A/N: Helloooo! Thank you all for the reviews/follows/favorites/kudos/love, I am very glad you all like where the story is going! This chapter is a but light-hearted but I wanted to show that despite her mission, Hermione is still a 16/17 year old girl. If you find it to be too OOC/not fitting to the story please let me know!
Happy Easter, if you celebrate, and enjoy chapter six.
Here you go :D
On Saturday, after finishing her book, The Unknown and Rare Spells Forgotten by the Wizarding World, Hermione was feeling downcast. She hadn't learned anything new from the other spells, aside from a lot of strange, Latin incantations to help solve the now insignificant problems of the Middle Ages.
She left the library and decided to try and find Harry, assuming that he and Ron weren't together.
Hermione stopped walking to peer through a window, considering that Quidditch Practice was likely being held. In the distance she saw a team flying around, but it was not the Gryffindors. The Slytherins were scrimmaging against each other as the captain instructed from above. She sighed and was about to walk away when she realized that a certain blonde seeker was not at practice.
She realized what a golden opportunity this was and quickened her pace to reach the Gryffindor common room and ask Harry for something of his, whether Ron was present or not.
"Baubles," Hermione said, slightly out of breath after climbing four floors.
"That it is, dearie," the Fat Lady nodded and swung open.
Hermione scanned the room hastily and was glad to see Harry playing chess with Ron as Neville, Ginny, Dean, and Seamus watched and chatted with them.
"Harry!" Hermione called as she approached the group, "Can I talk to you in the boy's dormitory? Alone?"
Harry nodded and told Ron to pause the game, excusing himself from the conversation. Hermione did not miss the glare that Ron shot her way as she left.
"What do you need?" Harry asked, adjusting his unruly hair as they walked up the stairs.
"Can I borrow the map and the cloak?" Hermione asked, hoping Harry didn't need a reason.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows slightly, "To do what?"
"I," Hermione sighed and sincerely confessed, "I can't tell you. I wish I could. But, really, honestly, I can't."
Harry frowned at that but nodded and went to grab the cloak and the map.
"You can have these, but first, I have to check something," Harry opened up the map.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The map's contents revealed themselves and the magical ink spread across the whole page until the entire school was visible. Harry searched the map, likely looking for Draco, and let out a frustrated grumble when he was nowhere to be seen.
"Mischief Managed. Here you go," Harry handed the map over, and Hermione felt it best to ignore Harry and skip the lecture about Draco not being a death eater.
He knelt down by his trunk and rummaged through its contents until he found the silky, sheer cloak. He folded it up and placed it on top of the map Hermione held. "Whatever you're doing, just be careful. Please."
Hermione smiled and gave him a brief, one-armed hug and a quick peck on the cheek, "Thanks, Harry."
Harry blushed and told her it was no problem as they descended the staircase and re-entered the room.
Ron glanced up and saw Hermione holding the map and the cloak and raised an incredulous eyebrow at Harry as if to ask, Seriously?
Harry made a face telling Ron to keep his mouth shut and said, "I'll see you at lunch, then, Hermione."
"Yeah," she nodded and waved to the group, ignoring Ron, as she said, "Bye everyone."
They said their farewells and Hermione began to make her way toward the Room of Requirement. When she was alone in the halls and not in the view of anyone, she placed the cloak over herself and opened the map.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she breathed, placing her wand on the parchment. She stopped walking to search for Draco, who she suspected was in the Room of Hidden Things.
She began walking after not seeing his name, confirming her suspicions. Keeping an eye on the map, she stopped walking abruptly after noticing Crabbe and Goyle's names standing in front of the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Knowing that she could easily out-duel the two buffoons, she continued tiptoeing toward the entrance.
When she reached the wall that concealed the door to the room, she was surprised to see two first-year Slytherins standing guard. The girls, Hermione quickly realized, were Crabbe and Goyle under the effects of polyjuice potion.
Stupefy, Hermione thought, sending Goyle flying back into the wall and falling unconscious.
"Who's there?" Crabbe demanded. He looked ready to alert Draco, so Hermione silently sent a Confundus charm his way before stunning him, rendering him confused and unconscious.
She smiled at her good work and told the room, I need to see Draco Malfoy.
The room obeyed and the familiar tall, black door appeared. She silently pushed the door open and entered the room.
She whispered, "Mischief Managed," and tucked the trustworthy parchment in a pocket in her cloak.
She tiptoed toward the spot she knew that Draco would be and watched, this time a few meters away, as he continued inspecting the cabinet. While reading about Tempus Itinerantur a few days ago, Hermione had realized where she had recognized the tall armoire from. It was the sister of the Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin and Burkes. She remembered that Montague, a Slytherin who was a few years her senior, had gotten stuck in the cabinet a few years ago.
Draco was mumbling some sort of incantation and dragging his wand in a circular motion around one of the doors when Hermione found him.
She noticed that the books that she had knocked over when she had been spying on him originally were now stacked back up farther away from the cabinet. She wondered how long it had taken Draco before he didn't suspect anyone of watching him after her misstep the last time she had spied on him.
She sat down on an old sofa that was near her and watched as Draco tried multiple spells to fix something on the door. After about 10 minutes of observation, she realized that he was trying to straighten the door. This puzzled Hermione, believing that straightening the appearance of the cabinet was a bit cosmetic.
She wondered if his heart was fully in the assignment, given that he had made no noticeable changes to the tall cabinet, and was rather trying to fix something that was not critical to the performance of the magical transportation device.
After watching him for five more minutes, Hermione figured that nothing new or interesting would happen, so she decided to go back to the Common Room, unsatisfied with the information, or lack thereof, that she had gathered.
Tiptoeing away, she silently pushed on the door, opening it slowly. She hoped dearly that Crabbe and Goyle were still unconscious.
Once she was out of the room, she noted curiously that Crabbe and Goyle were gone, meaning that they must have abandoned Draco, likely confused about what had happened to them.
They weren't the brightest, and although they likely could perform a disillusionment charm with some accuracy, it was unlikely that they figured out that Hermione was under an invisibility cloak. The most plausible situation in their minds was probably that a ghost of some sort (maybe Peeves) had attacked them.
When she made her return to the common room roughly half an hour after she left, she was glad to see that Harry, Neville, Ginny, Dean and Seamus were still there, as well as Lavender, now, meaning that the chances of Ron confronting her were slimmer than if it was solely Harry and Ron.
She removed the cloak, retrieved the map from her pocket and placed them neatly in Harry's arms. "Thanks again, Harry," she smiled.
Harry nodded as if it were nothing but Hermione could tell that he was curious about her whereabouts and reasons for needing the cloak and map.
She took a seat beside Seamus and listened to the conversation. It sounded like a large game of 'Shag, Marry, Avada'. Hermione listened, laughing along as Harry declared he would shag Peeves, Avada Umbridge and Marry Moaning Myrtle.
When it was Lavender's turn, she blushed as she stated that she would shag Ron, who reddened, smiled, and glanced at Hermione to scope out her reaction. Hermoine forced her face to remain stoic and pretended not to hear.
"Hermione," Lavender giggled, "Shag, Marry, Avada: Filch, Hagrid, Malfoy."
Hermione shook her head and lightly laughed, "No way; I am not playing."
The Gryffindors erupted into protests at that, wanting to hear the 'goody-two-shoes' Hermione Granger play the scandalous game of shag, marry, avada.
"Come on, Hermione!" Ginny encouraged, laughing, "You have to play!"
Hermione rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh, "Fine. But really, Lavender? Filch, Hagrid, Malfoy? That's appalling."
Lavender emitted a breathy giggle as Hermione thought to herself, obviously disgusted with the choices. When Lavender scooted closer to Ron, Hermione felt anger boiling in the pit of her stomach, and she made up her stubborn mind.
"Okay. Marry Hagrid," she began.
"That's an obvious choice," Neville said in alignment with the chorus of agreements.
"Avada Filch," Hermione paused to work up to it and heard gasps from those who knew what was coming, "and-shag-Draco," she finished in one quick breath, purposefully using Draco's first name. She knew it was immature to taunt Ron like this, but watching Lavender flirt with him was too much for her.
The declaration had the desired effect and Hermione watched gleefully as her friends burst into loud, loud reactions. Ginny and Lavender nodded knowingly and loudly stated that he wasn't terrible to look at, but Harry was yelling about how disgusting that was as Seamus and Dean laughed along. Neville looked rather sick and Ron, sitting rather close to Lavender, was red in the face.
"Draco?" Ron exclaimed, "Since when is that git 'Draco'?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and didn't answer, standing up from her comfortable seat on the couch. The chatter continued as she ignored Ron's question, and cheerfully stated, "As fun as that was, I really do need to go to the library, so I will talk to you all later."
Harry protested, "Come on, Hermione! You've been to the library at least once every day!"
"I know," Hermione sighed, "but I've been so overwhelmed lately. I'll be back in a bit, though."
"Alright, alright," Harry agreed, "but try to be back soon!"
Hermione departed the Common Room for the second time in the past hour or two and began her embark to the library to research Vanishing Cabinets. She paused when she reached the third floor, where the library was located and glanced outside. Despite the cloudy overcast sky, it was relatively nice out. She decided against the library, figuring it could wait and continued her jovial stroll down to the first floor.
She pushed open the door and was greeted with the light September wind. It tousled her unruly hair and she pulled her cloak against her. Hermione strolled toward the Great Lake, reflecting on the year so far.
It was strange, to say the least, to think that in a few days, she would be seventeen despite having already turned seventeen. Just thinking about the spell was slightly confusing. Hermione had decided that she had had enough time travel for a lifetime in third year, and yet here she was.
"What are you doing out here, Granger?" Draco's irritating voice rang out against the wind bouncing off the lake.
Hermione turned around to see Draco sitting on a large rock a few meters away.
"Walking," Hermione said nonchalantly.
"I can see that," Draco scoffed, closing a journal he had been writing in with a loud snap. "Where's Potter and Weasel-bee, though?"
Hermione took a few cautious steps towards the rock so she didn't have to yell to be heard by him any longer. "In case you've forgotten, you irked Ron and then told him that I thought he was a lousy Quidditch player, so he is no longer speaking with me."
Draco smiled at the memory, "Ah, yes. Although I don't think I explicitly said you believed that; I merely implied it."
"Yeah, well I'm implying that you're an arse," Hermione grumbled and turned away from him, ready to continue her refreshing and much-needed stroll.
Draco pushed himself off the rock and landed, straightening himself out and taking a few long paces to join Hermione. "So you'll admit that he's lousy at Quidditch, then?"
"No!" she cried, offended, "I, for one, don't hate the people I hang out with. Can't say the same for you; Crabbe and Goyle can't be pleasant to converse with."
Draco rolled his eyes but didn't deny it. Walking a respectable distance from Hermione, he taunted, "I mean, the fact that he lost to McLaggen, of all people…"
Hermione blushed, retorting, "He is perfectly fine at quidditch. Don't you remember last year? He was 'King Weasley'."
Hermione realized with a start that their conversation, although rude and full of insults, wasn't as intense or horrid as they had been over the past week. Perhaps the slap to the face and confusing remark about 'feeling normal' had an effect on him. He didn't call her Mudblood recently, either. Although a small improvement, it was an improvement.
They continued throwing house-based and trivial insults at each other for a few minutes before Hermione realized that it was almost time for dinner.
"As grand as it was to be insulted about my house and choice of friends, I have to go," Hermione stated, "I'll see you Monday for our Runes meeting."
Draco scoffed, nodded and continued walking, presumably skipping dinner.
Hermione smiled when she re-entered the castle, not happy with the conversation, but happy with the progress she was making on her mission.
Slightly satisfied with the day's work, she joined Harry, and, sadly, Ron in the Great Hall for supper.
"Hermione," Harry asked her after Ron had gone to bed, sitting in the common room, "Why were you walking with Malfoy today?"
"I-were you spying on me?" she asked, confused as to how he knew since the lake was not visible from the Gryffindor Tower.
"The map," Harry reminded her, "but that's not the point. What were you doing with him? You know what I think he is."
"Harry, honestly, you're being ridiculous," Hermione shook her full head of hair, her toffee curls bouncing with the motion, "Draco is definitely not a death eater."
He definitely was.
"Why do you keep calling Malfoy 'Draco'? I hate to take sides, but Ron does have a point about that," Harry frowned.
Hermione bit her lip, not wanting to share the fact that she slapped him with anyone as she had felt rather bad after doing it. "Since I have to work with him all term, I thought it would be...silly of me to keep calling him Malfoy."
Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He adjusted his glasses and added, "Well, alright, I guess. But what were you talking about?"
"Runes, mostly," Hermione shrugged. Actually, they were insulting each other, mostly, but Harry didn't need to know that.
Harry dropped the subject and yawned after a few more moments of conversation, "I'm knackered. I think I'm going to go to bed, Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight," Hermione smiled, watching as he retired to the Boy's Dormitory. Once he was gone, she retrieved a journal that she had laying in the bottom of her trunk for some time. Flipping it open to the first page, Hermione grabbed a pen (which she still felt to be infinitely superior to bothersome ink and quills) and dated the top of the page.
After seeing Draco writing in a journal earlier that day, Hermione came up with the idea to start a journal of everything she knew about Draco and his mission.
After much deliberation and a lot of thinking back, she wrote:
Draco Malfoy:
-Death Eater, likely has mark
-Is repairing the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Hidden Things, but his heart isn't fully in it. So far, little to no progress.
-Stopped calling me mudblood, at least for the time being.
-Snape took Unbreakable Vow to save him
-Repaying You-Know-Who for his father's failings
-Depressed (maybe not yet, but eventually)
Flipping a few pages forward to leave room for later information, Hermione scribbled:
Tempus Itinerantur:
-Means Time Travel in Latin
-Dangerous and very complicated
-One small change in timeline can cause death and destruction
-Room of Requirement knows about it somehow?
-Banned due to mistake in 1294
Hermione sighed, realizing just how little information she really had. Closing the journal, she cast a charm so the journal appeared to be Transfiguration Notes to any outsider who stumbled across the private information.
Hermione quietly tiptoed upstairs to the Girl's Dormitories to return the journal to her trunk. Sliding silently past the other Gryffindor's beds, where the girls lay asleep, Hermione conveniently hid the journal in an old t-shirt, closed the trunk and crawled into her bed.
Pulling the covers over herself, Hermione forced her mind to remain still and slowly drifted off to a dreamless sleep.