"Master Evan? Master, you has to wakes up!" A tiny voice spoke into the immaculate room.

"Hm? What is it, Pippy?" Evan grumbled.

"Master, somebody is heres!"

"Who?" The wizard mumbled as he attempted to wake himself up.

"The King, Master."

He raised a brow at the words, "What the hell do you mean by 'the King'?"

The elf seemed to ignore his question and continued on impatiently. "Master, you must gets up. The King is waitings."

"Can't you send him away for a while? I'm too tired for this, Pip."

"Master! You musts do your duties!"

"Alright alright. I am coming," Evan said as he sluggishly rolled out of bed.

Walking down the grand staircase, he stepped into the sitting room to come face-to-face with a man who he had never seen before. The man turned at the sound of Evan, and he gave him a confused look.

"May I ask who you are?"

The unknown wizard squinted his eyes at Evan and replied. "How about you answer that for me, first?"

Evan felt his anger rise with each passing second and couldn't stop the snappy reply. "May I remind you, you are in my house at the moment, so it would do you well to answer my question, yes?"

"Your house? This is the Rosier manner, and all Rosier's are dead, young man."

Evan smirked at the look of confusion that the other wizard held on his face, and replied with a cocky tone. "Not anymore, sir. Now, if you don't mind, I would prefer if you would tell me why you are here or leave."

"Hermione. I am here to see Hermione Granger. I know that she is here, though I don't know why. But, I need to see her. Preferably now, if that is possible."

Evan raised a brow at the demand and relented. It was too early for him to start fights. "Pippy, get Hermione and bring her down here, please." The elf nodded and popped away. This left the two wizards alone, staring at each other with questioning eyes.


Hermione woke to the feeling of a small hand on her shoulder. "Missy…"

"Antonin, quit, I'm trying to sleep," she mumbled out with annoyance.

"Missy, wake up!" A high voice spoke in complete contrast to Antonin's voice.

Hermione groaned and sat up to look at the person, or rather the creature, that was speaking to her. When she looked up, she saw a male house-elf standing at the edge of her bed.

"What is wrong?" Hermione asked, running a hand through her knotted hair.

"Missy, you need to comes downstairs. Master Evan says so, please."

Nodding her head, Hermione gave the elf a tiny smile. "Alright, I will be down in a minute, thank you."

The elf nodded and popped away. Hermione let out a groan and stretched her body when she felt a body behind her begin to wake up from her movements.

"Mmm, stop moving. I'm fucking exhausted," the deep voice croaked out into the quiet room.

Hermione let out a laugh at that and turned around to look down at Antonin's sleeping face. She moved her body to straddle his hips as she bent down to him. "That's tragic. I was hoping," she paused as she ran a finger down the side of his face and over his lips, "for a second round, maybe?" She spoke against his lips.

His eyes fluttered open at her words and at the feeling of her body molding against his, and a smirk lifted his lips. "Well, maybe not completely exhausted. I could always go for another round, Myshka."

Hermione giggled and bent down to give his lips a quick peck before she rolled off of him and stood up on the ground. "You're going to have to wait then. Sorry," she spoke with a smirk of her own playing on her face.

Antonin growled and turned himself face down on the bed, ignoring her and falling back asleep.

She gave another chuckle as she shook her head, walking out of the room.


Suddenly, the two awkward wizards could hear the sound of Hermione's small feet shuffling against the stone floor. Evan turned to look at her, and couldn't stop a smile from slipping through. She was wearing a pair of black and white striped shorts, and an oversized black t-shirt, which he assumed did not belong to her.

She was wiping her tired eyes like a small child who had just woken from a nap, and her body was slumped as she trudged in. When her head lifted, she finally caught sight of Kingsley standing by the couch, and a flash of fear flew across her face before she shook her head and jutted out her bottom lip in a pout. Her tired eyes were now looking at the man with guilt, and she continued to walk towards him as she extended both arms out wide in a hugging motion.

Evan seemed confused at this, and both eyes were squinted in a glare, which appeared to match the eyes of the other wizard. Though, he looked more angry than confused.

"Kings… Please don't get mad at me; it's too early for that. I'm so tired… I'm sorry for what I did Kingsley," Hermione said in a small innocent voice and was now standing just in front of the dark wizard when she saw him relent a little at her guilty voice. Hermione moved even closer so that she was now jumping slightly into his arms, her legs twining around his hips like a baby koala clinging to its mother. Her head was tucked deep into his neck, and Kingsley had wrapped his own arms around her back to hold her against him effectively.

"Oh, Hermione… What happened?" The old wizard asked quietly. All she did was let out a deep breath in reply, her arms tightening around his neck.

"Kitten, I hate to break up your reunion, but could someone tell me what the hell is going on right now? Who the hell is this guy, and why the fuck are you draping yourself around him like that?" Evan said with a hard tone, his voice rising with annoyance.

Hermione's head shot up at the words, and it seemed like she had just realized that he had been there the whole time. She turned her head underneath Kingsley's chin and gave a sudden glare to Evan.

"Evan… Do not test me right now."

Evan's dark blonde eyebrows shot up in shock, and his arms crossed over his chest in defiance. "No. This is my house, and you are my witch. Now tell me what the bloody hell is going on this instant!"

Hermione let out a small growl, and unwrapped her legs from around the other wizard, and planted her feet flat on the ground. She gave Kingsley a look and moved her arms down to his left hand. Tugging his hand with hers, she led him towards the annoyed younger wizard.

"Evan, this is the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kings, this is Evan Rosier. One of the seven wizards that I accidentally rose back from the dead," Hermione said as she turned her head up to look at the expression on Kingsley's face. He had a frown on his face, and he was now full on glaring at Hermione.

"Surprise?" She said, with a sour face.

One of Evan's pale hands shot out in a greeting to the minister. "Pleasure, Minister Shacklebolt."

The wizard was still in a state of anger mixed with shock and seemed to be in his own world at that moment. Hermione grabbed his hand and brought it out to Evan's, prompting them to shake hands. Evan's tight grip on Kingsley's hand seemed to break the older wizard from his daze.

"Evan Rosier. Yes, what a pleasure to meet you. I wish I had known about this earlier, Hermione," Kingsley muttered snidely to the witch.

"Well, I was meaning to tell you, Kings. Really, I was. But, some things needed to be done first, you understand right?"

Kingsley shook his head and let out a sigh. "How about you start from the beginning, and then I will let you know if I 'understand,' shall we?"

Hermione gave a short nod and pulled Kingsley over to a chair to sit himself down for her story. Before she sat down herself, she walked over to Evan and lifted a hand to fix some of his bed head. "I'm sorry, Evan. I didn't know that he would come all the way here to speak with me. He's a good man, though. I promise. We fought together."

"And what is the extent of this friendship?" The blonde wizard said, his arms still crossed over his chest in defiance.

"Good Godric, Evan. We're just friends, that is all. Don't go getting all jealous on me, now."

"I will bloody well get jealous when I want to, Kitten. You are mine, don't forget that." He spoke into her ear as he leaned down to her lips.

Hermione met him halfway as she lifted onto her toes, their lips meeting in a deep but slow kiss. "I won't forget, Evan. Good morning, by the way." She said with a cheeky smile.

Evan growled at her pulling away from him. "Good morning," He said grumpily.


"So, Kingsley… Basically, to put it lightly, I spilled my blood on the Sacred 28 boxes and resurrected seven wizards. And we are all living here for right now," Hermione said, tired of having to retell the story so many times.

Kingsley held himself back from lashing out and replied with a fake calmness. "Okay… And, who are the wizards, besides Mr, Rosier, here?"

"Regulus and Sirius Black, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, Rabastan Lestrange, and Antonin Dolohov."

Kingsley's eyes widened at the names, and Hermione gave a weak smile in return.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll organize a press conference. You and the… the other wizards. We'll have the Daily Prophet there, and the lot," the Minister said.

"So we're going to have a group of people watch all of us stand on stage like animals at the zoo?" Hermione said in an angry voice.

"Okay first of all, what the hell is a 'zoo?' Second of all, yes. Can you think of any other options?"

Hermione scoffed and replied. "Nevermind about the zoo. But what are we going to say to everyone? 'Hello, Hermione Granger has brought back seven wizards from the dead. Here they are. Okay, thank you for coming, the door is to your left.'" Hermione shook her head at the chance of that even happening. "We need something to soften the blow, in a way. We need an excuse for why we intend to let these wizards roam around in society. Because that is what you plan to let them do, correct?"

"Well, not exactly…"

Hermione held up her hand and closed her eyes in defeat. "Kingsley, I'm going to stop you right there. I don't care who you are, what your profession is or even if we are friends. I am telling you right now, that you will do what I say, yes? They are not going to be caged in a house for the rest of their lives. I am apart of those lives, Kingsley, so I will be just as trapped as them. I don't give a shite if the others do not like my wizards. They can sod off for all I care," she said with an angry tone.

"I have done enough for the wizarding world, have I not? Besides, now I have brought back seven men who are all competent enough to be assets, and we could help grow the wizarding population as well. Our kids could be brilliant, Kingsley. Think about it- five pureblood families coexisting with a muggle-born witch. We could change the stigma of purebloods only associating with people of the same blood status. Inter House relationships at their best- combining some of the greatest Slytherins with the greatest Gryffindors. It's remarkable."

Kingsley continued to watch her as she spoke once more. "You know, I've been spending all of this time stressing about what others will think of me and what others will think of the guys, but when it comes down to it- those people don't matter. I need to take care of myself now, Kingsley. I can't always be the cautious little girl that I was in the war, who would save anyone that she came across. I mean, I am, but I am choosing to save different people this time. This is my life, Kingsley. I can't let others dictate what I can or cannot do. I will do as I please, and others will have to accept it or not. Isn't it my turn to be happy now, Kings? Can't it by my turn to be the spontaneous one?" Hermione said, a bit of begging at the end of her sentence.

"Hermione, we have to think about bettering the wizarding world, and whether or not this will benefit us."

Hermione's eyes had a cold look in them when she responded to the wizard's words. "I will not allow you to bring harm to me or my soulmates. Do you understand? I love you Kingsley, and I would love it if you could be with me on this. I need you to be on my side. This is important to me. I know you are the Minister, and it is your responsibility to keep everyone safe, but they are safe. They will be safe, Kingsley."

"She is right Kingsley. You know that she is right." A voice spoke out of nowhere, startling Hermione and the two wizards.

"Sirius! It's great to see you again," Kingsley said with a smile, as he stood up and shook the other wizard's hand.

"It's good to see you too, Kings. You haven't aged a day!"

"Oh give me a break, Sirius. One shouldn't lie to the Minister, you know," the wizard spoke jokingly.

Sirius' eyes widened in surprise. "The Minister?! Well done, mate. How is it?"

"Thank you, thank you. Yes, it is great. Well, most days at least. Hermione here is about to make my job a lot tougher soon."

"Shut it, Kingsley," Hermione sneered. "Back to what you were saying before?"

"Right, yes. The press conference. It is our best bet right now. We mustn't hide this any longer, and people finding out about it through a rumor is not going to end well. You all need to be seen together by a trusted group of people. After the conference, I suggest that you give the public a few days to take it all in."

Hermione nodded her head a bit reluctantly at the advice.

"I also think that perhaps you should take a few weeks off of work. I know how dedicated you are, Hermione, but this is for your safety as well. Can we agree to this?" Kingsley said, looking at Hermione as if he knew that this would turn into another argument.

"Can I work from here, then?" She questioned with hope.

"You aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?" He sighed out.

"You know me too well Kingsley." Hermione smiled.

"Yes," the wizard replied. "It is both a blessing and a curse, darling."


An hour had passed, and Hermione was now sitting in the library with Regulus, both of them browsing through the bookshelves.

"Oh, Gods… I completely forgot," the witch exclaimed.

Regulus looked up with questioning eyes. "Forgot what?"

"I still haven't gotten around to telling Minerva. Oh, she's going to have my arse for not telling her sooner."

Regulus tilted his head. "McGonagall? She's still there?"

"Regulus, sweetheart," Hermione smiled, "she's the headmistress."

"Sweet Salazar. I did not see that one coming."

"There's no one better for the job. She's great, really," the witch said with adoration in her voice.

"I'd pay to see that," he scoffed.

"Come with me, then. Please?"

Regulus was surprised how quickly she had decided that she would invite him with. "I-I mean I guess I could. Are you sure?"

The witch rolled her eyes at his skeptical words. "Of course I'm sure. Perhaps we should bring… the twins? Just to reassure Minerva, in a way."

Regulus felt sadness seep in, "Hermione, I get it, don't worry. I don't think I would feel quite safe if someone like me was there in the castle."

"Regulus, I didn't mean it like that. It's not that you are unsafe or anything… It's just, well, it's been hard for Minerva since the war. She watched her colleagues, her students, her friends, die. She's become very guarded, and having the twins there could soften the blow, you could say."

"I understand. It's fine, Hermione," the wizard said, although Hermione wasn't too sure that he was actually understanding.

"Regulus, look at me. You know that I adore you for who you are. I like you because you are you. Please don't ever think that I would lie to you like that. Okay?"

"Alright. I'm sorry, I am just nervous, and I don't want anyone there to think that I am going to hurt them or that I am coming with bad intentions because I'm not and-"

Hermione leaned forward and kissed Regulus slowly on the lips. "You're rambling; it's going to be fine. I promise."

Regulus closed his eyes and let out a breath, nodding at her affirmations.

"Tillie? Get me the twins if you could, please. Tell them I have an adventure for them," Hermione spoke out into the room, waiting for the small elf to appear.

Regulus tipped his head to the side. "Adventure?"

"I just want them to go faster, to be honest."

Regulus chuckled at her guilty smile.


The three wizards stood beside Hermione as they apparated to the main gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Well, here it is in all of its glory," the witch said, somewhat lacking.

"It looks… different. Are you sure this is the same Hogwarts?" Gideon asked, looked over at Hermione for confirmation.

"It's not the same Hogwarts," Hermione spoke softly. "Things have changed. So much of Hogwarts has changed…"

The witch looked off into the distance as she continued. "Sometimes… sometimes I still see the broken stone and the… bodies. It all happened, right here. This is where it started… And this is where it ended."

Hermione shook her head and grabbed Regulus' hand, while her other hand intertwined with Fabian's who was standing on the other side of her. Looking at all three wizards, she nodded and began to walk towards the gate, when a house elf popped up on the inside.

"Hello, I am Hermione Granger. I am here to see the Headmistress. Let her know that I am here, please."

The elf nodded and popped away quickly, just before popping back in front of them again.

"Enter," the elf said as the gates opened.

They all walked through, and she pulled them towards the two large doors to enter the school. Without even touching them, they began to swing open slowly, allowing them access. As they walked through the castle to the Head Mistresses office, Hermione spoke into the silence.

"I remember my first day back for my seventh year. The halls were just as quiet as they are now. No one spoke, no one laughed, it was just… silent. It was hard to even to make eye contact with the other students, and teachers as well. You could feel the sadness in the air. Like the castle was grieving too. It was like this for a few days, until one day I could barely even recognize that anything had ever happened."

No one spoke and continued to let her string them along the corridors until they made it to the same Eagle statue.

"We tried to salvage all that we possibly could. Quite a few spots in the castle are still the same, but there will be a select few areas that will be different."

Just as Hermione finished speaking, the stairs began to move into sight, and she led the pack up them into the office.

"Minerva?"

"Come in, just give me a moment!" McGonagall yelled out from another part of the office.

All four of them stepped into the room and stood to wait for the witch. The wizards were goggling the place, getting an eyeful of everything that they could. Hermione just stood, eyes watching her men.

An old voice spoke out into the room, startling the guests. "Is that the sound of my feisty little mudblood lioness, I hear?"

"Grandfather, don't use that word," Regulus said in a menacing voice.

"Grandfather? Young man, you must have me confused with someone el-"

The old wizard was silenced when Regulus turned around to face the portrait head-on with a hard glare.

"My Gods, you really are a Black... How on earth…"

The old wizard was cut off by the voice of another portrait, although this one sounded grumpy and angry. "Must you always speak, Phineas? Some of us are trying to sleep if you would please."

"Oh shut up you dusty old bag," Phineas Nigellus Black snarked out. "You," the wizard spoke to Regulus, "state your name."

"Regulus Arcturus Black the second. Your great-great-grandson."

"By Gods… You're little Reggie! Oh, thank Merlin that you aren't that pathetic excuse for a wizard, your brother Sirius. I don't know where he went wrong."

"Mhm.." "Yes.." "Quite true," a significant amount of the other portraits spoke.

"But you," Phineas continued, "you were a marvelous child. Always listened, and got sorted into Slytherin, of course. Perfect grades, powerful dueler, particularly intelligent. That's my great-great-grandson, gentlemen. EVERYONE, TAKE A GOOD LOOK!"

The other portraits rolled their eyes, while a few covered their ears at the loudness.

"Oh my, can you spot the resemblance? It's uncanny," the portrait of the old Black gloated.

"No, considering the boy doesn't have a mediocre grey beard as you do, you senile man," mumbled a portrait of a wizard that was on the opposite wall.

"Excuse me? How dare you! I will have you know-"

"Be quiet you old coots! How many times must I tell you to keep your mouths closed unless I say!" McGonagall snapped as she walked down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she lifted her head from the papers that she had been holding in her hands.

"Hermione to what do I owe the plea- the Prewetts? And is that… Regulus Black?" She gasped, dropping the papers onto the floor in shock.

"Oh Hermione Jean Granger, what have you done?"

"Why do people always say that…" Hermione groaned.

Minerva threw up her hands in disbelief. "Who else is reckless yet brilliant enough to rise wizards from the dead?!"

"Well…"

"Just tell me what happened," the older witch said quickly. "Short and simple, please, it is all I can handle right now."

"Short and simple? I fell, spilled blood on some boxes, and brought Fabian Prewett, Gideon Prewett, Regulus Black, Sirius Black, Evan Rosier, Rabastan Lestrange, and Antonin Dolohov back from the dead. I am soul bonded to each one, and I am technically married to all seven of them as well, and will need to produce children with them."

"Pardon me, little mud- ah, witch, did you just, perhaps, say the name, Sirius Black?"

"Your ears do not deceive you, Phineas," Hermione sighed. " I did indeed say, Sirius Black."

"Damn it all to hell..."

"Well, I for one, have to admit that I truly did not expect this to happen. How extraordinary…" A familiar wizened voice spoke up right after Phineas' snide remark.

Hermione sneered at the words of the previous Headmaster. "Oh, so this is the one thing that you didn't manipulate someone into doing? How shocking!" She spoke, with a sarcastic bite. "Albus, there truly is no nicer way to say this, so I will just come right out with it: kindly fuck off," the witch spat out.

Most of the portraits gasped at her words, although one of them was entirely the opposite, letting out a bellowing laugh. "Ha! Oh little know-it-all witch, I could never tire of your sweet, sweet words. I hate to say it, truly, but I approve of her, Regulus."

"That's great, but I was not looking for your approval in the first place," the youngest Black sighed.

"Oh I see, I see," the old wizard winked, showing off a sly smile. "You love her already, don't you? Ah. Young love, so innocent and gentle."

"W-what? No! That's not what I meant!" Regulus said, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Silence! Please, Phineas. No more commentating," came the heavily-accented, Scottish voice of the Headmistress.

"Fine. I see how it is Minerva," the old wizard pouted out.

"Good, I'm glad." The older witch rolled her eyes when she watched the wizard cross his arms over his chest and pout like a small child. She swore, with each year that passes, the crazier the portraits become.


"So the conference, will you be able to attend?" Hermione asked.

"I am afraid not, my child. But, do know that I will be supporting you even if I am not there. You will get through this, Hermione. I have no doubt about it."

"Thank you, Minerva. It means a lot, to have your support and friendship," Hermione said kindly.

"Of course. Now, will that be all for today?"

"Actually, I was wondering if we could take a stroll around the castle? I would like to show them all around since it's been so long," Hermione asked, introducing the second part to her visit.

"By all means, do what you must. I will see you soon, then? Visit me after the conference."

"Alright. Goodbye!" Hermione said, walking out of the door.

Once the door was shut, she let out a sigh. "That was more work than I expected, to be honest."

"It went well in the end though, that's what counts," one of the twins spoke.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Gideon. Now, I have a few places that I want to take you all. Sound good?"

All three wizards nodded in confirmation, and Hermione led them towards their first destination. "We'll start on the first floor, because the ground floor has nothing new really, that you guys haven't already seen before. " Hermione said, as they walked to the entrance right outside of an unused girls lavatory.

"Uh, why are we here? We've seen this before," Fabian said with confusion.

Hermione smirked, "there's more than what meets the eye, boys."

They shook their heads and chuckled, continuing to follow Hermione into the old room.

Suddenly, a booming voice screeched throughout the small space. "Who is here, in my bathroom?!"

"Myrtle? You brought us to see Moaning Myrtle?" Regulus asked, not excited to be around the nutty ghost.

"Not exactly," Hermione said. "Hello, Myrtle. It's just me, Hermione Granger. I brought some friends with me, and I am going to show them the secret passage."

The ghost of the young girl came flying above their heads. "Oh, it's you… The bushy-haired girl. Where is Harry? He is my friend, you know," Myrtle said, fluttering her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure he is Myrtle. Unfortunately, Harry isn't with me today. But, I will bring him by the next time I come around. Yes?"

"Hm. Fine." They all watched as the ghost went sailing back through the air, and into one of the stalls.

Hermione turned to look at the three men standing beside her, and a bright smile came over her face. "So, my handsome wizards. What do you know of The Chamber of Secrets?"

"It is a chamber filled with secrets," both Fabian and Gideon spoke at the same time.

"You fools," the youngest wizard huffed out. "It's a chamber, said to house a beast, but it has never been found."

"Correct, Regulus. Except for that last part. Harry found it. And it's right here," Hermione said, motioning with her hand.

"In a sink?" The black-haired boy asked.

"Not in. Under."

Fabian laughed at Hermione and opened his mouth to speak. "And how do you get underneath an entire sink? Hack away at the bloody tiles?"

The witch rolled her eyes and began to explain. "You get under it if you are an heir to Salazar Slytherin. You use Parseltongue to open it. Watch."

"Um, are you a secret descendant of Slytherin, and this has all been a joke?" The other twin questioned, semi-seriously.

"No, not me. Tom Riddle was. And he could speak Parseltongue, which meant that Harry could as well since Harry carried a piece of his soul inside of him. I just memorized the words. Or hisses, I guess," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay, and you expect us to jump down that pitch black hole and hope for the best? This is barmy!" The youngest wizard said exasperatedly.

"Exactly," Hermione smirked, just before jumping down into the slide.

"Hermione, wait! You can't just do that?! Hey, can you even hear me?! Hermione!" Regulus yelled out, a concerned tone to his words. "Damn," the wizard said, beginning to move forward towards the hole.

"Hold on," Gideon said, holding out a hand to stop Regulus. "I know that Fab and I are the jokers and all, but are you really just going to go down there like that?"

Regulus nodded his head. "I can't just leave her down there. If she's going, then so am I. Are you both in or what?"

"Is that a challenge? Oh, little Black… You've done it now."

"Perfect," Regulus grinned.


"Ouch," Fabian groaned as he rubbed his tailbone. "You could have given us a little bit of a warning on the landing, beautiful."

"Oh yeah, sorry I must have forgotten!" Hermione yelled out.

"I'm sure you did…" Gideon muttered under his breath.

"No matter. While you were all debating on whether you should jump or not, I opened all of the doors."

"Hermione, why does this place still even exist?" Regulus asked.

"About that," Hermione started, "well, the staff wanted to destroy it, considering it had been a hiding place of a bloody basilisk. But, they didn't know if getting rid of it would affect the rest of the castle's foundation, so they kept it. Besides, no one can get in here anyways, including Harry, I'm sure. He can't speak Parseltongue anymore, and there's no way in hell that he memorized the words. Which means," she paused for effect.

"That you are the only person who can open the Chamber of Secrets," one of the wizard's spoke with awe.

"Correct again, Regulus."

"Bloody hell," the twins chimed in together once more, sounding eerily familiar to Ron.

"So what's in there now?" Regulus asked.

"Take a look for yourself," the witch said, extending her arm to motion for them to go ahead into the chamber.

"It's massive… How could no one know that it was here?" Fabian questioned, surprised that no one could find a room this big.

"Hmm. Good question, and one that I've thought a lot about. I often wondered if Dumbledore knew that it truly existed, and knew of its location. But, I don't know, to be honest. Dumbledore knew a lot of things, especially about this castle, but Salazar Slytherin? He was most likely twice the wizard that Albus was. He could have really hidden it that well that no one could ever find it. Or, Albus did, in fact, know where the Chamber of Secrets was, but he was either afraid that someone would get hurt, or he was waiting for Harry to find it himself. I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that."

"Wow…" They all whispered.

"I know. Anyways," Hermione said as she walked ahead of the wizards down the walkway, "this is where I destroyed Helga Hufflepuff's cup, which was one of the Horcruxes."

"How did you manage that?" Gideon asked.

"Well in order to explain how I got the tool to destroy it, I'd have to start from when Harry first discovered the chamber."

"So, go on then!" Fabian exclaimed.

"During my second year, things started happening. Strange things that no one could really explain. It started when Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch's cat, was found petrified hanging by her tail. On the wall right next to her, the phrase "the chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware," was written in blood. Initially, we thought it was Draco who was the heir. It just made sense, at the time with the way he was acting and such. Eventually, we found out that it wasn't actually him, and we were back to the beginning again. People started turning up petrified, and no one knew why it was happening," the witch said, trying to shorten the story.

"Petrified? Odd," Regulus said, confused at the series of events.

"Right. Well, it turned out that the students were being petrified by a basilisk. And one night I was in the library, doing some research on the chamber and the types of beasts that exist in the wizarding world and so forth when I finally figured it out. I realized that the snake had to be moving through the pipes, and that was how it was traveling through the school, petrifying the children. I ended up being petrified, and wasn't awake for the rest of the adventure, I guess. We found out that the heir was Tom Riddle, who was controlling Ginny Weasley through another one of his Horcruxes, a diary from when he was a young boy, that was given to her by Lucius Malfoy. She had been speaking with Tom through the journal, and he would command her to do things without her control. He was surviving off of her magic. He was in physical form, by that point."

"Wait, you're telling me that the Dark Lord was here in your second year and Harry Potter defeated him?" The youngest spoke once more.

"Basically, yes. Harry ended up coming down here to the chamber and fought against Voldemort. Not only him but the giant basilisk as well. He killed both of them, essentially, and saved the day once again. But, as it turns out, basilisk venom can destroy Horcruxes. How wonderful, that we had a dead basilisk laying right here the entire time? At the final battle, I used one of the fangs to stab the cup, in the end."

"You did… all of that?" Fabian asked, shocked at everything she had just said.

"Somewhat, I suppose."

"Our witch is bloody fantastic, mates. Holy shite…" Gideon muttered, looking at Hermione with wide eyes.

Regulus was turning red, but not in embarrassment, instead, it was due to anger. "I-I…"

"Regulus, are you alright?"

"Am I alright?! Are you alright?! You were fucking petrified!"

Hermione sighed, "I'm fine, Regulus. It was fine, in the end. You don't have to worry so much about it."

"I can't believe…" Regulus muttered to himself, in shock at what Hermione had gone through.

"That statue, over there, of Salazar, that is where the basilisk hid. It could only be commanded by the heir of Slytherin in Parseltongue. Back there, in that corner, there is a room with some chairs and a table. But that is it. On the other side, there is another door, but the door is shut. I haven't been able to open it, though. There are things in this chamber, that may never be discovered, and I think about that a lot. It is one of the most aggravating things to me that there is knowledge that cannot be accessed."

"I get that," Regulus added in after her, nodding his head.

"Sorry beautiful, we aren't as brainy as you nerds, but we still like you the same," Fabian said cheekily.

"Oh thank gods, I was so worried that you would hate me because I actually enjoy having a good education," Hermione said sarcastically.

The twins smiled.


"Alright, where to next?" Both of the twins asked, curious to see what else Hermione had in store for them.

Hermione replied, a smile on her face as she thought about the next location. "Seventh Floor. Filch's office."

Regulus looked appalled at the prospect and retorted. "Why in the world are we going there? He's the worst."

Hermione could understand the look that the wizard had on his face and knew that she would need to make this visit worth their while. Even if she knew that there was a considerable chance that everything could go wrong. Clearing her throat, she hesitantly spoke, trying to sound sure of her words. "Because I know that he isn't in the castle at the moment and that he has something in there of value."

One little lie won't hurt anyone. Of course, there is a chance that the grumpy old man could be festering in his office, but if the items are still there, then it will all be worth it in the end… Right?

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts as she heard the voice of Regulus speak once more. "How are you going to get in?"

Hermione giggled at the question, and couldn't help but tease the young wizard for his rather thoughtless question. "I'm a witch. I'm going to break in of course."

Regulus could feel the very tip of his ears heat up as if they were on fire, and he couldn't stop the grimace from forming on his face. Way to go, Regulus. He bitterly thought to himself. Of course, she can get into the office; we have bloody magic!

Gideon seemed to notice the emotions that fluttered across Regulus' face and spoke up before Hermione said anything else. "So... What's here that is 'of value'?"

Hermione didn't reply, but instead, she lifted her wand and cast a strong Alohomora on the lock of the beaten-down door. Peeking her head inside the room, she looked through the small space just to make sure that Filch wasn't present. "Thank Merlin…" Hermione mumbled to herself quietly.

"What was that?" Fabian asked when he heard her whispering quietly.

"Oh, nothing!" She said with an overly-enthusiastic tone. "Now, to answer your previous question of what here is of value," Hermione said as she walked over to the old rusty filing cabinet, and pulled out a drawer, setting it up on the desk that sat with barely anything on it.

"This. A box, filled with things that Filch nicked off of Fred and George. I wasn't even sure if it was still here, but I decided I'd look just to see, and it turns out it is. I thought that maybe you both would like to look through it."

Hermione looked over at the twins with a kind smile on her face. She watched contentedly as they both sported looks of surprise on their faces when they looked at the box. Finally, one of the twins broke the silence.

"Y-yeah of course. Thank you, really," Fabian said, stuttering from emotion and utter shock.

Hermione's eyes looked tenderly at Fabian first, and then quickly switching her gaze towards Gideon. "No problem."

Fabian knew his brother must be thinking the exact same thing as he was at that moment. Hermione Granger is fucking perfect. There was no doubt about it. This witch had gone out of her way to do something for the both of them, and it wasn't even the first time.

Where does she come up with these ideas? Fabian thought to himself. Doesn't she have enough on her mind? She has so much to deal with, yet she still does such selfless things like this.

Gideon let his other half continue to stew in his thoughts and spoke up as an idea struck him. "Hey, beautiful, do you think… Do you think that maybe Fabian and I can take this to George and go through it with him? It doesn't feel right without him here. I mean, it was his brother… These are their things, you know?"

Hermione nodded her head at the question. "That's fine. You want to go now?"

Gideon looked over to Fabian and noticed him tilt his head forward in approval. He returned the movement before he replied. "Yes, that's what we were hoping."

Hermione was a little bummed that they weren't going to be accompanying her and Regulus through the castle any longer but understood the yearning that the twins had to share what they had been given. "Sure, just go back to McGonagall's office, and you can use her floo to get there. You know where George lives right?"

"Yeah, don't worry, he made us memorize his address so that we could come over whenever we needed to," Gideon chuckled.

"Alright," Hermione nodded, a small smile on her lips. "I'll just finish up with Regulus then?"

Both of the twins nodded as well and took a step forward towards her. Hermione found herself crushed between two tall bodies, and felt as if she had been taken back in time to when Fred and George did the same thing. She was finally able to breath when they both stepped back, untwining their arms from around her body.

"Bye!" They both said in tandem, waving their hands and walking out of the room and down the hall.


Regulus had been watching their interaction and rocked back and forth on his heels, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his trousers. "So… What now?"

Hermione grabbed Regulus' elbow and directed him out of the office into the corridor. "Just around the corner, right here."

Regulus stood frozen, debating on whether he should say something or not. Deciding that he couldn't stay silent any longer, he slowly began to speak. "Um, Hermione. This is just a wall. You're staring at a wall; you know that, right?"

Hermione smirked, "just give it a few seconds."

Regulus waited for the impending change that Hermione was claiming would happen, and his mouth dropped open as a door began to appear on the brick wall.

Hermione looked at the door with triumph, and moved towards, running her fingers over the intricate patterns that were revealing. "Aha! Still works."

"H-how did you do that?! What is this place?" Regulus said, his voice filled with wonder.

"This is the room of requirements. Also known as the room of lost things. You walk in front of the wall and think of something that you desperately need. For instance, I could wish for the Gryffindor common room, and when I open this door, that's what would be on the other side. The room changes into whatever you want it to be."

Regulus was intrigued and continued asking the witch questions in his anticipation. "What did you change it to?"

"I changed it to the room that it was before the war. I simply changed it to a room filled with lost things," Hermione said, her shoulders rising up and down.

"But why?" He asked, perplexed at the reasoning that she had, and why out of everything that she could desire, it would be a room like this.

Hermione knew that it was an odd request, to have the room filled with avalanches of random items, but she had a feeling as though she needed to be here. There were still things that she needed to explore, and this was one of them. Coming up with the most straightforward and most truthful explanation, she replied. "Because someone needs to find them."

Regulus nodded, realizing that she was right and that if he were as curious as she was, he would be doing the same thing. Probably not so out-right though… He thought.

As they walked into the room, the door sealed behind them.

"He hid one of them here," Hermione said sporadically.

"Who?" Regulus asked. "Hid what?"

"Tom Riddle," she answered, her eyes turning harder and colder by the second. "He hid a Horcrux here. It was The Lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. We found it, the night of the final battle. Except, Vincent Crabbe cast a Fiendfyre, and it got out of control, to the point where none of us could do anything to stop it from spreading. The Horcrux was destroyed, but consequently so was he. Crabbe died here, while Draco and another Slytherin managed to escape the room alive."

"How did you get out?" Regulus wondered aloud to her, the questions falling out of his mouth almost unconsciously.

Hermione immediately cringed when she thought about the dreadful departure. "We flew. I hate flying, you know?"

Regulus was astounded at what she had just said. He swore he'd never heard anyone say those words in his life. "You hate flying?! How is that even possible?"

"Regulus, you and I both know that it is possible. Besides, it's dangerous. It doesn't give me enough control. I hate broomsticks," Hermione rationalized.

Regulus shook his head vehemently, "you're bloody crazy!"

Hermione was used to this response already and could do nothing more but give a small shrug. "Tell me something I don't know."

Regulus was still reeling from her unusual words and took a moment to shake away the thoughts. "So," he said with a sigh, "are we just going to look around?"

"To be honest, yes. That, and, I am just very nosey, and this room is curious."

It's just a room filled with rubbish; I don't get how it can be as mysterious as she thinks… Oh well, I'm spending time with her, and that is more than enough for me. "I suppose," Regulus spoke.

"Well come on then, no better time like the present," Hermione said, grabbing onto Regulus' hand and walking in between mountains of lost things.

Hermione's eyes moved over the room with glee. "I've always been perplexed by this room. It's almost as if the room is alive, and breathing. Like it has a soul. Of course, it's just magic, but I tend to forget that quite a bit, that magic actually exists."

"So you grew up in the muggle world. How was it?" Regulus asked, genuinely interested to hear what she had to say.

Hermione was excited to talk about her childhood, and about the world that she was born into. "Yes, I did. It was… normal. You know, here, we have magic, and we can rely on it, and it's amazing. But in the muggle world, some things are just as magnificent as magic. I mean, the things that they can do… The weapons and technology that they have… It's mind-blowing."

Regulus was confused at the way that she was speaking about the muggle world. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Hermione said, lifting a hand up to a curl, twining it around her finger in concentration, "for example, hypothetically one can be killed with a simple spell. Just one flick of the wand and someone's life can be ended. But in the muggle world, all it can take is just one move of the finger on a trigger, and someone can be dead too. Our spells, they are weapons, yes? In the muggle world, their weapons can be even more catastrophic than just spells. The things muggles have achieved, it's a little scary in a way," she finished off, meeting eyes with Regulus. "You were taught that muggles were the enemies, as a child, right?"

Regulus seemed a little hesitant to confirm her words because he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Hermione noticed that the wizard was taking longer than usual to reply, and smiled at him, indicating that it was okay for him to say what he wanted to. Nodding, the wizard finally replied. "Correct. I think quite a lot of ancient wizarding families were taught that."

Hermione wasn't surprised. Over time, she seemed to notice a pattern with the pureblood families, more specifically the families from the Sacred 28. The reactions and opinions of muggles appeared to be radically opposed, although it varied with each person. She bit her lip in thought, attempting to words things right within her head, although nothing seemed to make much sense. Giving up, she just replied as best as she could at that moment.

"Right, and they aren't wrong. I mean, they are, but… How do I explain this…" Hermione scoffed at her lack of diction and continued as she made sense of her thoughts.

"You are right to believe that muggles could be an enemy and that they are scary beings. For instance, they have crafted something called a bomb. Similar to the Bombarda spell, as you could probably guess from the name. But the muggle bomb, it could obliterate an entire city, all at once. That's frightening, you know? But not everyone is like that, of course. A lot of muggles are good people. Terrific people. I guess you could say the same for the wizarding world though… They're quite alike if you think about it."

Regulus was perturbed at the fact that Hermione was saying that muggles and magical beings were the same. "What do you mean?"

It was quite simple for Hermione to explain, and she replied readily. "We have Aurors, and muggles have Police. We have Healers, and muggles have doctors. We have the goblins at Gringotts, and the muggles have the same thing but with humans instead. We are all the same; the only difference is that we have magic, and they do not. I think that is what makes them special though."

"Were your parents special?" Regulus asked, not even thinking before the question shot out of his mouth. I don't think I should have said that… Isn't this a touchy subject for her? Damnit, Regulus, use your bloody brain.

Hermione was a little surprised at the question, but otherwise, she wasn't bothered. It seemed almost normal to speak about. "My parents? Yes, they were special I suppose. To me at least. They had their own powers in a way. They helped a lot of people as dentists. In the wizarding world, all it takes is a spell to fix your teeth, but muggles can't do that. So, my parents do it for them. They spent years learning how to do it and worked endlessly to achieve their goals. They had a purpose in life."

"Who are the bad ones then?" He asked. "The ones that magical children were told about when they were younger."

How do I say this… Hermione thought to herself. "The bad ones… There are bad muggles, of course, but they are no different than in the wizarding world."

"So everything was a lie then?" Regulus asked, feeling betrayed in a way. "Everything that my parents told me was never even true?"

Hermione quickly shook her head to calm him down. "No, no, they weren't lying, technically. When they said that muggles stole magic - at that point - yes they were lying. But when they told you that muggles were to be feared, they weren't lying. Muggles, of course, can be fearful, but so can wizards and witches. There is no difference."

Regulus felt so disorganized; like his entire life had been a lie, and he knew nothing anymore. He could picture little five-year-old Regulus, being told that he was never to associate with muggles. And now I'm married to a muggleborn, how ironic… If only my family could see me now.

Shaking off the thoughts, he wondered aloud why these families would spread such lies to their own children. "Why would they say that then?"

"Because that is what they were taught," Hermione started. "How is a young child going to conclude that what their own parents are saying to them is a lie? Kids look up to their parents, so of course, they are going to believe what they are told."

"You said that it wasn't true that muggles wanted to steal our magic. Is that really true?" He asked, somewhat nervous to hear the answer that she would give.

"Muggles don't want to steal our magic because most of them don't even believe that there is such a thing as magic. To them, it is all fairy tales or myths. That doesn't mean that if they were to be made aware of magic existing, that they wouldn't find a way to obtain it. Of course, they would- it's magic for Merlin's sake! Everyone wants magic. But the Statute of Secrecy works well, so I don't think it will be happening anytime soon."

Hopefully… She thought.

"Don't you wish your parents had magic, though? They knew about magic, so why didn't they try and do something to take it?"

"How would they?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowed in bewilderment. "It isn't like they could just suck the magic out of us. And yes, I sometimes wish that my parents had magic, but other times I am glad that they don't. Because if they had magic, I don't think I'd be the person that I am today. My life could have been completely different. Besides, I am proud of all of the things that I have done in my life. Well, most of them, anyway," she said, pausing shortly as she continued, looking kindly at Regulus.

"I mean, I brought you back. I wouldn't dream of that changing. You are special to me, Regulus, and I think that I've known it for quite a long time. I knew that there was something special about you when I read that letter in the locket. I researched about you after it was found; I needed to know who you were. I don't know why, but I'm glad that I did. I knew that you weren't like Bellatrix. I could feel it. You were just lost, that's all. As I said before, Tom Riddle was not born to be a Dark Lord. Just as you were not born to be evil. We choose who we want to be, and you did that, in the end. You chose to be brave, and you should never be ashamed of that. You sacrificed yourself for others, and that is one of the most selfless things on this earth. You don't have to prove anything to me, Regulus. Your brother, on the other hand, there's room left for improvement, to say the least."

"T-thank you, really, Hermione," the wizard said with a flustered look.

"You're welcome," she said.

"A-and about Sirius, you should talk with him a bit, maybe… I'm not saying you need to forgive him or anything, but… he wasn't always this way. The wizard that is here right now, that's not my brother. That's not the brother that I know. Well, knew, I guess."

Nodding slowly, thinking about his suggestion, she retorted with a question. "Hmm, and what about you?"

Regulus was thrown off by her turning the conversation towards him. "What about me?"

"Are you going to ever speak to him?"

Fuck. This is not something I thought I would be asked. No matter, it's okay, Regulus. Just tell the truth.

"One day… Maybe one day I will be able to talk to him like we did when we were children. It's just… when I look at him, all I can think about is the image of him running away. Or, him ignoring me in school. But, it wasn't all his fault, though. I should have been more resilient against my parents. I should have stuck up for him."

Hermione was disappointed that Sirius had left such an impact on his little brother, harsh enough for him to remember it even after death. Trying to hold back her anger, she replied in a hard tone.

"How were you supposed to do that? You were just a young boy. You were afraid. And I get that the blame isn't completely on Sirius, but you were doing what you were told!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in emphasis.

Letting out a sigh, she opened her mouth to go on. "It was never in your nature to go against authority like it was for your brother. Sirius lived for that feeling. When I said that you were brave, Regulus, I meant it. Though, that doesn't mean that you always have to be brave. You can't. It's just not how you are, and that is okay. You look out for yourself, and it's normal. Hell, Sirius seemed to do the exact same thing when he left. You can't be everything, Regulus. What you are right now, it's enough. You don't need to be a Gryffindor, you know. Being a Slytherin is okay. It is more than alright to like being who you are, or to like having certain characteristics. Besides, everyone needs a little Slytherin in their lives. To be surrounded by lions all of the time? Where's the fun in that?"

Regulus was flattered at her words, and the result left a smile pulled across his face. "You really are amazing; you know that?"

Hermione snickered and flipped back one side of her hair dramatically. "Oh be quiet, you. Being a suck-up isn't going to get you in my pants any easier, Regulus Black," the curly haired witch teased her shy wizard.

"I-I that's not what I meant at all!" He sputtered out.

Hermione continued her teasing, leaning in closer to his ear she whispered. "So… You don't want to shag me, then?"

Regulus could feel his entire body begin to heat and didn't know how to reply as he was so flustered. "W-w-well yes b-but-"

Hermione smirked in victory and closed the distance between them. Their lips met slowly at first, with Hermione's hands stroking each red cheek that seemed to be burning underneath her palms. Regulus had stood there frozen, trying to take in what was happening. Once it had hit him, he felt himself reach out and run his hands over her ribcage, down to her hips, relishing in the feeling of her curves. Hermione found herself pushing even closer into the wizard's body, trying to touch every part of him that she could. Just as one of Regulus' thighs moved to position itself in between hers, she heard a voice ring out.

"Uh, hello…"

"What the fucking hell!" Hermione yelled, startled by the unknown voice. Turning around, she looked at the slightly translucent form of her old classmate. "Vincent Crabbe? What in Merlin's name, how long have you been here?!"

"Well I don't know, a few years or so, I'd reckon," he muttered out, looking like he was genuinely trying to count off the years.

Hermione let out a sigh, shaking her head. "That's… That's not what I meant. How long have you been watching us, is what I meant to say."

"Oh right. Uh, only about five minutes, I guess."

"And why are you here, watching us?" She asked, eyeing him inconspicuously.

"You're the first person I've seen in a long time."

"Damn, I forgot about that…" Hermione whispered. Clearing her throat, she spoke again in a louder voice. "So you're a ghost here, now?"

The boy looked around, thinking hard about his answer. "I think so? I don't think I'm alive, so…"

Hermione smacked herself in the forehead in exasperation. "I- never mind," she shook her head, her curls falling over her shoulder at the movement. "Well, um, how are you?"

"Fine, I suppose," he shrugged. Suddenly his eyes looked more thoughtful, and he opened his mouth to speak again. "Listen, Granger, what happened?"

Regulus watched as his witch looked like she was in pain, and her eyes shifted to look down towards the ground instead of looking up at the boy like she had been doing before. She faltered before she replied. "You died. It's been about five years now. Voldemort lost."

"Did he really? Damn, I honestly was not expecting that…" Crabbe said, much to Hermione's surprise.

"Seriously?" She asked, shocked that the Slytherin actually thought that Voldemort would have won the war with no doubt. The exasperation that she felt before came back once again. "You know what, forget it."

The boy shook his head and spoke earnestly. "I can't forget it; I never learned the Obliviate spell."

Hermione looked over at Regulus whose mouth was hanging wide open due to Crabbe's reply. "Fucking Merlin…" She muttered, pretty sure the ghost could hear her.

Changing her tone into a fake apologetic tone, she replied. "You are right Crabbe, forgive me please."

The boy opened his big mouth and spoke casually. "I can't; you're a mud-"

Hermione threw her hands up to stop the boy from finishing his sentence, knowing that it would only make things worse. She could feel the rage inside of her that represented Regulus' feelings and looked at him pleadingly to not respond to the name calling. He only relaxed the tiniest bit at her look, but it was more than enough for her to speak without any fear of the two wizards getting into a row.

"Alright, let's talk about something else! How about Draco, yes? Um, Draco is doing well, for your information. He married Astoria Greengrass and had a kid too."

Crabbe seemed to process her words, nodding in understanding. "What about Greg?" He slipped out quickly.

"Goyle? I don't know much about him, to be honest. He's alive, though. But I don't know what he's doing these days," she said, trying to remember anything she could in regards to Gregory Goyle.

"Who is he?" Crabbe asked, pointing his finger towards Regulus, who had been watching the conversation.

"Regulus Black," Hermione answered, interested in the ghost's response to the name.

Crabbe didn't show any signs of recognition and tilted his head as he replied. "Huh, never heard of him. Related to the Blacks though?"

Nodding dubiously, Hermione spoke in reply, "yes."

"That's cool, I guess." The ghost said, shrugging his shoulders.

Regulus knew he shouldn't be surprised at the boy not knowing his name, but a part of him felt a little disappointed.

Hermione could feel the pang of sadness that Regulus was feeling, and grabbed his hand within hers, giving him a tight squeeze in comfort.

"So… Have you seen anything interesting in here?" She asked, trying desperately to redirect the conversation to something else.

"I've seen some chairs, and some books too. There's a lot of boxes, I guess," Crabbe said rather blandly.

Why do I even bother to ask? Hermione whined out in her head.

"That's great to know, thank you. Well, Regulus and I are going to walk around a little bit, to look at the different items," she said, trying to end their conversation.

"Ok," Crabbe said, nodding, "you lead the way, and I'll follow."

Hermione didn't know what to do at this point. She knew that he had to be at least a little bit lonely, but she didn't expect him to want to spend even more time with her than he already was. She felt too guilty to refuse his advances at joining in and replied, "actually, I meant… Nevermind, let's just go."

Regulus looked as if he were trying to hold in a laugh, and Hermione shot him a glare out of the side of her eyes. Smug bastard.

The three of them began to stroll around the large room, Hermione and Regulus' eyes roaming over as much as possible, while Crabbe paid no particular attention to anything.

"You were right Crabbe," the witch spoke out, a tone of discouragement in her voice, "there's not much here."

"Yeah."


The three of them found themselves deep in the room, finally coming across items other than plain rubbish.

"Why are there so many damn ties in here? I swear there are enough ties here for an entire class of students to wear…" Regulus asked, slightly annoyed at the striped garments that were hanging throughout the room like streamers at a party.

Hermione laughed and commented as well. "There are so many hair bands in here; I bet most of them are mine, to be honest. Those little shites disappeared all of the time."

Hermione was shuffling through a pile of miscellaneous things when she felt a soft material in between her fingers. Looking down at the item, her face went from confusion to surprise and then finally settling on a grimace of indifference. Holding the material up in the air in between her two fingers, she turned towards her companion and spoke with indignation.

"Regulus, please tell me that this is not one of Lucius Malfoy's bloody satin ribbons that he ties in his hair."

The wizard's head snapped up, and he turned to look at the ribbon that Hermione held far away from her body. Even with one look, the wizard knew that Hermione's thoughts were correct. He gave a small laugh and smirked at the distasteful look on her face as he replied. "No, that is definitely his."

Hermione groaned at the fact that she would find the ribbon of Lucius Malfoy out of thousands of things in this room. "Gods…"

"I knew I lost this! I was looking for it for weeks," shouted Regulus, his voice filled with glee.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, turning around to get a good look.

Holding up a green shirt, he turned to show Hermione. "My lucky quidditch jersey," he smiled.

Hermione raised a brow, biting her tongue from her initial response: You're kidding, right? Yeah, not a good idea, Hermione. Instead, she smiled and asked, "you have a lucky jersey?"

"Don't judge me; everyone has their lucky item! I swear!" Regulus defended himself, surprising Hermione.

Apparently, my tone wasn't as neutral as I had hoped, damn.

She was brought out from her thoughts at the sound of Crabbe's deep, monotone voice.

"Once I had a pair of socks that always gave me a good hair day."

"Is that so, Crabbe? How interesting." Hermione muttered sarcastically, as she leaned over a large pile to grab a book towards the top. She lost her balance and her legs hit into the items before she snatched the book and took a step back. As she retreated, she heard the sound of something falling onto the ground beneath her feet, sounding almost like a coin.

"Oops," she mumbled, bending down to pick up the fallen object. As she looked down, she realized that it was a ring. When she stood back up, she began to inspect the piece of jewelry in her hand. The entire ring was silver, with a snake that curled around an emerald stone. As she turned it around to continue her observation, she noticed a small clasp on the side of the ring.

"It's a poison ring…" She whispered, confused yet intrigued.

"Huh?" Regulus muttered.

Hermione walked over to the wizard, lifting up the ring towards his eyes. "This ring, it's a poison ring. It won't open though."

Regulus quickly looked at the ring and replied nonchalantly. "It probably only opens for the owner. Looks like a pureblood type of thing."

Hermione huffed at his lack of attention, though he did say that it could be a Pureblood ring, which was something that Hermione didn't know when she first looked at it. Moving her eyes back to the ring, she began to inspect it further, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She had looked at the band of the ring, but it was just a typical silver band, no writing on it. Turning the ring around, she noticed an engraving on the back.

Hermione could tell that it was clearly a family crest of some sort, and she felt a sense of familiarity with it. Come on Hermione, think! You've studied the ancient families before, you've seen all of the crests…

Finally piecing together the letters that made up the crest, she found out who the ring belonged to.

"Lestrange. It's a Lestrange ring," her voice filled with triumph and wonder.

Regulus was still mooning over his newly found clothing, and replied with a simple, "Wow."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his flat reply and took one last look at the ring before pocketing it.

Concluding that she wasn't going to get much more out of Regulus anytime soon, she turned to the ghost of Crabbe to say her farewells. "Crabbe, I think it is time that we leave. It was nice seeing you again."

"Before you leave, will you tell Draco that I'm sorry? I never meant for the fire to get so out of control as it did."

Nodding slowly she looked at him with sympathy. "Sure. I will let him know. Maybe he'll come to visit sometime soon as well."

"That would be nice. Um… T-thank you, Granger," Crabbe said, looking like it was almost painful to say.

Hermione wanted to laugh but held herself back. She lifted a hand, and waved at the spirit of Vincent Crabbe, with one last farewell. "You're welcome."

"Well, that was successful, don't you think?" Hermione asked Regulus once they had returned to the manor.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, it was great. Thank you for taking me, really." Regulus smiled, finally seeming to come out of his daze.

"No problem," the witch said. She looked at him with a sincere smile and continued. "Plus, I like spending time with you, so it was worth it."

Regulus blushed and smiled sheepishly at her response, and Hermione leaned up to press a short kiss on his lips. As she pulled back, Regulus was still standing there looking like he was waiting for more. Patting him on the cheek, she had to let him down.

"I am going to go talk to Rabastan for a bit," she said and noticed the frown on the youngest wizard's face.

Relenting one last time, she pulled him in for another kiss, slipping her tongue out and swiping it over his lip, and then moving to his own tongue. She pulled back, smirking at the same sad face that Regulus had before. "Don't forget; we have the conference this evening at six. I'll meet all of you down here, and we will go together."

Regulus opened his mouth to begin speaking but shut it before he let any words out. He did this a few times before he decided to risk it and ask what had been on his mind. "Hermione, about the conference… What are we going to have to do? I mean, I don't really want to speak much…"

"It's fine; you won't have to speak," she reassured him. "I will do all of the talking, and you just stand there looking as handsome as always, okay?"

"O-okay…" He flushed, saying the word quietly.


Hermione stood in front of the door to Rabastan Lestrange's room and lifted her hand to knock on the wood.

She waited for a voice to sound out, but nothing could be heard. Instead, the door creaked open by itself, and Hermione took this as her cue to come inside. When she stepped in, she saw Rabastan sitting in a chair; his legs crossed over the other as he held a book up to his face.

"Rabastan?" Hermione said, walking closer to where he was sitting.

"What is your question?" He huffed out, not sounding angry but also not sounding the most friendly.

"Well, it's not really a question per say…" She said, feeling nervous for his reply.

"Okay… So why are you here then?"

"I was at Hogwarts today and was roaming around the various rooms, and I came across something in the Room of Hidden Things. I think it belongs to you."

Rabastan seemed curious and looked up at her with furrowed brows.

Hermione, no longer wanting to drag out the wait, reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring that she had found. Holding it between her thumb and index finger, and held it out to Rabastan. She looked so intently at him, looking to see what his response would be, even if it were just the smallest movement.

His eyes widened when he caught sight of what Hermione was carrying, and he reached out a trembling hand. As he took hold of the ring, he seemed to be lost in another world.

Hermione stood in front of him, waiting patiently and watching, as he kept his eyes glued to the lost item.

Finally, Rabastan spoke, making Hermione jump to attention. "You found this?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "is it yours?"

"No," Rabstan shook his head morosely. "No, it's my brother's."

Hermione didn't know how to respond, so she just responded with "oh."

How articulate, Hermione.

"It was a gift from my mother and I after Rodolphus had gotten sorted into Slytherin. My mum and I designed it ourselves, although my father insisted that it should have a poison compartment just in case Rodolphus got into any trouble. I never knew that he had lost it."

Hermione nodded, showing that she was listening and that she understood. "It's a lovely ring," she said. "I'm sure he cherished it greatly."

"He did…" The auburn haired man said, choking slightly on his words.

Hermione felt immense sympathy at that moment, and she wanted nothing more than to gather him up in her arms and console him. She knew she could not do that so abruptly, so she settled on keeping herself still and relying on her responses. "Well, then I am glad that you have it now. To remember him."

"Yes, to remember him…" He nodded, a piece of his long hair falling in front of his face. "I remember that I used to be so jealous of this ring when we had given it to him. I always wanted it. Now, I sort of wish that he had never lost it, to begin with…"

"I understand. But, I imagine that if he had to give this ring to anyone, it would have been you."

"You really think so?" He asked her, sounding like a small child who was looking for approval.

Holding her hands, she responded with her honest answer. "I do."

Rabastan nodded and a minute of silence hung in the room before he began to speak again, though this time his eyes did not rise to look into hers.

"Listen, Gra- Hermione, uh."

"You don't have to say anything, Rabastan," Hermione said with a small smile on her face. "I'm just returning what was lost."


End Notes: So here is the long awaited chapter 15! I apologize that I didn't update for such a long time. Originally, I was simply having writer's block, especially because I hadn't had anything prewritten. I had only prewritten up to chapter 14, so I needed to come up with new ideas and write chapter 15 completely from scratch. Then I got a little busy with University, and couldn't find the time or the energy to write. Eventually, I got inspired again, and went to begin writing, but began to feel a little sick. So, I was sick for an entire weekend, along with a few of the weekdays. I have finally gotten my head somewhat together and was able to write this chapter. I'm going to be honest, I don't like this chapter much. I found myself writing the dialogue so quickly and easily, but it was the rest that was really screwing me up. I think it shows in this chapter that I wasn't as organized as I usually am, and for that, I apologize. But, as for right now, I will not be changing anything with this chapter. I have spent days editing this and going through it all, and I have absolutely no more energy to do anything more with it. I just want to post it and be done with it, lol. Thank you to all of those that commented on the story throughout these past three weeks that I haven't been on, and I am sorry for not replying. I will try and get around to replying to the reviews because I really do appreciate them, and enjoy interacting with all of you who read my story. Now, I cannot promise that I will be back to my usual schedule of posting once a week, but I will try my hardest. I have posted a board for Crabbe on my Pinterest, so if you follow that then you can go, and check that out if you wish! For all of those who want to hear from Ron and to see interactions with him, your wishes will come true in chapter 16. I also wanted to touch a bit on the parts of this chapter where they visit Hogwarts and all of those certain spots. I tried to do as much research on all of the rooms, and I have written the entire outing as best as I can, so please don't give me a hard time for it. There will also be further interactions with Fabian and Gideon in the next chapter too. I also will hopefully write up a scene where Sirius can somewhat redeem himself with both Hermione and Regulus. With all of that said, I will now end this long ramble. Thank you for reading, and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. EDIT: I also forgot to post the Pinterest board of the ring that belonged to Rodolphus, but I thankfully remembered and put it up! Go check it out if you wish.