The next morning Hermione had barely barreled down a coffee and a slice of toast before she rushed to what she still thought of as 'her' chambers. Everything was still as she had left it, with only the fresh bed sheets and plumped pillows to show the presence of a house elf in her rooms. She immediately headed for her text and took out the book, sticking a spare quill into her hair along with her wand.

As per her usual methods, she immediately dove into the preface (she never could understand why people would skip it) and inked her quill to note down the points of interest. The book was old and obscure enough that there was sadly no forward offering the thoughts and additions of an intrigued academic, however she would have to make do with her own observations, and perhaps those of Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Dumbledore had suggested, or rather ordered, that she keep the information to herself, however if she could get her occlumency in place…

She chewed the quill in hand and immediately go to work on the archaic text. She translated as she went, recognising that the text was in Anglisc. With a sigh, she cast a translation spell on her quill.

Sé darkesta arta eart not to be considrad lihtíce. Sé prosyhssea and þeologiȝ contaènan in þia bōk recwuire a pùr hǽrt and grǽt intehyrtect to understand wiþút darkenning þe súl þrúh þe mra obserfning of suċ informæþeorc…

The Darkest Arts are not to be considered lightly. The processes and theology contained in this book require a pure heart and great intellect to understand without darkening the soul through the mere observing of such information…

Hermione frowned, and bit a groove into the quill she held aloft before annotating her translation: Not originally meant as a guide for dark wizards? Academic rather than instructional?

Alþúh þia bōk scahyrt be usan aa a guide for þose sǣcyng þe answera to pòór and immortaleoré, feriȝ few of þese ċaptera contaèn prosyhssea þæt wihyrt not rendór þe súl destroyan.

Although this book shall be used as a guide for those seeking the answers to power and immortality, very few of these chapters contain processes that will not render the soul destroyed.

That they knew as much of already, from the discovery of Voldemort's horcruxes. This book, then, could possibly contain more information on horcruxes than they had been able to find anywhere else. She quickly finished her translation of the short introduction before flipping to the contents page and finding the chapter of greatest interest:

Immortaleoré - Remofning þe súl from þe bodiȝ

Immortality - Removing the soul from the body.

The chapter was a very large portion of the book, and Hermione removed the quill and wand from her hair, leaving her notes and the open book in place as she rose to head to the library, finding that somehow an hour and a half had passed during her translation and absorbing of the introduction alone.

The corridors were cold and empty as she made her way to the safe haven of knowledge. She nodded to Madam Pince, and quickly made her way to the languages section, and plucked out a book called Translation spells for the modern Sorcerer. She checked it out, ignoring the scowls and glares from the librarian, and promised to return her loaned books as soon as possible.

The clock struck as she was leaving, infiltrating her mind with the sounds of students rushing out from their first lesson of the day. A buzz rushed through the student body, and Hermione hung back until the corridors had cleared, leaving only the older students to amble calmly to wherever they chose to spend their free period. Stares met her as she made her way back in the direction of her research space, and she hurried along, a flush coating her sallow cheeks.

"Hermione!" A familiar voice called, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she stilled. Neville and Ginny hurried towards her, faces frantic and eyes flitting in all directions around her as they pulled her into an empty classroom and warded the door.

"What is it?"

Ginny sighed, and the tension slid from her as she perched on a desk. "You're okay then?"

"Yes," Hermione frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Neville coughed uncomfortably. "We heard why you were in the infirmary. Professor McGonagall told them not to tell, but Lavender…"

"Is Lavender." The redhead finished his sentence. "She couldn't wait to let everyone know why you were in the infirmary. Is it true?"

"Depends what you think is true."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Lavender has been saying that you were hospitalised for a drug overdose. Is it true?"

"Well, yes." Hermione whispered. "But it wasn't deliberate."

"Wasn't deliberate that you took the drugs, or wasn't deliberate that you overdosed?" Ginny's tone was disapproving, and the expression that took over her features was one to rival her mother. "Explain yourself."

Tears flooded the older girl's eyes. "Both. The potion was dreamless sleep. I've been having nightmares ever since I returned, and I think the potion stopped working. I was desperate, and I took some extra to try and get rid of the horrors, but I took too much and work up in the infirmary."

"Is it because of the attack?" Neville asked, and Hermione's head whipped around to look at him in confusion.

"How do you know?" She asked softly.

"Dumbledore's Army," he explained. "The coins still work, and when Fred and George were told about the attack, they arranged to meet us in the room of requirement. We asked the room for a safe place to meet them, where there wouldn't be any danger from unwanted visitors. They entered through the Hog's Head."

"You know they were properly inducted into the Order," Ginny added helpfully. "Dumbledore called a meeting to explain why you were here instead of with Harry."

Hermione flinched. "How much detail did he give?"

"Next to none. Or nothing that Fred and George told us, anyway. They said that you needed to do some research for the Order, and that you had been attacked by MoldyWart. I don't think they know what happened, exactly."

Hermione nodded dumbly. "That's good. That's good. At least no one knows."

"Do you think it might help to tell us?" asked Neville.

She shook her head as she began to cry fully. "No. I can't. Please don't ask."

"It's okay," Ginny offered, and wrapped her friend in a tight hug. "When you're ready, we're here. But no more potions, okay?"

Hermione laughed bitterly. "The staff are under instruction to make sure I can't get ahold of any, anyway. Last night I put silencing charms around my bed so I wouldn't wake Parvati and Lavender."

"Isn't there anything else you can try?" Neville asked sadly. "Anything non-harmful?"

Hermione nodded. "I think so. It'll take a while for me to learn how to do it though."

Ginny released her friend with a grin. "If anyone can learn something new, it's you! Smartest witch of your age, remember?"

This time, the words didn't sting, and Hermione laughed as Ginny nudged her side. A weight was lifted, and she felt calm, true calm, in the presence of true friends.

Lunchtime was a difficult affair. Stares and whispers surrounded her from all four tables, only the Gryffindors being shut down by glares and comments from Neville and Ginny. The younger years were swiftly put in their place, and the older years seemed to exude pity rather than anything else. With her friends flanking her on each side, Hermione made it through the meal and the three of them left as soon as they had finished their food, heading towards the dungeons. The gryffindors stayed close together, chatting quietly before splitting off to their respective classes.

"Granger," a familiar drawl called. "Looks like you're alone here."

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she hissed defensively. He rose his hands and approached her slowly.

"Just to see if you're okay."

"Why do you care?"

He frowned. "There's a lot of talk going around, and you're here by yourself. With the price on your head, so to speak, it wouldn't be safe alone anyway."

"Price on my head?"

He sighed. "With you separated from your friends, there are some people who would rather take you away from Hogwarts, if you catch my drift. And now, with the rumours of your hospital stay-"

"Why do you care, Draco?"

He shrugged. "You've been my classmate for over six years. Is it so unlikely that I'd want to check you're okay?"

"You've never given a shit before."

"I've never seen you alone before."

"So, what? You now think you can draw me in with you and your stupid death eater buddies?" she snapped.

"25 points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger," Snape growled menacingly. "I expect much better conduct from you."

She flushed. "I'm sorry Professor, Malfoy."

He inclined his head. "You two will be working together today. Hopefully that will help you to sort out your juvenile differences. If not… then I guess your potion should take care of the both of you."

Both of them gulped, and entered the dungeon at the wave of Severus Snape's hand. Draco went towards his usual desk, Hermione following forlornly and taking out her textbook.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy. I know that Slytherins aren't inherently evil."

"It's okay, Granger. I know Gryffindors have a hideous temper." He smirked at her, and Hermione felt the corners of her mouth twitch, even as a voice inside her head screamed at the wrongness of the situation.

Snape put all of the students into pairs as they entered the classroom, mixing the houses as much as possible before flicking his wand at the chalkboard.

"Today, we'll be creating Veritaserum. Since the lot of you should be intelligent enough to actually read your textbooks, we won't be discussing the potions beforehand. You'll need to simply make sure you prepare the potion correctly, or you'll be finding yourselves quite truthful in the time to come. Unless you feel like spilling your innermost secrets, you'll have to make sure to avoid your usual levels of stupidity," he sneered at them, and the whole class took on an expression of wide eyes and pale faces. "You may begin."

The class barely moved into action, each pair looking to each other and mumbling among themselves. Only Hermione and Draco made a move to begin the potion, the other students watching them as they set up their cauldron.

"So, think a bubblehead charm should protect us from the fumes?" Draco asked.

Hermione frowned. "It should do, but I'd think that to be unecessary…"

"Why? Feel like sharing your darkest secrets with me, Granger?"

She snorted. "Like I want to hear yours. I have enough nightmares as it is."

"Then why don't you want to use the charm?" he asked, and Hermione almost laughed at the confusion on his face.

"The ingredients separately aren't going to cause us problems, Malfoy."

"So? Unless you know at which point it becomes an issue, we should use the charm for the whole process…"

She smirked. "The base of the potion is also the base for the antidote. If we make double the amount of the base, we can then seperate half into a separate cauldron and brew the antidote simultaneously. We'll need to instead place a barrier over the veritaserum cauldron to prevent the fumes mixing, but if any slips out, then we'll have the antidote on hand anyway."

Draco frowned. "Then why not just make the veritaserum with the barrier? Much less work."

"Well, if we can protect our cauldron from hitting us-"

"We might not be able to stop the rest of the potions," Draco finished with a nod. "And if we let the fumes from the antidote free, it should weaken the effects of anyone who hasn't protected theirs."

"Yup. Plus, the potion is weak until it has matured. So the fumes from the antidote should make it so that the effects of the veritaserum are easily resisted."

Draco grinned. "You know, you're pretty smart, Granger."

"Thanks."

"But…" he smirked. "I also have an idea."

"Oh?"

"As you said, the Veritaserum takes a long time to mature - a full lunar cycle, if I remember correctly. If we simply strengthen the antidote, and allow it to produce more fumes, everyone should be protected even if someone's cauldron explodes."

Hermione nodded. "Veritaserum has some similar effects as a high dose of adrenaline. To counteract faster, I suppose one way would be to use a sort of vasodilator to slow down the progress of the serum being distributed around the body."

"Vasodilator?"

"A muggle word for causing the blood vessels to kind of expand rather than shrink, so blood pressure lowers."

Draco scowled. "And how exactly do you propose we get hold of it here, Granger? And how do we know it won't fuck up the antidote?"

A textbook hit him on the back of the head. "Five points from Slytherin for language, Mister Malfoy." Snape glared at the two of them before heading to another pair.

"Garlic is a natural vasodilator," Hermione murmured. "Ginger could also be useful as it's used in Wit Sharpening Potion."

Draco nodded. "At least these are familiar to wizards of proper breeding," he said haughtily. "I suppose they shouldn't damage the potion integrity either."

His lab partner smiled. "If we reduce the amount of knotgrass it should be alright. We don't want the ingredients bound together too tightly, or the fumes won't release. We also don't need it to help preserve it, as the addition of the two should help with the shelf life once the potion has stabilised. Ginger is a natural preservative."

Draco grabbed some ginger and garlic from his kit. "Let's get going."

As the rest of the class poked and prodded their potions with either a bubblehead charm or makeshift mask in place, Hermione and Draco buzzed with excitement as their two cauldrons worked together as intended. They finished first, and decanted both potions into bottles to take up to the front of the class.

Snape sneered at them. "Overachieving? Or perhaps, trying to? I sincerely hope that for both of your sakes the quality of your potion hasn't been sacrificed in your quest for glory."

His two students shared a look.

"Shall I assume that the second potion was your idea, Miss Granger."

"Yes, sir."

"10 points from Gryffindor," he snapped. "And what have you done to this antidote? It's looking rather off-colour to me. You're lucky it didn't explode."

"We adapted it to produce more potent fumes, sir." Draco said proudly.

"Oh?" Snape sniffed the vials. "Who decided that shoving ginger into it was the way to go, instead of simply following instructions?"

"Hermione," Draco said. "But it was my fault, I decided we should try and-"

"Detention, Miss Granger. I expect you here at 7 o'clock this evening. You're both dismissed."

Draco offered a muttered apology as they left the room, but Hermione brushed it off with a smile.

Occlumency lessons were about to begin.