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When Hermione woke, her whole body felt like she'd been stomped on by a troll, but at least she wasn't in serious pain. The nausea had left her and she groaned as she rolled over and squeaked as she fell to the floor with a crash.

"Ow."

She sat up and blinked as she tried to figure out where she was.

"Hermione! Are you alright?" Minerva asked as she came through the door to her office.

"What are -" Hermione blinked and looked around. "Am I still in your rooms?"

"Hermione?" Minerva asked, taking her shoulders. "Are you hurt?"

"Me? No," Hermione blinked. "Wait. Just -"

Hermione closed her eyes again and took a few deep breaths before she offered her hand to Minerva. She was pulled gently from the floor and Minerva helped her sit back against the cushions where a glass of water was pressed into her hand. She gulped it down, not even caring that some of it trickled down her chin until she'd drained the whole glass. She took one more deep breath and opened her eyes to find Minerva staring right into hers.

"Talk to me, are you alright?"

"Me? Yes," Hermione nodded. "I hate naps."

"Hermione," Minerva snapped. "You've been asleep for two days."

"WHAT?"

"What do you recall?"

Hermione searched her memories and found snippets of things she could barely understand until it came to her.

"Oh," she blinked. "Katie!"

"Yes," Minerva sighed. "You touched her."

"Barely." Hermione waved it off. "What happened?"

"You could have died!" Minerva shouted.

The crackling fire was the only sound as Hermione looked up at her friend and mentor. Minerva looked more dishevelled than usual, her hair was loose and her robes looked like she'd not changed them in a day or so.

"Wait, are you alright?"

"ME?" Minerva almost yelled again, standing suddenly. "Of course I am alright, I was off gallivanting around the countryside while you made rash decisions that could have cost you your life!"

Hermione tried not to roll her eyes.

"Min," she said gently. "I knew I'd be fine."

"Do not lie to me," Minerva hissed. "You had no way of knowing what was happening to that poor girl and don't you dare try to tell me otherwise."

"Is she okay though?" Hermione interrupted. "She's not -"

"She's -" Minerva rubbed her forehead. "Not in a good way, though not -" she winced. "She lives."

Hermione sat back and really looked at Minerva. Those fingers were back rubbing at her hairline and Hermione sighed and stood up on sore legs.

"Min?" she whispered as she stepped closer. "I'm fine. It was stupid," she admitted. "But I could not sit there and watch her die alone. Even if she couldn't feel me beside her, I needed to do that. Selfishly, as much as selflessly. Does that make sense?"

Minerva sighed and dropped her hands to the back of the chair and squeezed the fabric under her fingers.

"Hermione," she warned. "I just -"

"I know. It was dumb. But I really am okay."

Minerva looked up at her and shook her head before she reached out and dragged Hermione into her arms.

"I was so worried," she groaned into Hermione's hair. "I was -"

"I know," Hermione nodded, hugging her back. "I'm sorry."

They stood for a long time before Minerva pulled away and took a deep breath.

"I'm in the middle of the Seventh Years. Stay, just -" she frowned. "Stay."

"I'll be here," Hermione promised. "Might get someone to bring me some food."

"Alright. You sure you're -"

"I'm fine."

"I'm bringing Poppy back with me."

"Whatever you need, Min," Hermione chuckled. "But I really am okay. I promise"

Minerva nodded and bit her lip while they stared at each other before Minerva cupped Hermione's cheek then went back into her office and beyond, into her classroom.

Hermione looked up at Micheal's portrait and saw him watching on with a very guarded look and she turned to face him.

"How bad was it?"

"She was beside herself," he chuckled. "I was made to go and tell her the minute you woke. Poppy Pomfrey was in a few times and Dumbledore of course."

"Wait," Hermione blinked. "How are you telling me this?"

Michael blinked and looked down at her in confusion.

"I," he frowned. "Do not know."

They stared at each other for a moment longer before Hermione nodded.

"I won't tell if you don't."

"I'm not planning on getting sliced off my frame, not even for you."

"Fine," she nodded. "Then we won't speak of it again."

"Deal."

"You are going to keep telling me things if I ask though, right?"

He grinned at her and she chuckled and went over to the table. There were Second Year essays strewn about with very little order and Hermione realised just how discombobulated Minerva had been while she had been unconscious. She called out to Dobby who popped into the room with much fanfare.

"MISTRESS!"

"Dobby," she chastised gently. "It is Hermione and you know it."

He pulled on his ears but she stopped him and smiled as he stared at her hands.

"I'm alright. I am, however, quite hungry. Would you be able to find me something to eat?"

"Cronishes Pasties?"

"Sure," she chuckled. "That sounds great."

"Dobby send them to you immediately. Miss -" he paused. He opened his mouth several times but it wasn't going to work for him so she chuckled.

"It's alright, Dobby," she said kindly. "I know."

He sighed thankfully and disappeared. Before too long three fat Cornish pasties were steaming happily on a plate on the table and she groaned at the smell wafting her way. She ate ravenously and was halfway through a third when she realised she could be helping Minerva sort these essays. She cleaned one hand so she could eat and work and set about sorting them properly. Some of the terrible ones were truly abysmal but the mediocre ones were alright, so she marked what she could and put them in a separate pile. If she was the reason Minerva was behind, she'd prefer to also be the reason she was caught up. The pasties were long gone by the time the fire flared and Albus Dumbledore swept into the room.

"I just saw Min almost running up to the Hospital Wing and thought the worst," he sighed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Hermione chuckled. "Much recovered. I did tell her so, as well."

"She worries," Albus said gently. "Ever so much, sometimes."

"I know," Hermione chuckled. "I can only do my part in telling her I'm fine though. What I did was stupid, I can't deny it."

"It was," he lectured gently. "Though I may yet ask you to document your experience."

"I'd be happy to," she chuckled.

"Quite," he snorted. "What are you doing?"

"Marking her Second Year essays," she shrugged. "I've done it before with her first years. I tend to keep the middle-of-the-road ones and let her do the great ones and the terrible ones. I have a feeling that it's my fault she's behind."

"Well then," Albus nodded. "Let me join you."

They worked quietly for another fifteen minutes or so before the fire flared again and Minerva spun out of the grate with Madam Pomfrey right behind her. As she caught sight of them she stopped and Madam Pomfrey crashed into her.

"Minerva," she huffed. "Watch what you are doing."

"Sorry," she mumbled as she stared. "What are you -"

"I did say that I was fine," Hermione smiled. "And I noticed that you were a bit behind in your marking and as it is clearly my fault, I decided to help you catch up. And then Professor Dumbledore came in because he said you were," she glanced at him but he refused to look up. "Practically running up to the Hospital Wing, despite me telling you I was okay, and he thought the worst."

"I hadn't seen this interaction before," Madam Pomfrey mused. "I see now."

"See what?" Minerva protested, turning back to look at her.

"She's good for you," Madam Pomfrey laughed. "Good trouble."

Minerva rolled her eyes and glared at her friend.

"I do call her Trouble."

"Well, then I can see why you are such good friends," Madam Pomfrey laughed. "Come here then, Miss Granger, let me look at you."

Hermione stood and offered her seat to Minerva before following Madam Pomfrey over to the sofas.

"I'm only going to do a cursory inspection," Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Just to ease Minerva's nerves."

"My -"

"Yes Tabby," Dumbledore chuckled. "Now come here and finish these."

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Hermione a few different times, reading runes and such when they popped up. She saw Hermione's interest as she read the spells and explained a few before she winked and put her wand away.

"You are in perfect health if a little run down."

"I feel it," Hermione smiled. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome, dear. Now," she stood and they walked back over to the table. "Minerva. there is nothing to worry about. Nothing a good meal and some normality won't fix."

"I've already asked Min, but Katie is okay, right?"

"She is gravely ill," Madam Pomfrey said gently. "But that is all I will say. I cannot, at this time, even discuss her prognosis."

"She's really not okay then," Hermione sat down with a groan and looked at the Headmaster. "Do we -"

"And that," Madam Pomfrey smiled as she interrupted. "Is my cue to leave. I shall be ensconced in my ivory tower, where I will only be involved when one of you gets hurt." She looked at the three of them in turn. "Inevitably."

Hermione chuckled as Madam Pomfrey put her things back in her small medical bag and winked at Hermione.

"Do try to stay out of trouble," she glanced at Minerva and then at Dumbledore. "All of you."

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey," Hermione grinned.

She laughed as the medi-witch left and then dropped into a seat and pulled a pile of parchments towards her.

"Just what do you think you are doing?"

"Helping," Hermione shrugged. "You heard her, I'm fine. Stop worrying. The sooner we finish these, the sooner Professor Dumbledore tells us what is causing that shadow over his eyes."

He looked up sharply and she grinned at him.

"That necklace came from somewhere and it wasn't Katie trying to curse someone, was it? I know her well enough to know she wouldn't do that. So," she shrugged. "Someone Imperiused her and we need to know who and we need to know why."

"Hermione -"

Minerva's low growl came as a warning but Hermione simply acknowledged it and kept looking at Dumbledore. She wished for all she was worth that he would stop feeding them piecemeal information and just tell them but she had a long way to go before she could have demanded that of him.

"I -"

She blinked as he looked sideways at Minerva and then back at her.

"Bring Harry. Tonight. We will discuss it."

"WHAT!"

Hermione laughed at Minerva and reached across the table to take her hand.

"Please calm down, I am perfectly fine." She looked up at the Headmaster. "I'm going to bring Ron and Ginny as well. They know everything we do and they're good for it. Ron is an amazing strategist. He could probably beat Min at chess."

"I do not like that, Hermione."

"I know," she acknowledged. "But we need all the eyes on it we can. We have information about the school that you don't. Between us, we have a pretty good handle on everything that's going on."

"And yet one of my students was handed a cursed object that proceeded to nearly kill her and you at the same time!"

"And we need to get to the bottom of it," Hermione said gently. "And I don't, for a single second, believe that Professor Dumbledore can do this on his own. As mighty as he is," she looked up at him so he could see that she truly believed it. "This is too much for any one person."

"She is right," he sighed as he threw his glasses on the table. "I no longer know what is moving and what is not. This was a serious misstep by someone and I cannot fathom what is happening any more than you can. Alright, you may bring them." He turned to take Minerva's hand and squeezed it gently. "We need to look at this Tabby. We need to figure it out."

She rolled her eyes and got up to stand by the window with her arms crossed. Hermione glanced at him and he nodded for her to go to her, so she did.

"Hey," she whispered as she nudged her gently with her shoulder. "We're okay, you know."

"Someone is in our house, cursing our people," she muttered. "So no, we are not okay."

"We will find out who it is and stop them. It will be alright."

"And you? Disregarding all sense and putting your life in danger?"

"Min -"

"No, Hermione. I'm serious. We have a mission to conclude, we have responsibilities. You cannot just take your life into your hands quite so cavalierly. You must make better decisions. Even if it was me, laying there, you are never to do that again, do I make myself clear."

"You do," Hermione smiled. "Though if it was you, there would be nothing you could tell me now that would have stopped me from doing the same," she said softly. "I won't stand to see you in pain. Not ever." Minerva scoffed. "Look, I wasn't cursed, so that is a good thing. I'm feeling fine now and I have learned more than any book could teach me about a curse like that. And I definitely won't be doing it again."

Dumbledore came up to stand beside them as they looked out over the grounds.

"Join me tonight and we will try to piece this together," Dumbledore muttered. Hermione nodded but Minerva kept staring and Dumbledore winked at her before continuing. "In the meantime, Hermione, your friends are waiting for you in the Common Room."

Hermione nodded and squeezed Minerva's forearm, using it to help her reach up on her toes as she kissed Minerva's cheek.

"I'm okay."

"I do know," Minerva groaned as she broke her gaze and turned to look at her. "I do." She took Hermione's face in her hands. "But please stop being so spontaneously brave. I'm not kidding when I say you could have died."

"But we're okay," Hermione grinned. "I'm okay. We just have to figure out this thing and get on with it."

Minerva nodded and Hermione left them to it and made her way back to the Dormitory. The others were waiting and filled her in on the few things she had missed. Dinner was quick and painless and before she knew it they were standing at the Gargoyle requesting entry.

"We may need to figure out a different method for you all in coming here," the Headmaster chuckled as they all marched into his living room. "But sit. Hot chocolates?"

The boys high-fived each other as Dumbledore went to get them, leaving Ron and Ginny to look around wide-eyed. Hermione snorted and curled up in the corner of his sofa and waited for them to settle. The hot chocolates appeared and Dumbledore passed her a cup of tea instead.

"Minerva will be along later, she had to swap a duty."

She smiled in thanks and they sat quietly for a little while before Dumbledore put his mug down and looked at them all carefully.

"I would like to propose a promise, of sorts, that what we speak of here will not," he paused. "Or rather, will be impossible to discuss outside of this room."

"No," Hermione shook her head. "That's not going to be feasible."

The others stared at her wide-eyed as she stared at their Headmaster.

"Hermione, what we are speaking of is -"

"I know that," she said gently. "More than most, but we need time to discuss it, Headmaster. Knowing now what you do about how much I know, you can surely see that we understand the gravity of this." He considered her and nodded with a huff. "We have sworn our own oaths to each other," she said quietly. "And you know I have already sworn an oath to you - that works. I will speak for them, on their behalf. They know what's at stake here and we know what will happen if any of us breaks that."

He looked at them and nodded.

"We would not be able to prevent it from being spilt under Veritaserum anyway without proper power," he waved lazily. "Fine. We will proceed with trust between us."

"I like that idea better," Hermione smiled. "We have already discussed Katie a little bit and the fact that based on what her friend from Hufflepuff said and her behaviour when we saw her in Hogsmeade, we believe she was Imperiused." He nodded. "We also, without doubt, know she would not wish to curse anyone so," Hermione shrugged. "It's the only logical explanation."

"Did any of you see her in The Three Broomsticks?"

"Not until we were leaving," Harry said hesitantly. "Hermione did, anyway. Remember?" Hermione shrugged; she was tired. "She pushed past us as we were leaving. Which was weird in itself, she's usually really kind."

"Did anyone notice anything odd about her before that? During the morning perhaps?"

"She was fine at training the night before," Ginny shrugged. "We played a half-game and she was her usual self."

"I, um -"

Ron's face turned the colour of his hair as they all looked at him.

"She was on the stairs when I was on my way down. I only remember cos she stopped in the middle of them and made me miss the changeover. She was complaining about a hole in her new gloves. But, yeah. Totally normal."

"That fits," Dumbledore nodded. "I cannot reveal her private medical information, but it seems as though while it was a terrible incident, it could have been a lot worse. And I, too, had reports that she seemed fine before they went into the Three Broomsticks and was not the same when she left. Her friend also confirmed that they were arguing in the girl's bathroom and she tried to grab the package that Miss Bell was carrying and that Miss Bell would not let her and snatched it before she could touch it. It was only because Miss Bell had those gloves on that she wasn't killed."

The room was silent as they all digested that information before Hermione sat forward and rubbed her forehead.

"So," she whispered. "That means she was Imperiused between Hogwarts and The Three Broomsticks."

"Maybe even inside," Harry shrugged. "That could be anyone. I mean it was cold, so it was packed. It took us ages to find a table."

"And who was it meant for and why, and who cursed her?"

"I do not know," Dumbledore muttered. "But more importantly, who is going around Imperiusing people under our very noses."

"A lot goes on in this Castle, Headmaster, I shouldn't wonder that we've missed something," Minerva chuckled as she entered. "Young ones, how are you?"

"You found someone snogging in the corridor didn't you?" Ginny quipped.

Minerva pretended to shiver and the other three laughed, breaking the tension. They all settled down and waited for Dumbledore to order his thoughts. They discussed possible motives and organised to keep an eye on people doing strange things over the next week or so, though Dumbledore warned that there would be Order business soon and after that, there wasn't much else to do. Strangely, Minerva then asked the others about Quidditch and Hermione tuned it all out. She was exhausted and it wasn't until someone shook her gently that she even realised she'd dropped off.

"Time for bed, Trouble," Minerva whispered gently. "Ginny is going to escort you back."

"Fine," Hermione muttered. She wrapped her arms around Minerva's shoulders and whispered good night in her ear and let Ginny pull her along to the Common Room and up the stairs to bed. She was out before she could even thank her.