A dark figure appeared through the fog near the Great Lake, and Hermione was the only one to witness it.

It was by far not the first time she saw someone in Death Eater's mask, but it was definitely the most surreal experience—the way its outline slowly darkened amidst the white gloom, turning into a shadow, then becoming something more, something else—a figure with no face—and that face turned out to be bone-white with a metallic sheen to it. It had holes for eyes and showed no expression – a grotesque skeletal mask. The last time she saw it with her own two eyes was three years ago, although since then, she's still had second-hand experiences with Voldemort's minions – as a Healer, she was tending and caring for those harmed by Death Eaters.

Hermione stared at one of them now. She was used to spending her mornings by the Lake before the workday, where it was usually cold and moist – that helped clear her mind. But she had never seen something as suspicious there. She knew she should've done something – attacked the Death Eater herself or at least screamed for help – but she did nothing, feeling immobilized – not by fear, but by fascination. She watched as the figure took a few steps forward, their black cloak fluttering in the invisible wind. They ascended through the fog and seemed to float through the ground. Hermione noticed something in their arms – a petite frame.

The Death Eater stopped, and Hermione had a strange feeling she was being watched by them, the bottomless pits of their eyes piercing right through her. Without breaking eye contact, they put the person on the bank of the Lake, then straightened back up, giving her one last look.

Before Hermione managed to say anything, the Death Eater vanished back into the fog.

She took a precious moment to inspect the person they left behind from afar and then jumped back on her feet to check more closely. It was a small young woman huddled into what seemed to be the same black cloak material the Death Eater was wearing. When Hermione crouched down for a better inspection, she recognized the woman whose black bob was now practically outgrown.

Hermione cast a diagnostic spell – a deep wound in the stomach, a lot of bruising, and a wicked cruciatus. She put a few quick first-aid spells to stop the bleeding and ease the pain as well as put her cloak on the woman so she wouldn't freeze to death before levitating her to the castle. Hermione ran until she lost her breath, and still, the castle seemed so far away. When she finally got inside, she was met with Neville's shocked gaze that soon turned to recognition as he watched the woman levitated by Hermione.

"Neville, please, find Harry and tell him to come here!" she yelled under her breath while running to the infirmary. Neville did not say anything, but she heard him running up the stairs.

Upon getting to the infirmary, Hermione laid the woman on the first free bed she saw and only then stopped for a moment to take a few deep breaths.

Cho Chang's head appeared through the curtain that separated the patient she was taking care of and the one Hermione brought in. Her eyebrows were drawn in surprise. Cho was a Healer too.

"Hermione, what has—" and then she saw it, "Oh…" she left whatever she was working on and came closer to them. "What happened? How did she get here?"

Hermione tried to answer fast while her lungs still longed for oxygen, "One of the Death Eaters left her by the Great Lake… I saw it all, I brought her here—"

"Ours or theirs? That Death Eater?"

"I don't know…"

Cho's frown deepened this time in focus when she softly brushed off the hair from the young woman's face and slowly unwrapped the cloak from her, checking the vitals. "Must be ours, then," Cho said.

There weren't a lot of Death Eaters who were on their side, on the Order of Phoenix's side – Hermione could count them on her fingers; but it seemed likely.

"There's a wound in the belly, some bruising, a cruciatus, and a concussion," Hermione blurted out. "I already got the first aid done."

Hermione watched as Cho did a more in-depth analysis with her wand, starting from the legs and up, while Hermione cast a warming spell at the same time after noticing the patient's lips have now turned blue. Not a minute passed, and she saw Neville come in with Harry by his side.

"What did you call me in for?" Harry asked, walking towards them, but Hermione didn't even get the chance to answer when he too recognized the black-haired woman and with a scream, "Pansy!" rushed to her side.

He grabbed Pansy's face with both of his hands, looking her over and checking for injuries as if Cho wasn't doing the exact same thing right next to him.

"What happened? How?" Hermione explained what she saw. Harry finally looked at her, "Is it bad?"

Hermione gave Cho a look. "Nothing we can't fix, Harry," she assured him.

Harry leaned in, whispering Pansy's name a few more times as if he was praying, and Hermione watched in surprise as the woman's eyes fluttered slightly.

Pansy was the bridge that bind the Order of Phoenix with the rest of Wizarding Britain which was now ruled by Voldemort and his pawns. Pansy was pretending to be a Voldemort loyalist while secretly helping out the Order and doing everything in her power to make this war end. There were a few other Death Eaters working together with the Order, but Pansy was the only one who ever crossed the line to get to Hogwarts and tell them the latest news or warn them of any danger while also doing her job on the other side and making Voldemort believe that the numbers of Order were rapidly declining and that their side will win the war any day now.

Pansy has been doing this for almost two years and she was their most useful ally and Voldemort's "most beloved", so for her to turn up like this probably meant something horrible has happened to her.

Nevertheless, that was not why Harry had reacted this way. During the first few times of message delivery, Pansy would avoid staying at Hogwarts any longer than necessary. But the more times she visited, the longer those visits became, lasting anywhere from a day to even a week. Nobody knew why and everybody found this to be a careless move, as the more time she spent away from Voldemort's radars, the more suspicious he might've become. Naturally, Hermione knew the reason behind this. First, she stumbled upon Pansy and Harry making out in the Gryffindor common room, which she was only a bit shocked by, but after a few more times of seeing them like this in the Quidditch stadium, near the Whomping Willow, in the library where she was the one in command, and even in her own bedroom which was off limits to anyone else but her, Hermione simply stopped caring and whenever she saw the ex-Gryffindor and the ex-Slytherin together, she passed them by without giving either one a second glance. Still, just in case, she changed her bedsheets every night while Pansy was around.

She wasn't mad at them, she wasn't angry with Harry that he found a way to let off steam, especially after Ginny's death when he did nothing but walk around frowning and sulking. But now, only now when she saw the unabashed fright in Harry's eyes as he looked at Pansy hurt, Hermione realized this might've been something more than just physical closeness.

"Harry, Neville, I would really like for both of you to leave so Hermione and I can do our job and take care of Pansy," Cho said, eyeing them both wearily.

Neville was already stepping back, but Harry still clutched Pansy's hand in his. "Can't I stay? I swear, I won't bother you."

Hermione rolled her eyes, already pushing him out the door. "You're bothering us right now. Please leave. I'll let you know how it goes, I promise."

Harry gave her another pitiful look, and then she closed the door.

She and Cho undressed Pansy and performed all the necessary healing charms, but most of them did little good – the small cuts and the lesser injuries were treated, but the deep wound in the stomach remained, albeit a bit smaller and no longer bleeding. It was caused by dark magic, so it was impossible to heal it entirely. Hermione bandaged it while Cho redressed Pansy into hospital clothing which they both knew she'd hate when she woke up.

When Pansy's condition appeared stable, Hermione made a small journey to Professor Snape's office in the dungeons where she hoped to find blood replenishing potion. There she found Snape with a book in hand, deep in thought. Even though she was not a rare guest here, she still explained why she came and told him what happened. Snape gave her his full attention, listening closely, and began asking questions to which she sadly had no answers while they were looking for the potion.

Hermione's Healer profession pushed her to try things she had never been too passionate about, such as potion-making for healing, and she would go down to the dungeons several times a week to make new batches of the most necessary potions. That's how Snape and she got closer – it wasn't a friendship per se, but after she saved him when he got bit by Nagini, Snape stopped bullying her, started teaching her the subtle art of potion-making, and even sometimes praised her quick learning abilities.

Finally, Snape grabbed the vial from the top of the shelf on his personal cupboard and followed her to the infirmary. Snape looked Pansy up and down when he saw her, losing himself in thoughts and memories before slowly making her drink the vial's contents. Pansy's throat bobbed as she swallowed the soft reddish liquid without waking up.

"Do you think she's going to be all right, Professor?" Hermione asked as the three of them together with Cho looked down at their patient.

"It'll be a tough battle, but she will make it," he answered.

"I just wish she would wake up and told us what happened," Cho sighed.

Hermione stared at Pansy's pale face, no longer contorted in pain at least. "I'll go get Harry. He's probably going crazy right now."

Harry spent the next few hours by Pansy's bed, refusing to leave even after Hermione and Cho finished cleaning up the infirmary, that same hopeless ashy expression Hermione had known so well settling on his face once again.

Three days passed, and Pansy still hadn't woken up. Hermione and Cho made sure her wound was cleaned and that she wasn't cold. In fact, everybody living in the castle – which wasn't all that much considering its size – had come to visit Pansy or at least have a look at her, making her a sort-of celebrity in their circles. Neville brought her different types of flowers – some to help her heal, others to put on the night table so she could enjoy in case she woke up, Fred and George would throw their smelly bombs by the entrance to the infirmary, hoping that either the smell or the sound would wake Pansy up no matter how much Hermione yelled at them not to do that, Professor McGonagall would come to check on her every morning, and Justin Finch-Fletchley would read her the morning news as if it was his new life purpose.

Everybody understood how much Pansy risked helping them, and everybody appreciated her hard work, feeling genuinely sorry that she was hurt. Although Hermione wasn't that close with her, they weren't as nearly as hostile to one another as they used to be, and she felt the same way as the members of the Order, hoping every day for Pansy to wake up and tell them what they should be wary of. So Hermione read books out loud she knew Pansy would hate, expecting to annoy her enough to wake her up.

After all, the person who spent the most time by her bed, the person who never left her for more than a few hours was Harry. He would spend his days and nights there, holding Pansy's hand in his and sighing softly.

However, when Pansy did wake up four days later, it was with Hermione by her side. It was very early in the morning, the sun barely out, and Harry was sleeping in the bed right next to them, when Hermione noticed Pansy's eyes blink open slowly. The young woman looked around in the dim light, frowning and trying to sit up, then she recognized Hermione and sighed in frustration.

"Of course, the first thing I see when I wake up is your face, Granger," she scoffed.

Hermione was too glad to see her conscious that she ignored the remark, helping Pansy sit up and giving her some water instead.

"Yes, yes," she said in a patronizing tone. "You've been cursed quite well, but I'm sure my face is the greater trauma."

Pansy drank the water and then flinched, massaging her temples. "Shit," was all she said.

"Do you… remember what happened?" Hermione asked, watching her carefully.

Pansy's face immediately paled. "Yeah…" she whispered, staring at nothing for a second. Then she lifted her eyes to Hermione, "Everything's fucked, Granger. I'm out."

"What do you mean?"

"My cover's blown, they caught me d—"

"Pansy!"

Harry had awoken. Pansy's eyes widened when Harry jumped out of his bed to hug her, his hair in disarray.

Hermione understood Pansy was more willing to speak with Harry than with her, so she left them alone. She came back a few hours later, hoping she gave them enough time to talk it out, and while she helped Pansy eat, she found out half of what happened from her, and the other half from Harry when they spoke in the common room that same evening.

Apparently, Theodore Nott, who was also a member of the Order under a Death Eater's disguise had been missing for a month and Pansy had been looking for him. It turned out he was killed long before his body reappeared in Diagon Alley, hung in the middle of it as a traitor for everyone to see and everyone to desecrate. Pansy wanted to save him, to give him a proper burial, but it was a trap – Voldemort hoped one traitor cadaver would lure other "traitors" in. That turned out to be Pansy. She was stabbed and hit, and tortured, and upon listening to all of this while helping Pansy wash her hair, Hermione felt like crying herself.

"Do you know who the Death Eater was that brought you here?" she asked.

Pansy looked at her as if she was mentally retarded. She said the name.

Hermione's insides turned cold. She couldn't understand why he did that.

Pansy probably must've been tired after telling that story three more times – to Snape, to McGonagall, and, finally, to Moody who came out of his office in the Astronomy Tower, where he spent all his time without seeing or talking to anyone – but this was important matters, so he had to adapt.

At first, Moody wanted to speak to Pansy alone, demanding that all of them leave. Then, while Harry and Hermione had dinner in the Great Hall, he walked to them, looked at Harry with both of his eyes – the real and the magic one – and said, "Potter, have a walk with me."

Harry was confused but agreed. Hermione waited an hour for them to come back. When they did, Harry was red in the face and avoided Hermione's gaze as if she could transmit diseases just by looking, and Moody's eyes now settled on her. "Granger, your turn," he growled.

"Mine? But what—"

"Let's go."

Hermione did not say anything else, only followed him out. She and Moody walked through the courtyard down the hill, where they passed Hagrid's hut, and now settled to stroll by the Forbidden Forest. They were away from anyone who might hear them, and only then Moody spoke up, "I will speak with you nice and clear, Granger. That's the way, ain't it?"

Hermione swallowed, "Yes…"

"What happened to Parkinson is a great tragedy and an even greater loss for us. She was an incredibly useful and wickedly smart player of the Order in this war. Reminds me of you quite much in that way. You want to be useful, don't you, Granger? You always annoy Snape with how much you want to do things, but there's just nothing happening here."

"I'm sure I don't annoy—"

"Besides the point, Granger. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Hermione took a deep breath, "You think I could take Pansy's place? That I could be the messenger here as well as there?"

Moody's real eye stared right ahead while his magical one inspected Hermione closely. "Did Parkinson tell you who saved her?"

Hermione frowned and felt a shiver run down her back. "Yes," she answered quietly. "And I don't understand why he would save her, and why would he bring her here of all places—"

"Well, he had a very good reason for it. He wants… something in return for saving Parkinson."

Hermione look at Moody. "What does he want?"

The mismatched eyes pierced right through her.

"He wants to have you as his wife, Granger."