There were so many of them. Their hands, they came through the floor. They were climbing toward her. Hermione watched as green hands reached up, soon revealing their bearers to be snake-like creatures with mouths as wide as chasms. Their shrieks drew her ever closer to death with every scream. No matter how many she shot down, there were more coming up toward her. They were no longer bipedal, they were simply screaming snakes that began to constrict themselves around her body. The screams, they drove her mad!

"Hermione! Wake up!" She heard Angelina's voice as she shook Hermione awake. There was Angelina, Parvati and Lavender all standing at either side of her bed. Angelina had her shoulders and was shaking her harshly until she opened her eyes.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Lavender asked, stepping closer to the very sweaty girl.

"Oh, goodness. Was I talking in my sleep?" She asked and all three of them blanched.

"Talking? Try shrieking in terror." Parvati said with an especially worried tone. "Oh, Hermione, I was scared nearly to death. Shall I fetch Madam Pomfrey?"

"No! Thank you, I simply had a very bad nightmare. It was dreadful!" Hermione tried to play up the nightmare as just being an isolated incident, but she knew full well what it meant. Thankfully, like all dreams, by the time she had bathed and exited the toilet, it was faded to mere images.

Harry's scar went down to a tingle. It was close to the weekend and they were ready to get this Defence Against the Dark Arts class, whatever it may be, over with. With exams drawing ever nearer, the homework began to reach critical levels, and with everything else on their minds, the three of them had just about had it.

As they sat at breakfast that morning, Hedwig made her occasional visit to Harry and Hermione gave her beautiful feathers a little pet with her fingers. She had always admired Hedwig, and thought about getting a nice snowy owl next year, if funds allowed it. After a moment, when Harry made it clear he had no plans to send a message out, Hermione attached her own to Hedwig's leg. She nuzzled Hermione affectionately, then took flight out of the hall. The ceiling was cloudy.

After the scuffle with Slytherin, they noticed that the house of green serpents weren't slithering so loudly anymore. Not only did Gryffindor show a little backbone, it was clear that they were quite formidable when pushed to the breaking point. The following day was very quiet, especially when rumors of Draco Malfoy's cowardice and Harry and Hermione taking down hags, vampires and werewolves, depending on who was telling the story.

They filed in for Defence Against the Dark Arts, many of them already having thought up games to play. After taking their seats, however, the man who walked in from the office made every single face turn completely white. Harry's heart gave a leap and Hermione nearly melted in her seat.

"Good morning, class. I will be filling in for the time being." Albus Dumbledore said as he stepped to the front of the desk with his hands clasped together in front of him. "Might I inquire as to the subject you were all learning when last you had this class? Miss Granger." He said when she was clearly the first one to raise her hand.

"We were learning about…" She cleared her throat when she looked at her notes and realization came to her. "Banshees, sir. How their screams can… cause nightmares and over exposure can cause insanity."

"Very good, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, what do all of you know about vampires?" He asked the class, and while he did so love to hear Miss Granger's answers, he called upon Saemus.

"They're considered the undead." He said, then Dean was called.

"You kill them by shoving a wooden stake through their hearts." He motioned with a hammer and chisel.

Throughout the class, Dumbledore showed them pictures of people turning into vampires by growing fangs. He also showed a barrel that was obviously a storage container full of blood. The old headmaster seemed to delight in shocking his students with very grotesque facts and very beautiful but mysterious paintings depicting killing vampires.

"Now, garlic is not so much devastating to a vampire, as it is irritating. The most damage you can do is by mouth or eyes if you are to use this particular deterrent. I believe that is the basics for vampires, now for the real good stuff." He listed off spells that would trap a vampire sufficiently. The Incarcerous charm could hold a vampire while simple fire and a blood boiling potion would prove fatal.

"Your exams are in one week. I will not be one to take up too much of your free time, but if you could write me a monologue of what it would be like to turn into a vampire, I would find that sufficient. It does not have to be long, but attempt to have some feeling. Speak quietly amongst yourself for the remainder of the class. Thank you."

They gave him a wondrous applause, which he graciously bowed to, doffing his hat as he walked over to the desk. He seemed utterly encapsulated by the prospect of paperwork. It was as if teaching were a very comfortable jacket that he had not tried on in ages.

"Never thought I'd get to be in a class taught by Dumbledore himself." Ron admitted, and Hermione felt that she had reached a milestone in her own education.

They spoke in little whispers as they scribbled down a monologue each. Harry made his about a man who was still trying to have a day job while growing fangs. Hermione was about a girl who wanted a boyfriend but ended up wanting to drink his blood. Ron wrote about a delivery boy who became a vampire and was fired for dripping blood on the apothecary's carpet.

"Harry," Dumbledore said as the bell rang. Then he winked, "good luck."

He was quite confident he was going to get an adequate score on the exams, but Hermione was not so convinced.

"Oh, Hermione, come off it." Harry finally said, obviously ready to go into a small coma. "We've barely been able to rest since we started this ridiculous study schedule."

"Yes, I know, but if we don't pass this year, then one of us may not get to next year. What if we must repeat first year?" Hermione asked and Harry gave her the most incredulous look he could muster in that moment.

"Hermione, if you ever repeat the first year, I'll give up magic all together." He said and she gasped, horrified! It took him a long moment to assure her that he was not going to do that because the odds of her repeating this grade were akin to Snape getting an award for best smile. "No, that title goes to a chap named… Gilderoy Lockhart." Harry said as he pulled the Witch Weekly Magazine from the study table.

"I've heard of him. Parvati has his book about werewolves." Hermione said, then she pulled out a textbook. "But fine, you win. We'll do one subject, then we'll decide on leisure time for the rest of the night. Just remember, the weekend is going to finish up all of the homework. We'll have none next week, just study schedules. All of us."

"Yes, good thing we got a five week head start on all that." Ron said as he brought his own book down with parchment. "If it's one subject, does that still mean potions?"

"Of course it means potions. It's the one we need to get out of the way. If we finish that one, the weekend will be our oyster. We should even have Sunday free." Hermione said, though both Ron and Harry found that one hard to believe.

"Great, so what is it, Dittany potions this time?" Harry asked as he pulled out his book and they all began to write their heading. Hermione grunted confirmation and checked the page. "Yes, it's page 304."

Even though she was in her element of study, with the candle in the middle of the common room table and all three of them bunched up with quills scribbling, Hermione couldn't stop thinking about the one thing that had been on her mind since the night before. She hadn't gotten much sleep. In fact, the mirror crammed with the other large event of last night basically left any sleep she did get highly unusable.

After a moment, the essay became rather difficult to read. In fact, it seemed to swirl and glow as if enchanted with illumination. Then the words began to sketch themselves into pictures. They were pictures of green eyes and big bushy black hair. They were beautiful as the sun was bright.

"Hermione, hey." Harry gave her a shake, as it was clear that her head took a rest and decided not to get back up.

"What?" Hermione raised her head, and there was a "t" inked over her cheek. "Oh, no."

"Yes, Hermione, you need to sleep. That much is certain." Harry said and she rolled her eyes at him. The thought of getting actual sleep in this state was laughable. She was a mess. Her mind was swirling over everything and it was all too complex for her brain to manage on top of a strenuous class schedule.

Harry, however, was not taking no for an answer. He told Ron to go study at the library while Hermione took the night off. If anyone deserved a break, it was her. Her protests were interrupted as Harry stopped her. "Hermione, if you go into the tests with your brain in tatters and your eyes half open, you're going to fail. If you exhaust your mind to this point and fall onto the testing room floor, they'll put you away. Is that what you want?"

"Well, I suppose not. No." She admitted, then looked at how her hands couldn't stop shaking and how her head felt wobbly on top of her neck. "Fine, I'll just…"

When Harry was certain no one was looking, he covered her in the invisibility cloak. Before she could ask what he was doing, he was leading her as subtly as he could into the boy's dorm.

He put her in his bed and covered the whole thing with the sheets across the corners completely shut. "Oh, Harry, you're being such a bad boy." Hermione couldn't help but giggle as she shushed her and covered her in his blanket as well.

The two of them cozied up once again, this time with Harry also in the invisibility cloak with her and the two of them ever so close. Their warmth made Hermione fall asleep faster and more naturally than any potion. There was no nightmare and she wasn't even sure if she dreamed. She just remembered being very warm when she woke.

The wind was blowing through the night air outside and a cursory glance at the clock showed that it was nearly midnight. She had slept six hours and Harry was still there with her.

"Oh, Harry, you didn't need to stay with me this whole time. You could have gone with Ron to the Quidditch pitch or something." Hermione said as she saw his sleep was also stirred by her movement.

"Well, it turns out I was quite tired too. There's no worries there. We still have the whole weekend." Then he paused and looked at her with a bit of concern. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"I want to see it again, Harry." Hermione said as she placed a hand on his chest. There was a moment of pause, and Harry looked at her. "I need to see it. One last time." She admitted and her face was a deep pink, obviously quite ashamed of herself.

"Do you promise?" He asked, obviously wide awake now. She looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Do you swear that it's the last time?" There was a very long, thoughtful pause and she dug deep within herself. Then she nodded.

"I swear. It will be the last time." She told him, and he believed her.

Without further questions, Harry used the cloak to get to the common room. "Oi, where are you two going?" Called a voice after them from the boy's staircase. Harry unfurled his head from the cloak, then looked back at her.

"Oh, fine, there's no time to explain." They invited him in, and all three of them set off down the hallway. However, usually they caught sight of someone stalking the always. There was at least one, maybe even two head boys or prefects off to pretend they were doing something important.

The halls were still as the grave that night. Not a single creature was stirring throughout all of the castle. It was so empty, the silence made their footsteps sound like they were against sandpaper.

"What's going on? Where is everyone?" Hermione asked and Ron shrugged.

"It's Friday, looks like everyone decided to turn in early." Ron said, though that didn't make much sense at all. Then, with the dog still active and panting in the room next door, they opened the neighboring door.

Immediately, there were cries of horrible pain and the image of Snape being held against the wall with an invisible force. His robes were torn in certain places on his chest, leaving scars. He was sweating and obviously in terrible turmoil.

All three of them saw Quirrell whirl around and show that he had become less a man and more a thing that was transforming into something else. Much like the banshees and the hags, his skin had grown into a sickening green and he had aged a terrible amount.

"Ah, the master will be so pleased. It seems our luck has finally turned a fortunate roll of the dice. Come in, welcome!" Quirrell pulled them into the doorway with an invisible force and closed the door, snapping it locked tight.

The three of them looked in horror as he stood there, his wand out and pointing it at a gasping, exhausted Snape.

"Perhaps they can tell me how to get the stone from the mirror?" Quirrell asked and Snape spat at him in fury.

"Lay a hand on them, and I will see your soul burn myself, you wretched vermin!" Snape rasped with bitter hatred in his voice. "Let the children go, or else!"

"Crucio!" The horrid monster, Quirrell shouted, and suddenly Snape was back to straining against a pain that was unlike any other. His voice was pitiful as it pleaded against the power he possessed.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted as he shot a jet of magic that rammed Quirrell against the wall and sent his wand across the room, hitting the wall.

Before Hermione could follow up with another attack, however, there came a very gangly, sickly banshee woman who grasped Hermione's wrist. One look showed that there was yet another hag behind the mirror as well, only she seemed far more reluctant to join in the fray. There even seemed to be one more shadow of a figure behind it.

"Depulso!" Hermione shouted as she shot the banshee away from her, as if from a cannon, and made her break against the wall.

"Stop!" Quirrell commanded the other creature at his control and they looked at him. "The philosopher's stone is hidden within that mirror, there. It is crucial that I get ahold of it, or else I will be forced to commit deeds I do not wish to." He picked up his wand and looked at the children. "You were coming to this room for the mirror. Where is the stone? How do I get it from that accursed artefact?!"

His growling, gnarled voice had an edge of frustration. It was clear that he had been questioning Snape for quite some time. Snape was struggling to keep himself conscious while also snarling with deep loathing for the creature before him.

"We don't know about the stone and the mirror." Harry said as he kept the hag at bay with his wand. "We just came to see the mirror."

"Lies! It's just an illusionary mirror! Who would waste their time so deliberately! You came for the stone! Now take it from the mirror!" Quirrell held up his wand and pointed it for Hermione. "Or I'll turn her into a warty toad!"

"You're bluffing!" Ron shouted from behind Hermione. "Your magic is a joke."

"What!" Quirrell barked, outraged.

Hermione also looked at Ron, incredulous and even Harry had no idea what he was on about.

"Well, look, he hasn't done it yet, has he? He's just a nutter who looks like he's been in the sun a few too many centuries." Ron spat in disgust at the wrinkly old teacher, who was positively livid at this point.

"Insolent brat!" Then Quirrell pointed his wand toward Hermione. As soon as he cast his spell, Ron shoved the hag from next to Hermione directly in front of her.

She was immediately turned into a toad. Without missing a cue, Hermione kicked the hag toad into Quirrell's face and Harry took aim. Reducto!" He shouted, and the toad was squashed, splattering entrails across the mad former professor's face as he recoiled his head into the wall.

As he fell to the floor unconscious, his turban fell to the floor beside his head. The three of them looked at one another and breathed for a moment.

"Nicely done, Ron. That was good thinking." Hermione said and Ron seemed like he was more surprised than her that it actually worked.

"Nicely done," all of their blood went cold at once and the already dim light seemed to darken even more. "Nicely done, indeed. You three have proven to be most cumbersome, no matter how much I try to catch you unawares or take you each down one by one. Something seems to go wrong."

From behind the mirror, the final shadow emerged and his head was completely bald. His nose was two slits, like a snake, and his eyes glowed a terrible red color. From his mouth, there were two jutting fangs as the already horrific Lord Voldemort had taken ahold of a vampiric body.

"However, now that it is proven that my subordinates are insufficient to take down three petulant children, I shall be forced to do so." Before he even finished talking, Harry raised his wand against the enormous burning sensation in his scar.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted, but Voldemort cast the attack aside with a hiss. Before he could retaliate, though, Ron cast his own from the side.

"Incendio!" He shouted, and there came a whole wave of white hot flames toward the vampiric Voldemort. He cast a shield charm but it still grew quite hot.

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted and from Voldemort's side, he was hit with a jut of red energy. The fire only lasted a moment longer, but the dark lord was caught by the flames in a blur of pain and smoke.

"Oh! You insects! Die beneath my boot!" He shouted as he glared toward Harry Potter with his great, red, glowing eyes. "Avada Kedavra!" He growled as he cast the killing curse at Harry, who moved off to the side. What faced him was his own, green glowing reflection in the mirror of Erised. "What?!"

The killing curse was reflected back upon the pale, monstrous dark lord with his mouth wide open and fangs beginning to chip and break away from his mouth. Then the rest of his flesh began to flake away. "Whaaaat have I dooooone!" He howled as his entire body was broken down piece by piece in a blaze of green and all that remained was his fragile, nearly nothing spirit.

Unable to speak, remain corporeal, or even think. The spirit floated away into the aether, where it would brood and consider remaining in existence. The three children were on the ground, panting, covered in sweat and hardly able to move. The shock, high pulses and the sudden quiet were almost unbearable with their pulses beating against their ears.

Soon, though, Snape curled forward and planted his hands onto the ground. He had slid down the wall into a sitting position, and now, sweating and trying to remain conscious, looked at all of them.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, if you would be so kind as to help me to my feet?" He asked, and in such a tone that they had never heard in their lives coming from him. He held their shoulders gingerly as they aided him to his feet and he nearly lurched forward in agonizing pain. Then, he turned his black eyes between his greasy curtains of hair upon Harry. "Potter… I suppose…" He thought for a moment, then looked at all of them. "It can wait for later." He hissed as he began to gain composure.

Relief spread across his face, though, as Filch burst in, as did Mcgonagall and Hagrid. With the large man as a crutch, Snape was easily able to make it to Madam Pomfrey's for treatment and the other teachers aided the three students in reaching there as well.

So much energy was lost, they were so exhausted from the fear and the shock. Harry's head was five miles too wide, or at least that's how it felt. Hermione couldn't even string two Arithmancy equations together if she were paid to do so.

Snape was understandably in a much worse state. Madam Pomfrey was confident that he would make a full recovery, but he would not be teaching for the rest of the course. He laid in his bed, looking toward the ceiling, unblinking as his chest was bandaged and he drank pain relief potions every four hours.

Over the next day, after a bit of rest, it was clear that Severus Snape had nothing to say to anything. The three students surveyed the large collection of sweets that had accumulated near Harry's bed. Evidently, their little escapade against a vampire had not escaped the school's immense gossip corner. The three of them were now famous for taking down banshees, hags and vampires. The name Monster Aurors had begun to make rounds in certain circles.

In that moment, though, they divided the chocolate frogs and ate them as they looked at the cards. Harry had a Godric Gryffindor that Hermione needed and she was ready with a trade of Salazar Slytherin, although, she was forced to sweeten the pot with Beatrix Bloxam.

"Well, it's nice to see you're all getting along fine. A few days of rest seem to agree with you." Dumbledore said as he strolled in and the three of them looked up at him from Ron's bed. He picked up one of his own cards and he smiled at his image that smiled back with a wave. "I see your time has been well spent in self reflection." He put the card back in Hermione's pile.

"Yes, but I still don't see why I can't study for the final exams, Professor." Hermione said and both Ron and Harry looked at her like she had just told them she wanted to become a professional troll bather.

"It's not that you cannot study for them, it is simply that all of your exams have been swept aside, as the three of you have displayed talents far beyond the first year curriculum in every respect. It is honestly safe to say you pass up to fourth year, but we'll consider first year passing a fair enough judgment." He nodded at all of them.

Hermione was torn. The fact that she immediately passed all of her courses was enticing, not to mention the headmaster himself agreeing that she'd earned it. That brought with it a great pang of guilt, though.

"Sir, perhaps you shouldn't give me any rewards. I don't believe I should receive them." Hermione admitted with a drooped head.

"By all means, why would you ever think such a thing?" Dumbledore asked and she looked away from all of them with tears in her eyes.

"I didn't go into that classroom because I was trying to be brave or save Professor Snape. I went into that classroom because I wanted to see the mirror again. It was all I could think about. I couldn't even study." Hermione tried her very best to avoid revealing what she saw in its depths, and thankfully, none of them seemed to ask right away.

"My dear, if we all set out every day to do great deeds, no great deeds would ever get done. Instead of turning and running in the face of danger, you stood with your friends and fought a most dangerous adversary. You've earned rest and you've earned all of the chocolates. Not to mention, you've all earned yet another 150 points for Gryffindor, who will most assuredly take the cup for the first time in over seven years. Then there's the awards for meritorious service to the school and a pile of other important things that can wait until later. Right now, it is important that all of you take a good long breather and play some games. What have you got here? Chess, I see."

They had just brought all three of their wizarding chess sets out, with Ron prepared to play the winner, sitting as champion among the three of them. Dumbledore was more than happy to sit and watch the two of them play against one another, across from Ron, who seemed to have the most questions for Dumbledore.

"And Grindelwald is still in Azkaban?" He asked and Dumbledore chuckled.

"No, he is in a German wizarding prison. They claimed he had nationalities there and they had the right to claim him. I did not care, so long as he was unable to escape." Dumbledore answered the question and all three of them were absolutely enthralled by such a close quarter encounter with the one who had actually dueled the famous dark wizard.

"Professor…" Hermione cleared her throat and made a move on Harry, killing his pawn. "You talk as if You-know-who–"

"Voldemort is still alive. Yes, I do. You may have seen the Killing Curse turned back upon him, but I assure you, only his body was destroyed. It is something to say that he has gone back to his powerless state. That is most definitely a good thing, but I can also assure you that he will try again." Dumbledore told them and all of them looked at each other. None of it made any sense. "Don't worry a thing about it now. You should all be very proud of what you have done and you already have a place in your second year. Consider yourselves passed."

It was Ron who breathed the biggest sigh of relief. He couldn't wait to write to his parents and tell them the good news. Hermione couldn't deny that she felt a tingle of absolute glee. She had worked her fingers to the bones in study and she supposed this was more satisfying than writing some words on paper or filling in the blanks.

"Check." Harry said and Hermione gasped, looking down at the board, making Dumbledore chuckle. It was Harry who faced Ron next, and it was Harry who was thoroughly trampled.

As the exams ended for the school, the sun set on yet another year at Hogwarts. Hermione had to remind herself that it was only six weeks of Harry being imprisoned in that horrific place he was forced to call a home. It didn't help her peace of mind at all, though. No matter how hard they kissed, no matter how far she nuzzled into his neck, the clock ticked away its even strokes until the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station.

They stood in a garden on the school grounds where there were no prying eyes. Hermione stayed wrapped in his arms. If he didn't know any better, it almost seemed like she felt worse about his return to Privet Drive than he did. They hardly spoke, as words seemed insufficient. Not matter what she did, there seemed to be tears in her eyes. The only time Harry could bring a smile to her face is when he held both of her hands and looked her in the eyes. Then he softly whispered to her.

"I love you." The words echoed through her ears and she recorded it as if it were freshly spoken every single time.

"I love you." She emphasized him and they met in one more kiss before she knew they had to leave.

To their astonishment, ten minutes before the large red steam engine left for King's Cross, there stood Severus Snape on the train platform. "Ah, Potter, and his gang of misfits." He said, though, there was something very strange in his demeanor as he looked off into the distance. In fact, if Harry wasn't mistaken, was there any loathing in his expression at all?

"I'm man enough to admit that I was mistaken." He eyed all of them, Hermione and Harry especially. "A muggle-born, a half breed, and a pure blood traitor. I never would have suspected." He seemed to gaze off into the distance once again, though, this time with some hardship. The train man made it clear that they were to leave in five minutes. "I will see you three next year and be forewarned: I will see that there will be no foul play in my classroom. Is that clear?"

They all nodded and he pursed his lips, even sneering as if something tasted bitter on his tongue. "And… thank you." He immediately turned and began to walk away from the train platform and back toward the castle. His injuries clearly made it difficult, but he put on a proud, dignified demeanor.

"Well, we have a whole train ride. What shall we do with the few hours we have left?" Hermione asked, and she pointedly took Harry's hand as she pulled him along. The three of them were joined by Fred and George.

"How about we celebrate with a bag of Cockroach Clusters?" George offered and held a burlap sack toward Hermione who batted at him.

"Ew! No!" She squeaked as she hurried onto the train with Harry. They all had a good laugh at that.

The train ride came and went, but Hermione did not return to her parents immediately. Instead, she had timed her arrival to be late on purpose. Using eleven sickles, she got on the Knightbus and made her way to Diagon Alley. With the end of the school year, it was quite bustling with celebrating kids returning from school. She made her way through the alley, entering a certain shop with a certain silver-eyed wizard.

"Yes? Ah! Miss Granger! Vine, ten and three-quarters inch, dragon heartstring! I received your owl, telling me you wished to speak with me. How might I help– Oh!" His eyes widened as she pulled a small bunch from her pocket and handed it to him. He gingerly held the large gathering of unicorn hair. "It is so gorgeous! How did you get this?"

She explained what had happened and Ollivander gasped in horror. He even seemed on the verge of tears when she had explained that this had been her intention all along. He lamented the poor unicorn, but beamed at her all the same.

"My dear, such beauty and sadness in your words. Here, you have the heart and soul that is required." He handed her back the tuft of unicorn hair and she looked at him with a puzzled expression as he began to walk into the back of his shop. That was when he came back to her with a very large, very old book, a strange box, and a large sack.

"What is all of this?" She asked as he handed her the tome. "Wands: Creation from Beginning to End by Les Graypot." She read aloud, then she saw that the box he gave her had a small wooden stand inside, along with strange clamps and tools.

"This is the supplies you need to create wands. I have included blocks of wood that are certified by bowtruckles themselves. If you have come upon a beautiful gathering of power such as this, it is up to you to cultivate it. Come back to me with questions and I will instruct you through owls, floo powder or in person. Keep to your studies and I will help you create beautiful wands."

Hermione had no idea what to say. The idea that this entire avenue of knowledge and experience was opening itself up to her through one of the greatest masters of the craft was something that could not be overlooked. He was clearly many times older than her, but that seemed to be the point. She had many more years to share his knowledge and pass it on to those worthy. Was she, though?

Was she worthy?