Chapter Thirty-Seven: Towards Hope

Disclaimer: I own none of the material written by J. K. Rowling, or her publishing company, or Warner Brothers.

Summary: The Slytherins are up to no good, and may just be in over their heads. Our favourite Basilisk is still alive. Daphne is a blood traitor who possibly bit off more than any witch could chew. Luna works a miracle. Cedric is overwhelmed by his studies and concern for his romantic life.

Hermione Granger has almost everything she ever wanted; Though whether it will be enough remains to be seen.

OOOO

There were things Hermione had wanted. Beauty, unparalleled intelligence, international acclaim, power, and how the list went on for ages. Society told her that she needed those things. Ought to want those things. With the usual smattering of luck and misfortune all rolled into a messy ball she had climbed to the top of a mountain. Her first mountain in life. All at the precocious age of fourteen. Now there was only emptiness at the worst time imaginable. So many mountains loomed. Grindelwald. Voldemort. Cernunnos. Tom Riddle. Her uncanny premonition told her there was something even worse looming even higher overhead. Unseen and scaly as any chimaera would have longed to be. Eulalie Hicks had been right in saying that she might never end up apprenticing for her.

Hermione had no idea what she wanted any longer.

At Hogwarts things were the same, yet so very different. Daphne and Astoria were no longer as hopeful or young as they had been only months earlier. The Slytherins still plotted with one another on whatever they had planned. Cedric was worried for her. Withdrawn and concerned at the same time, however that was possible Hermione did not rightly know. Harry and Luna were working on something big even as the Dementors sucked the life out of them both one day at a time. She could only imagine that they would be struck by the curse of association and get the same, dead eyes Daphne now had. All hope vanished. Only the cruel reality of adulthood arrived much too soon. Maybe that was why she felt so empty, so pitted and bleak. What Hermione wanted was something that could never be had. As uncontrollable as Voldemort himself.

The first meeting for the Society of Scum came early that term with a lot of emotions, and plenty of ambition. They arrived in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom one at a time. This was a plan that had been in the works for a very long time. "I don't want to do this," Cedric looked quite green in the face that late afternoon, "Even though I know we have to." They stood there together for a long time. Alone. People stared more than they had before. Professors did not quite know how to handle a student that, in some ways, was their peer. What hurt Hermione the most was how her relationship with Cedric had changed. Been marred by the tragedy of things in their world. It was heavier. Darker. Intense. Secret snogging sessions had been replaced by moments like these which were filled with the heaviest of silences. The jewellery he had made for her burned all the time. Though not in an entirely pleasant sort of way.

"We have to." Hermione sighed. She hadn't told them the entire truth. That Ron died at her own hand. They likely wouldn't have blamed her for how it worked out entirely. Though the Basilisk still needed a firm hand. To tell Dumbledore was to risk this knowledge getting out. Far too many questions would be raised about why it was still alive. Leaving a weapon of mass magical destruction in a school full of children was a non-starter as well though. Especially not one that reported directly to Voldemort's commands. Mercifully there was a simple way to kill Basilisks, as Harry had so patiently reminded them.

He arrived alongside Luna shortly after. A squirming sack in his hands. "Do you have it?" Hermione asked carefully, eyeing the thing with a great deal of scrutiny.

"Yes, I just Silencioed it to avoid anyone taking too much notice," Harry informed her.

They didn't talk much longer, queasy as they all were about the prospect of what awaited them. Daphne arrived last, but with a somewhat unwelcome guest at her side. Astoria stood there, trembling like the First Year Gryffindor she was. "Absolutely not!" Cedric immediately protested, "You send her back to dinner. A First Year isn't tagging along with us to the Chamber of Secrets!"

"Of course she won't be," Daphne sent him a blistering look, "Astoria is going to keep watch. Like it or not there is no longer a choice for anyone in Britain." The blonde crossed her arms, daring him to argue. "I also wanted to put something forth on the table for us to vote on. The Society of Scum needs more members. We have to ask for help. There are too few of us, and too many enemies that keep popping up by the day."

"The more of us there are, the more likely it is that what we are doing gets out." Cedric rebutted. "I'm fine with Astoria sitting in on meetings. Though I draw the line on recruiting anyone else. Making them do crazy, hare-brained things like what we are about to jump into."

"They don't have a choice though, do they Cedric?" Luna asked in her wispy, knowing way. "Life as we know it will never be the same. People need options. Daddy always asks me to imagine a world where we only had the Daily Prophet to read. We need to give them something better." She had grown during her time in their circle. That much was certainly true.

"Why don't we put it to a vote? As the original founders of the Society of Scum." Harry took the unprecedented, diplomatic move of urging them towards democracy. "All in favour?" Harry, Daphne, and Luna all raised their hands. Cedric didn't budge. Hermione was inclined to agree with him. Daphne shot her a dissatisfied sneer for the first time in a very long time indeed. "We will begin drafting lists and recruiting students. Slytherin is obviously a no-go. Too risky."

"I agree," Daphne nodded sharply. "Cedric and Hermione know more of the older students from their classes. They can draft a list of candidates. You, Luna, and I can screen students in our year." She shrugged her robe off before handing it to Astoria for safekeeping. Rolling up her sleeves before tugging her wand free. "Do you have the blindfolds prepared Luna? For once we arrive at the inner sanctum?" The younger student nodded. "Good. The last thing we need today is an accidental Petrification or death."

"Open," Hermione hissed in Parseltongue when they were all squared in the proper direction. Tom Riddle's 'gift' still seemed as strong in her as it had the year previous.

"Your accent is atrocious, Hermione." Harry commented, likely attempting to lighten the mood. He would be the expert, of course, with how he had spoken to so many snakes since starting to apprentice with Scamander. None of them laughed though. While he rode down on his broom so they had a way of going back up, the rest of them slid down one after the next. Wordlessly, Cedric went first, then Daphne, followed by Luna, and Hermione sat on the edge by herself. Apart from a bone-white Astoria. With a sharp inhalation she kicked off. Sliding down through centuries of filth and landing atop a pile of bones. Their wands were all out now.

A trip to the library had allowed them the necessary knowledge to reverse and eliminate the barrier presented by the collapsed portion of the cave. Once through they all whimpered in unison at the sight of the snake skin. Long and big enough, even then, the Basilisk had been able to eat them all twenty times over. Harry did the honours crooning Parseltongue to the last obstacle. His accent was like water to her ears indeed. Heinously beautiful though she loathed to admit as much. "Blindfolds," She commanded when they stood in the middle of the flooded chamber. Cedric had only bothered to waste magical energy parting the water so that they could set the rooster in a stable spot. The tiny little blindfold on the thing's eyes would have been comical in any other situation.

"Are you ready, Hermione?" Harry asked when they were all blind.

"As much as I'll ever be." She sighed in response. The PTSD was strong. Here was where Ron had died. Where Tom Riddle had left her body like a parasite in exchange for tangible reality. This was the pinnacle of her very worst mistakes. A reminder why some mountains were best left unclimbed. Her mind whirled towards a locket, hidden safely away, then instantly blocked it back.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four." There was an instantaneous effect. Loud clunking grated on their ears as the mouth of the statue fell open into the water. A large body hissed and clattered out onto the ground. So mightily that the space about them all shook. All of their wands were raised immediately. Hermione prepared to duplicate the rooster while Harry moved to remove his Silencing Charm.

"So this is how it ends." The Basilisk whispered, not a hint of panic in its voice. "I am resigned to my fate. Do as you must." There was another slap on the ground. Though nothing rushed or attacked them. Instead there were many long, peaceful moments.

"Aren't you going to fight?" Her adopted brother's voice shook slightly. She knew it all too well. He was having doubts.

"I am tired, little two-legger." The answer came, as depressing as expected. Hermione rolled her eyes behind the blindfold. "I have lived a long, lonely life down here. Subject to the whims of wixen who sought to control me." She hardly expected a Basilisk to be so capable of manipulation.

"Why are you talking to it instead of killing it?" Cedric snarled.

She ignored him. "You Petrified countless muggleborns, and that is only what we know of. Am I truly to believe that you had no free will in that matter?"

"I hunger… I rip… I tear… I kill…" The snake answered calmly, "Do you two-leggers not hunger for meat? Cook it though you might? Have you imagined the starving sensation that comes with escaping hibernation after hundreds of years? You cannot imagine what I have done. All that I have seen. To end me, to end my misery and torment. To save me from ever starving again, or feeling the dampness of this chamber. That would be a mercy."

"We don't have to kill you," Harry was quick to backpedal. "Maybe we could help you find a new home. Far away from here."

"That isn't a choice, Harry." Hermione lashed out at him in the tongue of serpents, as naturally as though it were her firstborn language. "There is no forest for it. No place on earth that will be freed from the terror of this thing's eyes. There is no home in the world for a creature that was manufactured purely by dark wizard's to hurt other beings."

"She is correct in her assessment of me, little one," Came the shockingly reasonable voice, "I have never had a place in this world for as long as I have lived in it." There was a rattling breath that seemed to suck what little air was in the room entirely away. "Your friend approaches me. Why? Stop this foolish two-legger."

There was a light. Something so blindingly white that Hermione was eager for the blindfold. Perhaps it was insane of her to rip the thing away, but she did anyway. It seemed that Cedric, Daphne, and Harry had all done the same as her. Though they all stared at the floor. Not that they needed to. Luna walked ever so slowly across the chamber. With each step the luminous, white light that now surrounded her body seemed to grow brighter than before. Eventually the gap between the currents of flooded water and Cedric's spell ended. Instead of stopping she simply walked across water.

Whispering voices filled the air, leaving the hair on the nape of Hermione's neck standing on edge. The glow was so intense now, like a star in muted glory that the Basilisk's eyes seemed not to matter at all. They could barely even see the outline of these events as it was. Finally the Second Year arrived before the creature. Its head lifted upwards from the defeated slump it had been in only moments before. One-thousand voices, perhaps more, spoke from Luna's body all at once. In every language imaginable. All with the same message. Something in it caused the primal element of Hermione Granger's soul to lift beyond the misery. Towards hope.

People thought that Hermione was the next Dumbledore, better even, perhaps. At that moment she knew, however, that Luna was something else. Something better.

"You have known nothing but cruelty from your first breath, Basilisk." Luna was the vessel for this. It was beyond human power. There was something so very spiritual about it. Nothing selfish like what Hermione had wanted for herself. "My gift is not of mercy, but kindness. Will you accept?"

"Yes." The Basilisk called out.

When the light faded and Luna collapsed into stagnant water, all of them stared up into the big, yellow eyes of the Basilisk. Not a single one of them died as a result.

OOOO

That day had been something of a turning point for Cedric. He was still overwhelmed with his advanced studies, yes. Still concerned for his friends. For Hermione. Though the war did not seem as impossible as it once had. The Society of Scum had hope now. Not only as Luna's unexpected powers began to manifest more brilliantly with each day, but as the fruits she harvested ripened. They had named the Basilisk that as well. Hope. She was quite confused by it, as Harry and Hermione translated, but seemed happy enough with the state of her life. Swearing to repay them by defending, rather than terrorising, Hogwarts for as long as life was still left in her. A great number of battles between Hope and the Acromantulas soon followed.

Any misgivings he had about expanding their circle were proven insubstantial. Astoria Greengrass, Neville Longbottom, Fred and George Weasley, Susan Bones, and her friend Hannah Abbott, all proved to be eager novice recruits. Hermione had further demonstrated that she tutored half the muggleborns in the school. All of whom dedicated themselves to any cause opposite the Knights of Walpurgis with glee. While the inner circle plotted and delegated, the band of followers that had been built up over the course of a month performed various roles. Spying on Slytherins, practising duelling with Daphne, and creating a supportive community that spread across three of the Hogwarts Houses.

"They have something planned on Beltane," Daphne reported, all five of them sitting in the library together after having finished their homework. "Exposing whatever it is that has been going on needs to be our main objective. We take this to Dumbledore and the press. I can bring it to the special council if I have the necessary evidence. Every last Slytherin will go to Azkaban where they belong." Daphne was almost cruel nowadays. Her strike first mentality was almost like a poison for the whole society.

Hermione could hardly complain that someone else was stepping up into a position of leadership though. It was a welcome break. Indeed, what a leader the British Youth Representative had become. All the duelling and independent practice had sharpened her both mentally and physically. Turning on her abusive paterfamilias had honed the witch emotionally as well. The muggleborn witch almost wondered if her friend would be able to defeat her in a duel now. There was also the assertiveness that came only from someone who had learned how to make difficult decisions. That was a special gift, or curse, from the jaded magicals who sat on the Wizengamot, certainly. "I think that I need to step up in this instance. Do what no one else has the proximity or stomach for."

"Such as?" Cedric was increasingly temperamental. On edge. His eyes ringed with bruised circles. The oldest member of their group clashed with the burgeoning power Daphne displayed more frequently. Hermione could only acknowledge that he served as the moral balance, while Daphne was willing to do whatever it took. In her melancholic state they were both necessary components for the Society.

"That is a secret for me to take to my grave." Daphne refused to even entertain any room for an argument. That was a new tactic; Not entirely ineffective either. Cedric allowed the issue to rest. In fact, he didn't say much for the rest of the meeting. Luna was busy tending to Hope's wounds, Harry helping and pretending he wasn't excitedly sending notes off to Mr. Scamander. Daphne was perhaps just as busy as he was. What bothered him was the original founder who did not outwardly seem, for once, to have a lot going on. Oh, Hermione put on a nice act of it. Pretending to be her usual, swotty self. He was ashamed to admit it had worked on him at first given how much was occupying his mind.

Her handing the reins of social advocacy over to a witch hell bent on burning Hogwarts down was what clued him in. She was withdrawn, pale, melancholy. There was less fire in her eyes. So this time when the meeting ended, instead of burying himself in books and studying, Cedric pulled his girlfriend away from the others. "I need to show you something," He whispered in her ear.

"I really feel like going to bed." She insisted, tone so achingly, obviously tired now. Her roommates had been gossiping about how the once-early riser now often rushed to classes in the morning.

"You are going to want to see this." He insisted right back to her. So they skirted around the imminent curfew; Both of them quite unconcerned by the abuse of his Prefect privileges. Down through Hogwarts many levels they walked in silence. Not quite uncomfortable, but certainly there was a tenseness to it. Alone time together was not something that had popped up for a while. Finally they stopped at the docks, a place that Cedric had long ago come to think of as their spot.

"So," Hermione breathed out, having long ago stopped caring about how sleek her hair looked. Bushy mane rolling in the chill, winter wind. Icy tufts of her breath mingling gorgeously with the moisture that was rolling off the Black Lake. "What did you want to show me?" Unsurprisingly, she had been the second after Harry to produce a corporeal Patronus. Daphne third, and Luna fourth. With how often they all snuck about the grounds at night it was essential to have a powerful mastery of the spell. Cedric was the oldest and had been somewhat embarrassed with how long it took him to compete with his younger peers. When it happened though he found himself only full of happiness.

"I spoke with Professor McGonagall the other day," He started off carefully, knowing how tempestuous Hermione had become lately. Anything that directly poked at her shell left magic crackling dangerously in the air. Even if she meant nothing malicious by it. "She told me that you haven't been submitting any of your theoretical coursework. In any of your classes." The Quidditch Captain for Hufflepuff started off at the most undeniable, inarguable place he could. If Hermione Granger wasn't turning in homework then something was most certainly wrong.

"I'm a Master in one of the most complex subjects magic has to offer Cedric." Her tone was sharp and left no room for questioning. "I think we both know I could likely scrape a pass on my NEWTs without even trying."

"You haven't been trying much. When it comes to anything."

She stared at him. Guilt shining through the tiredness. Plain as day. "I haven't-. Ergh." Hermione struggling to find words was something else he never thought would happen. "I do still care, but everything is so messy. I'm happy even though everything around me is so fucked and engulfing. Then I just live with the constant terror that something will take this happiness. That it will disappear because I can't believe in it."

"You can believe in it," He stepped closer, tipping her chin up with one of his fingers. "You can talk to me. About anything. I'll always stand with you. No matter what you have to say Hermione Granger." Cedric smiled, for perhaps the first time in a while. "That's what I wanted to show you." The wizard withdrew his wand and pointed it to the right. Drawing her under his arm to watch as he said, "Expecto patronum." Light burst outwards across the water. Dancing under the moonlight as a shape began to stretch and form. Hermione's had unsurprisingly been something as ferocious as herself. Loyal. Beautiful. Lethal. Graceful.

His Patronus was the exact same. A lioness stalked the water. As though it were hunting for fish. They didn't say the words, but they certainly felt them. Hermione looked up at him in a way that made him feel extraordinarily chuffed. Like he was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Considering the things Hermione had seen that made it feel all the better. She was pulling him in for a kiss before he knew what was happening. The best kiss they had ever shared. One that stole all the breath from his lungs and left him feeling dizzy. If anything, the Patronus did not fade. Instead it grew even more luminous until they were both illuminated by white light.

"There is something I need to tell you." She finally admitted, "Something I cannot handle on my own."

OOOO

Daphne Greengrass no longer lived in the Slytherin common room. Professors Dumbledore and Snape had long ago agreed that it was in no way safe, and they moved her to a private room. An easy enough bending of the rules for the new BYR. This meant that no one expected her to be down in the dungeons, lurking in the shadows. Alone. Cassius Warrington certainly didn't see it coming when she struck him in the back with a powerful Stunner. By the time he came to, the older student was bound to a chair somewhere private, wand sitting on the desk behind her. "Hello Cassius," She purred dangerously, "You and I ought to have a chat."

"I'll say nothing, you stupid, troll fucking, mudwallowing whore." His snarl accompanied a bright red, angry face as he writhed mightily against the restraints.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Daphne tittered, "I'm about to become Lady Greengrass. Should you really be talking to me in such a crude way?" He laughed and spat at her feet. She smiled darkly at him, reaching back to grab his wand off the desk. Holding it in the air and testing it with her ridiculously strong arm muscles. Intense duelling practice had a way of doing that, and Flitwick was dedicated to cultivating her potential.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Your lot have absolutely no idea what I would dare to do."

"I think it is a bad idea to act like you are already the Head of Greengrass." Warrington sniped. "Your older brother is still very much in the running, last I heard. We've been in correspondence with him. Your grandfather let the leash go too slack, but I'm willing to bet he'll know better. William said he'll keep you in a stranglehold. No more Hogwarts, duelling, or this British Youth Representative nonsense. No more mudbloods to get chummy with. If you snap my wand I'll see to it that he does the same to yours and marries you off faster than you can blink." He puffed up, eyes filthy with insinuation, "You need a strong, Pureblood man with a firm hand. One who can find that good, Greengrass girl you used to be and give her some whelps to focus on. Maybe I'll deign to toss my hat into the ru-."

There was a very loud snapping noise. Sparks flying in the air as she dropped what was left of his wand in the rubbish bin. "Oops." He went absolutely ballistic with blind fury. Until she strode forwards and pressed the tip of her wand into his throat. "What are you planning to do on Beltane, Cassius?"

His eyes still shined with that sickening, demented light. "Nothing you can stop." He sounded cheery now. So very, extraordinarily cheery. "By the time it is over, we'll be running the show again. And just for what you did to my wand… I'm going to ask William to pass you along to Goyle."

"I didn't want to do this," She sighed, lying through her teeth, "But you made me do it." It wasn't something Daphne was proud of, but she had been practising. First on rats. Then on progressively larger animals. Hope had made it easier to find larger targets as soon as she started delimbing Acromantulas left and right. This was different; There was no coming back from performing either of these two spells on a human being. Then she remembered the grisly picture he had just been only too happy to paint. Such a future could not be allowed to happen. She knew these people intimately even if Cedric or Hermione didn't. What cruelties they were capable of. The only choices were death or fighting with absolutely no limits.

"Crucio."

His screams erupted into the air. With each successive casting of the Cruciatus Curse, Daphne became better at it. Her torturing grew more nuanced and skillful. It was addictive in the vilest sort of way. Then, when he was all but a puddle of gloop, she switched tactics. "Imperio." She was better at this one; Making people do things they didn't want to do.

He sang like a canary, and she obliviated him for his troubles.

OOOO

Next Chapter: Part One-Beltane

The next two chapters are going to take me a minute or two. Lots of stuff needs to get pulled together, and they will be long ones. I'm finally ready to put my big plot twist into motion, and I am truly excited for how this story will deviate from cannon. After that it will be nice to have AO3 since things will need to be divided up. I have a job now, and I am incredibly busy with that, but I am determined to see this story through. Also, don't worry, I'll make sure Cassius gets what he truly deserves at some point.