A few days later, everyone is gathered in the girls' dorm. James, Sirius and Remus are lying across Cass's bed while Peter is curled up on Marlene's and they are all watching Hermione, Alice and Lily unpack Hermione's trunk.
"Oh, there's my shampoo," Hermione says, grabbing it and hurrying over to the bathroom.
"Hey, Mi?" Lily shouts from across the room. "What's this?" Hermione looks round to see her holding a silver frame and she smiles.
"That's the picture frame James's parents bought me for Christmas," she replies.
"No, I mean the photo," Lily says coolly. "Who is that?"
"Me, James and Sirius," Hermione says. "James's mum took it one morning when she came in to wake us up. I think it's sweet – don't you like it?"
"Can't say I'm too thrilled about my boyfriend's dick being pressed up against another girl's ass, no," Lily says icily and now everyone in the room stops to stare.
"What?!" Hermione gapes, shocked. "Lily, are you kidding?"
"Absolutely not," Lily says. "This is completely out of line, Hermione."
"Why?!" Hermione asks. "Sirius was there too, we didn't do anything! Lily come on, it's me – you know how I feel about James!"
"I know you're always touching him and hugging him and kissing him," Lily says. "But he's my boyfriend and you need to get used to that."
"You're being ridiculous," Hermione says. "I hug and touch and kiss everyone and James is like my brother! Besides which, I have a boyfriend too, who I love very much."
"Doesn't look like it, the way you strut around the castle flashing your knickers for anyone to see," Lily snarls.
"Are you calling me a slut now?" Hermione laughs, appalled.
"How many boys in this castle have seen you naked?" Lily snaps. "I bet you can't even count it on two hands."
"Actually, it's only two," Hermione replies. "Sirius, obviously, and James when he walked in on us having sex."
"See, you're having sex where you can get caught," Lily shouts.
"That doesn't make me a slut but keep going," Hermione says, yawning.
"Fine," Lily snarls. "You are rude, you are a bully, you've got a major superiority complex and to be honest, the only reason anyone talks to you is because they're scared shitless of what you'll do if they don't. Everybody hates you."
"Okay," Hermione says coolly. "Good to know. See you guys whenever." She turns on her heel and walks out of the dorm room; for a second nobody moves, shocked into paralysis and then Sirius, Remus and Cass all spring up and chase after her.
"Lily, what the fuck?" James says. "How could you speak to her like that?!"
"Oh, don't you start piping up," Lily snaps. "You're in enough trouble as it is!"
"What for?!" he shouts, storming down to the common room. "For falling asleep with my brother and my sister?"
"She's not your sister, James!" she replies furiously, chasing after him.
"In every way except blood, she is," James says coolly. "Just like Sirius and Remus and Peter. I love her."
"You should love me," Lily howls and now he frowns.
"I do," James says. "But you won't speak to my family like that."
Lily takes a couple of deep breaths and then all the anger drains out of her. "I'm sorry," she says. "I shouldn't have said those things. But she's so beautiful and clever and funny and I just…why would you choose me over her?"
"Because you're the love of my life," James says. "Not her."
"I'm sorry," she says tearfully. "I just saw her ass pressed up against you and I saw red."
"You know, more often than not, it was Sirius's ass pressed up against me," he says, smiling softly. "You ever think that maybe she's just lonely?"
"How could she be?" Lily says. "Everybody adores her."
"She's lost everybody she ever loved," James says. "She's come to a place where she doesn't know anybody but she knows everything that will happen in their lives. And then there's me, with the exact face of her best friend – don't you think she just misses him? Our son, Lily?"
"Merlin," Lily says, going pale. "I need to go after her."
"There's no point," Remus says as he steps through the portrait hole. "She's gone."
"Gone?!" James says, whipping around. "Gone where?"
"Who knows," Cass says dully.
"Where's Sirius?" Peter asks anxiously. As if on cue, Sirius walks into the common room, shoots Lily the darkest look anyone has ever seen on his face and then stalks off to the dorm.
"I need to go," Hermione says tearfully. "I need to get out of here and do something useful."
"What's happened?" Dumbledore asks kindly.
"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione says. "I just need to go, please."
"Okay," Dumbledore says, standing and walking over to the fireplace. "I'll send you to Fleamont's house, okay? You can stay there while you work out what you want to do next and then come back whenever you're ready."
"Okay," Hermione says, wiping her eyes and heading over to the fire. "Please don't tell James or Sirius where I am, sir. You can tell them I'm safe but I just need space right now."
"Of course," Dumbledore says. "I'll see you soon, Miss Granger."
"Yes, sir," Hermione says, taking some Floo powder and stepping into the fire. She flies through it and rolls, coughing, onto Fleamont's office rug.
"Hermione!" he says, jumping to his feet and helping her up. "What are you doing here? Are the boys alright?"
"They're fine," she says, bursting into tears.
"Okay," he says soothingly. "Shall we have a cup of hot chocolate and we can have a chat?"
"Yes," Hermione sobs, allowing him to take her down to the kitchen where Euphemia is working.
"Hermione!" she says, getting up and hugging the young woman tightly. "What's happened? Are the boys alright?"
"They're fine," Fleamont says in a hushed voice. "Something has happened to her."
"Did someone upset you?" Euphemia asks, sitting her down as Fleamont starts to make her a drink.
"Yes, but that doesn't matter," Hermione says, wiping her eyes. "I need to talk to you both."
"What's happened?" Fleamont asks.
"I've been lying to you," she says. "About who I am and where I came from and I'm sorry."
"Yes, we know," Euphemia says soothingly.
"You do?" Hermione says, shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"You needed to come to trust us on your own," Fleamont says, putting a mug down in front of us. "Besides which, you never lied about anything important. You never lied about how much you love our sons."
"No," Hermione says fondly. "So, I need to tell you the truth now." She inhales sharply and then says, "I'm from the future. I got thrown back from 1998 and there's no way for me to go back. So, what I'm doing is trying to bring down Voldemort before he can…before he can kill James."
"What?!" Euphemia says, going white as a sheet.
"It's very complicated but at the base of it, there was a prophecy made which said that James and Lily's son is the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord for good," Hermione says. "Voldemort heard it and tried to kill him when he was a baby, but he failed because James and Lily gave their lives to protect him. What I'm going to do is try and stop Voldemort from even hearing the prophecy."
"How?" Fleamont asks.
"It was overheard by Severus Snape when it was made, and he told it to Voldemort," Hermione says. "If I can stop Snape from going to the Dark Side, Voldemort may never hear of it."
"That seems flawed," Euphemia says. "What if Snape does go to the Dark Side? What if Voldemort just sends someone else to hear it instead?"
"I know," Hermione says. "Which is why I also have another plan. We need to get rid of his Horcruxes."
"What?" Fleamont says. "How many does he have?"
"I believe that at this point, he has 5," Hermione says. "Slytherin's locket is in a cave near Devon, Lucius Malfoy has his diary, Hufflepuff's Cup is in the Black vault, the Gaunt ring will be in the Gaunt shack and Ravenclaw's diadem is at Hogwarts."
"Okay," Euphemia says. "So how do we get them?"
"Wait, hold on," Fleamont says. "How do we destroy them? And let's be realistic, they're going to be protected by all kinds of dark curses and hexes. This isn't going to be easy."
"No," Hermione says. "But my life is over, Mr Potter. I'm in a time before I was even born – I don't belong here. I'm not going to survive this war, I know that. But if I can take him down with me, then it will have been worth it."
"Hermione," Euphemia begins, but the young girl shakes her head.
"No," she says. "I told you once that I'd give my life to protect James and Sirius and that is exactly what I intend to do. As for how to destroy them, I've got a couple of ideas there too. Remus has been researching Fiendfyre for several weeks and I know for a fact that there's a Basilisk in the castle at Hogwarts. If we can kill it, we can use its fangs to destroy them."
"Fiendfyre is incredibly dangerous," Fleamont says and Hermione rolls her eyes.
"Everything about this is incredibly dangerous," Hermione says. "I'm here because I don't want to put your sons in any more danger. I'm here because I need your help."
"Very well," Fleamont says eventually. "Then let's do it. Where do we begin?"
"I've got the diadem already," she says, patting the small beaded bag in her pocket. "I can ask Sirius to fetch the cup anytime I want. Lucius Malfoy has the diary so that is inaccessible for the time being, the cave is a fair distance and I know it will take our strength from us when we try to retrieve it, so I think we should start with the Gaunt ring."
"You know where it is?" Fleamont asks. "The shack I mean?"
"Yes," Hermione says. "I do."
"Well we shall go there tonight then," Euphemia says. "All three of us, together."
"Very well," Fleamont says. "We shall leave at 12 midnight."
"Fine," Hermione says, standing up from the table.
"Not quite, young lady," Euphemia says.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asks.
"What happened to you today?" Euphemia asks. "What changed?"
"Lily," Hermione replies honestly. "She found that photo you gave me for Christmas, she said I'd crossed a line. She said that I was a slut and that everyone hates me. And you know what, maybe she's right and maybe they do but I don't hate them and me being there, dealing with that school-girl bitchiness is so irrelevant when there are more important things to be doing."
"She's wrong," Euphemia says. "I've never seen James or Sirius look at anyone the way they look at you. They love you, Hermione. We love you."
"I know," Hermione says. "I know she's just mad and she probably already regrets it, but I needed to get away. I've wasted so much time and I need to do something to make me feel like I'm actually helping."
"Yes," Fleamont says. "I understand."
"If you don't mind, I'm going to go and take a nap," Hermione says quietly. "I'll see you at 11." She stands and walks over to the door, where she turns back. "Please don't tell them I'm here. I don't want to see anyone else right now."
"Okay," Euphemia says gently.
Hours after Hermione has left, Sirius stalks downstairs into the common room, where everyone is still sitting around, twisting their hands. "Sirius," Remus says, springing to his feet. "Where are you going?"
"Dumbledore's office," Sirius says. "If she went anywhere, she will have gone to him."
"I'll come with," James says.
"No," Sirius snaps. "I'm going by myself."
"Padfoot," James says quietly. "I'm worried about her too."
"You just focus on keeping your bitch of a girlfriend's mouth shut, eh?" Sirius snarls and Lily gasps.
"There's no need for nastiness," James says sharply. "Lily knows she made a mistake and she's sorry, okay?"
"Sorry isn't good enough," Sirius says tearfully. "She's gone and I don't know where and she could be dead or dying for all we know and you're just sitting here."
"She's not dead," Remus says calmly.
"She's probably gone off to find a Horcrux," Sirius snaps. "Or gone off to fucking fight a Death Eater! Don't you guys get it?! She doesn't care about herself at all, she just wants to bring him down. She'll die to do it." He turns on Lily, face more dangerous than they have ever seen it, and snarls, "And if she does, I will never forgive you."
He stalks out of the room and straight up to Dumbledore's office, where he slips behind a tapestry and steps out of a painting. "Hello, Mr Black," Dumbledore says warmly. "How are you this evening?"
"Where is she?" Sirius asks. "Have you seen her this evening?"
"She's safe," Dumbledore says quietly. "She needs to get away for a little while."
"Where has she gone?" Sirius asks. "Is she with James's parents?"
"No," Dumbledore says. "She wanted to go somewhere you wouldn't be able to find her."
"Professor, she's gonna do something stupid," Sirius says. "I need to be there, I need to help her."
"Hermione Granger doesn't have the capacity to do something stupid," Dumbledore says. "I've got eyes on her – she'll be fine."
"Sir," Sirius pleads. "Can't you get her a message at least?"
"I might be able to manage that," Dumbledore says.
"Tell her that I love her," Sirius says. "Nothing else matters right now, just tell her that I love her and I need her to come back to me."
"I'll tell her," Dumbledore says. "Get some sleep, Mr Black. It will all be okay in the end."
"Are you ready?" Hermione asks as she walks down the stairs. Fleamont and Euphemia are both standing in the hall, buttoning up cloaks and fiddling with bags as they watch her.
"Yes," Euphemia says. "Where are we going?"
"What do you know about the Gaunt family?" Hermione asks, sitting down on the bottom step.
"The Gaunt family are one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight," Fleamont says quietly. "A list the Potter name was struck off several generations ago. They are considered to be of the purest blood, like the Black family." He glances at Euphemia, who shoots him a withering look.
"Honestly, you think that's something I'm proud of?" Euphemia says. "Anyway, the Gaunt bloodline died out generations ago when Morfin Gaunt went to Azkaban."
"You're right and you're wrong," Hermione says. "The name certainly died with him, but their blood lives on. Marvolo Gaunt had another child, a daughter by the name of Merope. She disgraced the family by falling in love with a Muggle, who she married and had a child with."
"That would have been quite a scandal," Euphemia says.
"I'm sure," Hermione agrees. "But very few people knew of Merope's existence, so when she fled with her Muggle husband, it was easy to cover up. Now, Merope was not a pretty girl but being of pureblood, she was reasonably talented and she forced this man to marry her under the influence of a love potion."
"Oh," Fleamont says. "What happened when he stopped taking it?"
"He left her," Hermione says. "Pregnant and alone, she got her son to an orphanage, named him and died. That child was called Tom Marvolo Riddle and he grew up to become-"
"Lord Voldemort," Euphemia finishes, sighing. "Foolish girl."
"It is not her fault," Hermione says sharply. "She was abused by her father and brother all her life, she was not of sound mind by the time she met Tom Riddle Sr."
"I see," Fleamont says. "Why are you telling us this?"
"Because Tom grew up in that orphanage his mother left him in," Hermione says. "Thus, he harboured great resentment for his father and years later, he went back to his hometown to murder him and his grandparents."
"Where is this town?" Euphemia asks.
"Little Hangleton," Hermione says. "While he was there, I am sure he visited his old family home and left a Horcrux there – we just need to go and fetch it."
"What about protective charms?" Fleamont asks.
"There won't be many," Hermione says. "As of this moment in time, nobody alive knows of his connection to the Gaunt family, except perhaps Dumbledore, but even he is not definitely sure. Voldemort is comfortable and secure at the moment and the charms will be powerful, but not too powerful. Muggle-Repelling mostly. The ring will be in a box – that will be safe to touch, but the ring itself will not. Do not open the box under any circumstances, are we clear?"
"Yes," Euphemia says calmly. "Shall we go?"
"Yes," Hermione says, grabbing their arms and twisting neatly in the air. She lands in the middle of the road and they all stumble as Hermione inhales sharply. "He's here," she murmurs. "Go on without me, up the road and get that box – I'll meet you back at the house."
"Are you sure?" Fleamont says.
"Yes, I'm the only one he doesn't know," she says, already walking up to the graveyard. "Be safe, both of you."
She walks into the graveyard and heads over to the Riddle grave, looking at it closely. "Who are you?" an icy voice says and she straightens up but doesn't turn.
"My name is Hermione Granger," she says. "I don't have to ask who you are."
"I see," he says. "Turn and face me, child."
"I am no child," she says, turning to look at him. He is somewhere between the Tom Riddle she has seen in memories and the Voldemort she's faced in battle, red eyes but still somewhat human. He smiles at her, not entirely cruelly but certainly without warmth.
"I can't say I've not been looking forward to meeting you," Voldemort says. "Stories of your beauty and power have travelled far and wide to reach me, Miss Granger."
"Stories that have been vastly exaggerated, I assure you," Hermione says warmly. "I am no beauty, my Lord, and I am certainly no witch of great power."
"False on both counts," he says. "You are most enchanting, I assure you, and as for your power…I can feel it radiating off you."
"You are too kind, my Lord," Hermione says.
"Why have you come here, Miss Granger?" he asks. "Little Hangleton is far off the beaten track."
"I've never really been one for sticking to the path," she says quietly. "Nonetheless, I have not come here for any particular reason. I am on leave from Hogwarts and I wanted to find some peace. Off the beaten track seemed my best bet."
"I wasn't under the impression that students could take leave from Hogwarts," he says.
"Yes, well perhaps I managed to…enchant Albus into letting me out for a while," she says slyly and he almost smirks.
"Not a fan of the Headmaster, Miss Granger?" he asks.
"No, I can't say that I am," she admits freely. "His version of 'good' and 'evil' doesn't quite tarry up with mine."
"Fascinating," he says. "In what way?"
"In many ways, my Lord," she says calmly. "Have the two of you always been at odds?"
"I must admit I found myself in a similar quandary to you," he says. "Albus is a self-righteous man who seems to view the world in black and white, good and evil. I see it more…grey. I don't see good or evil, I see only power and those too weak to seek it."
"Interesting concept," she says. "I disagree with certain aspects of your assessment, but your logic is not entirely flawed."
"You know, if one of my followers spoke to me like that, I'd kill them on the spot," he says sharply and she shoots him a withering look.
"Go on then, if you're going to do it," she says. "But I can imagine that would get rather boring, no?"
"Perhaps," he says, watching her suspiciously. "Miss Granger, I must confess you intrigue me. Have you yet chosen a side in this war?"
"I haven't," Hermione says coolly. "I was under the impression I didn't have to declare my allegiance until I left school."
"That is correct," he says. "I am not in the habit of recruiting schoolgirls, although they are not normally as…eloquent as yourself."
"I see," Hermione says. "What exactly are you proposing, my Lord?"
"Nothing at the moment," he says. "Just giving you something to consider if you find the old man…gets rather boring, as you say?"
"Well I certainly appreciate the offer," she says politely. "And I'll be sure to think it over. I would need some…concessions of course."
"Of course," he says drily. "Such as what?"
"I am of the understanding that you have made similar offers to several of my friends," she says. "Castor Avery, Bellatrix Black, Severus Snape, to name a few."
"Slytherins," he says. "Which you are not."
"No, correct again," she says wryly. "Am I not allowed friends outside of my own house?"
"No, but it's rare for Gryffindors to be friends with Slytherins," he observes.
"Why would you assume I'm a Gryffindor?" she asks.
"Miss Granger, it was not an assumption," he says. "I already told you, numerous sources have spoken highly and in great detail of you. Including your school house and your flirtations with various men, including but not limited to Orion Black, Castor Avery, James Potter, Sirius Black and the Minister for Magic."
"I was not flirting with-" she begins but he shakes his head, tutting.
"Now, now, Miss Granger," he says. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. We must use the gifts we have been given, correct?"
"Of course," she says, smirking slightly. "Now as much as I'd like to continue this conversation, I really need to be going. I assume you'll be in touch?"
"If that is what you wish," he says.
"It would be an honour, my Lord," she says. "Write to me?"
"It would be a pleasure," he says. "Goodbye for now, Miss Granger."
"Bye," she says, walking away and glancing over her shoulder as she does so. When she gets to the gate of the graveyard, she lets herself out and then turns in mid-air, disappearing and reappearing at Potter Manor. She hurries up to the house and runs into the kitchen, where Fleamont and Euphemia are both sitting round the table, staring at a small box intently.
"Oh my God, you got it," she says, sitting down opposite Euphemia and grabbing it.
"You're alive," Fleamont says, heaving a huge sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin."
"Did he see you?" Euphemia asks anxiously.
"Of course," Hermione says quietly, looking down at the box. She murmurs the word Avery has laboured long and hard to teach her and the lid pops open, revealing the ring inside. "Good," she says to herself, slams it shut again and shoves it in her bag; she looks up to see Fleamont and Euphemia staring at her, horrified. "What's wrong?" she asks.
"How do you speak Parseltongue?" Fleamont says. "What are you?"
"I'm nothing special," Hermione says. "I asked Avery to teach me some basic Parseltongue so that I could open this box. I knew I'd need it."
"How did you get away from Voldemort without him killing you?" Euphemia asks. "He kills everyone."
"I'm very charming," she says quietly. "Thank you for getting this, both of you. I need to go back to Hogwarts tonight and spend some time there. We can go and get the locket in a couple of weeks, when he's not watching me so closely anymore."
"Very well," Fleamont says. "You're not going to tell us what the two of you spoke about?"
"Idle chit-chat mostly," Hermione says quietly. "There's nothing to tell."
"Hermione, we're worried about you," Euphemia says. "Talk to us, please."
"You don't need to worry," Hermione says. "I've told you everything you need to know – the intricacies of my conversation with the Dark Lord are unimportant. It was mostly trading veiled threats and subtle hints of each other's knowledge. He knows some of who I am but not enough for anyone to be concerned, and to be honest, I think he quite likes me – he said he would write to me while I was at Hogwarts."
"You will be in correspondence with the Dark Lord?" Fleamont gapes. "Hermione, that is…"
"He made me an offer that I didn't refuse," Hermione continues. "He wants me to join his side. Until I give my answer, he will be…civil enough."
"Oh yes?" Euphemia says. "Merlin, Hermione, you do make your life difficult."
"Yes, I do," Hermione says. "But I don't like to be bored. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going. I need to have a word with Dumbledore before I go back to Sirius."
"You've only been gone a few hours," Fleamont says. "He'll forgive you."
"Maybe," Hermione says. "Maybe it would be better if he didn't."
"Don't think like that," Euphemia says. "You need people, Hermione – we all do."
"I know," Hermione says, standing up. "But the people around me tend to get hurt."
"Can I lie down?" Sirius asks quietly, standing over James's bed.
"Of course," James says, moving over so he can lie beside him.
"I'm sorry, okay?" Sirius says quietly. "I didn't mean to be nasty to Lily. I was just…"
"You were hurting," James says. "I am too, Pads. I'm worried about her."
"I miss her so much, Prongs," Sirius says. "I know it's only been a couple of hours but I'm so scared she's going to do something stupid."
"Despite her outstanding intelligence, that does seem to be characteristic of her," James says. "But Dumbledore said she's safe and we have to trust him."
"Why?" Sirius says. "Hermione doesn't. Why would she go to him if she needed help?"
"Well then where would she go?" James asks. "Who does she trust, apart from us?"
"Our parents," Sirius sighs. "The old man lied – she's with them. I'll write first thing."
"No need," Hermione says as she walks into the dorm. "I'm fine, boys – no need to worry."
"Oh Merlin," Sirius says, heaving a huge sigh of relief as she throws herself down on the bed, hugging them both tightly. "What have you been doing?!"
"Oh, you know, this and that," Hermione says. "Finding a Horcrux, meeting a Dark Lord."
"You saw Voldemort?" James says incredulously. "Hermione, how are you alive?"
"I'm very charismatic," Hermione says, shooting him a withering look. "Plus, there's the fact that nobody, not Dumbledore nor Voldemort, quite knows what side I'm on."
"He made you an offer?" Sirius asks severely. "What did you say?"
"I said I needed time to think," Hermione says coolly. "What else could I say?"
"Fair enough," James says. "Have you spoken to Lily?"
"No," Hermione says. "I'm not sleeping there tonight."
"That's fine, you can stay here with us," Sirius says.
"I'm not doing that either," Hermione says. "I've not forgotten what happened, boys. I still love you but I'm really pissed about the fact that neither of you managed to stand up for me and I need some time."
"Hermione, please," Sirius pleads.
"I am your girlfriend," she snarls, close to tears. "James, you say I'm your sister. That girl, whatever her motivations, absolutely tore apart my character, said things no one should ever say to a friend, and you just sat there and let it happen."
"I'm so sorry," James says. "I didn't know she was going to say those things, I didn't…I was in shock. I'm sorry, Hermione, please forgive me."
"I need time," Hermione says, standing up and turning for the door.
"And what about us?" Sirius asks. "Don't you think we have a right to be angry too?"
"Excuse me?" Hermione snaps. "Why would you be angry?"
"You left without a word," Sirius says. "You could have been dead or dying or in real trouble and we were out of our minds with worry. I know we're supposed to trust you, Hermione, but how are we supposed to when you never tell us anything?"
"What exactly do you think I'm holding back?" Hermione asks.
"What is going on with you and Avery?" Sirius asks.
"Nothing," Hermione says. "He's a friend, who has been very kind and very helpful, but that is it."
"And Dumbledore?" Sirius snaps. "Tell us why you don't trust him."
"I can't," Hermione says. "Those are not my secrets to tell."
"What, now you owe him something?" Sirius asks.
"Hang on, I have never told anyone's secrets," Hermione says. "I've told you everything I can about what I want to change, but it's really not my place to tell you about things that have already happened."
For a moment, Sirius opens his mouth to protest and then he sighs. "You're right," he says. "I'm sorry. I do trust you, Hermione, I'm just…"
"I know," Hermione says. "I still love you both and I promise I'd do anything for you but I just need some space."
"Okay," James says, getting up and hugging her tightly. "Honestly, Hermione, I'm so sorry."
"I know," Hermione says, kissing Sirius deeply and then hurrying out of the room. She runs out of the common room and straight down to the Slytherin common room where she bangs loudly on the door. It swings open almost immediately and Avery blinks at her.
"Hermione, it's 4 o'clock in the morning," he says quietly. "What in Salazar's name are you doing here?"
"Is Bella still awake?" she asks, pushing past him and into the common room. Bella, Narcissa, Severus, Nott, Mulciber and Regulus are sitting round a table next to the fire, all looking rather riled up, but they calm as they see her. "What's going on in here?" she asks, sitting down next to Bella. "Why are you all still up at 4am?"
"Says you," Severus says, but he doesn't smile, his eyes on a tight-fisted Nott.
"What's happening?" she repeats. "Tell me what's wrong."
"We got another letter," Regulus says tiredly. "This one came directly from the Dark Lord."
"He didn't tell me he was writing," she says. "What does it say?"
"Excuse me?" Nott says. "What do you mean he didn't tell you? Are you having secret meetings with the Dark Lord?"
"Absolutely not," Hermione says. "I was out today due to…personal reasons and I happened to bump into him."
"You just happened to bump into the Dark Lord?" Mulciber says incredulously. "What are you, Granger?"
"That is irrelevant," Hermione says. "What does the letter say? And what do you mean that this one came directly from him? Who else have you heard from?"
"Lucius Malfoy," Bella says, shooting Narcissa a dirty look. "Clearly we were only important enough for his minions…until today. Something changed."
"This is my fault," Hermione says, diving forwards and grabbing the letter. She scans it frantically and then looks up at Regulus with wide eyes. "This is all my fault."
"What do you mean?" Avery asks. "What have you done?"
"I've been too fucking clever," Hermione sighs. "I've been drawing far too much attention to myself. And to other people at this school."
"What do we do, Hermione?" Bella asks. "This isn't an offer anymore, this is an order."
"You still have time," she says. "We've got til the end of school. I'll talk to him."
"Why would he listen to you?" Mulciber says coolly.
"I don't know if he will," Hermione says. "But when we spoke today, he promised to write to me. So, we'll see."
"What if he doesn't?" Severus asks.
"I've got other plans in the works," Hermione says. "One involves the two of you." She looks at Severus and then Avery, who both nod sharply.
"What happens if you can't work it out?" Bella asks. "We're going to die."
"No," Hermione says. "I won't let that happen."
"How are you going to stop it, Granger?" Nott asks icily. "What makes you so special?"
"Maybe nothing," Hermione says. "But I have to try."