Hermione's head was spinning.

After they'd entered the Room of Requirement, she'd found nearly everyone from Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, huddled together in a room as large as the English Channel. There was some food and water near the front, but mostly everyone was in packs, wrapped with blankets and pillows.

The professors and the Order were near to the front, keeping their wands trained on the doors in case the Death Eaters realized they were in here. When Neville told everyone that Hermione had stupefied a Death Eater outside, Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick carefully exited to try and collect him.

Draco, who still looked like Lucius, was taken to the front, tied against a chair, and left with Neville and Dean to guard him.

News spread around quickly, and Harry and Ron raced to meet Hermione at the door. She didn't hug either of them until they both told her a secret that only they would know – Harry told her that the reason they fought the troll during first year was because she was in the bathroom, and Ron told her that they only found Peter Pettigrew because Crookshanks had been chasing Scabbers around for ages.

At that, Hermione grabbed both of them and burst into tears. Harry hugged her tightly, promising that it would be alright. Ron stood there awkwardly for a moment, then hugged both of them.

For a moment, Hermione let herself feel safe in Harry and Ron's arms. She pretended everything was alright, and that they would just wake up tomorrow and the entire past year just wouldn't have happened.

Slowly, she pulled away and wiped her tears. "Alright, that's enough of that. Bring me up to date."

"We don't know what their plan is, but Death Eaters have somehow gotten the hairs of students at Hogwarts. They've Polyjuiced themselves and infiltrated the school." Harry took a deep breath. "Neville and I discovered it when we spotted three different Rons at the same time. It was a mass panic, but we managed to rescue everyone. Dumbledore put the school on lockdown, and we converted the Room of Requirement. Then we brought the students in, one-by-one, and we used truth serum to make sure they were who they said they were. In the middle of that, Hogsmeade started to get invaded, too. I spilt up Dumbledore's Army into two, and so several people went to Hogsmeade and brought the townspeople up here, while the rest of us went through the others at Hogwarts."

"Lucius wants to cause mass panic." Hermione murmured, more to herself than anyone. She glanced up to see nearly everyone watching her. "When – when they hosted that event in front of Malfoy Manor, when Constantine was Polyjuiced as Harry and almost killed Headmaster Dumbledore…the reason they called so many reporters was because they wanted it to be reported upon. Then everyone would be panicked and scared, like they are right now. The Savior of the Wizarding World, Harry, would be…he would be a pariah right now."

"Why would they invade Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, though?" Ron asked. "I mean, I understand if they came here to scare everyone, because their kids are here, but…Hogwarts doesn't have the power to change anything. It's not like Dumbledore's the Minister of Magic or anything."

"Fear is powerful, Ron." Harry responded. Hermione could see the goosebumps on his arms. She wanted to hug him again, promise him that everything would be okay.

Before anyone could say anything, there was a loud groan from Draco's chair.

He was doubled over, moaning, and his skin was bubbling, turning from an ashy shade to a much healthier white – despite the paleness. His hair started to recede back to a normal style, and in a few minutes, Draco Malfoy stared back at them.

"Draco!" Hermione gasped. She knew it had been him all this time, of course, but there was still a lingering doubt. Not to mention, he literally looked like his father. She wasn't exactly attracted to that feature.

Neville released his bonds and Draco stood up and stretched. Hermione resisted the urge to rush over and embrace him tightly.

"I need a shower." Draco grumbled softly. "Also, I had a thought."

"Must've been difficult." Ron snickered.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Draco narrowed his eyes, but focused on Harry. "If they're infiltrating Hogwarts, what makes us so certain they haven't also infiltrated the Ministry? Didn't they try something similar to this last time, too?"

Harry nodded. "I thought about that, too."

"It still doesn't tell us what the ultimate goal is, though." Ron argued. "If it's world domination, why did they stop here?"

"I believe Mr. Weasley is correct." Professor Dumbledore spoke up.

Hermione blinked, suddenly remembering that they weren't alone. "What do you think, Professor?"

He smiled kindly at her. "The truth is, I do not know. The only thing I know with absolute certainty is that you – all of you, students – you are the ones who will guide us. We are simply your soldiers."

"Are you sure about this, Dumbledore?" Molly spoke up. She did not look happy. "They're just children!"

"They haven't been children for a while, my dear." Professor Dumbledore replied. "And if we so selfishly asked for their help during the war against Voldemort, we can no longer tell them we do not value their input in our decisions. The world is theirs now, and we are only here as support."

Hermione took a deep breath. Despite the inspiring speech, she felt so very small. She appreciated what Professor Dumbledore was trying to do, but she wanted a grown-up to take over.

"Well, thanks Professor." Draco said awkwardly when no one else spoke up. Hermione smiled a little. She wanted to reach over and grab his hand, but she stopped herself. They needed to have a conversation when all this was over.

"Let's recap, then." Harry said. "And – let's get some more heads on this. Neville, can you see if Luna is available? And uh, Dean, have you seen Blaise and Theo? What about Pansy Parkinson? Anyone who can give us insight into the Pureblood mindset, the Slytherin mindset, or – most importantly – the Malfoy mindset."

"What we really need is the Constantine mindset." Draco muttered.

Everyone raced to Harry's aid, so Hermione took a few minutes to close her eyes. She settled down on the chair that Draco had been tied to and took a few deep breaths.

"Headache?"

Hermione glanced up. Draco was standing in front of her, looking a bit concerned. She swallowed and gave him a small smile. "No, I'm alright. It's just a lot."

"I know what you mean." He said quietly. "Listen, Hermione…I need to – I want to thank you. You saved my life back there. I think you probably saved everyone's life, honestly, just by coming after us in the first place. But when I was in my father's body…I really didn't think anyone would know. Thank you."

Hermione let out a breath. Her vision blurred for a second, but she blinked away the tears. How was she supposed to tell Draco Malfoy that the reason she trusted him so much was because she was certain that she was in love them?

How did she know?

What if she was wrong? What if he didn't like her back, and she looked like an idiot in front of everyone?

She shouldn't be confusing herself right now, not with war brewing on the horizon. Or worse – what if she distracted Draco? What if he got himself killed because she told him?

In the midst of her panic, Draco reached over and gripped her hand. He bent over and lightly brushed his lips over the back of her hand, then straightened up.

And he didn't let go.

Hermione stared at their hands for a minute. Then she tightened her grip. Draco wasn't looking at her, but she could the ghost of a smile on his face.

Relief sunk into her shoulders. She knew they would have to have a real conversation about it later, but for now…this was enough.

Hermione clung onto Draco's hand and closed her eyes again. She could hear Harry and Ron talking in the background, inviting their friends to gather around and think about how to handle Constantine and Lucius.

Lucius was the mastermind behind everything, and Constantine was his right hand. If there was a way to separate the two…but that didn't seem possible. Constantine was devoted to Lucius. They didn't have any double agents to try to sever that connection.

Her mind kept circling back to the question: What did they want?

Voldemort had wanted immortality and undying support. He didn't actually care about blood purity – after all, he himself was a half-blood. He simply used his followers' fervent actions to further his own goals.

So, what did Lucius want?

His family, clearly. He went to great lengths to ensure that he had Draco by his side as his plan unfolded, and he still had Narcissa trapped with him. And then? He was certainly a blood purist. He wanted to cause terror and fear throughout the Wizarding World.

Hermione sighed in frustration. She didn't know Lucius Malfoy well enough to plod through his motives.

What about Constantine?

Constantine wanted to serve Lucius, of course. She wanted what Lucius wanted.

Something about that thought seemed a little odd to Hermione. Constantine had not been raised to worship Lucius. She'd been raised by muggles, actually. So how did…

Hermione sat up straight and tugged on Draco's hand. "Draco, listen! Thinking about motivation, right? Constantine was raised by muggles. She was raised an orphan."

"That's right." Draco confirmed. "She slaughtered her first family, then went to the group home, then slaughtered all of them later on too."

"But, think about it." Hermione said slowly. "Who does that? Which child is capable of that?"

"Constantine, obviously."
"She's so cold-hearted and cruel that she murders people in cold blood." Hermione pressed her lips together. "And then she comes to England to…to what? Become a follower of Lucius Malfoy? A girl who is that intelligent, precise, and merciless?"

Draco paused. "Yes, but Lucius was her only connection to London. Otherwise, she wouldn't have any reason to come here. And she's really devoted to him. I think the only reason she spent so much time after me was because I'm her cousin. She didn't go after any other Pureblood children like that."

"I just don't think that's it, though." Hermione mumbled. "It seems so strange. Why does her entire world revolve around a man who essentially just dumped her across the pond?"

"She's Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter." Draco reminded her. "She's crazy."

"But…" Hermione tilted her head. "Bellatrix only followed Voldemort because his end goal was the same as hers."

"We don't know what my father's end goal is." Draco pointed out.

Hermione sighed in frustration. She closed her eyes, trying to think of everything she knew about Constantine. Something in the back of her mind made her certain that Constantine was a vital piece of the puzzle.

There was a sudden uproar at the other end of the massive room. Lavender and Parvati sprinted over to them. "Harry! Professor McGonagall! We were just listening to the radio – they've made an attack at the Ministry!"

"What's happened?" Arthur Weasley asked. "Who was hurt?"

"The news reported that no one was hurt as of right now." Parvati replied. "The Ministry's been evacuated, but half the roof caved in! The Department of Magical Creatures is buried under rubble!"

Hermione sucked in a breath.

Harry made his way over. "Thank goodness Kingsley Shacklebolt is a rational person. We sent news of Hogwarts' attack to everyone we knew – the Ministry, Diagon Alley, Beauxbatons…nearly everywhere. He evacuated everyone."

"That was…that was actually intelligent of you, Potter." Draco said, voice slightly awed.

Harry blushed a little. "Er – thanks. It's something I wish we'd been able to do last time."

The commotion started to settle. Hermione slowly untangled her hand from Draco's and stood up. "Something just isn't adding up! I need to think."

"You'll figure it out, Mione." Harry said comfortingly.

Hermione wanted to shout that no it wasn't making any sense, she couldn't figure it out! How was she supposed to put the pieces of the puzzle together if some of the pieces were missing?

"It's too bad we can't spy on them." Draco muttered. "I should've grabbed some hair from my father when I had the chance."

"Hair?" Harry asked.

"So we could see him in our dreams, I dunno. It sounds stupid, but it worked for Hermione to find me." Draco tried to explain.

It was like the fog suddenly cleared from Hermione's mind. She whirled around. "What did you say?"

"The-the potion." Draco stammered. "Remember?"

"That's it!" Hermione exclaimed. "Merlin's journal! That's got to be Constantine's motive. It's got to be something to do with Merlin's journal – I need to go to the library!"

"Er, Hermione, I don't think that's exactly the safest thing to do right now." Harry paused. "Why is Merlin's journal important?"

"That's why I need the library." Hermione insisted. "Let's go!"

The boys looked mystified, so Hermione marched past them for the door.

"Geez, Mione, why can't we stay where it's safe?" Ron complained. Nevertheless, when Hermione glanced behind her, Harry, Ron and Draco were right there.

The door had a peephole. Hermione stood on her tiptoes and peered out. It didn't seem like there was anyone there, so she quietly cast a disillusionment spell and carefully creaked it open.

"Too bad we don't have my cloak." Harry said pointedly. Hermione gave him a sheepish smile.

They did have their wits, though, and they waited until the halls cleared before barreling toward library. Hermione let Harry and Draco navigate, focusing on the thread of thought that was starting to unravel in her mind.

Lucius Malfoy and Constantine Lestrange started by inciting fear and panic throughout the wizarding world – first they were going to stage Harry, murdering Dumbledore or herself. Then, they were going to take over Hogwarts and the Ministry. They ordered Death Eaters and Voldemort Loyalists to come out of hiding and help them in this. The entire time, Constantine used Merlin's journal – first the dream potions, then the Reviver, and all other manner of magic that had never been seen before.

In the library, Hermione raced to the Restricted section. She remembered reading something about Merlin in her earlier years, for some light reading. The book she'd read had referenced another book that was in the Restricted section. She'd never gone looking for it because it was against the rules.

Now, however, she blew past the shelves and went straight to the Historical Prominent Wizards section.

Merlin, the Greatest Hero and Tragedy of All Time.

First page. While most of us know who Merlin is, and indeed most of his backstory, there are quite a few holes in the established timeline. First of all, no one knows for certain where Merlin comes from…

Skip.

Tenth chapter. Merlin's Journal.

Hermione sucked in a breath. She turned the page. It has been speculated upon that Merlin kept a journal of his most secret and dangerous, as well as his most experimental, spells and potions. Among these include divine dreams, locator spells, experimental spells that later led to commonly-used spells as lumos and alohomora, and dark magic. Given that Merlin pre-dates the modern-day classifications of magic, it is only natural that he too experimented with some dark magic before realizing the severity of his actions.

Some of the dark magic spells that Merlin created involved elements such as summoning the life and magical force from one creature and inputting it into another. Further magic includes the attempt to reincarnate those whom Death has befriended. Finally, the most severe of all spells – the precursor to the Imperius Curse.

Though not much is known about this spell, it is speculated that Merlin used rats and spiders to practice upon. The ultimate goal of this spell was to take the life force and magical energy of one creature and imbue it to another, thus forever elongating the life and strengthening the magic of that creature. Merlin soon realized the danger that this spell wrought, however. This spell was said to have destroyed victims of their free will for as long as their life force belonged to another, only ending when they dropped dead. The spell-caster absorbed the power. The more powerful the victims, the more powerful the spell-caster. It has been said that the ultimate villain could use the spell to control the entire world – simply absorbing miniscule amounts of life force from each person at a time, thus living forever and as the ruler of a world with no free will.

Merlin's journal, if it ever existed, has long since disappeared from public view, most likely hidden away by some scholar or guardian who has deemed these spells too dangerous.

Hermione sucked in a breath. Constantine wasn't in England, working under Lucius Malfoy, simply for the purpose of serving her master.

No. Constantine had her own plans.