Author's Note: Yayy. Miss me? Or the better question: remember me? Yeah. It's been…two months(?) since I last updated? Sheesh time flies. Anyway, here's the new chapter. Very little Tomione moments in here, but it's a very big chapter plotwise. So, hope you enjoy it.

On a separate note, here comes my endless story pimping! The Quartet of Helpers is a AU fic I published for Christmas. I have finished my Secret Santa fic which will be posted some time after Christmas, so stay tuned for that.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I have started review replying again, so I will get back to you if you have any questions.

TheEscapeFromReality, Double R Starr, werevampluvr, LadyBalacenia, Eventual Evanescence, reader204, UniCryin, LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, tablekorner, Roguebludger, hateme101, Spectacular6, priestess-yukii18, Kirtash R, Anon, Alassea Riddle, Pirate Queen ofthe 21st centry, Kaien Brief

Also, since I rushed this chapter (yes, I know. I had two months and I still rushed it.) there might be some mistakes in it. I still have no beta, so…yeah. Try to ignore them, though if you tell me I'll be happy to change it.


"Thank you for coming, Miss Granger. Please take a seat."

Hermione did as she was told, though she watched the transfiguration teacher warily. While she did as well in his class as she did in everyone else's, he had not shown particular interest in her, and that she had been fine with. Her original plan—though she failed quite miserably—was to not attract too much attention to herself. Dumbledore, she knew, was extremely perceptive, and she didn't need him to start investigating her background.

There was only one reason he would want to call her to his office, and it sure did not have anything to do with grades. If it did, there was no reason for him to talk to her individually; he could just talk to her after class. Hermione clutched her wand with her hand. She was sure that she couldn't defeat Dumbledore even if she tried her hardest and he was without a wand, but she could at least attempt to stun him to give herself time to run. She couldn't apparate in the building, so she would need to go somewhere where she could.

This had to be about her secret. She was slipping. She had been so careful in the beginning, but as she got used to Hogwarts, she started to delude herself into thinking she was just a normal student. She was not. She was not even at the school to study. She was there on a mission. And so far, she had been so impressed with the school that she had not done much of anything else.

Her father had sent her a note that warned her that she needed to get back on task. Of course, the mail was not all butterflies and rainbows; there had been quite a lot of death threats towards Nick and even her Slytherin friends, though it did not escape her notice that Tom was never included. Did he know of Tom's magic abilities and felt that he could not beat him a duel? That did not seem possible. Grindelwald believed himself to be better than all; there was no way that he believed a schoolboy could beat him in a duel, no matter how talented that schoolboy may be.

Why was Tom the exception?

"Sir, I have somewhere I need to be soon. If you could make this as fast as possible, I would appreciate it," said Hermione. That was a lie, but he didn't need to know that. To be honest, if he did know her secret, she wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. She had never talked directly to Dumbledore, but she found that she quite liked his lectures. She respected his views, and though she had grown up with a lot of Dumbledore hate, she found her opinions of him to be shifting quite considerably. She didn't really want to hurt the man, but then again, she didn't fancy going to Azkaban for life if he did know she was Grindelwald's daughter.

As much as she hated to admit, she was still a coward. She would not hesitate to curse Dumbledore if her life was in danger. She still, after spending nearly half a year in Hogwarts, feared death and her father more than anything else.

"Yes, of course Miss Granger." His worried expression made Hermione feel even more nervous. Why would he feel worried? The only expression she had expected to see on his face was anger, but she supposed Dumbledore was not as hotheaded as she was. "I will try to make this as fast as possible."

Right after he said that, he stood up and started pacing around the room. Hermione opened her mouth to tell him that he was going as slow as he possibly could, but then shut it quickly, knowing that she couldn't rush him even if she wanted to. She picked at a scab on her hand, all while watching Dumbledore out of the corner of her eyes to make sure he didn't decide to kill her when her back was turned. She didn't think it was quite his style, but she had learned from experience to expect the unexpected.

After about ten minutes of endless pacing and Hermione's impatience gradually rising, Dumbledore finally turned back towards her and sat down in his chair. "It has been brought to my attention," Dumbledore began, and Hermione's heart sank. He knew. Her hand drifted down to her wand holster, fingering her wand. It seemed that she would have to use it after all.

Dumbledore continued, not noticing the pained look on Hermione's face, "that you have been getting increasingly closer to Tom. It is even said that the two of you are currently dating." He looked at her expectantly. "Is this correct?"

Hermione blinked; that had not been what she expected to hear. Was Dumbledore suddenly interested in gossip? Why else would he be interested in her life? "I suppose so," Hermione said cautiously, not knowing where he was going with this line of questioning. "We have been talking more."

She also wondered who on earth would be bored enough to report her relationship with Tom to the transfiguration professor.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore sighed. Hermione looked at him quizzically. Her professor suddenly looked very fatigued, and she could've sworn he looked slightly annoyed as well. "I have a feeling that you have been informed by many people, but Tom is not who he seems."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Hermione nodded. Abraxas, Cygnus and Black had taken turns informing her of that fact. Not to mention, it did not take a genius to see behind that sickening sweet image he set for himself. She had figured out quite quickly that there was a darker side to the Slytherin prefect.

Dumbledore looked at her as he expected her to say more, so she added, "I appreciate your concern, sir, but I believe that I am able to handle it. I have encountered much more difficult things in the past." Hermione resisted the urge to tape her mouth shut; once again, she had said too much. However, if Dumbledore noticed the extra information she gave him, he didn't show it.

"I am aware of the image that Tom puts up in public," Dumbledore said, "However, I regret to be the one to inform you of this, but Tom has a darker side. You would be appalled to learn of the things he considers hobbies. He enjoys killing and torturing other students for his own pleasure."

Dumbledore was looking at her expectantly, probably watching for any signs of horror or disgust that might show on her face. However, she knew what he was like. And like she had said before, she had seen worse, much worse. And frankly, she believed she was quite similar to Tom. The only difference was that Tom had a choice with what he did. She, on the other hand, was forever stuck doing someone else's bidding.

"I know of his hobbies, sir," Hermione said, enjoying the brief moment where surprise flickered over Dumbledore's face. It wasn't often that one could catch the transfiguration professor off guard. "I do not say I support them, but I have learned to deal with them." She looked at him, hoping that he would drop the topic.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore had been always known as being rather persistent. "Miss Granger, I have all my confidence in your abilities, but this is not something you can merely deal with," said Dumbledore gravely, "Tom knows things that no one should ever know. He knows things that are hidden for a reason. He immerses himself in all the wrong knowledge."

Instead of driving her away like he hoped, he only succeeded in intriguing her even more. Tom was powerful, that she knew. But she hadn't quite known how much information she had. She wanted to know it now. While it was most definitely dark, she couldn't help but feel the familiar pull—the same pull she felt whenever there was new knowledge to be learned.

"Tom is a very troubled kid," Dumbledore continued. Hermione wondered why he even bothered; didn't he realize yet that she was not so easy to chase away? But then again, he was giving her more information about Tom than Tom himself had ever given her, so she supposed it wasn't a complete waste of time. "He had a very troubling childhood, and by the time I got to him, it was too late to help him."

Hermione listened, nodding politely, knowing that if she opened her big mouth, she would no doubt blurt out something very stupid.

"His magic is very strong. I am sure you felt it." Hermione nodded. Of course she did. Even without spending so much time with him, she could feel his magic nearly a mile away. "It is a wonder how it took me so long to detect magic in that little town. But by the time that I did and arrived at the orphanage, it was too late. Tom had already driven two innocent children to insanity."

Hermione blinked. She had done some research on Tom's family—without his knowledge, of course—so she knew that he had been orphaned only minutes after he was born. She never brought it up with him because he didn't seem to enjoy talking about his past too much.

However, she knew nothing of his life at the orphanage. She had suspected that he must have started doing evil deeds while he was just a child, but she hadn't expected it to be something on such a large scale. Insanity?

What had she been doing when she was a child? She had trained for a majority of her childhood with Nick. Her father kept her out of missions for the most part. However, after her mother's death, Grindelwald had started sending her off to kill his enemies.

Tom hadn't had a normal childhood, but then again, neither did she. Though he didn't know most of it, he didn't judge her on the things that he did know. And while Hermione did not consider herself to be the nicest person, when someone else did something for her, she always returned the favor. Tom had his problems, and she had hers. As long as they both acknowledged that fact, she did not see a reason why she should stay away from him.

"What happened?" Hermione asked softly. Dumbledore was looking at her now, his gaze intense. Hermione shifted her head slightly so she could look away from his eyes without looking too suspicious. She could usually feel it when someone was using legilimency on her, but with someone as powerful as Dumbledore, she didn't want to take her chances.

"Their names were Amy and Dennis," Dumbledore replied, "They were just two normal children, until one day…Amy caught Tom's interest." Hermione swallowed. She had seen Tom's possessive side multiple times. He didn't like to give up things he believed to be rightfully his property. "Amy liked Tom well enough, but then Amy liked Dennis as well. And Tom, of course, did not like Dennis."

"Uh oh," Hermione mumbled softly.

"There is no proof against Tom," Dumbledore continued. Hermione could've sworn he mumbled 'there never is," under his breath. It wouldn't surprise her; Tom seemed like a careful person—too careful to leave behind any evidence. "The two children were found in a cave later, out of their minds. Tom had been there with them. Tom was the only one who came out the way he went in. However, there were no marks on either one of their bodies, so there was almost nothing the muggle police could do. By the time that they got there, Tom was already safely away from the cave. He did not have an alibi, but the police deemed it impossible for him to have gotten away as quickly as he did."

"How do you know he was there in the first place?" Hermione questioned. After all, that had to be a lot of magic for a kid without a wand to do to drive two other kids insane.

"There are some things, Miss Granger, that you just know," said Dumbledore. Hermione didn't think that counted as proper proof, and she was almost certain that Dumbledore was lying to her, but she didn't push it. She wasn't particularly interested in hearing how he kept tabs on Tom's life. She still had nothing against her transfiguration teacher, but she couldn't help but understand now why Tom hated him so much. Dumbledore clearly had a lot of control on Tom's life, and if there was anything that he hated, it was being caged in and inspected like a lab rat.

"By the time I was able to meet with him, I discovered that he had being doing other things as well," Dumbledore said, "They were little crimes, such as stealing objects, but they were crimes nonetheless. Even at such an early age, he was already excelling in the skill of lying. Had I not been as perceptive, I would never have known he was lying."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Dumbledore seemed to think a lot of his skills, and by his tone and the words he was speaking, she could tell that he believed it was his responsibility to make sure Tom was on the right track. She didn't think it boded too well with Tom.

"I will leave you to think on what I have said to you," Dumbledore said, looking a little appalled that she hadn't run off screaming. "Tom has been known to deceive people at will. I can not, and I have no intention to force you to leave him. That decision is for you to make on your own."

"Thank you, sir. I will do so," Hermione stood up. Of course, she had absolutely no intention of breaking it off with Tom, at least not yet. She was a big girl. She could defend herself well enough. Dumbledore had no doubt tried to scare her away, but his stories weren't new information to her. Perhaps the only thing she learned from this meeting was to stay away from caves when she was with him.

Dumbledore looked at her, as if trying to decide what type of foolish girl would react so calmly to the information he had told her. Wanting to get out of there before Dumbledore started interrogating her, she shot him a polite smile and said, "If that is all, I will be returning to my room now. Thank you for your time, sir,"

Before Dumbledore could do anything, she quickly sprinted out of his room and into the corridors. Instantly, she felt a lot of pressure being lifted off of her. She couldn't stand his scrutinizing gaze on her, almost as if he could see straight through her and all her secrets. She felt unsettled by him. She had given him the impression that she was on Tom's side, and while she was not necessarily the enemy, she didn't think Dumbledore liked her at the moment. And if there was something she never wanted to do, it was to get on Dumbledore's bad side.

"Hermione! Very nice to see you!"

Hermione forced a smile to her face as Slughorn walked over to her. She was not in the mood to deal with him at the moment, but Slughorn didn't seem to have the ability to see through her fake smile and see that he was unwanted. Instead, he smiled widely and patted her shoulder, like they were good friends.

"It's so very nice to see you!" Slughorn repeated, and then he looked over her shoulder as if he expected to see someone. "Where's Tom? M'boy...haven't seen him in a while. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was ignoring me." Slughorn laughed nervously.

Hermione merely shrugged, not really caring about Slughorn's issues with Tom. Tom probably was ignoring the potions master, though she didn't see it was necessary for her to tell Slughorn that. "I haven't seen him today," she told him truthfully. She had skipped breakfast to study in the library, and after that, she had been called to Dumbledore's office. She had Quidditch later though—something Black and Abraxas had somehow roped her into—so she would see him in a few hours on the field. "I will tell him when I see him that you're looking for him."

"Oh, no, m'dear, that is completely unnecessary. In fact, the person I want to talk to is you." Hermione raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Why was everyone suddenly so interested in her? "You see, I have these parties sometimes."

"Slug Club," said Hermione, remembering how Tom told her once how stupid the event was. He also mentioned that Slughorn only did it so he could get closer to the powerful families, boosting his status. Hermione had asked him that since it was based on family, why Tom himself had been invited. Tom would have crucio'ed her had she not fled the room the moment she said it, returning only after he had cooled down.

"You've heard of it?" Slughorn looked utterly delighted that Hermione didn't find the heart to tell him that all she had heard of it was bad news. Students getting drunk and engaging in fights was the least of it. "I only invite the very best to participate. There are debates, dancing, and…" he leaned closer, as if telling Hermione a big secret, "Don't tell Dumbledore, but I bring firewhiskey as well."

Hermione wondered why he brought up the transfiguration professor instead of the Headmaster. Dippet was very oblivious to everything, that she knew. But surely he still had the most power in the school. After all, if Dumbledore had the most power, Tom wouldn't even be in the school. It was no secret that the only place Dumbledore wanted Tom to be was behind the bars in Azkaban.

"So, m'dear, I have seen your brilliancy," Slughorn continued. Hermione had no doubt that his plan was to flatter her until she agreed to attend. "Your skills are at the same level as Tom's, and that is saying quite a lot." Hermione raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Tom, she knew, wouldn't be too pleased to hear that. "It is only natural that you come and attend the Slug Club, where all the individuals are around your same intellect."

Hermione sighed, feeling as if he was going to pester her until she agreed. "Very well, I accept," she said, and Slughorn's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Thank you very much for the invitation, Professor Slughorn."

"No, m'dear, it's my pleasure!" Slughorn beamed.

He still stood there, as if expecting her to get down on her knees and thank him. Hermione nodded politely and said, "Now if you'll excuse me, Professor, I have somewhere I need to be." Without so much as casting him another look, she spun around and headed back towards the library.

Nick was pacing, and it was making her nervous.

"Nick," she tried, but there was no response from him. She had been rather surprised when he had pulled her out of the library and locked them inside an empty classroom. She knew Nick had something to tell her, and, knowing him so well, she knew he wouldn't be able to keep it from her much longer. However, that didn't make her any less anxious. There were very few things in the world that could trouble him, and right now, Nick looked very troubled.

"We have a problem," Nick stopped pacing, running his hand through his hair, before groaning. "We have a very big problem." He frowned.

"Do we?" Hermione asked, wondering what on earth could have gotten Nick so worked up. He was usually so calm and composed; it was strange to see him like this. "And what exactly is this very big problem?"

Nick took a deep breath. "The other day, Bella dragged me inside a classroom," he said, watching her carefully as if gauging her reaction. Hermione clenched her jaw and her hands tightened into fists, but she didn't say anything. Bella did a lot of things; it didn't mean that she had to get angry about every single one of them. "She began saying things about you."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Nick? I can handle the things she says about me," Hermione scoffed. "I'm a big girl. I just ignore the things that come out of her mouth. They hold no weight. I understand that it may be difficult for you to do the same, since she enjoys talking to you so much, but you have to learn to ignore her. The more you acknowledge her words, the more poison she'll spit out at you."

"That's not it," Nick shook his head. "She began talking about your father, and then her jealousy issues with you. And then she brought the two of us up again, and then mentioned that she was going to hurt you. Seriously hurt you. She's doesn't just want to kill you anymore; she wants to torture you until you'll be begging for death. And knowing her, she'll make me watch." He closed his eyes.

Hermione reached out and grabbed his arm. "Nick," she said seriously. "Are you okay? Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm strong, remember? I'm not an easy target." She glanced at him worriedly. "What about you? It can't be easy for her to keep declaring her love for you. If you need any help, just let me know, okay?" She gave him a small smile. "Don't forget that I'm here for you."

Nick looked at her gratefully. She hadn't realized how much he had been through as well. She always felt herself because she was forced to work for her father, and she looked up to Nick, who had the courage to run away. However, just because he escaped didn't mean his life was any easier. His past was going to haunt him forever, both physically and mentally. It was not something he could just erase from himself.

"However," Nick said, frowning slightly. "There's another problem that I haven't told you about yet."

Ah. There always was a catch.

"Bella was talking, and I was trying to prevent her from getting so emotional and running off on a killing spree." Hermione rolled her eyes. Bellatrix had always been a girl motivated by her emotions rather her brain. She had almost burned down a village once just because she was hungry. It was just another part of Bella that she hated.

"And, well…" Nick ran his hand through his hair, determinedly not looking at Hermione now. "She left the door open a little, and someone came in. It was obvious that he heard the whole thing and had seen both our faces."

Hermione blinked, feeling a wave of dread settle over her. "Did they hear about me?" she asked, and then immediately felt selfish. Nick had been there, and the person had witnessed him firsthand, and here she was asking about herself?

"Unfortunately, yes," Nick sighed.

"Did you…" she was almost afraid to ask. Nick was careful, but by the look on his face, she couldn't help but think that he messed up for the first time in his life."Did you erase their memory?"

Nick shook his head. "I didn't," he admitted, and Hermione's heart fell as panic gripped her. Her secret was out in the open. "He was gone by the time I managed to chase Bella out. That, and I wasn't sure if you wanted me to erase his memory." He cast her a sideways look.

"What do you mean?" Of course she wanted his memory erased. That was a no brainer. What had Nick been thinking, letting him get away? She wouldn't have hesitated to obliviate the intruder as soon as he entered the room. Not only had Nick not done that, he had let the person get away.

Nick sighed again. "It was Abraxas Malfoy," he said, watching Hermione carefully, "He's the one who saw us."

Abraxas? Hermione had known this day would come, but she hadn't properly thought over what she was going to tell them. She had been hoping to be done by her mission by then, but she had not expected them to find out so quickly. She had thought that she could tell them and then leave before they could tell anyone, but she wasn't ready to leave yet. And she hadn't expected Abraxas of all people to find out. If anyone, she would have guessed Tom as her first candidate. He was certainly curious enough to be snooping around in her life.

"You didn't shut the door," Hermione whispered. She felt slightly bad that she was blaming Nick, but who else was there to blame? He had been careless, and he had made a mistake. It wasn't a little mistake, by any means. And on top of that, he had let Abraxas get away without erasing his memory. Who knew who Abraxas had told by now?

But then again, would she have erased Abraxas' memory? Or any one of her Slytherin companions? She had grown closer to them, and now, the thought of obliviating them did not seem as inviting as it did before. Just like how she would not obliviate Nick, no matter what the consequences were.

But at the same time, she wanted desperately to stay at Hogwarts. She was torn.

Nick sighed. "Hermione, there's something I need to tell you." He hesitated slightly, which surprised Hermione. Nick never hesitated before. He said whatever was on his mind. What made him suddenly decide to choose his words carefully? Was he afraid that he'd anger her or make the situation worse? It was already quite bad. "You have grown too close to your friends."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, not quite comprehending where he was going with this. He chose now to tell her? Surely there was a better time to tell her that he didn't approve of her choice of friends.

"At first, I allowed you to have friends because it seemed to make you happier," Nick explained. "However, after a while, it was quite obvious that they were here to stay. I even let that go, because you were careful and I trusted you. You would not do anything stupid. However, now, I'm not entirely sure." He raked his hand through his hair once again. "You have let them have too much power over you. You're starting to put their priorities over your own. You know as well as I do that you cannot do that. You are in a precarious situation, Hermione. Everything you say can be used against you."

Hermione blinked, slightly shocked at what she was hearing. "First of all, Nick, you do not 'allow' me to have friends," Hermione said, a tad of anger laced in her voice, "I am allowed to live however I want, and you can't control my life. Secondly, what do you mean they have too much power over me? I can still beat most of them quite easily in a duel."

"You know very well that's not what I meant," Nick said, "I was talking about the mental aspect, not the physical aspect. You are starting to let them in, Hermione. Not only is it easy to accidentally say something you'll regret, but you'll start considering their needs as well. You absolutely cannot do this. It should have been a no brainer for you to hunt down Malfoy and obliviate him, yet you hesitate. You cannot hesitate in the battlefield. You know that as well as I do. One moment you're alive, and the next you're dead."

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest and scowled at him, feeling angry at him. "If you remember, it was not me who let Abraxas get away. It is you. Why are you lecturing me for your mistake?"

Nick looked like she hit him, and Hermione almost wanted to take her words back. However, her stupid pride got in the way, and her mouth wouldn't open to say her apology. Instead of saying sorry like she wanted to, she did nothing more but stand her ground and glare at him.

"Yes, I am aware that it is my mistake," Nick said softly, "However, I knew that you would be greatly saddened if Malfoy had his memory erased. You cannot force that decision on me, Hermione. You cannot force me to make that decision."

"You're the one who just lectured me on not putting other people's needs before my own," Hermione said sourly, "Why are you suddenly doing the same? Do you think I need protecting more than other people? Because I don't! Why won't anyone get that?"

"It's not a matter of that," Nick said gently, much too gentle than she deserved. "You're my best friend, Hermione. Of course I feel a great sense of loyalty and want to protect you to the best of my abilities. However, I couldn't do either of the options. To obliviate him or not. Both options saved you yet hurt you at the same time. You need to find something to do about this, because this absolutely cannot happen again. Assuming, of course, that there is a next time." Nick shot her a sharp look. "I would pack my bags just in case Malfoy went to inform someone."

"How could you, Nick?" Hermione whispered. She wasn't ready to leave Hogwarts yet. She didn't want to go. "Why couldn't you have obliviated him? Why did you have to care about my feelings so much? You shouldn't have hesistated!"

"Because I care about you, of course," Nick said, "Because I know who you are and you know who I am, and yet we're still here for each other. None of your friends will be able to understand it if you tell them. They don't know who you are, and they can't handle it. No one here can handle it."

"I don't know what you're saying." Hermione shook her head in denial, not able to help that sadness that crept into her voice. "I'm Hermione Granger. I'm a normal girl. I am a fifth year Slytherin, and I want to do well on my NEWTs this year. Grades are my worst enemies."

Nick smiled sadly at her. "But you're also Grindelwald's daughter."

"I don't want to be," Hermione clung to him, willing the tears that were piling up in her eyes to go away. She would not cry over something so trivial. "I want to stay here. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to hide. I just want to be a regular schoolgirl and worry about exams and grades. I hate this all. I HATE IT." She sobbed quietly into Nick's robes.

Nick patted her back gently. "It doesn't matter if you run away," he sighed, "Grindelwald likes to keep his toys around him. Even if you manage to escape, he'll be there to haunt you." Nick let out a shaky laugh. "Merlin knows that he still haunts me every day. It doesn't help if you run away."

Hermione stiffened. "What did you just call me?"

Nick blinked, looking slightly confused. "What?"

"You called me his toy," Hermione said, removing herself from Nick's grasp. "I am not his toy, Nick. I am a person, not some kind of property."

"We're all his toys, Hermione," Nick said gently, "He plays with us and uses us to his advantage, and he throws us away once we have served our purpose." Nick stared as a look of anger appeared on Hermione's face. "Are you okay? Is there something wrong?"

"I can't believe you called me a toy!" Hermione glared at him. "I am not a toy!"

"Yes, yes, you're not. I'm sorry," Nick eyed her warily. "Please calm down. I said it from Grindelwald's point of you, not mine. I don't think of you as a property, Hermione."

"You took the easy way out!" she accused, pointing at him with her finger. "You left, and I was there by myself. You couldn't possibly understand what I had to go through alone. You aren't even part of his family! Do you know what they'll do when they find me? I am directly related to the evil, mass murderer. What do you think they'll do to me? They'll torture me! I can't die yet. I'm too young."

"Hermione, I know," Nick tried to soothe her, "It's understandable that you're scared. Please, calm down and we'll think this over."

He reached towards her, but she batted his hand away. "No, you don't know," Hermione screeched at him. "No one knows what it's like when you want to please him, yet murder him at the same time. You don't know the things I had to go through, because you weren't there! And now you have the guts to call me a toy?"

"I didn't call you specifically a toy," Nick said, eyeing her warily, "Hermione, you and I discussed this before and you agreed with me then. If it bothers you, then I apologize for bringing it up and will never use the word again. Now, can we calm down a bit?"

"No," she growled at him, feeling a sudden rush of anger towards him. It wasn't all directed at him, but since he was the only one in front of her, he was the only one she could vent her anger to. All her rage of being discovered, of feeling pathetic, of realizing that Nick's words were true yet she didn't want to admit it, were directed at Nick in a venomous glare.

"Hermione…" he said, reaching over to calm her down.

"No!" she jerked her arm out of his grasp. "You will not touch me, Nicholas Porter! You left the door open! It's all your fault! None of this would have happened had you just turned around the closed the door!" The hurt was evident on his face, but Hermione made no move to soothe him. Instead, she glowered at him before spinning around and walking out, slamming the door as hard as she could.

It had taken Hermione a while to calm down, though by the time she had to go outside to play Quidditch with her Slytherin friends, she had managed to quell her anger considerably.

Hermione watched Abraxas warily, but if he remembered what he heard from Nick's conversation with Bella, he didn't show it. Instead, he greeted her cheerfully when she met him on the fields, talking to her for a few minutes before flying off with Black. She had been so afraid that he would make her admit it that she almost didn't go, but he didn't not show any sign of having even heard the conversation.

Perhaps Bella had obliviated him or something. That had to be the only explanation. Hermione felt a huge weight being lifted off of her. She didn't like Bella at all, but for once, she felt a surge of gratitude towards the girl.

Cygnus and Black were heading towards her, and once again, Hermione had a little panic attack when their expressions were somber. In the background, she could see Abraxas fooling around with Eleanor, and wondered if he had told the brothers what had happened in that room between Nick and Bella.

"Hermione," Black said, stopping in front of her. "What did he say?"

Hermione blinked. "What?"

"Tom, of course," Cygnus said impatiently. Black glanced nervously over his shoulder to make sure that he didn't appear, but Tom was still nowhere to be seen. "You went to ask him about my mother, remember?"

She did, in fact. However, that seemed like such a long time ago, even though it had just been a day. It was a wonder that she hadn't seen either Cygnus or Black in that amount of time. "Oh, that," Hermione said, trying not to let the relief seep through her voice that the twins didn't inquire about her relation to Grindelwald. "He just wanted a snake."

"A snake?" Cygnus repeated in disbelief.

"The same…" Black trailed off, looking over his shoulder once more. "ugly snake that we saw him hiss at?"

"Where is the snake now?" Cygnus asked.

"No idea," Hermione shrugged. "I wasn't very interested to know about it, and Tom never shares anything on his own."

"Why was Mother there?" This was from Cygnus again.

"She's a snake dealer, apparently," Hermione shrugged. "He didn't mention much more than that. He wanted a snake, and she was the dealer that they sent to sell it to him. I don't think he knew it was going to be her until he saw her. Maybe he didn't even know until I brought it up with him," Hermione shrugged. "I can never tell with him."

"He was making out with her," Black deadpanned.

"He was not making out. More like…flirting?" Hermione sighed. "Tom flirts with everything with two legs. Actually, I think he'd be willing to flirt with a tree if that's what was necessary." Hermione sighed again. "They are not in a secret romance, if that's what you're worried about."

"And you're okay with this?" Black asked.

"Am I okay with this?" Hermione shot him a look. "Of course I'm not okay with this. I plan to snog every boy that I come across, just to spite him." She made a face. "It sounds very disgusting to me, but I never back down from a challenge." Her eyes wandered over to Black's, and her face lit up. "Hey, Black, do you want to—"

"No, no. That's okay," Black said, backing up slowly. "I don't have a death wish."

"Where is my mother now?" Cygnus demanded, bringing the two of them back to the original topic. "Is she still communicating with Tom? Does he know where she is?"

"I don't think so," Hermione shrugged. "I think it was just a onetime thing. After she sold him the snake, the two of them went their separate ways." Hermione paused. "But then again, I don't really monitor what he's doing, so he could hiding her under his bed for all I know."

Cygnus looked like he was tempted to run up to their dormitory and check under all the beds. Black, however, looked at Hermione skeptically and said, "You don't mind that you seem to know nothing about his life?"

Hermione shrugged. "He knows nothing about mine. We're even. We'll live."

Black still looked doubtful, but remained silent. Cygnus, who seemed to have decided against returning to his dormitory, said, "Why does he want a snake anyway? And why did he have to ask my mother to sell him one?"

"Tom has an obsession with snakes. I'm sure you've noticed," Hermione said wryly. "And the snake he bought from your mother wasn't an ordinary snake. It was a poisonous one."

"A poisonous snake?" Black asked, his eyes wide open. "He could get expelled because of that!"

Hermione cocked her head to one side. "He'll only get expelled if someone tells on him." Her eyes locked with Black's. "Are you willing to do that?"

Black looked away. However, Cygnus said angrily, "What are you, his sidekick now? Going to protect him?" There was a look of anger in his eyes, as if she had somehow offended him. Which, she supposed, she probably had in some way.

"I do not approve of having such a creature in Hogwarts, no." Hermione said, and then looked away. "However, I don't particularly want to be killed because Tom's angry with me." Her hands started to shake slightly. "So as long as his snake does not do anything, I will keep quiet about it."

There was silence, and then someone placed their hand on her shoulder. "Are you afraid of death?" Cygnus asked softly. Hermione didn't respond, but she didn't need to. "You shouldn't be." There was a look of seriousness in his eyes. "You should embrace it with open arms." He paused. "Tom's afraid of death as well."

Before she could respond, he gave her a curt nod and walked away to where Violetta stood. Hermione watched him go, and watched the two of them embrace with absolute adoration in their eyes. Black, she noticed, made a complete show of giving them his back. There was a look of jealousy on his face, one that she was sure must have appeared on hers as well.

What did she have to do to get love like the one that Cygnus and Violetta were sharing? She never had experienced love like that. She used to scoff it; why waste time with such trivial matters? Her father had never promoted it, and there was no time for her to love in between her missions. She was just too busy to stay alive.

The rest of the afternoon passed without another incident. She talked slightly with Violetta, who asked her to be the maid of honor at their wedding. Hermione agreed to it, and gave the girl a hug before Cygnus came and swept her back to their dorm.

She was growing slightly paranoid, however. Tom and Abraxas had barely said a word to her since she had got there. The few looks that they directed towards her weren't hostile, but they weren't inviting either. Perhaps they were upset that once again she had decided not to join in on their Quidditch game, but she doubted that that was the case.

After the game had ended, she went back to her room, but was much too distracted to finish her homework. She kept thinking back to how Abraxas and Tom had treated her on the Quidditch fields. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became. They had to know something. And she had to know what they knew.

She rushed down to the locker room and burst in without knocking. Abraxas let out a yelp and dove for his towel. Hermione, beet red, quickly turned around to give him his privacy. She could hear Abraxas swearing softly behind her as he struggled to cover himself.

"You can turn around," Abraxas said gruffly. Hermione did and saw that he had only wrapped a towel around his waist as he continued to search through his locker.

Hermione leaned against the doorframe. "No clothes?"

"Trying to find them." He gestured towards his locker. Hermione had never seen anything messier in her life. He laughed at the expression on her face. "As you can see, it'll take a while to find them. Black released a dungbomb in here last week, and I still haven't cleaned it out."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Do you usually parade around naked?"

Abraxas gave her a look. "Hermione. This is the boys' locker room. We've been here for five years already. Everyone has already seen everyone else billions of times. You get to the point where you don't care anymore." He went back to his searching. "Girls usually know to steer clear of locker room. Or, in some cases, stick around." He rolled his eyes.

An idea popped into her head. "Does that mean you've seen Tom naked?" she asked, a grin spreading on her face.

Abraxas snorted. "No, unfortunately he always places a spell to shield himself from view. We've been trying to figure out how to get rid of it, but we haven't been able to." Hermione chuckled. "What? We're not really interested in what he looks like. We just want to see why he keeps hiding. Black has some theory about how he's anorexic."

"I don't think so," Hermione laughed. "Tom's not anorexic."

Abraxas' eyes grew wide. "Have you…"

"Not that it's any of your business, but no." Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Does it always smell like this in here?"

"It's the locker room. It's supposed to be sweaty and smelly." Abraxas looked at her. "Is there any particular reason you're down here at this moment? I know I'm absolutely charming to talk to, but you could have waited until I went to dinner. What is this urgent matter you need to speak to me about?"

Hermione was unsure what to say. Abraxas showed no signs of being mad at her. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. She was about to come up with some kind of ridiculous excuse, when her eyes zeroed in on something on his arm.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to his left arm. He immediately leaned away so she couldn't get a better look at it. However, she had seen it already and she was curious now. "No, let me see what it is. It looked dark, and it stuck out of your skin."

"That's none of your business." Abraxas mumbled, though Hermione could see a look of fear appear on his face as he dug through his locker for something to find. Unable to find anything, he retrieved the first pair of boxers he could find and hung it on his arm.

"Abraxas," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Hermione," he matched her tone of voice. "We all have our secrets."

"That doesn't look like a good one to be keeping, though," Hermione pointed out. "It was really dark. Are you sure you don't have some kind of disease and you're dying because of it? That didn't look normal."

Abraxas looked relieved. "No, I'm not dying. That's not a disease."

"Then what is it?"

Before Abraxas could respond, the door to the locker room opened again and in stepped Tom. It did not escape Hermione's notice that he did not move from his spot and stood directly in front of the door, blocking any escape. Hermione narrowed her eyes and her hand drifted towards her wand.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Tom said to Abraxas, his eyes drifting towards the boxers on his arm. "I see now that I will have to prohibit walking around unclothed."

Abraxas bowed his head. "Yes."

Hermione had not seen this kind of treatment in a long time, where Tom acted like the master and everyone acted like his servant. Perhaps they had stopped doing it, or perhaps they had just got better at hiding it.

Tom turned to look at Hermione, and she felt very bare under his gaze. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "What was that on his arm? It looked dark, and it was sort of like a mark." She looked at him expectantly, like he would be willing to tell her.

Abraxas flinched again, but Tom hardly batted an eyelash. "How about," he asked softly, "we focus on another topic?" Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but closed it when she saw the dangerous look in his eyes. Her hand drifted to her wand again, clutching it in her tight fist.

Tom started to advance on her, and she slowly took a step backwards. Abraxas had finally found his robes and put in on, though he did nothing to help her. "Hermione Granger," Tom cocked his head to one side, his voice dangerous. "What is your relation to Grindelwald?"

Hermione felt all the blood rush out of her body and she immediately felt faint. 'I need to get out of here.' She quickly drew out her wand and cast a spell at Tom, who deflected it easily as he continued advancing on her.

He was still blocking the door, so she saw only one more option for escaping. She fired at the window, shattering it into millions of pieces. Then, with one more look at Tom, she sprinted away, making sure that he didn't decide to curse her back. He didn't; he just stood there and watched her while she ran away like a maniac.

'I need to tell someone about this,' Hermione thought miserably as she continued to run. She didn't trust herself to stop. 'But who can I tell? No matter how much Dumbledore hates Tom, he cannot allow a daughter of Grindewald to run around the school.'

'Nick,' she suddenly thought. Nick had been there for her every time. Nick had been willing to listen to her ramble, and he had treated her nicely even when she was screaming at him. She immediately regretted yelling at him earlier. He had done nothing to deserve it. Though he had run away from her father, he had had his own difficulties to face as well. It hadn't been a walk in the park for him either.

Slightly tired, Hermione did not stop as she sprinted towards the Gryffindor common room.

He wasn't there.

"Nick?" Ron asked lazily from his bed. "He was in here about half an hour ago. Looked perfectly happy one moment and then the next, he ran out of the room." He shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't help you."

"Do you know where he went?" Hermione asked. She was sure she was quite the sight; she was breathing heavily and her hair was sticking up everywhere. However, that was the least of her worries right now.

"No, Porter just ran off with an angry look on his face," Seamus called from his bed. "Hey, Ron, I have some leftover candy from Hogsmeade. Want some?"

The two of them went back to their conversation as Hermione wandered over to Nick's bed. Nothing looked different or out of place. However, she knew Nick was calm and collected and rarely did he lose his cool. He would only sprint out of the dorm like that if it was something serious.

She was about to leave when she noticed a tiny scrap of paper sticking out from one of his drawers. Feeling rather curious, she took it out and opened it. There were only six little words scribbled on it.

Meet me on the field, love.

Hermione felt panic grip her once again, and she rushed out of the room, ignoring the bewildered glances of Nick's two roommates. It was already dark outside. Why would anyone want to be on the field? Did Nick have a new girlfriend? Even if he did, it was highly unlikely that he would agree to meet outside at night.

She rushed onto the field, aware that it was dead quiet. Perhaps he had gone somewhere else and the note was old? She wandered around in darkness. She would alert him if she cast a lighting charm, and she didn't want to do that. If he was here because of a girlfriend, she would turn around respectfully and leave and talk to him later.

"Well, well, well," Hermione froze. "If it isn't Hermione Granger. Or should I say, Hermione Grindelwald?"

"Bellatrix," Hermione hissed. "What are you doing here?" She paused, and then panic gripped her. There was only one reason why Bellatrix was on the field. "Where is Nick? Have you seen him?"

"Oh, yes, of course I have seen Nicky." She cackled. "He's right here. You can see for yourself."

Hermione looked to where Bellatrix was pointing to and gasped. Ignoring the other girl completely, she rushed to her best friend, the boy she had loved like a brother. "Nick!" she shrieked, dropping down to her knees and cradling his head. "Nick, wake up! Please!" She began sobbing, thick tears running down her cheeks. However, it was no use.

Nick was dead.

Bellatrix had used the killing curse, so there was no chance that she could revive him. Hermione laid a kiss on his head, praying to anyone that was listening to revive the boy in her arms. However, no matter how hard she wished, Nick stayed dead in her lap.

"Why?" she choked out, looking at Bellatrix. The girl looked gleeful, not at all concerned that she had just murdered someone. "Why him? You hate me. You didn't need to kill him to get back at me. He had done nothing to deserve this."

"I despise you, Hermione Grindelwald," Bellatrix cackled. Hermione barely winced at her surname, the sound a distance hum in her head. She didn't care anymore. "It is true that I will exact my revenge on you one day. But this had nothing to do with you." She smiled eerily. "If Nicky can't love me, then he can love no one else. Look at him." She gestured towards Nick. "He will forever be mine now."

"I can't believe it." Fresh tears began spilling out of her eyes. "Nick was killed by you, you delusional girl! He's dead! He is no one's but Death's! Is your jealousy truly worth killing him? IS IT?!" She didn't care that she was screaming.

"Don't speak of things you don't know," Bellatrix scowled. "You were always the perfect little girl just because you were Grindelwald's daughter. You always won. But now," her voice became soft. "Look at everything. You are a dense girl while I know everything. He has shared his plans with me. You are nothing more than a pawn now, while I am a queen." She cackled. "This was the final step to ensuring my dominance. I would take away what you loved until you are nothing more than an empty shell. I have all the power."

"This is between you and me!" Hermione shrieked. "You didn't have to involve Nick! Nick had nothing to do with this! You forced him to come out here, and then you killed him!"

"On contrary, he was the one who decided to meet me. I didn't force him to," Bellatrix batted her eyelashes innocently. "Do you want to know why he came out here even though he knew I would be waiting for him? He was protecting you, you silly bitch." Hermione blinked. "I could tell everyone about your heritage. I had the power to ruin you. He was determined to chase me out. Not for himself, but for you." Bellatrix cackled again. "He did everything in his power to make me leave. He even promised to come with me. However, I could detect the love for you in his voice, and I could not have that." Bellatrix smiled eerily. "The last thing he ever saw was my face. Not yours. Mine."

Hermione knew that Bellatrix was trying to make her feel guiltier than she already was, and it was working. Her whole body started to shake, and she placed Nick gently on the ground, feeling unworthy of even touching him.

"Oh Nick," she sobbed into her hands. "I'm so sorry. It's all because of me. You did so much to try and help me, but it didn't work because I didn't listen. You're dead because I was too much of a coward to admit you were right. I'm sorry, Nick. I'm so sorry."

"He saw my face last," Bellatrix repeated, sounding very much like she was gloating. "And what is the last memory he has of you? You were yelling at him and insulting him." She looked very much like a sore winner. "He will only remember you with hatred."

"He can't remember anything! He's dead! You made sure of that!" Hermione yelled at her, feeling her anger snap. She looked down towards Nick. "I'm so sorry, Nick," she repeated again, and then stood up. "I'm going to make sure he didn't die for nothing," she said, her voice slightly shaky. "I will avenge him. I will kill you one day. It might not be now, or in the near future. But one day, I swear to everything I believe in that I will murder you."

Bellatrix laughed like it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard. "I look forward to that, missy," she said. Before Hermione could do anything, Bellatrix grabbed something next to her and disappeared. Hermione assumed that it was a portkey, but she had been too busy grieving that she had failed to notice what it was.

Hermione dropped down again next to Nick, brushing the hair gently out of his eyes. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine she could hear his breathing, but she could hear nothing. Nothing but silence.

Until her ears picked up the sound of footsteps.

She quickly turned around and tried to cover Nick with her own body, but she saw that it was just Tom. "Tom," she said, the relief evident in her voice. She hadn't forgotten that she had run away from their last meeting, but he would have to forgive her this once. Her friend had just died. Surely he could excuse her previous behavior. "Tom, Nick's dead."

Tom said nothing, just continued to look at her with a blank expression on his face.

"I know you didn't like him," Hermione continued, "But please help me bring him back to the castle." Tears started flowing down her cheeks again. "Please…so he can get the proper recognition that he deserves."

Tom was silent, before he did something that Hermione hadn't expected him to do. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at her. "I have no pity for the daughter of Grindelwald," he said softly. Hermione's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, he began to fire curses at her.

Unlike Bellatrix, Hermione did not have a portkey. She could not apparate until she got out of Hogwarts, which looked very far away. She started to drag Nick with her, away from Tom. Her wand was out and she deflected and dodged Tom's curses.

However, when she was only halfway there, Tom decided to use another strategy and cursed Nick's body so that it was ten times heavier than it actually was. Hermione looked at Tom, not believing that he could be so cruel. However, Tom continued to send curse after curse at her, one of them grazing her arm, causing blood to spill out. There was no look of remorse on his face.

She did not recognize him.

However, she did not recognize herself anymore either.

"I'm so sorry, Nick," she sobbed once she got hit in the arm again. "I'm sorry that I'm not as strong as you. I'm sorry that you ever met such a messed up girl like me. I don't deserve you. You gave your life to try and help me, and now I'm letting you down again." She took one last look at him. "I'm so sorry, Nick."

She took a deep breath, and before Tom could cast another spell, she turned around and sprinted towards the perimeter. Her hands felt so empty without Nick's body in it, and she almost turned around to go and retrieve it. However, the fear of death and torture forbid her to do anything but keep running forward.

'I am such a coward,' Hermione thought as she reached the end of the Hogwarts boundaries. She turned around and saw Tom towering over Nick's dead body. She willed herself to look away, and then disapparated away.

The world is so cruel.

I am so cruel.


Author's Note: I am aware that Hermione is acting like a coward and is kind of OOC right now, but that'll change. Probably. Hopefully.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next update will be up faster than this one was.