On the morning she was due back at Hogwarts, Hermione was up early so she could have a few extra hours with her new little sister. After much deliberation Voldemort and Beth had named their little girl, Charlotte, or Lottie as she was affectionately known. Hermione had fallen head over heels for her little sister, and she was disappointed to be going back to school so soon after her arrival. Still, she was only at Hogwarts for a few more months, and then she could see her little sister whenever she wanted.
"You be good, Lottie," Hermione said to her sister as she sat on the sofa cradling her in her arms. "And I'll see you very soon."
"You're going to be late if you don't get a move on, Hermione," Beth warned as she entered the front room and walked over to where her two daughters were sitting. "Do you have everything packed?"
"My bags packed, I just need to grab it before we leave," Hermione replied.
"Well, go and do it now before Rosmerta and Harry arrive," Beth ordered, taking Charlotte off Hermione so her eldest daughter could go and get sorted.
Despite wanting to stay with Charlotte, Hermione headed off upstairs to grab her bag. She had a quick sweep around her room in case she'd forgotten something, and let out a sigh of relief that she'd made the extra check when she spotted the small vial of polyjuice potion on her bedside table. She actually had a large jar of polyjuice potion in her bag, thanks to Severus, but the smaller vial was for her to hopefully use by the end of the day. It was time to put her plan of dealing with Ginny into action, and she was hoping that it would be fast moving and she could start it right away.
Slipping the vial of polyjuice potion into her pocket, and casting a spell on it to ensure that it didn't break, Hermione grabbed her bag and headed back downstairs. By the time she arrived in the front room not only had Rosmerta and Harry arrived, but Draco was also in the front room. Rosmerta was busy cooing over Charlotte, while Harry and Draco were laughing about something and seemingly had very little interest in the new baby.
"I'll see you soon sweetheart," Beth said, giving Hermione a kiss. "And be careful with the Weasley girl."
"Don't worry, I will be," Hermione reassured her mother.
"I mean it Hermione," Beth warned. "Vengeance isn't worth risking everything for."
"She needs dealing with," Hermione said firmly. "Not just because of her part in Harry's kidnapping, but because she's a threat. She's likely the only real threat to us at all anymore. With Bill and Charlie out of the picture, the Order is pretty much defunct. Molly and Arthur are too broken to fight, but Ginny won't give up. Unless we want her stirring up more trouble we need to deal with her."
"I agree she's a danger," Beth said. "Just make sure you don't put yourself in danger just to silence her. There's only so much we can do to protect you, Hermione."
"Are you talking about the werewolf thing?" Hermione asked with a frown. "Because Draco's spoken to Greyback, and he doesn't see a problem with introducing me to Draco in his wolf form. He's confident Draco can handle it."
"We're not worried about Draco," Beth replied, giving Draco a reassuring smile. "We know he'll do everything in his power not to hurt you. I'm talking about you showing the Weasley girl just what you're capable of. She's going to hurl all sorts of accusations around, and sometimes mud sticks. If people start believing her, it could be a problem for you, and therefore for all of us. People might start to rebel."
"Why would people suddenly believe her now?" Hermione questioned with an unconcerned shrug. "The Order have been protesting since Father killed Dumbledore at the end of fifth year, and they didn't exactly get a wave of support then. Since then it's been the Order who have come over as the bad guys, with what Ron did to Harry and I, and then what Bill and Charlie did to Harry. I don't think there's many people willing to believe the Weasleys anymore."
"Even so, be careful," Beth repeated. "You know as well as I do that things could change in an instant. People are happy not to fight, because right now they don't see any need to. All it takes is for one person to decide that the new regime is bad news for the wizarding world, and we could have a full scale rebellion on our hands. I know we could handle it, and we would likely revert back to your father's initial plans of taking power by force, but I think we'd all rather avoid that. Let's try and maintain what we've already achieved."
"Don't worry, I won't cause a full scale war," Hermione vowed. "As I've said before, by the time I've finished with Ginny, no-one will believe a word she says. That is, if she even has the guts to say anything. She's more than likely going to hide away and leave us alone."
"I hate to interrupt, but if we don't leave now, we're going to be late," Rosmerta said, jumping in before the conversation could continue.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Hermione reassured Beth as she gave her mother and baby sister one final kiss goodbye and picked up her bag. "Right, let's go."
Pulling out their wands the group headed to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, where they arrived just in time to say a quick goodbye to Rosmerta and hop on the train before it began to depart the station.
"Whew, that was close," Harry remarked as the train began to pull out of King's Cross Station. "I wonder if the others are already settled somewhere."
"More than likely," Draco said. "Shall we go and find them?"
"Let's," Hermione agreed. "But keep an eye out for Ginny, I need a word with her."
"Already?" Draco questioned with a frown.
"The sooner we get going with the plan the better," Hermione replied with a shrug.
Sadly for Hermione, Ginny wasn't among the people they ran into as they searched for their friends. Several people they saw expressed their happiness that Harry was back safe and well, including Neville, Dean and Seamus, whom Harry and Hermione chatted to for nearly five minutes before carrying on their journey. Finally they found the others sitting together in a compartment and they joined their friends.
"We thought you three weren't coming back," Theo joked as the trio settled down.
"We wouldn't miss the rest of the year for anything," Hermione replied with a devious smile.
"Are we expecting fun and games?" Blaise asked excitedly.
"No," Draco answered, jumping in before Hermione let something slip that might later get her into trouble. "We're just looking forward to the last few months of school, and then we'll be free."
"Not all of us will be entirely free though," Blaise said, putting his arm around Luna. "Poor Luna still has another year to go before she graduates."
"A year isn't long," Luna said with a shrug. "You'll just have to come and visit me."
"Just you try and stop me," Blaise said, grinning at his girlfriend. "I'll be up in Hogsmeade all the time."
"Doing what?" Theo asked. "You can't just hang around the village, hoping for a glimpse of Luna in the distance at Hogwarts. Hogsmeade weekends are only every couple of months."
"I'll just have to find myself something to do then," Blaise replied with a shrug. "Hey Harry, you could talk to Rosmerta and convince her to hire me as a barman for the pub. I could even rise to manager. I'd be better than that sap she's got running the place at the moment."
"I thought you would have had grander ambitions than working in a pub, Blaise," Daphne remarked.
"It would only be a stepping stone on my way to owning a whole chain of pubs up and down the country," Blaise replied.
"Is that what you want to do?" Hermione asked.
"Quite possibly," Blaise admitted with a nod. "I quite like the idea of being in the hospitality industry. I could just picture myself in ten years' time with quite the little empire."
"I can talk to Rosmerta if you want," Harry offered. "I'm sure she'd love to have someone like you involved with the pub."
"Cheers, Harry," Blaise said with a grin.
Blaise's admission of his plans for the future got other people talking about their plans for what they were going to do after school. While Daphne was confessing her desire to own her own fashion business, Hermione excused herself and slipped out of the compartment. However, she hadn't even made it a few steps away from the compartment, when she felt Draco's hand on her arm.
"What's wrong?" She asked, turning to her boyfriend.
"I'm keeping an eye on you," Draco replied. "You're off looking for trouble, aren't you?"
"I was going to the bathroom if you must know," Hermione lied.
"Nice try, but I know you too well," Draco chuckled. "Just let me come with you to keep an eye on things."
"Fine, but do not interfere," Hermione warned. "I want a reaction from Ginny, and I don't want you getting in the way of that. Just remember whatever she does to me, she's going to get ten times worse when the time is right."
Draco wasn't happy with standing back and letting Ginny do whatever she wanted to Hermione, especially as he knew his fiancée was going to try and get some sort of explosive reaction from her, but he didn't have any choice by agree to Hermione's conditions. Although for quite a while it looked as though he wouldn't have to worry about Ginny as by the time they'd walked the entire length of the train, they still hadn't seen the redhead.
"I hope you don't intend to prowl the train all day," Draco cautioned. "Someone will pick up on that and they'll say you were deliberately looking for the Weaselette."
"I know," Hermione admitted with an annoyed sigh. "Let's head back, and if we don't see her we can try again later."
Luckily for Hermione, fate was on her side as halfway back down the train, she literally ran into Ginny. Ginny emerged from the bathrooms just as Hermione and Draco were passing, and thanks to the fact she wasn't paying attention she went straight into Hermione.
"Watch where you're going, Weaselette," Hermione snarled, inwardly cheering at the fact she'd found Ginny so easily.
"You watch where you're going, bitch," Ginny snapped back.
"Tough words from such a little rodent," Hermione taunted. "I have to admit, I'm surprised to see you."
"Thought I would stay away, did you?" Ginny gloated.
"I would have if I was in your shoes," Hermione replied with a casual shrug. "You're going to be public enemy number one, Ginny. Do you honestly think anyone will want to know you after what your brothers did?"
"Bill and Charlie were trying to do the world a favour, and one day everyone will see that," Ginny snarled, glaring hatefully at Hermione. "Make the most of the peace, because it won't last. People will see through you and your family soon enough, and when they do, I'll be right there to watch your downfall."
"I'm sure that's what Ron thought, and look at him now," Hermione said in a low voice as she leant closer to Ginny so only she could hear what she was saying. "Maybe you ought to remember what happens to troublesome Weasels – they get put down. Can you swim, Ginny?"
"You bitch," Ginny screamed, grabbing Hermione by the hair and yanking her onto the floor.
Despite trying to goad Ginny, Hermione was genuinely surprised by her attack, and the force of it. Before she knew where she was, she was on the floor, with Ginny on top of her, clawing and hitting her. Hermione waited until she felt her lip split and blood trickle into her mouth before she made it look as though she was trying to fight back, although she was careful not to land any blows to Ginny. After all, she didn't want the redhead to get any sympathy if she too was hurt in the altercation. As she fought back, Hermione caught Draco's eye and silently pleaded for him to help her. Luckily her fiancé had merely been waiting for her signal, and he quickly waded in and plucked a struggling Ginny off Hermione.
"Enough," He barked roughly at Ginny as he all but threw her against the wall of the train and restrained her. He'd wanted to step in the moment she'd touched Hermione, but he'd done as Hermione wanted and waited before jumping in.
"Let me go," Ginny cried, thrashing against the tight hold Draco had of her.
"Not yet," Draco replied calmly as he glanced over to Hermione, who was on her feet but had done nothing to wipe away the blood that was dripping from her lip. He knew Hermione had deliberately left the blood running down her face as to put on a show for the dozens of students who were now peering out of their compartments to see what the fuss was. "Are you okay, Hermione?"
"I'll be fine," Hermione answered, making a dramatic show of gingerly wiping the blood of her face.
"You go back to the others, I'll deal with the Weaselette," Draco ordered.
Hermione nodded and giving Draco a smile, she squeezed past her fiancé and headed back towards their friends. Draco waited until Hermione had passed, before turning back to Ginny and giving her his most deadly glare.
"This is a friendly warning, Weaselette," Draco hissed in a low menacing voice, keeping it just loud enough for the few gawkers nearby to hear him. "You touch my fiancée again, and you'll regret it. Stay away from Hermione."
Draco gave Ginny one final rough shake, before he let go of her. Turning on his heel, he stalked after Hermione, and caught up with her before they reached the compartment where their friends were sitting.
"Well, how did it go?" He asked, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend.
"Perfect," Hermione replied, giving her fiancé a quick grin before they headed into the compartment to spend the rest of the journey relaxing with their friends.
C.O.T.D.
Ginny was annoyed beyond belief that she hadn't even made it back to Hogwarts before having a run-in with Hermione. Given what had happened to Bill and Charlie her parents had been reluctant to let her go back to school, but Ginny had refused to stay away. Ironically at the beginning of the year she would have willingly skipped school, but now she was the only one left to fight and she wanted to keep a close eye on Hermione and Harry as she tried to come up with a fresh plan of action that wouldn't fail. With everything that had happened, Ginny knew she had to move carefully and she couldn't go in all guns blazing, but she hadn't expected Hermione to be so openly hostile towards her. In the end she just couldn't stop herself from reacting, and Ginny now knew she had to be careful. She'd come out on top of the fight, but she knew Hermione, and she knew the older witch wouldn't take what happened lying down. She would try for revenge, but Ginny was planning on being fully alert and not giving Hermione the opportunity to get her back.
As if the run-in itself hadn't been annoying enough on its own, the rumours that were travelling around by the time they reached Hogwarts merely added to Ginny's frustrations. She was definitely coming out of things as the villain, as Hermione had been so sneaky that it looked as though Ginny had attacked her for no reason. No-one had been close enough to hear what Hermione had said to provoke the attack, and then there was the fact Hermione had been seen with blood on her face following the scuffle, whereas Ginny had come away without even a scratch. In hindsight, Ginny could see it was all deliberate on Hermione's part, and she'd ensured that she didn't strike back so that she would look like the victim. Sadly, her plan was working and by the end of the feast, Ginny felt even more ostracised than she had been before Christmas.
Although it really didn't help that Harry was making his triumphant return, reminding people that it had been her brothers that had kidnapped him. If people weren't turning against her for attacking Hermione, they were against her for what Bill and Charlie had done. Ginny was quickly realising that she was all alone in Hogwarts. She had no real support, and it was going to be a tough job convincing anyone that Hermione, Harry and their family were bad news. Still, she wasn't going to be deterred, and she had her focus set on the long term. Ginny doubted she could do much for the rest of the year, but she knew the following year Hermione and Harry would be gone, and she would hopefully have a better time convincing people they were truly evil if they weren't around, playing all nice and innocent.
Instead of heading straight up to Gryffindor Tower after dinner, Ginny decided to go for a walk to clear her head. She knew the months ahead would be tough, and she would only survive them by learning to control her temper. But she was hoping if she could get to the end of the year unscathed, she could return next year and really take advantage of Hermione and Harry finishing school.
Ginny strolled around The Black Lake and circled the castle, before returning to the school. Just as she was entering the front doors, Pansy Parkinson was emerging from the stairs that led to the dungeons. Ginny had never had much contact with Pansy, but since she was a Slytherin and a friend of Malfoy's, she pointedly ignored her and made her way over to the stairs.
"Weasley," Pansy called, just as Ginny was about to step on the first step.
"What do you want, Parkinson?" Ginny asked warily, turning around to face the raven haired witch.
"To congratulate you," Pansy replied with a smirk. "I heard you landed a good blow on that cow Granger today."
"You're pleased I hit Hermione?" Ginny questioned sceptically. "I thought all you Slytherins adored her."
"I can't stand the pretentious bitch," Pansy sneered. "Everyone thinks we should bow at her feet, just because she happens to be The Dark Lord's daughter. Personally, I don't care who she is. She's annoying, and quite frankly deserved everything you threw at her on the train."
"Yeah right," Ginny snorted. "I'm not falling for it, Parkinson. I don't know what you're playing at, but I don't believe you want to congratulate me."
"Believe what you want," Pansy replied with a shrug. "Anyone with eyes knows I can't stand Granger, and the feeling is entirely mutual. I just wish I was in a position to bring her down to size like you did today."
"You want to hit Hermione?" Ginny questioned, trying to cast her mind back and see if she could remember Hermione and Pansy being friendly over the last couple of years. However, she couldn't really remember either way so she made a mental note to watch them over the next few weeks and see how they interacted.
"More than you will ever know," Pansy answered.
"Why don't you?" Ginny asked.
"As I said, she's the daughter of The Dark Lord," Pansy replied with another shrug. "I'm not in any position to hit her. However, I can rejoice when someone else does it. You made my day, Weasley, so thank you."
Pansy gave Ginny a final smirk before she carried on past her and down the corridor that led towards the kitchens. Ginny watched her go, wondering if she could use Pansy and her hatred for Hermione in any way. Her thoughts full of revenge and Pansy, Ginny headed on up to Gryffindor Tower. As she disappeared up the stairs, Pansy once again appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a wicked smirk on her face.
"Perfect," she purred, before she also began climbing the stairs and making her way back to her own rooms, which weren't in the dungeons after all.