A/N: Thank you to my BETA DarklyDreaming and to Jessirose85 for the idea!

Chapter 5:

The group had separated themselves out upon the train, the twins having gone off with Lee, and Ginny with the Golden Trio to an open compartment. They sat there as a group until Neville joined them.

"Hey guys," he greeted them.

"Hey Neville," Hermione said pulling out that day's copy of the Daily Prophet. "How was your summer?"

"Alright, and yours?"

"Decent enough. I mean, I spent it with the boys, which we all know can be an adventure in itself."

"Oh yes," he laughed.

"Hey!" The boys exclaimed. Their outburst caused Hermione and Neville to laugh more.

"You both know that I love you," Hermione consoled them.

"Yeah yeah," Ron said with a smile.

Hermione smiled as she opened the paper and began to read it. There were the usual readings bashing Dumbledore and Harry so she just skimmed over it telling the boys about the highlights of each one. Finally she reached the middle of the paper and saw an article title that caught her eye:

LUCIUS MALFOY: DEAD MAN WALKING!

Hermione gasped as she read the article. Apparently, Lucius was ratted out as a spy for the light during the last battle with You-Know-Who. Now with the 'lies' that were being spread by Harry and Dumbledore, he was getting threats from unknown people.

"What is it Hermione, is everything ok?" Ron asked concerned for his friend's reaction.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I just read that Igor Karkaroff has just been found dead. I just thought about Victor and how he is fairing. He always told me that Karkaroff was like a father to him."

"Hermione," Harry said. "He was a death eater. He was destined to die when he disappeared at the end of the third task last year."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, but we all know how it feels to lose someone like that." The group nodded in agreement. It was a great lie, sure, but the reaction she got from the boys isn't what confused her. The news about Malfoy senior caused her to feel sorry for him. Not only that, it scared her. She didn't understand how the man who, along with his son, had caused her so much pain over the past four years could cause her to feel this way.

The group changed into their uniforms just in time for the train to stop in Hogmeade. They got off and got on one of the horseless carriages. "What in the world are those?" Harry asked.

"What?" Ron asked.

"The things pulling the carriages."

"The carriage is pulling itself, Harry," Hermione stated. "Just like always."

"You aren't mad. I see them too," a blond girl said from behind them.

"Hello Luna," Neville said, he performed introductions and the group sat together in silence all the way up to the castle. Once they arrived, they bid farewell to Luna as she went to the Ravenclaw table and the other's headed to Gryffindor.

The group sat at the table as the new first years were sorted. After Dumbledore's speech, the students dug in to the food that lay before them. Hermione filled her plate but only picked at what she had.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You've hardly touched your food. I mean, I know you're known for eating in small bites, but you haven't eaten hardly anything and it has been about fifteen minutes." Ron said.

"Oh, yeah. I suppose I am not very hungry."

"Is it the news about Karkaroff? Ever since you read that article, you have acted a bit odd."

"Yeah, a bit."

"Are you worried about Victor?" Ginny asked.

"Yes."

"Hermione, now that He is back, you should probably get used to the fact that a lot more people we know are going to be showing up in the papers," Harry said frankly.

"I suppose you're right." The group dropped the subject and continued to eat. Hermione looked at the head table and noticed Snape looking rather annoyed as usual. 'Wait he is close to the Malfoy family. And he is a member of the Order. Maybe I should talk to him,' Hermione thought.

When the students were dismissed, Hermione made some excuse about going to the library before going to meet with Professor Dumbledore to get the prefect schedule. The group, knowing how she was, just let it go. And with that, she made her way to the dungeons. She walked to Snape's office and knocked three times, then waited until she heard footsteps coming toward the door. When the door opened, it was to reveal a fairly angry-looking Snape.