Spoiler warnings for the Deathly Hallows.

The serpent's mates

Chapter 9

This is not a coincidence

During lunch, when Daphne had eaten with her friends, before Remus Lupin's class, she couldn't help but think about that look on Tom's face when he had heard the dark, misanthropic words that had come out of Hermione last night.

She didn't know why it bothered her so much.

It unsettled her, and she had no idea why.

That look on his face…

She tried to ignore why it made her uneasy. But the way that Tom had looked at Hermione, reminded her almost of the way a wolf would look at a wounded lamb. An almost predatory way.

Daphne didn't THINK it was sexual.

At least, she didn't think so.

She didn't believe it had been sexual. But she was positive that there had been something predatory there.

Why?

What was Tom after? If anything?

If Daphne really hadn't been imagining it.

Maybe Daphne had been imagining it. But if she hadn't been? What did it mean?

Maybe it really had been nothing. Still…

Daphne didn't like thinking about Tom like this. He was their friend. They might have known not that much about him, aside from that he was a half-blood, had graduated in the 1940s, his mother had died when he had been born, and his mother had been a witch, from the pureblood family, the Gaunt family, his father had been a muggle and had abandoned him and his mother and he had grown up in an orphanage and his soulmate, a muggle had been killed right in front of him.

And that was a lot, reasonably. But still, Daphne got the feeling that there was a lot that he had been keeping from them.

Still, Daphne didn't have long to consider that.

Eventually, time had come for students to go off to Hogsmeade.

It was freezing cold out, and there was snow all over the ground. So, Hermione and the others all dressed very warmly before they got ready to take off.

All students needed one thing to get to Hogsmeade. They required the signed form from their parents or guardians, and Daphne, like all of her friends, had sent off their forms to their parents and the forms got sent back, with signed names across them, or had been signed before arriving here at Hogwarts.

So, Daphne, Hermione, Astoria, Millicent, Pansy and the rest of the kids began to take off for Hogsmeade, with Snape leading them and as they passed one of the other courtyards, Daphne noticed Hermione looking through the stone archway, leading to one of the other entrances to the castle. The Gryffindors were following McGonagall away from the courtyard and both Daphne and Hermione noticed Harry Potter standing on the steps, watching the rest of the Gryffindors leaving.

Hermione frowned, looking at McGonagall.

"Professor?" She asked the Gryffindor House's head, "Why isn't Harry Potter coming with all of you to Hogsmeade?"

McGonagall sighed and said briskly, though softly, as despite Hermione being in Slytherin, it didn't change that she respected Hermione Granger's abilities, skills and intelligence, "As I'm sure you know, all students need a signed form to go to Hogsmeade from their parents or guardians. Mr. Potter does not have those forms. So, I'm afraid he can't go to Hogsmeade."

Hermione paused, then stared at McGonagall skeptically as she said, "So, let me see if I understand this-no one needs a signed form for playing one of the most dangerous sports ever, Quidditch? But going to a village that just happens to have booze and sweets, needs a signed form of consent from parents or guardians?"

McGonagall's aggravated look told all five Hermione, Daphne, Astoria, Millicent and Pansy exactly what McGonagall thought of that rule.

The professor answered, "I assure you, I feel no joy at upholding that particular rule. But unfortunately I don't make the rules."

"No," Hermione agreed, "You just help enforce them."

At the startled look McGonagall gave Hermione, Hermione turned away and walked away from Snape and the rest of the Slytherins and away from McGonagall. Hermione asked Daphne and the others quietly, "Can you guys wait here? I'll be right back."

Daphne, Pansy, Astoria and Millicent all shared a confused look, but they all nodded.

Hermione made her way over to where Harry Potter stood, ignoring Ron Weasley's furious snap of, "The hell are you doing, Granger? You get away from him, you slithering murderer!"

Hermione glanced out of the corner of her eye, jaw clenching and worrying that her friends might attack Weasley, but thankfully, McGonagall snapped at Weasley and deducted over twenty points from Gryffindor. She smirked at Weasley's face paling. Daphne, Astoria, Millicent and Pansy all looked ready to murder him, but Ginny, Ron's sister, punched him in the shoulder, snapping at him, so he more or less had been cowed into submission, thankfully. No need for Hermione's friends to risk getting into trouble.

Hermione got to Harry and asked gently, "Harry, you can't go to Hogsmeade?" She let Harry search her face, allowing him to see that she was genuine and she wasn't mocking him in any way.

He nodded. "Yeah," he said, "Need a signed form. And…my guardians, they weren't exactly what you might call cooperative or helpful with me."

Hermione knew that Harry's extended family, his uncle, aunt and cousin, the "Dursleys," were unpleasant people. At least, that was the gossip that ran around Hogwarts. Muggles that disliked Harry, mistreated him and he hated them as much as they hated him.

She sighed, sympathetic, seeing his solemn expression, "Do you want me to bring you back a lot of sweets from Honeydukes? I can bring you back some, if you tell me what types of sweets you like."

Harry looked startled at this offer.

"No," he said, "But thank you. It's alright. I think I'm just going to stay around Hogwarts."

Hermione sighed. "Are you sure?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "Thank you," he said again.

Hermione nodded and went back to join her friends.

Snape and the rest of the Slytherins and McGonagall and the rest of the Gryffindors, as well as the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs went off to Hogsmeade village. So, Hermione, Daphne, Astoria, Pansy and Millicent would have to head there themselves.

They began walking across the yard of the school and headed down to the village.

They got to the village, buying a good portion of sweets. They laughed together, ate, and talked.

It was fun.

Then, something odd happened-as was usually the case around here.

Pansy spotted something going across the snow and pointed it out to her friends. They all looked, holding their various treats in their hands as they did.

Footprints in the snow.

Footprints that kept appearing, but there was no one there.

Hermione, Pansy, Millicent, Astoria and Daphne all looked at each other in confusion. The hell?

Ghosts didn't leave footprints. And they could see ghosts.

And Tom, whatever he was exactly, didn't leave footprints either and they had been able to see him now for a year.

So, what was this new thing?

The girls watched the footprints reappear over and over along the snow.

Daphne slowly turned to look at Hermione. "Lemme guess," she said, "You think we should follow it?"

Hermione shrugged, looking slightly worried. "Well, it's not like the teachers are real strict about any protection provided for us. And they're letting dementors run around here. So, I'm thinking maybe we have to look out for ourselves. It doesn't look like the teachers are trying to do it."

Daphne and Millicent groaned. Well, she wasn't wrong.

"Alright," Astoria agreed, "Let's go."

The four of them and Hermione walked after the departing footsteps, caused by the invisible force.

They followed the footprints, till they spotted minister Cornelius Fudge, Hagrid and some others-including McGonagall, gathering around a pub. They were talking about…Sirius Black, about how he was potentially around the area. The group of authority figures went into the Three Broomsticks-the pub of the village, and saw all of the authority figures filing away into the pub and were startled when the cause of those footprints in the snow followed after them. The pub door closed and the five girls stopped in front of the building.

"Should we go after…whatever that was?" Astoria asked, frowning.

"Maybe we should wait," Hermione said, looking up along the length of the building, troubled, "If we hear screams or crashing, then maybe we should do something. But until then…"

So, they waited, sitting down on a bench that was across from the pub, dusting some snow off it first.

"You know," Pansy said, frowning, "I think I might know what that was we were chasing. Ever hear of an invisibility cloak?"

Hermione's eyes widened. Oh.

"An invisibility cloak?" Daphne asked, startled, "Hell, really? That would explain it. But aren't those rare?"

Pansy and Hermione both nodded.

Invisibility cloaks WERE rare.

The original invisibility cloak, made from the cloak of Death itself-supposedly, if one believed the Tale of the Three Brothers, the Tale of the Deathly Hallows as truth, anyway.

No one knew where the original invisibility cloak was-if it even existed. And no one knew where the other two Deathly Hallows were. The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, no one knew where they were. No one had seen them in centuries, either.

After almost a half hour, the door to the pub opened up, slammed open, really, and the footprints in the snow appeared again.

The footprints seemed to be going across the snow faster now, rapidly, really. Hermione and her friends watched with growing curiosity and growing apprehension.

They eventually reached a secluded area away from the village and they stopped in front of a large rock, hearing crying across from where they stopped.

Hermione looked at the others, confused.

"If that's an invisibility cloak," Millicent asked, "Then who is that?"

Hermione bit her lip. She had an idea. The crying sounded like it belonged to someone young, not older. Not like it belonged to a full-grown adult.

So, this wasn't Sirius Black, at least. And why would HE be crying, anyway?

So, who wasn't supposed to be here, and was young and would be upset after listening in on a conversation about Sirius Black?

Hermione slowly began to walk forward, approaching the figure seated on the rock. "Harry?" She asked gently.

She heard a few gasps behind her. "Harry?" Millicent asked, "Mione, are you sure?"

Hermione nodded and kneeled near the rock and reached her right hand up and slowly lowered her hand onto the area where she heard the sniffling coming from. She felt soft fabric under her hand and pulled gently. A cloak was pulled off of a crying young boy and yes, it WAS an invisibility cloak. And it WAS Harry.

Harry sobbed and cried, body shaking.

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly.

"He was their friend," he said, "And he betrayed them." He turned and looked up at Hermione, his usually gentle and calm face a mask of fury as he shouted, "He was their friend!"

Hermione shifted back, shocked.

Had…had Harry not known?

How had Harry not known? Everyone knew that Sirius Black had been James and Lily Potter's friend. And that he had betrayed them. Everyone knew that Sirius Black had been Harry Potter's godfather.

How…how had Harry not known?

Hermione felt a shard of disgust. How could any of the adults around Harry have thought that this was a good idea? Keeping something like this from Harry?

"I hope that he finds me," Harry said, still enraged, "I hope he does. Because when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him!"

Hermione shuddered. She knew he meant it. She could hear it. Could see it in his green eyes.

Harry meant every word.

Hermione recognized a fellow killer when she saw one. And this kid, he was someone ready to murder out of revenge.

And she couldn't blame him.

Hermione got up and walked back to her friends as Harry stewed in his rage.

Hermione looked to her friends who all looked shocked.

"He didn't know?!" Pansy hissed, "How the hell didn't he know?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't get it either," she said, "But he knows now. And he wants blood. I guess the most we can do is stay out of the way. He has every right to want to kill Black."

Astoria grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, "You're right. He does. But wow."

Millicent then looked at Harry. "How did you get out of the castle without anyone seeing your footprints? Even if you have an invisibility cloak, people would still see the footprints."

Still angry, Harry put his left hand on his left pocket of his robe, obviously hiding something.

Hermione sighed, "It's alright. We…no judgment. If you found a way out of the castle without anyone seeing your footprints, then goody for you. I AM curious about where you got that invisibility cloak from."

Harry looked at Hermione and he and Hermione shared a dangerous look.

Hermione didn't want to have to blackmail him. But if there was a threat here, they all had to be careful. They all had to know.

And Harry? He seemed to get that that was the only option she had here.

Harry glared and said, "From my father. I got a package from some anonymous person that said in the note with it that it belonged to my dad."

Hermione frowned. Interesting. Most invisibility cloaks lost their power after several years.

So, what type of invisibility cloak maintained its power to keep its bearer invisible for this long?

A whisper said in the back of Hermione's brain, (Like the original invisibility cloak? The one cut from Death's robes?)

Hermione stiffened. (You stop that!) She thought to herself.

She hated how wild her thoughts got. How she found herself jumping from one conclusion to the next.

Harry being in possession of the real, original invisibility cloak? That was insane.

That couldn't be.

"And how you got out of the castle without your footprints being seen?" Hermione asked.

Harry stared at Hermione, glared, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a parchment of some kind.

Hermione stepped closer, peering down at the parchment. Her eyes widened. It was a map of some sort.

"What is that?" She asked.

"Something the Weasley twins gave me," he said quietly.

He then added, taking out his maple wood wand and aiming it at the map, and said, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

The entirety of the map appeared on the parchment. All of Hogwarts and the Hogwarts grounds and several names across that map, right above multiple footprints appeared under each name on the parchment.

Harry said, "Those are the words that are used to see all of the map." He pulled his wand away from the map, "And to hide everything, you say, 'mischief managed.'"

Hermione nodded, eyeing the very obviously magically created map.

It was an entire map of the school grounds and all of the inhabitants in it.

"Did they make it?" She asked Harry, unable to help but ask the question, though she doubted that Fred and George had the skills necessary to make such a map.

Harry shook his head. "No," he said, "I don't think so. They said they found it."

Hermione nodded.

"What does it do?" Hermione asked.

Harry said, snorting weakly, "It can track the movements of every person in Hogwarts and on Hogwarts grounds."

Hermione's eyes widened. Okay, now she KNEW for sure that Fred and George couldn't have made this. This was a too complex type of magic.

"Why are you trusting us with this?" Daphne asked suspiciously.

Harry looked at Daphne, then looked back at Hermione and said, "I don't trust all of you. I trust Hermione." He grinned, despite the lingering anger on his face, "The way you chewed Malfoy out? That's enough reason for me. Besides, Neville trusts you."

Hermione nodded, smiling.

"So, you know nothing besides that it was found and Fred and George Weasley gave it to you?" She asked, "That's it?"

Harry nodded, still sniffling. "Yeah," he said, "That's all I know. I don't know where it came from."

Hermione sighed, "Alright. Harry, can I make a request?"

Harry looked at her, startled.

Hermione said, "If this map can keep track of people in the map, then can I borrow it? I'll return it, promise. But I want to keep a watch of the castle."

She had told herself that she would stop thinking about Remus Lupin and try to give him a chance to defend himself.

But IF he was what a part of her was beginning to think he was, then wouldn't he leave around the time of the full moon? On the day of when the full moon was to be in the air, and Hermione held the map out in front of her, would see Remus Lupin's footsteps leaving the castle, to hide somewhere so that he couldn't hurt anyone?

Harry looked at the map suspiciously, then slowly handed the map to Hermione.

"Alright," he said, "But give it back at some point, okay?"

Hermione nodded. As long as she was able to hold onto the map for a few months, if she saw the pattern? Then she'd know.

Also?

She really, really wanted to keep an eye on Snape.

He had been a death eater. That alone was reason enough.

But also, from what she had been able to see? He was vile to almost everyone he met. Which told her, what? That he was only working with Dumbledore because he benefitted from something Dumbledore offered him, or because he had to.

Which meant that Snape likely would side again with Voldemort, first chance he got.

So, yes, she wanted to keep an eye on that slimy creep. And she wanted to keep an eye on Malfoy and his group too, when they weren't sharing the common room and tables at the Great Hall, anyway.

Hermione took the map, nodding to Harry gratefully. "Thanks," she said to Harry.

Harry nodded, looking stressed and angry still.

Hermione added, "Hey? Don't tell Ron or any of the Weasleys or any of the other Gryffindors about this, okay?"

Harry looked at her hesitantly, then nodded. "Alright," he said, "But Promise me you won't tell Malfoy or any of the other Slytherins outside of your group."

Hermione nodded, smirking. "I think we can arrange that," she looked at the other girls and they nodded. She turned back to Harry, "Thanks for this, Harry." She said.

Harry nodded.

Then Hermione said, "Hey? I won't say a word about the fact that you know now about Sirius Black's connection to your parents. They shouldn't have kept that from you. I won't tell anyone that you intend to kill Black, okay? Promise. If you ask me, I think it's about time someone killed one of those fucking death eaters."

Harry sighed, nodding. "Right," he said, "You're a muggle-born, right? I guess you'd want them to be locked away for life."

Hermione nodded. "And YOU'RE a half-blood," she stated, "I still can't believe that Dumbledore let Snape work in a school near children."

At Harry's confused look, Hermione gawked. Wait, Harry didn't know about Snape either?!

Did this boy know anything?!

What were the teachers thinking, keeping all this from him?

"Harry," Hermione said, "Snape was a death eater. Before. But he had some information of some sort and gave it to Dumbledore, and in exchange, Snape wasn't imprisoned and got a job at Hogwarts."

Harry sat back on the rock, stunned.

"I know," Hermione said, "Fucked up, isn't it?"

In that moment, while it hadn't been said, an agreement had been formed between Hermione and her friends and Harry. They'd watch out for him, and he'd watch out for them. And they'd deliver any information they felt was important to each other.

They didn't need to say it. Hermione was positive that they all understood, without words.

Eventually, Hermione kept track of the days, made sure to know when the full moon was, and kept the map on hand, ready to look at it at any moment.

She had been looking at it every now and then during the night to inspect some of what the other residents of the castle and grounds were doing.

Then, one night, something happened.

Hermione was looking at the map as her friends, save for Daphne, slept, and she caught sight of something very, very strange.

A name on the map going through several Hogwarts halls.

The name attached to those footprints was the name "Peter Pettigrew."

Peter Pettigrew, the name of the friend of the Potters and Sirius Black, who had been killed by Sirius Black, before Sirius betrayed the Potters.

Hermione frowned.

The hell?

How was that possible?

Pettigrew was dead.

So, how-?

Hermione, before she could help herself, she swung herself out of bed and put on her shoes, grabbed her wand, grabbed the map and looked at Daphne and said, "I'll be back soon enough. Just stay here," and headed out of the room. She knew Crookshanks was running around the castle somewhere.

It was odd-Crookshanks hadn't been very present these past few months. He had been leaving her side every now and then. For what reason, she didn't know. But you know what? No judgment. He was part cat and part kneazle. He did what he wanted.

She walked out of the Slytherin common room and out from the portrait guarding it, then went down the hall, tracking Peter Pettigrew's footsteps.

Then when she was about to leave the dungeons, she heard footsteps behind her and jumped when she saw Daphne coming closer, her wand raised and light coming out of the tip of the wand.

Hermione's eyes widened.

"Greengrass," she grumbled, "What-?"

Daphne shook her head, "Don't feed me that, Mione," she said, "I saw that look on your face before you took off. Something important has just happened. What is it?"

Hermione huffed out.

She had half thought about waking her and Daphne's friends up.

But if this was all just a mistake the map made? If it was all an error or something-because there were mistakes in magic too, then if they got in trouble, it would all be for nothing. Still, it seemed odd that they were seeing Peter Pettigrew's name, just when Sirius Black, the former friend of Peter Pettigrew and Pettigrew's murderer, was on the loose.

Hermione sighed, knowing Daphne wouldn't let it go. She showed Daphne the map. "Look at that corridor," she said, pressing her lit wand to where Peter Pettigrew's footprints were.

She heard Daphne gasp.

"What-?" She asked, "Merlin's beard…, that's not possible, is it?"

Hermione shrugged. "Don't' know," she confessed, "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Daphne nodded. "I'm coming with you," she said.

Hermione snorted, rolling her eyes. "Because of course you are," she chuckled, "Fine. Well, let's go."

The two girls headed away from the dungeons and went to the upper levels of the castle, following Pettigrew's trail.

The two girls reached the corridor just one hall away from where Pettigrew had been walking, and the two of them saw when the footsteps turned the corner and started heading right for the two of them. Daphne and Hermione both looked up ahead in the pitch blackness of the hall, using their bright wands to see as well as they could.

They didn't see anyone coming.

"You see anyone?" Hermione asked, already knowing the answer, though the hall was dark and there wasn't much chance of anyone seeing anything.

"No," Daphne answered, "He should be getting close enough to be seen by now, right?"

"You'd think," Hermione said, looking down at the map, seeing the footsteps coming closer, then looked up at the hallway, still seeing no one coming, even though obviously if there was someone coming closer, it meant that someone logically was approaching, right?

But she saw no one, no matter how close the footprints were getting to her and Daphne on the map.

Hermione felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end, and she felt sweat accumulate on her back.

This was most likely a mistake of the magic that made the map-but nonetheless? This was getting pretty creepy.

Hermione looked down at the map again.

What? Wait, what?

Those footprints were right in front of her and Daphne now. Hermione looked up. There was no one in front of her. She looked at Daphne, seeing an equal amount of confusion on the other girl's face.

Hermione looked back down at the map, then saw that the footprints were beginning to circle around her and Daphne, to the left of them.

She then heard what sounded like…scuttling?

It sounded almost like little claw marks against wood.

Hermione whirled to the left of her and Daphne, waving her wand. She jumped back, seeing her reflection in a mirror, but then aimed her wand downwards, remembering the scuttling she had heard on the wooden floor.

Something flashed in the dark.

A tail.

Hairless. Wormlike.

Hermione's eyes widened. A rat? Why was there a rat here? And why would Pettigrew's name pop up when a rat went by her? Was that a thing? Did magic sometimes mistake animals for people?

"Um, Mione?" Daphne said, sounding worried.

Hermione looked at Daphne and saw Daphne pointing her wand at another set of footprints coming close to them, just coming around the next corridor. Hermione looked at those footprints.

Hermione's heart lodged in her throat at the sight. Severus Snape.

Hermione cursed quietly and she and Daphne quickly doused the light of their wands.

This, unfortunately, didn't last long.

Light spilled into the hallway, coming from Snape's wand, as he stood before them, his ever-present displeased sneer on his face.

"Ms. Granger," he said, "Ms. Greengrass. I wish I could say I was surprised. But I suppose that that it's natural the two of you are here, when you're supposed to be in bed."

"Professor," Daphne spoke up, something Hermione was immediately grateful for, since she knew she'd speak out of term, just out of pure anger against this man, "I'm sorry, but we thought we forgot something important. From class."

"Oh?" Snape said, eyebrows lifting, not even remotely buying Daphne's story, obviously, and he took the map from Hermione's hands in seconds, startling the muggle-born.

He looked down at the map. "And I suppose this odd thing is part of finding what you lost?" he asked mockingly and pointed his wand down at the map, and used a spell to reveal its secrets to him.

Hermione knew that it wouldn't work, but that didn't keep her from being tense.

Snape handed the map back to Hermione and she saw the words pop up on the map.

"Tell me what it says," he ordered and Hermione ignored her anger.

He could see the words, of course, but wasn't going to bother looking. He wanted her to obey him-she presumed as punishment for helping Neville as much as she did.

She read the words across the map and her eyes widened at the sentence. She said, "'Mr. Moony presents his compliments to professor Snape, and begs him to keep his ab…," her eyes widened when she read the rest of the sentence. Oh, boy.

"Yes, Ms. Granger?" Snape asked, "Continue."

Hermione took a breath and finished the sentence, "'and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.'"

Snape's eyes narrowed as Daphne stifled a giggle.

Hermione noticed a new sentence forming on the map. "Um," She said, "I think a new sentence is forming. I don't think you want me to read it."

Snape grabbed the map and read it, "'Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that professor Snape is an ugly git.'"

Daphne's eyes got bigger and Hermione could see Snape's jaw tighten more.

A new sentence popped up. It said, 'Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.'

Hermione had to clench her teeth to stop herself from laughing. Wow. This thing was seriously roasting Snape.

A new sentence appeared. It said, 'Wormtail bids professor Snape a good day and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.'

Snape turned his anger on Hermione and Daphne. "The two of you-were the two of you not in Slytherin-"

"Severus," a familiar voice said, interrupting Snape's fury, causing Snape to turn around as Remus Lupin appeared from behind the same corridor Snape had appeared from, "what is all this? I'm sure Ms. Granger and Ms. Greengrass are not causing any harm. What is it that has you worked up?"

Snape scowled at Remus and showed the other man the map.

Remus chuckled, observing the map. "This is obviously a joke map," he said, "bought at some joke shop, and designed to insult whoever tries to decipher the map," Remus smiled at Snape, seeming far, far too calm and at ease, "Now, then, are you finished with Ms. Granger and Ms. Greengrass?"

Snape said, looking at the map, "I suppose so. You know that they are in my house? I am the head of the house so they are my responsibility. They should not be out and about right now."

Remus nodded. "You're not wrong," he agreed, "but what teenager doesn't occasionally do things they shouldn't?"

Snape smirked coldly at Remus and said in a voice that dripped acid, "You would know something about that, wouldn't you, Remus?"

Hermione looked between the two men and it struck her then that there was something personal going on here. She had no idea what, but there was obviously something very personal-some grudge maybe, between the two of them.

Over what, she had no idea.

Then something stuck out to her about one of those messages in the map.

Not exactly the message itself, but the name in that message.

"Wormtail."

Hermione's mind flashed to that hairless tail she had seen thrash through the darkness of the hallway, before Snape had appeared.

A rat.

Wormtail. Was there a connection?

She knew that that was odd at best. So, there was a rat in Hogwarts, big deal.

Still, it remained in her mind.

And that rat had shown up JUST when Peter Pettigrew's footprints had appeared?

"Well, then," Remus said, "Should you send them off? Or should I? I don't think anything will benefit from this ridiculous joke of a map." He said, waving the map, smirking.

Snape scoffed, glaring at Hermione and Daphne.

He then said, "A word of advice, Ms. Granger, Ms. Greengrass," he glared at Remus, "Be careful who it is you ally yourselves with. No reason to tie yourselves to incompetent miscreants who can't ever offer anything except stupidity and laziness."

Snape stared hatefully at Remus and Remus remained with a soft smile on his face as Snape stalked off through the hall.

Remus sighed, pulling out his wand and alighting it. "Follow me," he said to the two girls, and Hermione and Daphne looked at each other, before following the DADA teacher.

They reached Remus's classroom and Remus said, shaking his head, "You should know not to go wandering about in the castle." He turned around and faced the two girls, looking grave, "You know that Sirius Black is on the loose, don't you?"

"Yeah," Hermione said, nodding, "But why would he come after us?"

"Don't be so overconfident, Ms. Granger," Remus said, "Don't forget, you're a muggle-born. And Sirius Black was a follower of You-Know-Who. And don't forget either, from what I've heard, you caused Him quite a bit of grief during your first year, didn't you?"

Hermione grunted. Did everyone know about that?

Well, yes, she supposed that that was a dumb question.

Yes, everyone knew about that.

News of the altercation she had had with Voldemort and Quirrell had reached everyone's ears, including the ears of the Ministry of Magic, even though Fudge was deaf to the mentions of Voldemort.

So, yes, Remus knew about it.

"I'm not scared of Sirius Black," Daphne said, thankfully taking the attention off of Hermione.

"Well," Remus said, "That's your mistake. He escaped Azkaban. No one else has. And he got the Potters killed. And he murdered their friend, Peter Pettigrew. Only a finger was left of Pettigrew."

Hermione tensed, thinking about what she and Daphne had seen on the map.

"About that," Daphne started, before Hermione made a small hissing noise and when Daphne looked at her, Hermione shook her head.

Daphne's eyes widened, then shut her mouth.

Remus looked between them.

"Yes?" He asked.

Daphne shook her head, "Never mind," she said, "We just were wondering about the fact that you knew all of them."

Hermione breathed out with relief when she saw Remus nod. She was immensely grateful for Daphne's save.

Remus said, "Yes, unfortunately, I knew Sirius Black. It's not something I'd like to talk about. The both of you should go back to your dorm. And don't go back out of your dorm," he waved the map, "Or I'll know."

Hermione nodded and she and Daphne left his classroom. When they were close to the dungeons, Daphne asked, "Why did you stop me from telling him about Pettigrew's footprints?"

"Because we don't know if we can trust Remus Lupin yet," Hermione said, "Let's just keep it quiet. I mean, we should tell Astoria, Millicent and Pansy. But no one else."

Daphne nodded, looking troubled at this development.

The two of them entered the Slytherin common room and went to their room.

As Hermione got ready for bed, she was concerned.

Peter Pettigrew's footprints appeared on the map, and that same map had the name "Wormtail," on it. And Peter Pettigrew's name appeared just before Hermione had seen the tail of that rat.

She and Daphne had seen those footprints on the map, but they hadn't seen any person coming near them in the halls.

What did that mean?

Soon, a new word was forming inside Hermione's mind.

It wasn't "werewolf" this time.

It was another word.

Animagus.

If Peter Pettigrew had been fearing for his life, had he made it look like he was dead, hiding as a rat to escape from Voldemort's loyal follower, Sirius Black?

Was that what had happened?

Either way, something odd was going on here.

As always.

The next day, Hermione pulled Harry to the side, ignoring Ron's disgusted look cast her way and she apologetically informed him that Remus Lupin had confiscated the map.

Harry looked genuinely upset, obviously, but Hermione cautioned him that if Lupin had the map, then that invisibility cloak of Harry's wouldn't help him. Lupin would know if Harry was out and about, cloak or no.

Later on in the day, they started to head back to their dorms, when they heard commotion above.

Staircases and rooms above, people were crying out and yelling.

Hermione, Pansy, Millicent, Astoria and Daphne all whirled, hearing yelling above.

"What?" Hermione asked.

She had been saying that a LOT lately, hadn't she?

One other Slytherin ran over, grinning. She said, "It's the Fat Lady. She's not in her portrait. There are a bunch of slash marks over her portrait. So, Dumbledore's sending a search party out for her."

Hermione and the others looked at each other and they could practically feel each other's shivers.

As Astoria, Millicent and Pansy reached the edge of the staircase leading up to the upper levels, Daphne looked at Hermione.

"Do we think this is a coincidence?" She asked.

"A coincidence?" Hermione asked.

Daphne nodded, "Pettigrew showed up on the map." She said, "Remus Lupin is here. Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban, and now this?"

Hermione grimaced. She didn't like it, but Daphne had a point. Three people, all them had been tied to the Potters in some way, one of them was a teacher here now, one of them, the one that had gotten the Potter parents killed, had escaped from Azkaban, and another one of them, or the shadow of one had appeared on a magical map.

Just what the HELL was going on here?

"No," Hermione confessed, "It's not a coincidence. I don't know how it's connected. But it can't be a coincidence."

Daphne nodded, looking tense.

Neither of them liked this.

Neither of them believed this to be a coincidence.

Hermione and Daphne followed their friends up the stairs and saw the madness in the upper levels.

Running around on the moving staircases, students and staff alike were going wild, looking at each portrait decked out all over the walls all around the staircases.

The many different portraits were going wild too. People were jumping from one painting to another, crying, screaming and searching for the Fat Lady.

Eventually, the Fat Lady was found. Hiding in a portrait with several pigs, hiding behind one black pig.

The Fat Lady lifted herself up and talked to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was with a bunch of Gryffindors, so, he was too far from Hermione, Daphne, Astoria, Millicent and Pansy couldn't hear what was being said between the headmaster and the terrified Fat Lady.

However, whatever was said, obviously wasn't a good thing. Because only a second later, all of the Gryffindors were yelling and gasping.

"What do you think that's about?" Millicent asked.

"Have no idea," Astoria said, "But it can't be good."

Dumbledore made his way down the stairs and yelled, "All students get their belongings from your dorms and go back into the Great Hall! All students, stay in the Great Hall for tonight! All entrances to Hogwarts will be locked up!"

Hermione and her friends looked at each other, confused. The fuck?

They quickly went to get all their belongings and got everything, heading out.

Hermione stuffed Tom's diary into her bag, keeping it close. She whispered to the diary, unsure if Tom could hear her or not, "Tom, we're moving from the dorm, for some reason I don't understand. Don't worry, I'll keep you close so you don't get lost. Sorry if you can feel us moving." She quickly hid the diary close to her and trailed after her friends, carrying everything out. She didn't know where Crookshanks was. He was somewhere, running around. He'd sniff her out if he wanted to find her.

When they reached the Great Hall, Hermione caught Harry's eye.

"Harry," she whispered, "What happened? Why did the Fat Lady freak out?"

Harry grimaced, a disturbed look on his face.

"Sirius Black," He said, fire and conviction in his eyes, "He broke into Hogwarts. Slashed up the Fat Lady's portrait. Trying to get into Gryffindor Tower. Trying to get to me."

Hermione's eyes widened.

Oh.

Sirius Black had broken in.

Hermione looked at her friends as they walked into the Great Hall with their belongings.

She saw the fear all over their faces.

Sirius Black had gotten into Hogwarts.

Even with all the dementors around? He had managed to get in.

The five girls reached the Slytherin side of the Great Hall and got under their blankets, laying down next to each other. Daphne whispered to Hermione in the dark as everyone settled in, "This isn't a coincidence. Sirius Black getting in when his old friend, Remus Lupin is a teacher and able to open up some entrances of Hogwarts, when he wanted to?

No.

It wasn't a coincidence.

Daphne didn't have to say it, because Hermione was thinking it too.

Remus Lupin wasn't to be trusted.

He was helping Sirius Black.

Both girls went to sleep, aware of this now.

Author's note

So many brilliant conclusions, and unfortunately, Hermione and Daphne have jumped to the wrong one.