Chapter 16: A Regular Hogsmeade Visit
"Glitter in the Air" by P!nk
"Lily, Hermione, hurry up!" James called from the bottom of the stairs to the girls dormitories. "We get to Hogsmeade too late and the stores will be a bloody mess!"
"He's right about that," Lily laughed as she zipped up her puffy blue jacket. "It seems like all the last-minute Christmas shoppers come to Hogsmeade on Christmas Eve." Hermione laughed lightly as she buttoned up her own pink corduroy jacket, but seemed tense and preoccupied. Lily knew why. Hermione had told her about her strange encounter with Snape.
"Still not sure if you're going to go tomorrow night?" She asked.
"I probably should," Hermione said. "If I don't, I might lose the best chance I'm going to get to win the Death Eaters' trust. What if it's a trap, though? Snape's interest seemed genuine, but what if he was lying? Narcissa was right about one thing, after all: People the Death Eaters see as threats end up hurt or dead, and I haven't exactly been acting docile. If Snape was lying and I walk into a room packed full of young Death Eaters, there's a good chance I won't walk out." Lily frowned and started to respond, but she was interrupted by the sound of her and Hermione's bags colliding with the door to their room. James, Remus, and Sirius were using Summoning Charms on the bags from downstairs, trying to make the girls come out. Lily and Hermione laughed and grabbed their levitating bags before leaving their dorm to join the boys in the common room.
As the five Gryffindors walked to Hogsmeade, they discussed how they planned to shop for each other. They decided they'd split up for four hours to shop, then they'd meet each other at the Three Broomsticks to get some butterbeers before heading back to Hogwarts. One of the first stores Hermione went to was called Animagi Abloom. The store sold products such as Anti-Hairball Potions, books on how to strengthen your tail, and flea repellants that smelled like various pies. Hermione was trying to decide which flea repellant scent Sirius might prefer when someone else made their own suggestion.
"Sirius always preferred blueberry pie when we were younger," Regulus said, coming up to the flea repellant counter beside Hermione. "He is who you're shopping for, isn't he?" Hermione nodded, once again too stunned by his approaching her to speak. Regulus laughed. "So outspoken around Malfoy and Snape, but the only place I've really heard you speak is in class." Hermione forced a laugh.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about your suggestion," she said. "It's been a couple years, the way I've heard it, since Sirius moved in with the Potters. How can you be so sure of which scent he'll like?" Regulus smiled a little mischievously at Hermione.
"Alright," he said, grabbing the blueberry pie scented repellant and tossing it to the cashier at the front counter, "I'll pay for the blueberry, you choose a different scent, and if Sirius ends up liking the blueberry scent the most, you can pay me back later." Hermione blinked at Regulus. She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was up to, then she decided to play along.
"Deal," she said, grabbing an apple pie scented repellant and going over to the front counter with Regulus. They each paid for the scent they'd chosen and Hermione stored both repellants in her bottomless bag. Hermione glanced down at Garus' watch.
"How much time do you have left before you need to go meet up with them?" Regulus asked her.
"Three hours," she said.
"Do you have a lot of shopping left to do?" Regulus asked. Still unsure of his intentions, Hermione shook her head.
"I did most of my gift shopping before now," Hermione said. "I still need to find something to send Bill."
"Bill?" Regulus asked, "Molly Weasley's son?" Hermione nodded. "No problem," Regulus said. "I know where my cousin, Andromeda, likes to go to shop for her daughter—"
"Nymphadora Tonks," Hermione finished his explanation. Regulus smiled at her.
"Of course, Molly and Arthur Weasley already told you," he said. "Bill and Nymphadora have been playmates since they were born."
Hermione decided to take Regulus' tip without argument, following him to a large store in the outskirts of Hogsmeade that was brimming with all kinds of interesting magic toys. Hermione was both unnerved and intrigued by Regulus' behavior and had yet to discover its point or purpose. Regulus wandered through the store with her for about an hour, pointing out some of the baby Nymphadora's favorite items before he disclosed any hint of his main reason for having approached her.
"So, Snape said he gave you the password and told you where we're meeting," he said softly, standing close to her to avoid being overheard by the few other customers wandering the store. Hermione nodded. "Are you going to come?" Hermione stared at Regulus for a moment, unsure of what to tell him. He was one of the Death Eaters, after all. She had a gut feeling to be honest with him.
"I'm interested," she said softly, "but only if the invitation is real. How can I be sure I'm not going to walk in there alone, only to be ambushed by all the Death Eaters still attending school?"
"We aren't all going to be there," Regulus clarified. "As you know, Pettigrew went home for the holiday. Lucius went home, too. We all told him to go home, actually. We knew he'd need more time to cool off before seeing you again. We didn't want him to attack you the moment you came through the door because, no, we don't plan to do so. Mainly, we just want to be able to talk to you without interference. As for your hesitation to show up alone, you don't have to. I'll meet you by the stairs near Gryffindor Tower, fifteen minutes before the meeting. I'll take you there." Hermione blinked at Regulus. Technically, there was a chance that he could be lying to her, as well as Snape. Regulus was very different from the young Snape, though. Regulus made no attempt to intimidate her or boast about himself. Hermione trusted him.
"Okay," she said, "I'll come."
Now that the Order knew Harry and Ron were staying at the Grangers' house, some members couldn't resist sending a couple Christmas gifts to them. The gifts were mainly survival and fighting aids. They received various potions, two backup wands, and two daggers with enough silver embellishments to be lethal to a werewolf, like Fenrir Greyback, if they sliced into a vein.
Harry and Ron hadn't seen Dumbledore or Snape in person since the day they all confronted the Order, but Snape had sent them a short letter telling them about what had been discussed at the Death Eater meeting he'd last attended, also writing about some of what he'd discussed with Draco after the meeting. Harry and Ron were both testing the backup wands the Order had sent them when the sound of Hermione's voice made them both drop the wands simultaneously.
"Ron, Harry, are you there?"
"We're here, Hermione," Harry said, grabbing the mirror that framed Hermione's face off a nearby table. Ron moved close so Hermione could see them both through the mirror.
"Did you tell Snape and Dumbledore about Lily?" Hermione asked.
"We told more than those two," Ron said.
"What?" Hermione asked anxiously, "Who did you tell?"
"Are you sitting down, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded and Harry and Ron dove into their explanations about what had transpired since they last spoke with her. They told her about the fight at Grimmauld Place, their reunion with the Order, and the other Weasleys sent into hiding from Voldemort. Hermione's face was covered by her free hand by the time they'd finished their story.
"They all know I'm back here?" She groaned.
"Remus and my mum have been going mad trying to remember you, even though we told them how the Glitch works," Ron said. "We told them, as soon as you return, their past selves will forget you were ever there and their present selves will remember you again."
"By the way, what has been happening in that time, Hermione?" Harry asked her.
"Are the two of you sitting down?" Hermione asked. The two boys exchanged glances and sat down. Hermione took a deep breath and began her own updates and explanations. She told Harry and Ron about meeting Arthur, her fight against Malfoy to help Narcissa, her confrontation with Narcissa, her strange encounters with Snape and Regulus, and the Death Eater meeting she was supposed to attend in a few hours. When she finished, Harry and Ron were staring at her wide-eyed.
"You're going to a Death Eater meeting?" Ron asked anxiously, "On Christmas night?"
"It had to happen at some point, Ron," Hermione said. "I have to get close to Regulus, somehow."
"Hermione, he's already flirting with you!" Ron retorted. Hermione laughed outright.
"Flirting with me?" She laughed, "Ron, Regulus Black is not flirting with me!"
"You said he helped pay for a gift you got for Sirius!" Ron argued, "Sirius and Regulus are enemies! Regulus did that for you! Then he practically asked you out on a date!"
"He's walking with me to a Death Eater meeting!" Hermione shouted angrily.
"Hermione!" That was Lily's voice. Ron swallowed the retort he was about to deliver to Hermione as he and Harry listened close. "Hermione, I could hear you downstairs!" Lily's voice continued, "Put the mirror away!"
"Harry, Ron, I'll talk to you later," Hermione told them without looking back at them through the mirror. She threw the mirror inside her bottomless bag and all Harry and Ron could see in their mirror was their own reflection. Ron turned to Harry, still looking a little flustered. He opened his mouth to speak, but Harry spoke first.
"Was that really necessary?" He asked. Ron blinked at him. "Ron, Hermione is going into a room full of Death Eaters in a few hours, and you had to start a fight with her?" Ron's flushed, angry face quickly paled again. "Don't push her away, Ron," Harry continued gently. "Too much is resting on how we fight together for us to be fighting with each other."
"What was that all about?!" Lily asked Hermione after she'd stored her bottomless bag back under her bed.
"Ron and I were acting like you and James," Hermione said. That was explanation enough for Lily. She and James had a tendency to go from cuddling to clashing at the drop of a sickle.
"Who was the first to accuse this time?" She asked, sitting on her bed, facing Hermione.
"Regulus and I were able to talk for a while, in Hogsmeade," Hermione explained. "He offered to take me to the Death Eater meeting tonight, so I don't have to show up there alone. When I told Ron and Harry, Ron said Regulus was flirting with me and that my going down to the meeting with him is as good as a date! Honestly, Ron knows I care about him more than that, but he just gets so jealous and possessive sometimes! Regulus understood my hesitation to go to the meeting alone, so he offered to help me! I mean, the whole reason I'm here is to convince Regulus to help me! What else was I supposed to do?"
"Nothing," Lily answered reassuringly. "You did what you had to do." Hermione nodded, welcoming the support. "So, you are going to the meeting?" Lily asked, "And Regulus is taking you there?" Hermione nodded again and checked Garus' watch.
"I'm supposed to meet him by the stairs closest to our tower portal in a little under three hours," she said. "Can you cover for me with James, Remus, and Sirius?"
"Yes," Lily said. "Remus will be glued to the book I gave him until morning. Sirius will be busy testing those flea repellants you gave him, and when James and I do our rounds, I'll volunteer to check the corridor you'll be in. I'll also ask him to let me use the Marauders' Map tonight, so none of them can see where you are. You'll have your Map with you, right?"
"Yes," Hermione said. "I won't take my entire bag with me, but I'll have the Map and a coin I've bewitched with a Protean Charm. You can take this coin." Hermione tossed a coin to Lily. "I used the same trick when Harry, Ron, and I formed Dumbledore's Army. Keep it in a pocket close to your skin. If I need help, I'll use my coin to signal you, and your coin will instantly feel hot." Lily nodded.
"You'll be okay, Hermione," she said reassuringly. "I'll be up here, awake, when you get back."
Hermione slipped out of the Gryffindor Tower portal twenty minutes before seven o'clock. She checked the Marauders' Map to make sure Filch was a safe distance away, and she saw Regulus coming up the stairs. She cleared off the Map and stuffed it into the pocket of her jeans before proceeding down the hall, toward Regulus. When she reached the stairs, he was waiting for her at the top.
"Last chance to turn back, if you want to," Regulus said to her. "I won't stop you." Hermione shook her head.
"I told you I'm coming," she said. "I'm not backing out now." Regulus smiled at her.
"Then, let's go," he said.
Hermione followed Regulus back downstairs to the third floor. They walked down a long hall, past the Muggle Studies classroom, and approached a large wooden door at the end of the corridor. When they stopped outside the door, Regulus looked at Hermione pointedly. Hermione nodded and faced the door.
"Thestrals," she said clearly. There was a loud clicking noise as the locks on the door retracted. Regulus pushed the door open and led Hermione inside. The enormous bath pool in the middle of the room was filled with strange, swirling mist that glowed with a bright green light. All the young Death Eaters remaining at the castle for the holiday were seated, evenly spaced, around the pool's edge. Snape looked up at Regulus and Hermione first.
"Regulus, take the spot between Macnair and Rabastan," he said. "Granger, between Nott and Rodolphus." Regulus nodded to Hermione in a silent bid for her to do as she was told. Regulus moved to sit in the middle of the large gap between Macnair and Rabastan. Hermione quickly moved to the position she was directed to and she sat on the floor between Nott and Rodolphus. The Death Eaters on either side of her glanced over at her briefly, but said nothing. The next person to speak was Avery, sitting directly across from Hermione, on the other side of the green mist bath.
"Granger, you're here because a number of us believe you have a potential for greatness that cannot be reached by, shall we say, playing by the rules," he said. "You know who we are. You know what we represent, and here you have willingly come to meet with us. That also speaks in your favor. Still, before we choose to take you into our inner circle and help push you toward this greater potential we see in you, we'll need a little more convincing." Hermione maintained unflinching eye contact with Avery as he spoke, keeping her face smooth and calm.
"And how am I meant to convince you?" She asked evenly.
"Have you ever used an Unforgivable Curse?" Rabastan asked her, sitting between Regulus and Avery.
"Once," Hermione answered, her eyes moving sharply from Avery to Rabastan. "Not on another person, though. I used Avada Kedavra when an Oppugno Charm unleashed a swarm of serpions on me. One curse was enough to take out half of them in one blow."
"So nothing really illegal, yet," Macnair commented, "but at least you can use the curse. Have any Unforgivables been used on you?"
"Yes," Hermione answered promptly, "Imperius Curses, while I was training to resist them in my fourth year."
"And that training produced the desired results?" Snape asked. Hermione looked over at him to see he was slowly drawing his wand. He wanted her to prove her statement. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Yes," she answered calmly. "Go ahead and see for yourself." She didn't speak in a challenging tone. She was careful to sound calmly permissive. Snape aimed his wand at her at her invitation.
"Imperio," he said. 'Jump into the mist,' he spoke in her head.
'No,' Hermione thought back at him.
'Jump into the mist,' Snape's commanded.
'No,' Hermione thought again.
'Jump into the mist!' Snape commanded her once more.
"I won't," Hermione answered aloud and broke free from Snape's curse.
"She didn't move an inch," Rodolphus said from beside her, watching her closely.
"So, the Imperius Curse doesn't effect you," Nott said from her other side. "Have you been hit with a Cruciatus Curse before?" Hermione shook her head. Within the same second, Bellatrix raised her wand.
"Crucio!" Hermione fell backwards with a scream. She writhed in pain on the bathroom floor for a couple seconds, then Bellatrix released her from the curse. "Now you have," Bellatrix said, laughing softly with some of the other Death Eaters as Hermione forced herself back up into a sitting position. As she sat up, Hermione clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails cut her palms, barely restraining herself from retaliating against Bellatrix. Hermione took several deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Anything else I need to do to convince you?" She asked the group evenly.
"Jump into the mist," Snape said. Hermione looked over at him, confused.
"Didn't we already go over this?" She asked. Snape smiled and some of the Death Eaters chucked softly.
"You refused to jump in against your will," Snape said with a shrug. "Jumping in willingly is far more convincing to us." Hermione stared into the strange green mist that filled the bath pool she and the Death Eaters all sat around.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's Boggart Mist," Regulus answered. "It's produced when a boggart is killed with an Avada Kedavra curse, instead of laughter. Boggart Mist causes hallucinations. You'll be surrounded by visions and sounds of some of your greatest fears while immersed. None of us will see or hear any of it. We'll only see and hear you."
"Jump into the mist and stay in it until we pull you out," Macnair said. Hermione nodded. She stood up and moved forward so her toes went slightly off the edge of the bath pool. She looked at Regulus once more. He nodded once. Hermione mentally braced herself for the effects of the mist and jumped far in, landing in the center of the pool.
Hermione stood in the mist expectantly, feeling it swirl around her and rise above her head. For a moment, she only saw the green glow. The light went out and she was standing in the middle of a dark, barren field. Dementors were flying overhead. She could hear people screaming and she could smell smoke from a fire burning somewhere nearby. She started to move, but tripped over someone lying on the ground. She looked back at the person and her eyes widened. It was Harry. He wasn't just laying there, either. He was dead.
"No!" Hermione gasped, crawling over to Harry and shaking him. "Wake up, Harry! Wake up! Harry!"
"The one with the power to conquer the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…" A voice drawled mockingly. Hermione tensed. She spun around on her knees, but she saw no one. She turned back to Harry to find he was gone. Ron was in his place. He was dead too, and he looked far worse. He was covered in deep scratches and bites, his blood pooling beneath him. He seemed to have been mauled by Greyback, or some other magic beast.
"Young ones always taste the best…" Another voice whispered menacingly and Hermione's stomach turned sickeningly. As tears sprung from her eyes at the sight of Ron's mangled body, she forced herself to stand up and she turned away.
'This isn't real,' she thought to herself. 'This is the mist. This isn't real!'
"Hermione, what happened?" Hermione jumped at the closeness of that voice. She spun around and saw the Dumbledore from her time.
"What do you mean?" She asked softly.
"You didn't get the Horcrux, Hermione," Dumbledore said, looking devastated. "We trusted you to destroy the locket, but you failed. We had a chance to win this war, Hermione, but you ruined it. Harry and Ron are dead. Ginny and Remus are dead too. They died because of you, Hermione. You couldn't complete your task, so they died, and you'll die too. They're coming for you, now…"
"No!" Hermione said, shaking her head, "I didn't fail! I won't fail! This isn't real! You aren't real!" There were flashes of green light all around Hermione. There were more screams. The smell of smoke was suffocating and the fire it came from was burning close enough to make her break out in a sweat. "No!" She screamed, "This isn't real! This won't happen! This isn't real!"
Dumbledore disappeared and the flashes of light around Hermione became the solid green glow from the mist. Hermione felt four strong hands grabbing her and lifting her out of the mist. She let them lay her on the cold, hard bathroom floor. She stayed there with her eyes closed, holding back as many tears as she could.
"Who's Harry?" Regulus' warm, gentle voice asked. He was kneeling beside her. He was one of the two people who had pulled her out of the mist.
"Childhood friend. He was accidentally poisoned," Hermione lied with an ease that surprised her, considering her current state. "I gave him the antidote, but I was too late."
"Was that the failure you were screaming about?" Bellatrix laughed harshly, "Some kid who poisoned himself that you couldn't save?"
"No," Hermione answered wearily. She gave no explanation. No one asked her for one. One of the Death Eaters said something about 'enjoying her performance', but Hermione was too worn out to clearly register anything that was said beyond that point, except three words.
"Let's go, Hermione," Regulus said after most of the talking around Hermione had ceased. Regulus helped her to her feet and guided her out the door of the large bathroom. He'd walked her almost all the way back to Gryffindor Tower when she began thinking clearly again.
"So I did okay, then?" She asked wearily.
"You did great," Regulus said softly. "You're in." As sore as Hermione's body felt, and as much as her mind was still reeling from the Boggart Mist, she felt a surge of triumph flood through her at Regulus' words. She'd done it. She'd made it into the Death Eaters' inner circle. Feeling suddenly giddy, she kept talking quietly with Regulus as they came continually closer to the Gryffindor Tower portal.
"You were right about the blueberry pie scented repellant," she told him. "It is Sirius' favorite. I'll give you the money for it tomorrow."
"No money," Regulus laughed softly in her ear. He was half-carrying Hermione's weakened form and he stood very close. Hermione looked at him inquiringly. The mischievous smile Regulus had worn back in Hogsmeade lit up his face again. "The deal was that you'd pay me back for the tip," he said slyly. "How you'd pay me back wasn't mentioned. I'll get back to you about that, later." With that, Regulus released Hermione and walked off, leaving her standing in front of the portrait that covered the Gryffindor Tower portal, thoroughly perplexed.