into the brambles, Fleur disappeared.
Hermione, not keen to be left looking a fool, decided to follow after her. She raised her leg and stepped down, only to find that unlike Fleur, her foot landed precisely where it should- directly on top of the thorny branches. Her arms waved wildly as she tried to regain her balance, only just managing to do so, but at the cost of her other foot also becoming lodged in the bush.
She looked around, relieved to find no one had seen her. Less relieving was the lack of Fleur.
"Fleur? Where are you?"
When there was no response, Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a spell to reveal invisible or glamoured people. No results. She tried a few more. Each new attempt came up as unsuccessful as the last.
She took a breath. Fleur likely wordlessly cast something as she took out her wand before walking forward. If that were true, Hermione should be able to detect spell traces. Determined, Hermione raised her wand and began to cast. There was a trail in the air, but it was so faint Hermione wouldn't have thought it had just been created, had she not known that Fleur must have cast something. It was strange.
She turned her focus to detecting wards. If Fleur wasn't disguising herself, and if there were no significant spell traces which would indicate a transfiguration or charm, a warding system would be the next logical guess.
Here she was more successful. After a few moments of casting, rune symbols stacked on top of one another in two pillars appeared floating on either side of Hermione, glowing a muted red. She examined them, quickly recognizing that some of them were Pictish while others were similar to ones she'd found in a few of the American Indigenous magical peoples' ancient settlement ruins.
Hermione deduced that while these runes were different than perimeter warding runes commonly found in England, their purpose was much the same: keep the unwanted out. She had just begun starting to figure out how to alter the wards to allow her entrance when they suddenly glowed white.
Fleur appeared in front of her abruptly, surprising Hermione and causing her to fall backwards with an undignified yelp.
"'ermione! Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
She was not fine. She was sitting in the mud while perhaps the most attractive woman she knew looked down on her. Hermione felt as though she was back at Hogwarts, awkward school girl and all.
Fleur offered a hand that Hermione gratefully took. Her hand was softer than Hermione was expecting, and she was suddenly self conscious of her own calloused hands, long since hardened from years of helping Jack on the boat.
"I apologize- I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine, really I was just startled. Why didn't you tell me it was warded?"
"I thought you might want a warm up before we begin the real work? Limber up the mind?"
"Next time just tell me." Hermione grumbled.
"Where's the fun in that?"
Hermione glared at her. Fleur held up her hands in a show of surrender.
"All you have to do is assure the wards you mean no harm to the crypt inside."
"Assure a ward?"
"Oui."
"And how am I supposed to assure a ward?"
"Legilimency."
"On a ward?"
"As I'm sure you've realized, the warding system is quite old. You have to project your intentions onto each successive rune, they'll change to green as you pass."
"How does it determine if you're lying or not?"
"To that, I 'ave no idea. Magic, I suppose."
"Like the Mirror of Erised." Hermione murmured to herself. "I wonder if Dumbledore used a similar system."
"Mirror of Erised?"
Hermione waved her off. "I'll tell you about it another time. Alright, I'll give it a go. I've never been good at Legilimency though."
"The runes do most of the work, you just have to open your mind and push the thought forward."
Hermione gripped her wand tightly. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She tried to focus on projecting an air of innocence in her mind before opening her eyes, her gaze directly on the top rune of the left pillar and confidently casting, "Legilimens"
Immediately, Hermione could feel a pressure in her head. It was odd. Unlike when a person invaded her mind, the ward's presence was all encompassing. Quickly, it extended beyond her focused thoughts. It shifted through more than sheer memories, focusing just as much on her emotional reactions to the memories as to the events themselves. The shifts were too quick for Hermione to focus on. She had the distinct feeling that the wards were examining her entire life.
Hermione was too preoccupied with the presence in her head that she failed to notice the runes changing colors one by one. It was only about 10 seconds before all of them were the same white color. She could feel the ward immediately retreat from her mind.
"That was very quick." Fleur said. "Are you alright?"
"Yes- yes I think so." Hermione didn't feel sure, in fact, she felt rather discombobulated.
"It's an odd feeling, is it not? Fortunately you only have to go through it once. Next time you pass it more or less just checks you are who you say you are."
"Right."
"You know," Fleur began talking as she led Hermione through the invisible barrier, "most people take much longer before they're granted access."
Hermione opened her mouth to ask what the average time was, when suddenly their surroundings shifted from greenery and open air to a dimly lit cave. It was large: Hermione thought several Notre Dames could fit one on top of the other and still have room to spare overhead. There were lights in the distance just barely illuminating several human silhouettes.
Beyond its size, the cave itself was not particularly impressive. There were no engravings or pillars, or indeed any indication that humans had ever been inside.
"The site is just up there." Fleur pointed towards the lights. "The gate serves as a porthole of sorts. We're now directly underneath Arthur Seat. It's expanded beyond its physical size though."
"That's fascinating. I wonder how long ago the original enchantments were cast. Of course, according to Pallick's Law the larger the transformation the quicker the degradation of the enchantment. I would have thought one of this size have worn off centuries ago. I believe the British Ministry has to re-apply its transfiguration every ten years or so, and that must be a fraction of the size of this cave. You know, an Abenaki tribesmen once told me an alternative theory about the limitations of such a transfiguration-" She stopped suddenly, realizing she had been rambling. Her cheeks burned. "Sorry, I tend to ramble."
"I think it's cute. Promise you'll tell me this alternative theory later?" She nodded towards a tall thin wizard who was walking quickly towards them.
When the man was still several yards away he spoke.
"Ms. Granger! We're honored to work with you." He had a reedy voice that Hermione was not particularly keen to continue to hear. "And Ms. Delacour of course." He tacked on without looking away from Hermione. "Wallis Wallings at your service."
Mr. Wallings dipped into a deep bow with a flourish of his hand. He reminded Hermione rather unpleasantly of Percy Weasley.
"Unspeakable Wallings would you please show Ms. Granger the progress the team has made thus far?" Fleur spoke in a clipped tone.
"Of course. Right this way my ladies."
The two women exchanged a looked as he turned around. Wallis, oblivious, continued talking, his hands clasped behind his back as he walked.
"It's lucky we were able to get you on this project, Ms. Granger, we, me and a few of the crew that is, had a bet on whether or not you'd pick this up. I bet in your favor, of course."
He turned at the end, and Hermione rewarded him with a grimace that she hoped would pass as a smile. Wallis seemed to accept it as such and continued his monologue.
"I was brought on the team from another project, can't disclose what it was, of course, being an unspeakable it's all very classified, but they needed help and who am I to turn down a colleague in need! Of course I just had to help!"
He seemed to be waiting for some sort of affirmation from the pair.
"Of course." Hermione provided in a serious tone after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.
She could see the amusement on Fleur's face plain as day, but Unspeakable Wallings either did not notice the slight or chose to take it in stride. Hermione was willing to bet it was the former.
"So I joined the very first day of this case. I must admit it is all quite confusing. The Unspeakables that were originally assigned, the ones that had been doing archeological work around Britain, rather dull work if you ask me, don't have any clue as to what we're facing! If they don't have a clue after years of working on supposedly similar sites, what hope do the rest of us have? Present company excluded, of course. Brightest Witch of her Age surely has a bit of an edge, wouldn't you say?"
Hermione wasn't sure how to respond to that. She was saved by a middle aged woman dressed in black trimmed silver wizarding robes. She was an attractive woman, the sort whose beauty was changed rather than diminished by age, giving her a dignified appearance instead of suggesting her best days were in the past. Her red hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the top of her head giving her a severe look.
"Unspeakable Wallings I believe Team Echo needs your help." When Wallis hesitated, clearly unwilling to leave, the woman spoke again in her deep voice. "Right away, Wallings."
"Right, of course. Ms. Granger it was a pleasure meeting you."
Hermione nodded in turn.
"Head Unspeakable Aurora Rowle. How do you do Ms. Granger?"
Hermione accepted the outstretched hand, quite unsurprised at the firm grasp the woman had.
"It's nice to meet you, Head Unspeakable. I'm excited to start work."
"I must say, we're quite excited to have you working on this. Ms. Delacour here insisted we try to bring you in. I don't know the last time she hasn't been able to solve a case on her own."
Fleur, Hermione noticed, had a trace of pink across her cheeks.
"It's a nasty case. The Aurors are up and arms about the lack of suspects. They prefer to hex and ask questions later- won't do much good here as all the suspects have been dead and gone for a thousand years."
"You don't think someone did this?"
"I think the runes are decaying. Whether or not this resulted in the attack remains to be seen." She paused. "By you, I suppose."
Head Unspeakable Rowle drew out a pocket watch, examined it, and snapped it closed.
"I'm afraid I can't linger: I have to get back to London." Focusing on Fleur, she continued. "I trust the team here will be capable of bringing you up to speed."
Fleur offered a tight smile and a nod. This was enough for the older woman, who turned her attention back to Hermione.
"I expect an update every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No later than 4 p.m."
With that, she strode past them, her robes billowing behind her as she walked towards the entrance of the cave.
"She seems fun." Hermione said.
"You should see her drunk."
"No! What happened?"
"I have no idea. I should see her drunk too. I think she has a wild side."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but she smiled as she did.
A/N
Of course, of course.
Anyone you'd like to see make a cameo?