"A discussion is impossible with someone who pretends not to seek the truth but to possess it."
Romain Rolland
Remus and Hermione talked a lot about what had happened and had decided by mutual agreement not to tell Minerva just yet. She had her own problems and had already done a lot for the two time travellers.
Bringing up their memories had brought them back to their mission and Remus told his friend that he might have located a horcrux. Hermione wanted to go and get it right away, but Remus had talked her out of it. They already knew the location of three horcruxes, the Ravenclaw diadem in the Room of Requirement, the Gaunt's ring in their house and the one Remus thought he had found. However, they had no way of destroying them yet and it was safer to leave the infamy where it was before they could shred it and tear it to pieces.
They both headed for the Great Hall to have breakfast. Hermione hadn't been back there since the incident and knew that there would be whispers as she passed. Remus went through the staff entrance and Hermione through the large doors. Unfortunately for her, even though she had left early for Remus's house, they had done a lot of talking and most of the students were not standing up and heading to their tables but sitting at them. As she passed through the doors, many heads turned towards her and murmurs were heard. The traveller ignored them as best she could, but when she heard a 'mudblood' she couldn't help herself and pulled out her wand. She was about to cast a spell on the person who had said the words, but someone intervened.
"Helena, you can't do that."
Hermione recognised Remus' voice, but not Rem', her friend, young Remus. She turned to him shakily and gave him a questioning look. He had stood up and Lily had joined them.
"Remus is right, Helena, you would be expelled. Sit down with us."
"Lily, you heard what she said."
"Helena, please. You owe me a favour, I've been watching over you all night," she whispered so that only Hermione and Remus could hear her.
Hermione was in the grip of a strong inner struggle. She looked up at Remus, her friend, and sought his gaze. He nodded and his gaze urged her to listen to Lily. She finally lowered her wand, much to the relief of both Gryffindors. She glared so darkly, so icily at the girl who had desecrated that wretched insult, that Lily swore she saw the magical ceiling of Hogwarts darken.
Hermione took no part in the discussions of the marauders or Lily and her friends, but walked with them to the doors of the Great Hall, where the group split up. Half had Muggle Studies and the others had Potions. It was only natural that she headed for Snape to make the potion of the day. They didn't speak in every class, but the potions they made were always perfect. Hermione was slowly getting closer to Snape, as she had discussed with Remus, but she was really starting to like the young man who was very talented. As for Snape, for the first time since his friendship with Lily ended, he had someone to talk to about Potions. He enjoyed talking to Hermione about the composition of potions and how to improve them.
The class came to an end, and as usual, Slughorn handed out points to the Gryffindors and Slytherins. He repeated his request for Hermione to join his club, but the young woman, as on all previous occasions, rejected the idea and abruptly left the dungeons, heading for the library.
Hermione sat down at her usual table and began her research on the location of the horcruxes. She was reading newspaper clippings about the abundance of dark magic in certain remote areas and the oldest and most destructive forms of magic when the one and only Regulus Black came to sit at her table. Hermione was very surprised by this, but preferred to keep her mouth shut. She glared at him and raised an eyebrow, as Harry did when he doubted what she was saying. From spending her evenings with her best friend, she had adopted many of his tics, without realising it. It was Ron who had once pointed it out to her, but since then Hermione had been unable to get rid of it. She wasn't complaining, it brought her a little closer to her late friend, but of course it reminded her of him too.
"What are you doing here, Black?"
"I'm working on my transfiguration."
"I don't care what you're working on. What are you doing at my table?"
"I didn't know it was the table of the great Helena Grace. Excuse my manners, I'm leaving now."
"Stop playing, Black, what do you want?"
"I want to talk to you."
Hermione gave a cheeky smile that did not please the young Black. He couldn't attack her though. He didn't want to be banned from the library for life, he still had a year and a half to go at Hogwarts and he knew he wouldn't be a match for her.
"To me, I remind you that I am not pure-blooded like you and that my manners are more than desirable."
"Follow me into the park," was the only answer the younger Black agreed to give her.
Hermione hesitated to follow him, but her curiosity overcame her distrust and she followed him. Anyway, even if he wanted to attack her, the young woman would quickly get the better of him, so that was not a problem. Regulus walked to the edge of the forbidden forest and stopped under a tree.
"No one followed us?"
"No one will see the great Regulus Black in the company of an impure blood. What do you want from me?
"I've been thinking a lot about the last time in the great hall and how you attacked Mulciber. I've never seen anyone say that spell with such hatred, yet it's one of my cousin's favourite spells. Your outburst in the park only reinforced my suspicions. You're practicing dark magic, aren't you?"
Hermione struggled to hold back a giggle. It had been so long since it had happened to her, but the situation was ridiculous.
"You brought me here to see if I do dark magic," she laughed.
"There's nothing ridiculous about it. You're a Gryffindor," he spat on the last word.
"So just because my tie is red doesn't mean I only do white magic."
"But it's not normal! You're on the side of the good guys, the Slytherins the bad guys who kill and torture with black magic against the good Gryffindors who fight them with white magic."
Hermione couldn't hold back and laughed out loud before she saw how serious Regulus was. He was joking wasn't he?
"Black, you don't believe what you're saying do you?"
Only silence answered him and Hermione took her head in her hands. In addition to fighting a powerful dark mage, destroying the filthy pieces of his soul, preventing the members of the order from being killed, preventing herself from being killed, she also had to fight and abolish the clichés? A whole life would never be enough!
"Black, these are all clichés. Just because someone is in Gryffindor doesn't mean they'll never become a Death Eater, just because someone is in Slytherin doesn't mean they'll be the next Dark Mage. I practice dark magic, much more than any Slytherin, yet I am one, if not the greatest opponent of Voldemort.
The young Black didn't seem to know how to respond, Grace was not only questioning the view of Hogwarts houses that she had, but the whole upbringing that her family had given her.
"My path is clear, I am a Black, I will enter the service of the dark lord and one day I will get the whole Black heritage."
"Life can be very tricky, you never expect what's going to happen. Don't plan your life Black, or the fall will only be greater."
Hermione stood up and prepared to leave, Regulus was still too young to understand, he hadn't been through enough to turn away from the dark wizard.
"Wait, wait, wait! You can't tell me that, and then leave."
"I'll get in the way."
"Can you teach me dark magic?" he tried in a last ditch effort.
"You're a Black! Dark magic runs in your veins. Your parents must have taught you from a young age, you can't fool me on that."
"Teach me how to fight a duel then."
"You said it yourself, Black, your path is clear. You're going to be in Voldemort's service, and since you've been listening to me, you also know that I'm one of snakeface's most ardent opponents."
With that, Hermione left for good, leaving the young Black to struggle within and ponder his future.
The December wind was seeping through Remus' clothes. He had just finished a particularly tough class with the second years, who had done nothing but fight between houses. Remus was at the black lake, as he was every Friday night. Every weekend, he took the air by the lake, with only the giant squid for company. Remus loved these moments, where he could be alone with himself. This little moment of solitude was very important to him in his week, and even Hermione had to wait when she wanted to tell him about the mission.
Remus heard an explosion and saw smoke billowing from the centre of the Forbidden Forest. A thick black cloud was rising, something Remus had never seen before. What creature was capable of making fire in the middle of the Forbidden Forest? Being the brave and impulsive Gryffindor that he was, Remus headed towards the source of the smoke. He came to a bright clearing, where a person was lying in the centre, his wand in his hands. It was a woman with long brown hair and the closer Remus got, the more familiar the person seemed. When he reached her, he realised that the person was Hermione, looking like herself and not Helena. She had a severe burn on her right forearm. Where on her left arm was Bellatrix Lestrange's mudblood mark, on Hermione's right arm there was now a four inch long burn. It wasn't a classic burn, it wasn't red or brown, it was black, as if it was toast. The two marks on her arms were similar in size. Across the width of her arm, they started and ended in exactly the same place. Hermione's scar had also started to bleed again.
Remus shook Hermione awake but to no avail. He cast several spells, but nothing happened. He couldn't send her to the infirmary looking like that though, no one should know that they had lied, least of all Madam Pomfresh and her usual curiosity. The traveller sent a patronus to Minerva, telling her to come alone. He hoped that at this hour she was still in her office, not in the Great Hall for dinner.
Much to Remus' relief, Minerva arrived in the clearing fifteen minutes later. She rushed over to the two friends and questioned Remus. He didn't know much more than the witch, but Minerva could at least restore his false appearance. With a spell Remus sent Hermione flying and the three of them headed for the castle. Minerva looked at Hermione anxiously, Remus had inadvertently knocked her into a tree and the witch was trying hard not to let him do it again.
"I can control her flight if you like."
"Thanks, I'm a bit confused, I don't understand what she was doing there in that clearing, alone. How could she be so careless?"
"It's obvious what she was doing, she was trying to control the fiendfyre. Don't make that face Remus, you recognised the spell. Only that spell can burn the skin like that. She won't be able to look like she used to, not with this spell. She was lucky she only got away with that burn. It could have been a lot worse," Minerva replied grimly.
"But why? Fiendyre is an extremely dangerous spell. Hermione is far from stupid, she knows perfectly well the risks of this spell. "
"The fiendfyre is devastatingly powerful. I'm not sure, but I think it's so powerful that it can destroy you-know-whats. Hermione seemed to have the spell under control, but something disturbed her and it got out of hand. Something powerful because it also made an old scar bleed."
"This scar was made by Bellatrix Lestrange. Do you think it could have something to do with the accident?
"I don't know Remus, but I strongly hope you're wrong. Bellatrix Lestrange in the forbidden forest? There is cause for concern," Minerva lamented in a sorry tone, shaking her head.
Hermione left the infirmary as quietly as possible. Madam Pomfresh had ordered her not to move for the next five days, but the witch had no desire to do so. She had been unconscious for two days and she had already lost enough time as it was. Remus had lectured her for half an hour when she had woken up. Maybe she could have told her friends she was going out, but she wasn't five anymore, she was an adult and could largely handle herself. Remus seemed to forget that she was twenty-three.
Hermione was walking up the stairs to the Room on Requirement when she heard her alias.
"Grace, where are you going?"
Hermione turned around, surprised to hear the voice. It wasn't like his owner to shout like that in the corridors. They were alone in the corridor, at two o'clock in the morning the corridors were unlikely to be full.
"Severus, you scared me!"
Despite all she had been through, the strangest thing was that she had become familiar with Snape. Her hated former Potions teacher. They weren't friends, that was a too strong word, but they were more than just classmates. Every week of Potions brewing had brought them closer together. Even more so since Hermione had demonstrated her power to the whole school in Hogwarts Park. Little by little, Hermione had managed to break through Severus's shell and he had come to appreciate Hermione's intelligence and ingenuity, both in potions and in attack and defence spells, transfiguration. They saw each other regularly in the library and had come to talk much more than they had at first. They didn't talk about their lives, but about inventing potions, spells...
"Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary between life and death? Or maybe the Slytherins got excited too quickly?"
"I was never between life and death. A spell went wrong."
"The Fiendfyre, wasn't it?"
"How did you know?"
"You're burned, badly. Only fiendfyre can cause a burn like this. Believe me, your skin is dead. Your outfit from the infirmary doesn't hide much of your scars."
Hermione looked down at her arms and pulled her sleeves down over her bruised arms. She hated her scars. Two more than any other. But there was no way anyone was going to find out why she'd burned herself when she'd mastered the fiendfyre long ago. Remus would be disgusted, Minerva too. If this fell into the hands of her enemies, Hermione would no longer be safe.
"I saw what you were trying to hide, Helena."
"What, but no but..."
"Would you care to explain?"
"All right, it's not like you're going to accept being obliviate. But not here, the walls have ears."
Severus looked at Hermione strangely and the young woman felt his gaze upon her.
"What's the matter? Don't you know that expression? It's a Muggle expression. But here it's pretty much true with all the paintings. If you want to talk, I won't wait for you. I'm tired." she lied.
Severus followed her lead, hurrying. Hermione walked quickly, as if to get away from him and keep him from her secrets. They reached the wall of the seventh floor and Hermione passed it three times and asked for a quiet place to talk to Severus. Severus, seeing the door appear, held Hermione by the arm.
"Wait, you know about the Room on Requirement? A few of students are lucky enough to see it appear in their school years, often at the end, and you've only been here three months and you see the most mysterious thing in the castle!"
"This is hardly the most mysterious thing in this castle Severus."
The time traveller seemed to realise that she had said too much and put her hand to her mouth. She saw Severus' questioning expression and pulled out her wand.
"What do you mean? Don't you dare obliviate me, Grace" he continued in a firm voice.
"Fine. Come in."
Hermione sat down in a chair and invited Severus to follow her.
"What are you hiding from me?"
"It's complicated, I can't tell you everything Sev', Severus. I shouldn't call you that."
"Why not?"
"It's Lily calling you"
The end of her sentence died in her throat and once again Hermione realised she had said too much. But what had she been drinking that she couldn't control what she said?
"How do you know? She only called me that in private. We haven't been friends since the fifth grade. Who the hell are you?"
Hermione looked at Severus, unsure of what to say. His expression was neutral, as always, but his gaze seemed curious, like when he was making new potions.
"It's complicated. I can't tell you."
"You can't or you won't?"
"Honestly, both. I'm strictly forbidden to tell you and it would put you in more danger than it would help."
"You're not who you say you are. Aren't you supposed to be a half-blood? The inscription on your arm says otherwise. But that's not what I'm most surprised about, no it's the fact that a Gryffindor does dark magic, I wonder what your classmates would say."
"Please, Severus, you're in Slytherin. No one in this house shows their true colours, their feelings. You're not nearly what you claim to be either. As for dark magic, I have no reason to justify it. You practice it too, don't you? This magic is called dark magic because wizards with evil intentions have practised it a little too much. Some spells can be very interesting."
"You won't tell me anything about who you are?"
"I can't tell you."
"Does it have anything to do with your ring?"
Hermione smiled and took a moment to admire the ring before answering Severus.
"You're far too clever for your own good. I can't tell you that. I made a promise and the people who know about it can be counted on one hand. Shit, I wouldn't say that either."
Severus got up and was about to leave the room, turned and said to Hermione:
"Don't think we'll leave it at that, Grace, I'm a Slytherin, I won't give up and I'll try as hard as I can to find out your secret."
"You're wasting your time, Severus."
He left for good and as he walked through the door, he whispered so low that Hermione wasn't sure if she had understood him correctly
"One last thing, you can call me Sev' if you want Helena, I don't mind."