A/N: Omg thank the gods for Ravenclaw_Metamorphmagus who immediately made me realise I'd blasted a hole in my own plot. That's fixed now, but then it's also come to my attention, separately, that my timeline is off just a little, in parts and that's mostly because my memory is like a sieve. It catches the big bits and lets the little bits slip away so we're just going to make it work as best we can, alright? I'm glad you agree lol Thank you all. I adore you.

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Hermione stared at Minerva in shock as she, herself, tried to light the fire again and again.

"Easy," Minerva said, covering her hand and preventing it a third time. "Easy, darling."

"But -"

"It," Minerva groaned and let go. She sat perched on a rock and rubbed her head. "This is what I began to mention before we left; there are a few of these caves in the Highlands. It is said that they used t' belong t' witches before the time of the burnings. When things got particularly bad, they turned on each other for profit. To protect them from themselves, they cast their spells over their homes. They turned them into dead zones, as it were." Hermione made a face, not really understanding what Minerva was saying. "I believe we are standing in an old coven."

"Whoa," Hermione blinked as she put her wand away. "That's fascinating. I wonder if I can -" She flicked her fingers and a little shot of fire flew from them and lit the kindling with ease.

"Show off," Minerva mumbled.

Hermione calmed down, knowing she at least had some way of defending her love if she needed it and peeked at her bag and hoped that it was not affected. She saw the depth and sighed, and then groaned as she realised she could not summon their sandwiches.

"Bother," she groaned. "Right."

She leaned in and could barely understand how bizarre it was to continue reaching to the bottom of a bag that on the outside was barely six inches tall.

"Can I help?" Minerva asked, looking equally uncomfortable.

"No, I think I -" Her fingers just scraped the wax paper they were sealed in. "I -" She growled and they jumped into her hand. "Got them." She pulled them out and held them out. "Here," she said. "I got too many but I'm hungry so perhaps it will be just right."

Minerva smiled and took her hand.

"It will not be for long. It is not unusual for such a storm to pass quickly overhead."

"In Scotland?" Hermione blinked.

Minerva laughed as she pulled Hermione down beside her and they sat quietly while they ate.

"Did you bring your knife?" Hermione asked as they cleaned up.

"I did," Minerva nodded.

"Ok, I just don't want you to be completely helpless if something happens."

"You think I would be?" Minerva's careful tone made Hermione pause and take a deep breath.

"I need you to listen to me really carefully, okay?" Hermione pleaded as she took Minerva's hands in hers. "Like hear every word. Can you do that?"

Minerva nodded.

"I need you to know that in this instance, the animal part of me needs -" she paused and met Minerva's eye. "Needs to make sure you're protected. And again, a part of me has always wanted that, so it does not surprise me in the slightest but it's important you understand that I, Hermione, do not think that you cannot defend yourself or cannot prevent something from happening, what you need to understand is that I want," she shook her head. "I need to protect you. Even though in 99.9% of those moments, you don't need me to do so, I must." She squeezed Minerva's hands. "Do you understand what I mean?"

Minerva took a deep breath and thought about it for a moment.

"I believe I do, even if I don't particularly enjoy it completely."

"Min, I think you're the greatest witch alive. You're smart, funny, powerful, successful and resourceful. You know how to fight better than anyone I know but you outthink people on a regular basis. I trust you in every situation, but this thing is part of what, of who I am now. This demands that I protect you and I am happy to, Min. If it means giving my life for you. I will."

"You are never to do that," she said, impassioned.

"I'm telling you if it comes to it," Hermione said softly but resolutely. "Nobody on earth would be able to stop me."

Minerva blinked away a tear and when Hermione felt her shiver, she pulled her into her arms and breathed out. They were bathed in warmth as Minerva pressed her damp face into Hermione's neck.

"It's going to be alright," she said softly. "Everything we do, we do together, alright?"

"Yes," Minerva blinked as she cleared her throat.

Remembering the last time Minerva got embarrassed about her tears, Hermione intercepted her hands and caught them with her thumb instead. She kissed Minerva softly and stepped away from her.

"Now," she said evenly. "Would you like to explore with me, while this infernal rain that, if you recall, you promised wouldn't last too long, continues?"

"I did no such thing," Minerva snorted as she took the subject change gratefully.

Hermione tangled their fingers together and pulled one of the bigger pieces of wood from the fire and carried it like a torch.

"It's not perfect but it will do," she shrugged. "Come on."

They walked down the gently sloping tunnel until the whole thing opened up into a cavern. They both inhaled sharply and Hermione immediately felt on edge. She growled and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"What is it?"

Hermione shrugged until she realised what it was.

"Dragon," she muttered. Her lip curled as she looked around.

"Here?" Minerva swallowed.

Hermione took a deep breath.

"No," she relaxed a little. "No, that is an old smell but it was here. At some point."

They walked through the cavern and into a small, empty-looking, antechamber near where they were standing.

"Oh," Minerva whispered. "So much magic in here, though."

There was too. The hair on her arms stood up and after looking around for a while they backed out.

"I think we should -"

"Yep," Hermione muttered. "Let's go."

Her hand was sure in Minerva's as they marched back up to the mouth of the cave and doused the fire.

"Ready?" Minerva asked as she pulled Hermione into her arms.

"Yeah," Hermione whispered.

Minerva turned but it was Hermione that kept them upright as they failed to go anywhere.

"What on -" She groaned. "Shit."

"Min!" Hermione laughed.

"I have no magic here! You cannot Apparate without magic. Stupid."

Hermione, still laughing, held Minerva's hands instead. She kissed the palms and held them to her face.

"It's alright," she smiled. "Let me try."

They turned, but nothing happened and Hermione just laughed a little more.

"Want to go for a run in the rain or stay here until it stops?"

"Honestly," Minerva muttered. "I would have expected it to have stopped by now alright. This might be a whole week's worth moving in."

"So a run in the rain then," Hermione smiled. "Unless you want to camp in a cave that once had a dragon in for a whole week without any supplies?"

Minerva made such a face that Hermione kissed her nose and made it crinkle in annoyance.

"Come on, we'll sprint a little ways and then we'll go home, yeah? To a nice, hot shower."

"Oh," Minerva grumbled. "Don't tempt me so."

"Back up to where we came from perhaps?"

"It's closer to the storm, but at least we know the path." Minerva mused. "Please be careful. There will be a lot of water and lightning and -"

As if on cue a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder made them jump.

"No," Hermione changed her mind. "No, not yet. That's right over the top of us."

"But -"

"No," Hermione insisted. "Lightning and thunder that close together means that we're right in the middle of it. Even if I wasn't desperate to protect you right now, I don't want to go out there while it's at its peak."

Minerva groaned and Hermione saw as she realised the truth of it.

"Bloody hell."

"I didn't have 'getting blown off a mountain top and struck by lightning on the way down' in my planner today, did you?"

"Hermione!" Minerva squealed as she laughed.

"Come on," she called as she went back down into the cave. She lit her little flames in her hand, seeing as they'd doused the fire. "We might as well."

Minerva was properly worked up by the time they got down into the cavern again and Hermione took the glare but also allowed Minerva's hand to slide into hers. They skipped going back to the room that was full of magic. They discussed it outside; stepping inside and trying to Apparate from there but without an understanding of what and how it was, they decided not to chance it. Instead, they walked across the great space to a small tunnel leading down further.

"I don't like this," Minerva mumbled. "This looks newer."

"I don't particularly either," Hermione winced as she noticed the piles of earth near the entrance. "Because now I'm here, and I'm concentrating," she winced as she heard something rumbling. "It smells a lot more like fresh dragon down here."

Even in the dark, with barely a little light from the blue flames in Hermione's palm to light the way, Hermione saw the fear in Minerva's eyes. She kissed the back of her hand and walked towards the scent.

"What are we doing? Hermione," Minerva whispered, tugging ineffectually on her hand. "We should go!"

"I know I just said that it's fresh here, but there's something else," she muttered. "It smells," she thought about it and shrugged, unable to find the words. "I don't know. Wrong. I don't even know what a dragon smells like but I know it is that and I know that something is wrong."

Minerva squeaked as her foot hit a rock and another noise disturbed their discussion.

"Stay behind me," Hermione muttered as they crept forward.

She lifted her arm up to let the light penetrate a little more and was suddenly very aware that they were standing in front of a giant Hebridean Black curled up in the small cave that was barely as big as it was.

She swallowed and felt the fear from Minerva behind her and just as she was about to motion they leave, two big eyes blinked open and focussed on the flame.

Hermione knew they were dead and she pulled Minerva's body closer to her in anticipation. She closed her eyes but after standing there in anticipation, nothing happened. The dragon did nothing. She opened her eyes and stared at it as it stared back at her. Minerva trembled where she was pressed against Hermione's back. The big black head moved sluggishly forward and sniffed her carefully. A long, slow breath of warmth covered her and it pressed its nose into her belly.

"Hi," she muttered. She placed her hand on the dragon's head, between its eyes forgetting about the light and stepped towards it as it moved to curl back up. The whole moment was so surreal that until Minerva made a noise behind her, Hermione hadn't even realised what she had done.

She'd left Minerva.

Alone.

She had dropped her hand and put out the light and was standing nose to nose with a dragon while Minerva was stuck, in the dark.

She was just about to step back when the dragon made a low rumbling noise, deep against the ground that travelled up into her feet and through her body. She felt it in every molecule of her soul and she collapsed forward against the big head. She caught herself against the nose as her forehead touched its skin, her mind was assaulted by memories.

She saw scene after scene of terrible humanity. Violence and horror, over and over. By the time she saw things that she could recognise in her own recent history, she could feel the tears rolling down her face. She felt Minerva's hands map her back and grip her shirt but she did not interrupt. Hermione cried out as she saw the horrors from within her lifetime. Land being cleared and water being poisoned and she sobbed, wrapping her arms around its nose as she realised that this dragon was dying. Even as horrified as she was, she did not want that to be the final thought of humanity. She reached for Minerva and found her thigh. Her hand was met and she entwined their fingers and placed it beside her head.

She showed the dragon every moment of wonder she had had as a child. Every moment of wonder she had had since being introduced to magic. More than anything, she showed it, love. Her parents, her friends, and finally Minerva. She wasn't sure how, but she made it feel what she felt and by the time its head settled on its arms, she could feel it finally relax.

"It's okay," she whispered, like the wind. "It's time to let go."

It chuffed quietly and took a deep breath and with a rumble sent one more thing. A memory from long before it would have been alive. Of a castle that looked as familiar as her own image and a community that lived in it. It showed her something that was almost incomprehensible but she watched in awe. As she sat back up in shock, the dragon nudged her one final time before its snout came to a still and one last breath echoed through the cave.

She was shaking so badly by the time she came to that she hadn't even realised she had not been conscious. Minerva was speaking to her but she couldn't really understand what she was saying until Minerva felt along her arms and Hermione remembered it was pitch black. She shook her head to ease some of the fuzziness and took Minerva's hands.

"I'm okay," she croaked. "I'm okay."

Minerva's hands were shaking as well but Hermione didn't have the capacity to process any of the thoughts running through her head. She didn't even have the words to speak. Despite probably being able to see nothing, Minerva pulled her up, as best she could. Hermione managed to produce a little handful of fire and they stumbled back to the mouth of the cave. Minerva placed her gently against the wall and left her for a moment. The next thing she knew, freezing cold water splashed on Hermione's face.

"Whoa!" Hermione spluttered. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh bloody hell, love." Minerva groaned and dropped to her knees in front of her. "Bloody hell. Are you alright? What in the hell was tha'?"

Hermione blinked at her and burst into tears.

Minerva wrapped her up in her arms and she sobbed into her shoulder while they sat on the cold ground watching the curtain of water fall over the cave. Eventually, she felt the sadness dissipate but Minerva held her tightly still, pressing soft kisses to her hair and temple when she felt like it.

"I -"

She swallowed as Minerva pulled back her hair and tied it up with a piece of twine from her pocket. Hermione smiled at her resourcefulness and moved to sit up. She spun, no longer caring whether she was covered in dirt or whatever else, so that her knees pressed against Minerva's.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, barely over the rain.

Minerva stared at her for a long time and then nodded. Hermione had been very aware the whole time they had been touching that while Minerva was terrified, she was also angry and it did not take much thought to realise that her anger was at Hermione's cavalier decisions.

"I," she stared at Minerva's hands, clenched together on her lap and touched Minerva's knee instead. She needed that connection but she didn't linger. "I had no idea what happened. It breathed or growled or something and it was like it went through me. From my feet up to my head. Nothing I did was conscious. I wasn't forced to, but it was as if that is what was supposed to happen. Do," she frowned. "Do you understand?"

"No, but something obviously happened and if that is what you say it was, then it was."

Hermione nodded, but, with a huff, Minerva reached out and held her hand. She breathed out as their connection calmed her significantly.

"It was dying," Hermione whispered. "That is what was wrong. I knew somehow, from the smell but I didn't even know it consciously. It was so alone and scared and horrified at humans. It had been alive for so long and it had seen so much death and just," she swallowed as the sandwiches made themselves uncomfortable. "Horrible things, Min."

"Darling," Minerva whispered. She cupped her cheek and rubbed it with her thumb for a while before Hermione could clear her throat.

"I realised that it was giving me its memories of what we are. And I didn't want it to die thinking that. Not when I know that while those things are true, we are so much more than that." Minerva nodded. "So I showed it us," she whispered. "I showed them my family, our family. Our love. I made it feel what I felt, what it feels like to be loved by a human and it calmed and accepted that. But -"

"But what, love?"

It was the second time Minerva had said that without thought and Hermione studied her face. It was guarded but Hermione understood it. Perhaps later she'd examine those thoughts.

"Just before it died, it showed me one more thing. It was important for figuring out what and who I am."

"Oh?"

"It showed me Hogwarts," she whispered. "Hogwarts before the Founders. Before all that."

"But they -"

"They didn't build it, Min. We did. My people."

Minerva's mouth dropped open as a slow but prolonged roll of thunder echoed.

"But that makes -"

"I know," Hermione nodded. "And the memory it had was not of its time, it was history. A genetic memory," she sighed. "But it is the best lead we've got so far. The Old Ones. Maybe we need to go back to that and really look at it."

"Hermione -"

"I know," Hermione nodded. "I scared you, I'm so -"

"That wasn't what I was going to say." Minerva interrupted. "Though you did. It did. I may not have understood exactly what was happening but I knew, once I had placed my hands on you, that it would not hurt us. I do not know why but I do."

"That single interaction has made things clearer too," Hermione blinked. "I understand now, better, I think what we are. What we all are and I -"

Another thunderclap interrupted, though it was slower and sounded far away.

"We should go," Hermione muttered. "I've no idea what time it is, and I don't want them to worry."

"Yes," Minerva nodded. "You are right. Let's go and then we," she bit her lip. "Perhaps you can have dinner with me and we can continue this discussion?"

"I would like that."

Hermione nodded and got up and pulled Minerva up afterwards. She did not release Minerva's hand afterwards, though she felt Minerva's fingers let go of hers. She squeezed the older woman's hand and then let go, in response to her silent wishes. It saddened her, but she also understood.

"It definitely looks lighter," Hermione quipped at the black sky and continuous downpour.

Minerva rolled her eyes and nodded up the hill.

"Do you want me to take you or will you be fine on your own? I realise that your test is next week but -"

"I'll be fine."

Minerva nodded and without speaking, they both set off at pace into the storm. Despite being quite a lot older, Minerva's feet were sure on the mud and she ran until she simply disappeared with a pop. Hermione felt her magic come back but before she left she stood for a moment on the top of that mountain with the rain pouring down around her. She looked around at the storm. Without knowing why, or how, she threw her head back and roared over the storm.

All along the valley, she felt, rather than heard, corresponding roars in response and her eyes bugged at just how many there were.

They would return to this spot, she promised herself. She would seek them out, perhaps and ask them to join the fight. It wasn't a perfect plan, to be sure. But if they had the dragons on their side, perhaps Voldemort would feel a little less certain that he was going to win and as she turned on the spot, she couldn't help but be gleeful about that.