A/N: I'm writing this on Thursday, which is a full 2 days before I'm going to post this, but I genuinely want you all to know how much I adore you all. Thank you for reading this little (ha!) thing and thank you for loving it as much as I do. I'm really loving how we're rolling with this and it's nice to get back into the swing of things. At some point, I may even get around to replying to all your lovely comments, but please do know that I read and adore every single one of them.

-0-

Hermione woke up to something tapping on her forehead and even in her half-asleep state she cracked an eye open instead of swatting whatever it was out of her way. It was a good job, as well, because staring back at her was a beautiful Horned owl carrying a parcel.

"Oh," Hermione blinked. "Hello?" The owl stuck out its claw and she realised what she was looking at. "Oh!" Hermione smiled. "Thank you."

It allowed her to untie the package from its leg and it hopped down to her knee and hooted softly, bowing its head almost before setting back out of the window that was left open for that sort of thing. She thought it bizarre - the owls of Hogwarts had never been particularly friendly to her but she waved away the intrigue in favour of looking at the package.

"Wow," Hermione whispered as she unpacked it.

There were 5 sheaths for their knives and 4 wand holsters. She ran her thumb over one or two of them and could almost feel the magic in her arm. She pulled out her wand and looked over the wand holsters and gasped when she saw what was written on the back of them.

Each was labelled with their names and something that Minerva had written for them. She blinked away tears as she read the words inscribed on the leather.

Hermione
The greatest magic is that of your heart.
M

Harry had a few words, as did Ginny and even Ron. Hermione's heart broke as she read them all and curled back around her pillow as she sobbed. The whole thing was so confusing that she simply closed her eyes and wished she could go back to the way it was.

She slept for an unknown number of hours and managed to make it down the stairs to the common room just as everyone was going to lunch.

"Hey," she mumbled. "Thanks for letting me sleep."

"Even Snape wasn't particularly interested in where you were," Harry snorted. "So it's okay."

"Our holsters came in," Hermione muttered. "Early this morning." She smiled tightly as she passed them out. "I guess I can tell you now. Minerva insisted on getting them for us. She added a few charms and protections to them I think I remember her saying, but there's also an inscription on the back of them too."

She passed them out to the right people and watched as they read them.

"Wow," Ginny muttered. "That's -"

"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "These are our knife sheaths too. Dumbledore said he'd have them back to us at the end of the week."

"That's cool," Ginny smiled. Hermione could tell she was trying to bolster her mood but she wasn't feeling it. "Come on then," she said, strapping the holster to her wrist and sliding the knife sheath into her boot. "Let's go down to lunch."

"I'm not hungry," Hermione muttered. "I'm going to just stay here and catch up on my work."

"Hermione," Harry started.

"No, I'm not going," she said again. "You go, though. I'll get something if I get hungry later. It's alright."

"But -"

She didn't stay to hear it. Instead, she turned and walked back up to her bed and closed the curtains behind her.

She did not do any work at all and instead, sat cross-legged on the bed staring at her hands. It was such a bizarre thing to know they were the same hands as before and yet they weren't. They might never hug Minerva again, they might never perform the same spells again either. She remembered Minerva speaking about how powerful magical users needed to hide their power from the rest of the world. She considered that now as she conjured her Bluebell flames wordlessly. And wandlessly

She'd never done that before, but her mind went back to those moments performing magic with Minerva; their hands entwined while they summoned a book and she frowned.

It was like the explanation was right at the edge of her understanding. She could see it but she could not put into words what it meant. Minerva knew and it bothered her so much that they would not tell her. It was a gross injustice that neither one of them would and she crushed the flame in her hands as she growled.

It was so unfair.

She flopped back on the bed as Crookshanks jumped up beside her and sat on her chest purring.

"Hey you," she muttered as she scratched his ears. "You alright?"

He yowled balefully but then he stretched and butted her under her chin with his head before settling down on top of her and she sighed.

"Yeah," she muttered. "That's probably a good idea."

She let him stay and closed her eyes. She was hungry, really, but she couldn't be bothered. Instead, she went back to sleep in the hope that time would simply pass her by indefinitely.

-0-

"Alright," Harry mumbled as they sat down to lunch. "What do we do?"

"I dunno," Ron mumbled as he pulled the plate of ham sandwiches closer. It was soup today and Harry perused the selections while Ginny chewed on her thumbnail.

"Reckon we could just go up to McGonagall and deal with it?"

Ron snorted and shoved her gently with his shoulder.

"Sure, you first."

Ginny sighed and took a bite.

"This sucks."

"Yep," Harry muttered. "You reckon she'll be in class?"

"Hermione?"

"No," he muttered as Colin waved hello.

"I dunno, if she's feeling like Hermione, that's a probable no but we're talking about McG here." She groaned as she glanced up at the Head table. The teachers didn't always take lunch in the Hall and today was no different. Only Snape and Professor Sinistra were eating at the top table and it annoyed Harry that nobody else was around.

"Why are they like this," he grumbled.

"Cos there's a lot going on," Ginny soothed. She squeezed his hand and he looked at her for a moment before nodding and squeezing her hand back. He didn't linger though, he wasn't sure he was a huge fan of the squelching feeling in his stomach.

"I have to go to Herbology," she muttered. "I'll see you guys later?"

"We have Transfiguration," Ron groaned. "Ten galleons we have to do an extra 4 feet just cos they can't work out their problems."

Harry wasn't particularly looking forward to it either and he couldn't argue with Ron's argument either. While Hermione had been nursing her wounds, Professor McGonagall had been on a tear since that day and Transfiguration - already one of the hardest subjects they did - was now almost impossible. And, as Hannah Abbott had found out the other day, any mention of Hermione had caused them to lose out on ten minutes of their afternoon after McGonagall had kept them back as punishment. Dumbledore had interrupted their awkward silence and they'd all raced from the classroom when he inquired as to why everyone was still just sitting there.

Now though, they would have to face the music, once again without Hermione in tow.

He finished his lunch and they waved goodbye to Ginny before they wandered up to Professor McGonagall's classroom.

"Hey," Neville asked quietly. "Is Hermione alright?"

"Yup," Harry said shortly. "I'd stay out of her way though and I'd probably not speak of it again."

"Got it," he nodded and left them to it.

The harsh clip of Professor McGonagall's boots echoed down the corridor and everyone went quiet in the corridor. Harry and Ron glanced at each other and slinked backwards between everyone as they filed into the classroom. Usually, Hermione would sit at the front of the classroom and drag them along with her but today they sat at the back. They glared at a few people who had the same idea and they all sat just in front. The air was so heavy with tension that they just sat there watching as Professor McGonagall settled her things and flicked her wand at the board where the chalk started writing by itself.

Harry mused quietly that the first time that had happened, he'd been astounded and it had taken a long time for him to get used to the idea.

Now, it was old hat.

"Read pages 200 to 234 and take notes." McGonagall's voice crackled in the air. "Silently," she added as someone put up their hand.

Harry stared at her while everyone else put their heads behind their books and out of the way. He was notoriously terrible at reading people. Emotions were like a foreign language to him, but he was learning slowly. Between Hermione and Ginny, it was impossible not to pick up things here and there and as he looked at Professor McGonagall now, he could see how awful she looked. He could see the same pull on her eyes that Hermione had and he despaired at how ridiculous it all was.

He was so frustrated with everything, that he sat back and folded his arms. The movement caught the Professor's eyes and they stared at each other.

Professor McGonagall's mouth opened for a moment like she was going to speak, but Harry stared at her defiantly. He usually kept his disdain for Snape but the whole situation was so ridiculous, he couldn't help it. She closed her mouth and looked away and Harry scoffed.

It was all just so stupid.

-0-

Hermione's day had not gone much better. She'd slept fitfully through the afternoon and had woken with a headache that pinched the backs of her eyes. Crookshanks had wandered off to parts unknown and she was restless.

She changed and wandered down through the castle. She wasn't in uniform and she didn't care to be. She was cruising for a fight and she knew it so she made her way down to the Second-Floor bathroom and down into the Chamber.

She was so out of it it didn't occur to her where she was going until she was standing in front of the cave-in looking at it carefully. A small flutter of a memory danced just out of reach until she could concentrate hard enough on it.

If you need help, the castle will answer.

It had niggled at her, even while she'd been upset and now as she stood there in front of the rubble and collapsed ceiling she decided that if she was testing all the new aspects of her new-found powers, she might as well do this.

She cleared what was remaining at her feet and sat cross-legged in front of the blockage. It occurred to her that she wasn't sure how she was supposed to ask a castle for help but at the risk of feeling very stupid, she simply took a deep breath and looked at what was left of the ceiling above her.

"I need to clear this," she said quietly. "And I can do that. But I want to make sure that the rest of it doesn't come down on top of me. I need to make sure that the tunnel is sound."

Nothing happened and she rolled her eyes at herself.

"I just," she groaned and got to her knees. "I just want a bit of HELP!"

The noise that burst forth from her throat was a little shocking and it echoed up and down the small tunnel she was in as she slammed her hand on the stonework in front of her. As soon as her palm hit the black stones she felt, rather than heard, a thunderclap and she scrambled away from the cave-in as it started rumbling.

It went on and on, echoing up and down on top of each other until she clasped her hands over her ears to try and block out the sound. It helped a little and she curled up in a ball at the bottom of the steps until it finally ebbed away. She blinked and coughed at the dust in the air but then she blinked and scrambled to her feet.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

The tunnel was clear. The tunnel was not only clear, but the walls around it were also, once again, fully formed as if they were laid yesterday. The rubble that had blocked the tunnel was now strewn about her feet, which explained the dust in the air, but the stonework was pristine.

"Thank you," she whispered. In a fit of puckishness, she patted the stones next to her and felt a similar warmth up to her elbow that she'd felt with Minerva and then, the memories were back.

Instead of dwelling on them, she lit her wand and stepped forth into the tunnel beyond where they'd been stuck and into the darkness.

-0-

They'd felt the rumble in their feet as they'd sat waiting for the end of Transfiguration. Nobody else seemed to have felt it but Harry, who had done very little work and Ron - who never did much, to begin with - had sat watching McGonagall for most of the lesson while she fumed at her desk. As their feet felt the disturbance, Professor McGonagall had looked up and then around and Harry had somehow suddenly put the pieces together. He blinked and went to tell Ron but something held him back.

He was sure it would make as much sense to Ron as it did to him, but he didn't want to be the one to say it out loud. He glanced at Ron, who looked at him sideways as well and they went to move.

It was folly. Professor McGonagall's eyes shot to them and she glared until they retook their seats. Harry stared at her but she remained unmoved. She'd felt it, he knew she had but she would not be allowing them to leave, especially not part way through the lesson.

He just really, really, hoped Hermione was okay.