New Chapter up! I get more and more proficient with keeping my promise ;P As usual, this story's characters belong to JKR and I took large liberties with her story twisting it to my liking.
Enjoy anyways.
Lysander was only a few inches taller than her, but for a moment she considered entering a duel with him; she would probably be able to outsmart him even though she'd have to concentrate her magic on one strong blast – she was low power after all.
"Don't please." The blond boy looked frightened, apprehensive – apparently having judged the glint in her eyes that people whispered to appear in her eyes now and then. "I only want to talk to you."
Bravely she nodded and when Lysander set to move, she followed him readily, fixing her Glamours again – the drain she felt was immediate, but she'd be able to cut the dialogue short, hopefully or knock him out him with one strong blast…
Her companion vanished into an empty classroom that he locked and warded before turning to her and all of a sudden she was met with the gorgeous sight of a blond-locked, gray-eyed girl. "Hello." Her voice was incredibly melodic, beautiful and soft – it was almost a whisper. "I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood." The girl offered her hand.
Birds of a feather… Hermione thought to herself. All pretenses fell away as Hermione let go of her Glamours and took the hand of the girl. "Hermione Granger, glad to meet you."
And she was glad indeed to have met Luna.
"Ron, that's the vault Hagrid and I went to. Whatever was in there… it's here now…"
Hermione listened attentively to the excited whispers of Potter and Weasley – it was not hard to tell that they'd try to find whatever it was. But while they were still quizzing about what it was, she knew at least already where it was. Surely the third-floor corridor wasn't off-limits for students just because the teachers felt like it.
As she mused over whether or not to tell Luna, Professor Quirrell passed her – she eyed him warily. Ever since the incident with the troll he gave off the strangest of vibes every time he passed her. As if he resented her for having defeated the beast. At least, she told herself, Professor Snape kept as close an eye on him as he could. She could tell by the way his eyes followed the stuttering man – though she wondered why Snape was limping…
"Think of it! Hagrid said all he ever wanted was a dragon and suddenly a guy appears, carrying a dragon's egg with him! I mean, really, how many people are there, running around with dragon eggs! I can't believe I've been so stupid!"
Dragon's egg? Had she really heard correctly? Whipping around, her eyes followed the quickly retreating forms of Potter and Weasley that made their way to Hagrid's hut at the border of the forest. Hermione's thinking was quick – certainly it couldn't be the thing that was hidden in the third corridor, now stone could only carry that much weight and surely the headmaster would not let a dragon house within the school, where it could escape and encounter students. However… the dragon thing had piqued her interest.
Only minutes later, she was pressed against the wall of Hagrid's hut, listening to the voices through an open window in the back – soaking the information up like a sponge, even if the words had no meaning to her, yet. Who the hell was 'Fluffy' and why would he fall asleep when hearing music? And Nicolas Flamel? Of course she had read the name, somewhere, already but at the very moment, couldn't connect it to the actual information she had surely stored in her brain. But as always, she made a note to look the man up in the library – books had most answers after all.
"It's Malfoy!"
Hermione turned to stone as she heard the name from the inside of the hut, pressing her frame further into the stone walls. Any encounters with the blond Slytherin had left her surer each time that he knew something was not quite right with 'Hermes Granger' – but until now she had always been able to dissuade him or simply overcome him in a forbidden duel in the corridors. Nothing happened though, and when the boys inside hurried out of the hut and after the apparently retreating Slytherin, Hermes Granger stayed undetected.
It was well past curfew already, and Hermione knew that she would have to be careful as she trudged on her tip-toes through the corridors, thinking about what she had heard. Fluffy, whoever or whatever that was, protected the something from the Gringott's vault – she was sure of that now – and judging by the Prophet's news, somebody else wanted that something as well. The big question was: Who?
"Mister Granger."
Shite. She stopped dead in her tracks, just about to turn the corner. That drawl belonged to one particular teacher – and while she admired him for his knowledge and expertise, she also knew that there was no escaping now. Giving up with a sigh, she turned around, head bowed and hands clasped in front of her in a show of embarrassment. "Professor Snape."
Hermione did not need to lift her head to know that the man stood in front of her, back ramrod straight, his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking down his nose.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor, Mister Granger, for being out after curfew, and you might want to join Messers Potter, Weasley and Malfoy here – they are on their way to detention. I see it fit you join."
And join she did – without an utter of complaint, she stepped behind him having only recently noticed the three boys trailing behind him and his billowing cloak, he must have encased them in a silencing spell or she would have heard them approaching. The Gryffindors nodded at her. Ever since Halloween things had mellowed down. She was, if not respected, at least tolerated by her house-comrades, and the attacks on her person had ceased completely. She nodded back in greeting.
Hagrid was amiable. As soon as they had discerned their cause for having entered the Forbidden Forest, they split up in groups of three. Ronald with Malfoy and Hagrid, and Hermione with Harry and Fang – sure Fang was a coward, but it gave her some sense of security, there is strength in numbers as they said.
"You know… I'm sorry for having treated you like that." Harry suddenly spoke up. They had been walking deeper into the forest, silent and with perked ears. The boy didn't look at her, but her father had taught her, unknowingly, that an embarrassed man never looked into the eyes of the person he was apologizing to.
"I think you know a great deal,… Hermes." The lantern in his right hand went out, but still she felt strangely comforted.
"Thank you, Harry."
They continued in silence, side by side and for some time nothing happened. That was until they arrived in a small basin of tree-roots and Hermione caught sight of the dead unicorn – dread washed over her. Something was sucking its blood. Harry, as if struck by lightning, sacked to his knees, holding his head in silent agony. And sure as hell, they were detected.
"Harry? Harry." The boy didn't respond and she knew it was futile to try to have him run away from the scene – the figure, previously sprawled on the ground, now approached them and she gripped her wand tightly. As a girl, she had never been a fighter in her own world, had always backed down and left the fighting to the stronger boys – but this world, this magical wizard world, made her fight more often and more vehemently, than she had ever expected it to.
"Stupefy!"
The thing that had risen to its total height in front of them, was repelled and thrown backwards, vanishing in the mist and the dark of the night enclosing them. There was a moment where everything was silent and only her blood rang in her ears – and then she heard the hooves. Pivoting around, she kept her figure in front of Harry, who now seemed to feel better, but was still looking warily into the direction where the figure had disappeared to – Hermione followed his gaze, but could detect nothing.
And just when she turned around again, to see where the sound of hooves came from, she found herself face to face with one of the most mysterious creatures she had ever seen. Her wand was immediately pointed at his chest, hex at the ready.
"Calm, Hermes – I am not here to do harm."
By the way his eyes flickered to the boy, she guessed that he was interested in Harry Potter, but seeing as his hands were held in a placating manner, Hermione decided to trust him; she'd probably still be able to stun him if he were to try something stupid. She lowered her wand and the Centaur stepped closer.
"Is he gone?"
Not knowing what exactly the Centaur was talking about, but guessing that he had meant the figure that had just been about to attack them, she nodded, again looking into the direction where the thing had vanished to. At her feet, Harry released a deep breath.
"You alright?" The boy nodded.
Firenze, as the Centaur was called, asked them to hop on his back in order for him to bring them back to Hagrid and on their way explained to them the use of unicorn-blood and she shuddered at the thought of a cursed life, who could possibly be so desperate as to cling to such a life?
"Nicolas Flamel – renowned alchemist and first as well as only person to have created the Sorcerer's Stone. The latter is said to have the ability to turn any metal into gold and gift the possessor with eternal life." Luna read to her.
Again, the eternal life – Hermione looked up. Anyone would want that, granted, but who was desperate enough to feed of unicorn-blood and then try to get the Sorcerer's Stone? There were thousands of possibilities on this one though, and she knew just one person – the only person – who'd be able to tell her who searched for the stone.
For Hermione was sure, this was exactly what was hidden in the third-floor corridor, what else should be hidden there? It was a dangerous thing if it was sought, students could be put at risk… She needed to find out who was behind it.
"Harry, who would want eternal life, even if half of it would be forever cursed?"
His eyes widened at her question over the dining table and for a moment he said nothing, exchanging looks with Ronald, who finally nodded. It appeared that she was finally to be let in on the secret that had, until now, only been known to Ron Weasley and Harry Potter – it almost seemed, as if she would be considered a friend.
She was exhilarated at the thought, but right now the secret was more important. "Lord Voldemort." Harry whispered.
He continued to explain to her, in a hushed voice, what his history with him was – she really couldn't believe that such a huge part of history had simply slipped her notice, even with all the books she had been reading, even though books on that topic were probably found in the Restricted Section only – and that the evil wizard now sought his comeback.
Yes, she decided after having listened to Harry, such a person would probably want eternal life… and he would also consider a life that would be partly cursed, he'd be that desperate.
"We think that Snape wants the stone for Voldemort – he would seem the type for it." Ron whispered at the end, and she only nodded, her eyes involuntarily slipping to the Head Table. Miss McGonagall and Professor Snape were both looking at her and she simply answered their stares with one of her own, lost in her thoughts.
Yes, she agreed that Snape would look the type for it, but she was convinced – mind you, by gut feeling only – that it wasn't Snape that was Voldemort's right hand. He'd be far too obvious and he was probably too headstrong, no way he'd ever cower to a person such as Voldemort. If she were an evil megalomaniac on her way back to life, she'd chose someone weak-willed, someone who would look as if he couldn't harm a fly… someone like Professor Quirrell.
Seeing as Luna had helped her with Nicolas Flamel and, as earlier established, there was strength in numbers, she decided to let Luna in on the secret. The boys were up for something idiotic, and if she were to correct their errors, it would be better to have Luna with her, even if as cover only.
There it is! Lysander is Luna and the original story is setting in.
Thank you arabellagrace, lostmariner4803, LittlebigmouthOKC, toriashley, TequilaNervous, Inusagi (have a little patience there, it will all unfold), Lythandae, Anonymous (that's a harsh way of depicting it, but I am thinking of it), Lost-puppyEYES, Smurfgirlz, SamMacKennaJustineTaylorFlac k, Dia, Joy and the three unnamed Guests for the reviews, they keep me working hard.
Thank you too, Blaubart, bushyhaired-american-nerd, pinknose1, littlebigmouthOKC, lostmariner4803, EtCadetSatanStabit, jbaby, nerd-herd leader, mrsdemon, iiPanicProneFish, Lost-puppyEYES and PrincessLonesome for the Story Alerts.
Also thanks to EtCadetSatanStabit, PINKPUNKGUITAR and nadagio for the favs.
And thank you Smurfgirlz for the Author Alert.
Did I forget anyone? I hope I didn't - thank you for all the attention, it feels like standing in the spotlight ;) I hope you liked the chapter! Next one is up soon!
