After dinner, Harry, Hermione, and Professor Snape made their way once more to the library. When they entered, Snape again cast a charm at the door like he had the night before, silencing the room to all those who might try to listen in.

Hermione sat on the floor, Harry next to her with the coffee table directly in front of them while their professor chose to sit in the leather armchair again. He pulled the stone slab out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"What is that?" Harry immediately asked, peering down at the item.

"It's a piece of stone, Mister Potter," Snape drawled, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

Hermione had to stifle a giggle, but Harry really should have known better to ask a question like that.

Awkwardness permeated the air after a few moments of silence. Professor Snape cleared his throat and asked, "Miss Granger, why don't you tell Mister Potter what this stone slab is all about?"

Hermione nodded. Harry seemed curious by the way he was looking at her and was the ever-attentive student when she began to speak. "When Professor Snape and I visited the colony and Marsious, these runes had appeared on the table in the military base, when before they weren't there."

"I remember the table. It was just stone."

"Exactly. But Marsious said in the past few weeks these runes have appeared and constantly move around. When we were there, the runes stopped and Professor Snape was able to copy them down exactly."

Harry frowned. "Maybe they stopped moving because you were there? I mean, you are the Daughter of the Sea after all."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow in Snape's direction. He nodded as if what she was saying made sense. "Well, it might be the case, but it doesn't matter too much. We got the runes down and now we need to solve them."

Hermione sat up on her knees to examine the runes on the slab. Professor Snape had carved them perfectly and they were easy to read, but she would need an Ancient Runes textbook to decipher them. She pushed the slab back toward Professor Snape and he picked it up.

Hermione then stood up and made her way over to the academic shelf of the library labeled Ancient Runes and scanned the book for an advanced translation book. As she found a few, including Spellman's Syllabary, she pulled them off the shelf. She then retreated to the floor and opened them up.

"I am assuming you'll need one of these?" Hermione asked, pushing the book she wasn't using toward her professor.

He nodded but didn't take his eyes off of the runes. "I will need some parchment and a quill as well."

It was Harry's turn to do the retrieving and he walked over to one of the desks, pulled out several pieces of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle. He brought it over and set it on the coffee table.

"Thank you."

Harry raised his eyebrows at his professor, and Hermione was a little shocked as well, never having heard him use those words before.

Professor Snape worked in silence and Hermione had a difficult time not hovering over him to see what he was doing. Finally, he spoke. "If you want to learn Miss Granger, you're going to have to watch. I permit you to hover, this one time only."

Hermione nodded eagerly and stood behind her professor to watch him work. He scribbled across the parchment copying the runes, consulting the book for possible definitions and meanings, and making notes in the margins as he went.

It felt like several hours before he finally set the book aside. "It's complete."

"You're done translating?"

"Yes, Mister Potter. Several were quite difficult, but not impossible." He paused and then turned toward Hermione. "I believe it is a prophecy, one that concerns you."

"Me?" Hermione gestured to herself and looked at Harry who shrugged.

"Yes, you, Miss Granger."

"What does it say?"

Professor Snape held up the piece of paper and after clearing his throat, read, "The power He knows not shall bring both chaos and renewal...an ally to His fiercest foe, hidden in oceans deep."

Hermione gulped as she took the paper from Professor Snape's hands and read it over. It was as if what Dumbledore had been thinking was true—maybe she was the power the Dark Lord knew not. Looking up at Hary, she knew the same thing was running through his brain as well.

"If you're trying to hide something from me, it won't work." Professor Snape raised an eyebrow at both of them. "You forget that I heard parts of the prophecy regarding Mister Potter all of those years ago."

Hermione nodded. "We weren't sure if Professor Dumbledore confided in you about his new theories regarding that same prophecy. We believe that these two might be connected. This one just gives a tad bit more information."

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow and didn't speak. Hermione continued. "Professor Dumbledore does believe that I am the power the Dark Lord knows not. The problem is, I think he already knows about me. Dolohov saw me in the Department of Mysteries as a mermaid when my body tried to save itself."

"Dolohov is locked away in Azkaban, he isn't telling anyone anything of importance."

Hermione shook her head. "That may be. But he knows, I know he does. If it's not Dolohov, then I don't know who, but he knows."

"Very well. That means you will have to be even more cautious when returning to the colonies, if at all."

"I know. I am starting the process of finding a way to protect at least the colony in Mykonos if not all of them. But I think that is the one that he will focus on the most as it's the home base."

"I agree." Professor Snape stood from his chair and put on his frock coat, buttoning it up quickly. "Now, it is getting late. I must be going."

As he turned away, Hermione called after him. "Wait, Professor Snape, there was one other thing I wanted to ask of you. It's a big favor and I will owe you immensely if you agree to help."

"What is it, Miss Granger?"

Hermione looked down at the floor and twisted her hands. Harry got up from the sofa and grasped one of her hands in a comforting gesture.

"If this was just to show me that you two have—"

Hermione looked up at her Potions professor and she felt some tears squeeze out of the corners of her eyes. "I-I don't know who else to ask. I am worried about my parents and that Voldemort will come after them because of me."

"The Order can protect them, send them into a safe house."

Hermione shook her head. "They won't go. I know them. They won't go without me and I can't just leave when I am needed." She paused. "Please, Professor, I am begging you to help. There is nothing else to be done. Will you place a memory charm on them and send them away until this is all over?"

Hermione sniffled and wiped away the tears falling down her cheeks. He hadn't shown any emotion or what he was thinking. He could deny her request, but she was hopeful, especially after all of the work they had been doing together.

"Very well. But only in the best interests of you. I know that you'll be worrying about them nonstop and that could only hurt you in quick thinking situations. When did you want this completed?"

"Right before school starts," Hermione hiccuped, wiping away a few tears. "I want to have time to say goodbye in case—"

"—You don't need to say that Hermione, you'll see them again," Harry interjected. "Thanks, Professor."

The man nodded and bid his goodbye to the two teenagers. Hermione sunk onto the sofa, Harry following her as she succumbed to the tears. He didn't want her to say that she might not ever see them again because he knew, deep down, that it was a possibility.

Weeks passed and Hermione started spending more and more time at Grimmauld Place as she began to distance herself from her parents. She had documents drawn up in secret with their new identities, transferring that information to Professor Snape so he would be able to put a memory charm on them with the correct information.

In an attempt to cheer Hermione up, Harry and the Weasleys made a trip to Diagon Alley to not only do some school shopping but to see where Fred and George opened a shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. After the death of Ginny, they had put up their shop quite quickly stating that everyone would need a laugh here soon.

And they were right—Hermione especially needed a laugh in the face of everything that was going on. Traipsing into the shop, Hermione smiled. There were all kinds of gizmos and treats.

"This is brilliant magic," Hermione said in awe, looking around.

"Aw shucks, Hermione," the twins said, giving her a little push. "That means a lot coming from an ickle prefect. I am sure you won't mind when this stuff ends up at Hogwarts."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and just shook her head. She would have to confiscate almost everything they sold in this shop on Hogwarts grounds, but for now, she could enjoy the silliness without having to reprimand anyone.

Their trip to WWW and the twins were cut short when Harry noticed Malfoy and his mother outside. Under Harry's cloak of invisibility, she, Harry, and Ron followed them and was shocked (well, Harry anyway), to see them meeting with Greyback the werewolf and a few others.

"He's a Death Eater, I'm sure of it," Harry said later on when he and Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place. The Weasleys were still living at the Burrow.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Regardless if he is a Death Eater or not, there is nothing we can do. We have other things to worry about."

"Hermione, he could be spying on you! Especially if Voldemort knows that you're a mermaid, he has Draco now to follow us and see what's going on inside the castle."

Hermione paused for a moment. "I hadn't thought of it like that. We will just have to continue to be careful like Professor Snape advised."

"That's it?"

Sighing, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table. She put her face in her hands and just shook her head. "Harry, I don't know what else you want me to say. I have other things to worry about."

"I'm going to try and find out."

"Whatever you feel you need to do. But I have to find a way to protect the colonies before Voldemort kills them all under my watch."

Harry dropped the subject after Hermione's comment, though she could tell he was still thinking about it. Both were cheered up considerably when Sirius was finally released from St Mungo's and joined them for dinner that evening. He wasn't too keen on being back in Grimmauld Place, but the freedom he was now allowed after being cleared of all charges made up for it.

Later that week, just before the first of September, Hermione received a letter from Geoff and R.J. telling her all was well. There had been no recent attacks and they had rebuilt the boat after receiving more money for their duties.

"Do you really think that someone we told about you being a mermaid spilled the beans to Voldemort?"

Hermione thought about that for a moment. "Well, I do think there is a way that Dolohov could have told him, but I am not crossing it off the list that someone we trusted has broken that trust."

"Snape—"

"—I trust Professor Snape, Harry. I don't think he would do this."

"You can't cross him off that easily, especially when we both know he is a double agent!"

Hermione sighed and ignored his comment for the moment. "Let's make a list of all who knows." She pulled a piece of parchment, quill, and ink out of the desk in the library. "There's you, me, and Ron, of course, but I think we can cross all of us out." She looked at Harry pointedly.

He held up his hands as if he were being arrested. "Hey, I am not in some secret alliance with Voldy if that's what you're asking."

"Apparently we can't be too sure, since you're convinced that Professor Snape might be taking our information to him."

"I'm just saying that we should be cautious. It could be anyone!" He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. "I'm sorry. I don't think that he's double crossing us...just habit," he admitted.

"I understand it's difficult to let go of the past, but we must." Hermione then let the subject drop and continued to write a few more names. "There's also Madam Pomfrey and Viktor."

"That's everyone we've told," Harry said. "But now we need to write out everyone who knows."

"That's going to be a long list for sure." She wrote down Dumbledore and the other Order members—Luna, Neville...and her hand hovered over the page about to write Ginny's name, but then recalled that her friend was dead. It felt weird not to include her there.

"I think that's everyone," Harry said, looking at the list over Hermione's shoulder. "I didn't tell anyone else, did you?"

Hermione shook her head. "I am having a difficult time processing that any of these people would ever sell me out to Voldemort, but let's start with the process of elimination."

She crossed off several names to start—her own, Harry, Ron, and Professor Snape.

They spent at least another hour going over each member of the Order and their friends, crossing them each out. When they were done, only two names remained—Viktor and Dolohov.

"I think we need to consider the idea that Dolohov might not have had any communication with Voldemort yet to tell him."

Hermione closed her eyes. She didn't want to think about that possibility. "You're right. Let's talk about Viktor no matter how difficult it will be."

"I have a mental list that I've been compiling since we last saw him. I thought he was acting strange."

Hermione had to stifle a laugh in the seriousness of the situation because she didn't think she had heard Harry ever say something so crazy. "You've been compiling a mental list? It's been over a year since we've seen him."

"I know. But I thought he was acting strange. Now, hear me out."

"I remember. I'd like to hear this mental list." She sat back in the chair and crossed her right leg over her left knee, clasping her hands together. "Please share."

"Okay." Harry took a deep breath. "It first started when you fainted in the ruins we visited. When you came back from your vision, Viktor was immediately adamant to 'tell him everything' and asked several times about your Atargatis beads."

Hermione nodded. "I remember something being off about him." She thought for a moment. "Like he was being too attentive? And I think that if we hadn't needed to go to Sofia, we wouldn't have told him anything at all."

"You think he invited us to stay and agreed for me to stay as well to gain information?"

"I don't want to believe it." Hermione bit her lip and looked her boyfriend in the eyes. She could see the concern in them. "You think he really might have told Voldemort?"

"He went to Durmstrang, which doesn't necessarily make him a bad wizard, but they do practice the Dark Arts. That's a possible mark against him." Harry went and threw himself onto the sofa and sighed. "Then all the weird questions while we were there, you getting the weird vibes from him."

"And with Dolohov in prison…" She trailed off.

"Exactly." Harry looked down at the desk where their Hogwarts letters and school lists still sat. "Well, this year...better or worse than last?" He laughed nervously.

Hermione appreciated the attempt at humor in a terrifying situation. She then rolled her eyes. "Nothing can we be worse than that old toad."

A/N: I hope you are all staying safe during this difficult time. Big thanks to HeartOfAspen for her help on this story. I'd love to hear from you in a review!