a/n: small update for the sake of momentum. Congrats if you've made it this far. I've noticed that perhaps shorter chapters would suit the style better, and make it easier to follow. So maybe i'll gonna go back and fix it, but that's sort of cheating and i don't know if i feel up to it. I don't have as much conviction as our lead, it seems.

Chapter 4

Induction

Hermione awoke to sunshine filtering in through white curtains. She groaned and shifted in the soft bedding. The fact that it was so comfortable, actually made her stop. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It was wrong. She tried to recall her most recent memory of the night before. There wasn't anything other than sitting with him, and talking. She opened her eyes.

He was sitting at the other end of the room in a worn, old armchair. "Morning," he looked up from his book. "How was your sleep?"

She sat up to face him. "Fine."

"Did you enjoy your time last night?" He looked at her like something was funny. But she saw through that. Nothing was funny. He just liked messing with her.

"The party was lovely." She stretched. The room was full of dark wood furniture, and pale walls. A desk, a chair, a footstool, and a dresser with a mirror hung over it. Fine cracks split the paint around the window.

He closed his book, and leant forward a little. "I'm interested to ask: Do you agree with our cause and could you see yourself supporting it?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"What is there to consider?"

"How horrible it could be for the muggles."

"Wouldn't you want to know about magic, even if you had no command of it?"

She thought for a moment. She would want to know. That was her first instinct. But that wasn't the point. That wasn't the answer she wanted to give, so she said, "Not if it jeopardized my freedom. That's why half those people follow you. They just want people to practice their power over."

"There's always those who look to take advantage. It's better to have them on your side, don't you think?"

"I saw you at the ministry. Do you have friends there?"

He rose, to take a seat on the edge of the bed. He had bags underneath his eyes. He took her hands in his. "I can't shake the feeling that you're here for me." He looked up and studied her face.

Hermione's heart took up racing. "What a strange thing to say."

"Is it?" He watched her for a moment. He took her chin in his hand, and rested his thumb on her lip. "I have to go to work. Help yourself to something for breakfast."

She fell back and stared up at the ceiling. It baffled her that she felt so far away from herself. It was as if she was solely the entity just outside of herself. That her awareness and her personage were separate, and who she was, was slipping away. It was the strangest feeling. She needed to clear her head, but at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to let go of that feeling just yet. It was a little peaceful.

She considered that she wasn't stable enough to be on the mission she'd chosen. Perhaps the war, and everything that had happened, had just shaken her around and she still wasn't ready and settled, and locked in. She should have waited. She should have healed, maybe. She thought she had cried it out already. She thought it was already processed and she was rid of it.

But being there, in her bed, was exactly like she was back in it. And it was draining, and surreal, and she just needed it to pause. It was like that time, in the river, when she was small at summer camp and had fallen out of the canoe, and the water just had her to do what it wanted. That's what it felt like. And she remembered not being afraid at all.

She needed to read.

Her mission had seemed so much easier in her head, and compared to all she had already done.

She was wrong.

She was wrong.

Apparently being alone was more of a detriment than what she gave it credit..

And she hardly picked up a book, and the scheme hatched from the back of her mind.

In one spell, she stood on the outskirts of the Malfoy property. She examined the charms placed around for protection. She'd had nightmares about that place. She had always sort of wanted to burn it down. Metaphorically. But physically might feel so much better.

And it would be effective. It would destroy whatever horcrux was inside. There. She had a plan. A next step. It calmed her immensely. It was such a relief. As for the house elves, they should be clever enough to escape. Their magic was easy and quick. They would be fine.

She just had to wait for the right moment, and/or do anything in her power to create it.