Plans in Motion
She grunted and breathed hard as she ran past the gates leading up the main path towards the castle. She hated this part. It was a slow incline up to the steps leading into the castle. She was making great time though. She had been doing better and better with every run and now she was up to her five-kilometer goal, shaving off time with every run. Ever since her first practice with Aberforth, "No," she thought, "Not practice. It was a wake-up call." She had never failed so completely before and that fact hurt more than when she had been magically thrown against the column after being blown back from a spell.
She picked up her pace and raised her knees as she passed the halfway point on the hill. Her muscles were burning, but a good burning. It meant she was pushing herself and getting stronger. She wanted to be stronger. She needed to be stronger. She was puffing hard with breath as she approached the final crest and she felt exhilarated from the knowledge that she was finishing strong.
Any thoughts of racing to the steps vanished as she crested the hill because it was a comical scene that greeted Hermione as she looked at the steps. Valdore and Luna were sitting on the steps holding a banner that flashed "Well-done Hermione!" and then flashed "We ate your breakfast." She started to laugh and had to slow her run to keep from coughing from the lack of oxygen. By the time she reached the base of the steps she had slowed to a walk. She laughed as she bent over and placed her hands on her knees.
"That was impressive!" Valdore called out, "Well done!"
Luna was clapping and cheering for her friend.
Hermione, still laughing, climbed the steps and then sat down beside them, "Thanks," she said and tried to regain her breath.
"I'm tired just watching you," Valdore said indicating the path she'd just run up, "The way you crested that hill! I mean I keep in shape, but I got nothing on you."
Hermione let out one burst of laughter and leaned back on the cold stone steps. She could feel the coldness seep into her tired muscles and the soft cold breeze making the sweat-plastered hair feel like cold-spaghetti on her forehead.
Luna folded the banner up and placed by her side and looked at her friend, "You're taking this training very seriously."
Hermione, eyes closed, just nodded. Valdore gave Luna a meaningful look and decided to pry a bit more, "Training for the Triwizard's Tournament?"
"Good Lord no," Hermione said in an almost groan, "After my first training session with Aberforth, I realized I needed to get back in shape."
"Uh huh," Valdore said with mirth in his tone, "Got your arse handed to you, didn't you?"
"Something like that," was all Hermione said with a slight groan.
Luna chuckled, "Stop teasing her," she said to Valdore with no hint of meaning it, "Hermione's never taken failure of any sort lying down."
Valdore looked at the now prone form with arms outstretched next to him, "Yes, she's seems to be taking this challenge on her feet."
The two women laughed knowing that he was teasing her laying down at the moment. Hermione sat up and stretched for a minute before standing up. She regarded her two friends and their now blossoming relationship. Luna was huddled into Valdore for warmth. She smiled at their intimacy and knew that they were perfect for each other.
"So, what's next on your agenda of physical fitness?" Valdore asked, "Going to toss a troll around for fun?"
Hermione laughed and shook her head, "A shower is next and then breakfast. I'm starving!"
"We both would be very grateful by your kind gesture of a shower," Valdore said with a smile.
Hermione and Luna each slapped his arms in playful response. Although Luna discreetly added a soft kiss to his cheek for good measure. The three entered the castle and Hermione felt the immediate rush of warm air on her cold body as she passed through the doorway. She breathed in the warm air and felt it fill her lungs and warm her insides.
"I'll meet you both back here in ten minutes?" Hermione asked at the base of the steps.
Valdore and Luna nodded, but Luna replied, "Of course."
The two friends watched as Hermione bounded up the steps, taking two at a time before disappearing around the second landing.
"She's taking this very seriously isn't she?" Valdore asked.
Luna nodded, "Yes."
He looked down at her with concern, "She's training for facing Snape isn't she?"
Luna looked up at him, but didn't answer right away. Her hesitation was all he needed to know. He blew out a breath and shook his head.
"Damn her arse," he muttered and walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.
Luna took one last look at the empty staircase before following him.
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Snape bent over the device and looked through the magnifying glass at the elaborate workings. In another time and place he would have taken the time to marvel at the beautiful construction and intricate design. But this was not that time. He had work to do and his time was running out.
Without looking, he reached out and grabbed a small tool resembling a jeweler's screwdriver. He placed the tip against the almost microscopic gears and muttered an incantation. He watched as the gear repaired itself and then heard a soft click. Suddenly, the gears started spinning. He sat back and put the tool down. He watched as the device whirled to life and softly clicked and ticked. He waited, almost holding his breath to see if his repairs worked.
After a few minutes, the device let out a small squeal-like sound and stopped working. He snarled in anger and frustration. This, of course, would go a lot faster if he had the right tools and someone who actually knew how to repair it. He was lucky that Borgin even could get his hands on it. He grunted again and bent over the device. He knew it would not fix itself with him just staring at it and he still had a long way to go.
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"Professor, can I ask you something?"
Hermione put her finger on the page of her book and looked at the quizzical face that sat across from her. Since the night of her detention, Chandra Hartwell had turned herself around and become quite the model student. Even after being dumped by Jackson, she had temporarily been depressed, but quickly realized she was better than him and was happier than she could remember.
Chandra had quickly become one of Hermione's favorite students, just as Hermione had become Chandra's favorite professor. The two had formed a bond during their night of detention and Hermione had felt that Chandra had become one of the best Head Girls that she could remember. She had become proud of the young girl and helped her in any way she could to succeed.
Now Chandra was sitting across from Hermione, working on an extra credit assignment. Well, sort of. Hermione also saw she was genuinely curious and nervous about something.
"What is it?"
Chandra put her quill down, "I was wondering what it is like to be madly in love with someone?"
Hermione's mouth quirked upwards. Many times when they were together, Chandra would ask Hermione about relationships and boys. Hermione was getting the impression the Head Girl was fishing for information, but was unable to ask her questions directly. Although Hermione was pleased that Chandra trusted her to ask for her advice on boys and dating.
"Why?" Hermione asked, putting a bookmark in the book, "Is there someone whom you are madly in love with?"
Chandra's face went crimson in embarrassment, "No, no Professor!" she gave a nervous chuckle, "Well maybe," she replied sheepishly.
Hermione smiled, "Anyone I know? Does he know?"
Chandra shook her head, "A seventh year boy and not really."
Hermione nodded her head and didn't press for the boy's name, "Well this is a lucky boy then to have earned your attention."
She sat up and looked into Chandra's eyes, "I think you might still be a bit young for 'mad love'," Hermione said, "But when it happens… it feels like there's no one else in the world that understands you. He almost instinctively knows what you feel. And they're so willing to be vulnerable for you, so you can see the real him."
"Like you and Harry Potter for example?" she stopped and blanched, thinking she had crossed a line.
Hermione blinked and didn't answer right away, "Yyyyes," she said slowly, "Harry and I did have that kind of love. But it came from a foundation of deep friendship."
"He was your best friend?"
Hermione nodded, "Oh yes," she smiled sadly, "Ever since he rescued me from the troll in our first year, he has been my closest friend and confidant."
"He rescued you from a troll?!" Chandra asked shocked.
Hermione chuckled, "Yes he did. Eleven and with no real knowledge of magic, he and our friend Ron, saved me."
"What happened?" she paused again, "If you don't mind me asking that is."
Hermione shook her head, "Well, it's not a fantastically romantic story. It was kind of my fault it happened really. See, I was such an insufferable know-it-all back then and Ron had pointed it out," she paused and grumbled, "Like an uncultured git, and it hurt me deeply. I had started to like Harry then. Not as a boyfriend though, as a friend. There was something about him that I was drawn to."
She shifted in her chair, "Well, the DADA professor at the time, Quirrell, had let the troll in so he could try and steal something for Voldemort. He failed, but the troll had managed to blunder its way into the girl's bathroom on the first floor. I had been so upset by Ron's comment and Harry's laughing at it that I hid in the bathroom for most of the day crying. Well long story short, Harry had heard I was in there and was certain I didn't know about the troll loose in the castle, so he came to find me. After a brief, and looking back on it a somewhat humorous fight, they saved me. We became best friends almost immediately from that point on."
Chandra gasped in relief at the end of the story. She had been listening in stunned silence as Hermione retold the adventure with the troll, "When did you start to love him?"
"Oh much later," Hermione said, "It was about the time of the Triwizard's Tournament. I was helping him with his tasks and I realized how much danger he was in. It almost drove me mad with worry and dread watching him."
"Did you tell him then?" Chandra asked thoroughly entranced with the story of Hermione's first, and only love.
Hermione quickly shook her head and let out a brief laugh, "On Lord no! I was way too scared to do that, and I'm not sure how he would have taken it. I was so caught up with not losing the best friend I had to a failed relationship, that I buried my feelings for another year."
"But everything worked out right?"
Hermione nodded with a sad smile, "Yes, but not in the way I expected," she whispered, "I did lose my best friend, but what I gained was so much more special," her eyes lost their focus as her mind went deep into her past, "I gained the other half of my soul," she said in a whisper.
Chandra blinked away a tear and looked down at the desk. She felt suddenly horrible for asking such a personal question and digging up feelings in her professor that had long been dormant.
"I'm so sorry Professor."
Hermione's eyes focused back on the present and the girl across from her. She shook her head and wiped away the tear that had fallen, "No, please. It's okay," she replied, "I just hope that you someday find that one person who completes you."
Chandra nodded and packed up her books, "I should go. Thank you, Professor. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Chandra."
The young girl left. Hermione looked down at the book on the desk and sighed.
"You were the other half of his soul."
Hermione jumped a little in surprise at the voice in the doorway. Luna, with a sad smile on her lips, walked into the candlelit room and sat across from her closest friend.
"You were his other half too," she said.
Hermione choked up, her lower lip quivering, and nodded, unable to speak.
"He told me before the last battle that he had never felt for anyone the way he felt for you. He felt whole. Complete."
Hermione broke down with a sound of pure anguish. Luna quickly stood and went around to hold her friend. She held Hermione tight and kissed the top of her head. A soft sound at the door and Luna saw Valdore standing in the doorway, not sure what to do. Luna shook her head at him and he nodded, standing still where he had stopped.
"I miss him so much," Hermione sobbed into Luna's shoulder.
Luna's heart broke hearing the agonizing pain in her friend's voice. She slowly rocked her friend in her arms comfortingly and hummed softly in Hermione's ear to try and calm her, her own tears quietly streaming down her cheeks.
Valdore stood still, struck dumb at hearing his friend's grief. In all of his life, he had never heard such a sound of pain. Her pain was beyond anyone's help and only Luna, who was there, could possible know what that pain was like. He watched in utter amazement at the two friends sharing an experience that no one else could even understand. He gave one last look at them, and closing the door behind himself, quietly left them to their grief.
Hermione cried for a long while in Luna's comforting embrace. Neither spoke. Neither had too.
"I'm going to have to stop Snape," Hermione whispered after a while.
Luna released Hermione, looking in her eyes, saw the truth in her words, "I know."
"But I can't do it without him," her voice broke again, "I need Harry."
"Yes, you can," Luna said and gave her a reassuring smile, "Oh Hermione, he taught you to be strong. You can do this."
Hermione's head dropped down, "I don't know."
Luna put her hands on either side of Hermione's face and lifted it up to face her, "I know you can and so does he. Be strong… for him."
Hermione gave her a small smile and a slight nod, "Thank you."
"Always," Luna said, "We're all that's left. We're in this together," she gave Hermione another hug, "Come on, why don't you get some sleep if you can."
Luna helped Hermione stand and led her friend to her room.
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Luna entered her room shortly after putting Hermione to bed. She smiled at Valdore, who was sitting in an armchair next to the fire.
"She's asleep," Luna said to him.
Valdore nodded and looked at Luna with an expression of pity and sadness, "I'm so sorry for barging in like that."
Luna shook her head at his apology, "No, there's nothing for you to apologize for," she went over to her bureau, "Honestly, this was long in coming and I was expecting it."
"Still, it was bloody awful to see and would have been twice as awful for her to know I was there," he gave a soft laugh, "An outsider."
Luna pulled out her sleeping gown and gave him a look of derision, "Hardly an outsider."
"Oh?" he replied with mock surprise, with his eyebrows shooting up in askance, "I wasn't there when you all fought that maniac. I cannot relate to what you two experienced and feel."
She gave him a soft kiss on the top of his head, "True, but you are her friend. That makes you not an outsider."
Valdore became quiet again and looked back into the fire, "What was it like?"
Luna, who was taking off her jewelry, slowly put them down at his question.
"What do you mean?" she asked not looking at him.
"What was it like to be there at the end?" he looked at her, "You were there?"
Luna walked over and sat in the chair next to him, "Yes, I was and I can't really describe what it was like," she shook her head and whispered, "It was horrible that year. She and I lost so many friends."
"Then what I saw tonight with her…," he started pointing to the room next door.
"Was nothing like what she was like that day," Luna answered staring into the fire, "I was at St. Mungo's after he was brought there. I stood next to her, and watched her soul die in that room when the healer's confirmed his mind was gone and there was nothing anyone could do to help him."
"I could almost hear it scream out in agony and then fall silent," Luna continued, her voice barely above a whisper, as she wiped away a tear at the memory, "There wasn't a person in that room that didn't feel it happen."
"Dear God," Valdore sat back in his chair and exhaled loudly, "Then she lost everything."
"Almost," Luna replied, "She would shut herself away for weeks in that house and wouldn't go out or see anyone. She spent the first year researching memory loss reversal and even delved into researching the darkest of dark magic to see if she could bring him back. She became obsessed. It was everything I, her parents, Lupin, and the Weasley's could do to bring her back from the depths of desolation she had fallen too. Even to this day, she still has periods of deep depression. That's why I asked McGonagall to offer her the position here at Hogwarts."
"I think I finally have a bit of understanding then to why she didn't want to come to Hogwarts," he said looking at Luna. Then added quickly, "Although I will never understand how she feels about losing someone that special to her… ever," he fidgeted for a moment, "Can I ask if you lost someone that special?"
Luna looked at him and slowly nodded, "Yes. His name was Ronald Weasley."
Valdore just nodded and Luna continued, "He was a sweet, loyal, and amazing boy. I was really falling for him at the time," she paused, "He was killed a couple of months before Harry defeated Voldemort."
"Did… did you lose a piece of your soul too when he died?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to hear her answer.
She smiled at his question and his nervous fidgeting. She stood and went to sit in his lap and put her arms around his neck. She looked deep into his eyes, "Yes, but I found that piece again."
They kissed softly. They broke their kiss and rested their foreheads together.
"I love you," he said softly.
"I love you too," she replied.
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"Hey listen to this… 'Roderick the Wizard believed that the way to understand the elements of wandless magic was to understand the link between a witch and wizard and his or her wand. Since the wand helps channel the magical forces from a witch or wizard, knowing where and how the wand focuses that force will determine how a wandless witch or wizard controls and channels the same magical forces.'"
Hermione put the book on her lap and looked at Luna and Valdore sitting on the couch opposite her. Luna had been leaning against Valdore's side with his arm wrapped around her while they were reading another book.
"So Bode is saying," Hermione tapped the page she just read from, "That wandless magic still requires some sort of focal point to channel the energy like a wand does."
Valdore's face twisted in contemplation, "Possibly, but what about the power difference between wandless and wand users?"
"We all know that there have been some witches and wizards who have conjured immensely powerful spells with a wand," Luna looked at him, "But then I've seen McGonagall conjure the same spells without a wand and those spells are consistently more powerful. Like when she transfigures objects."
"Then one could then make the leap that wands then somehow lessen the power of a spell at the same time as focusing the magic," Valdore nodded, "Then the wand acts almost like a dampener and/or absorbs some of the energy used. There by the witch or wizard isn't casting a spell with its full intensity."
Hermione looked between the two of them before looking back down to the page, her brain churning with theories and thoughts.
"So does that mean we became lazy?" Luna asked, "By using wands instead of not?"
Valdore shrugged, "I honestly don't know. I suspect the original thoughts that wands help control magical ability by using it as the vehicle for release. Therefore making it easier and safer to conjure spells, yet tougher to execute without people knowing."
"Maybe that's gets to the real reason," Luna said looking at Hermione, "Wands control our ability to use magic in full view of muggle society. It's a safety net."
Hermione and Valdore didn't respond, but they had nothing that could refute Luna's comment. Hermione's mind was still trying to understand the focal point of wandless magic.
Hermione looked at both, "So the trick is to try and find the focal point of wandless magic."
Valdore brought his arm back around from around Luna and sat forward, "I wouldn't call McGonagall, Dumbledore, or your Harry as using a 'trick' when they conjure spells wandlessly," he looked first at Luna and the Hermione and shrugged, "But I have to agree Hermione that knowing where that focal point is for a person is the key to conjuring wandless spells."
"Does it mention in the book how to do that?" Luna asked getting up and looking over Hermione's shoulder at the book.
Hermione shook her head and pointed to a section of the page, "That's the only direct reference to it. There's a vague reference to it in a later section, but nothing that comes out and says what it is?"
"That's convenient," Valdore muttered from his seat.
Hermione nodded, but didn't reply.
"So, do you think you can learn how to make this work?" Vadore asked.
"I think I already have, sort of," Hermione said, "I used wandless magic when I was younger, but was never really sure how I did it. It just felt... well felt different."
Valdore looked away in deep thought. The slowly responded, "Well, then if you can remember that feeling, and what you were thinking, then you might be able to repeat the success."
"Possibly," Hermione replied, "But then I'm not sure what the results would be."
Valdore put the book on the coffee table and clapped his hands together, "Well there's only one way to find out."
Hermione and Luna both scowled at his enthusiastic demeanor. Both less than enthusiastic at the prospect of trying something that they had little experience or success.
