AN: Hello, FF and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!

Can You Take the Jump?

Chapter 71

There was a lull of silence as the boys explained the situation. Perhaps it was the blood loss, exhaustion, or the general sense of malaise she'd been experiencing, but the information wasn't computing in her mind for the first time in her life. She was past the point of being burnt out, she felt just numb to it all.

"Evans? What do we do? What is the plan?" Regulus prompted, unable to take the silence. "What are you going to do?"

"Evans?" Lucius held her steady as she swayed, looking like she was about to pass out again.

"I…" she blinked slowly. "I'm…" she trailed off, like she wasn't sure what she was going to say, yet just started talking for the sake of talking. "I'm tired."

"You're tired?!" Regulus asked incredulously.

"I killed a werewolf and according to you guys, I nearly died." She deadpanned. "Yeah, I'm fucking tired. Actually, I've been tried for…a long time."

"So what? So what?" Regulus slammed his fist on the wall causing the boys to jump, but Hermione remained sitting on the bed with her blank face. "Y-y-you're just going to… what?!"

"I'm going to sleep. I'm going to rest."

"You're going to leave him to die." He scoffed. "I knew it. I knew you wouldn't risk everything for Sirius." He pointed accusatorily. "I told him. What a waste for him to love you."

"Woah, okay." Severus stood up from the foot of the bed, placed a heavy hand on Regulus's shoulder and whispered something urgent into his ear.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! He's going to die because of you!" Regulus pushed Severus out of the way. He reached over to her, grabbed her by the arm and yanked her, trying to pull her off the bed.

"AHHHHH!" She screamed as her new stitches ripped from the force.

"Hey!" Lucius grabbed Regulus's wrist stopping him from pulling another time, but there was no need. Regulus dropped her arm quickly as blood started to bloom through her fresh new clothes once more.

"AH! AHHHH!" Hermione continued to scream.

"I-I'm I'm sorry." He stuttered as he took a step back. In his anger, he hadn't known how hard he was pulling.

"Get out," Lucius spoke through his teeth. "GET OUT."

Like a frightened animal, Regulus scampered out of the room but paused at the door to watch the older Slytherins cut through Hermione's bandages to reclose her wounds so that she wouldn't lose any more blood than she had.

"I'm sorry."

Hermione watched through teary eyes as Regulus left.

"Catch him." She said breathlessly. "Before he does something stupid. Catch him."

…

MISSING

Name: Sirius Black

Age: 17

Date of Birth: November 3rd, 1959

Last seen: The evening of August 4th; around 10:53; At the far east corner of Diagon Alley

Please fire-call the Potter Estate if you have any information.

"There has to be more we can do." James sighed as he placed the Daily Prophet down with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes with exhaustion.

"Maybe he just… left, Prongs," Peter suggested.

"He wouldn't just!" James shouted, but cut himself off and let out a long breath. "He wouldn't just leave, Wormy. This is Pads we're talking about. Our brother. He wouldn't just leave."

"Even if it's to look for Hermione?" Remus asked. "Maybe seeing you propose to Lily was his limit. Maybe he decided he didn't want to sit on his ass anymore and took the matter into his own hands and went out to look for her."

"He took nothing with him but a few galleons. If he was going to search for Hermione, he'd take more things. He would print out posters of pictures. He'd…just do more."

"When was the last time we've ever seen Sirius think through his plans?"

"Maybe he is just out there looking for my sister, James." Lily rubbed his arms consolingly.

"AND IF HE'S NOT?!" He snapped. "There are Death Eaters out there! There are murders out there! Last year, he was captured in his home and placed at some psycho's feet as a sacrifice! As impulsive and stupid as Sirius can be, he would never let me worry like this. He would…" James started crying, all the stress from his father's illness and upcoming surgery, his mother's reclusiveness since his father's illness, and finally, Sirius's disappearance left James feeling very difficult and overwhelmed.

"Have you spoken with Dumbledore yet?" Lily asked quietly to the group.

Remus nodded. "He said he'll ask his contacts if they've seen or heard of anyone matching Sirius's description."

"Good thing not many people out there match his description." Peter attempted to joke, but it was received poorly. "Prongs," the smallest of the Marauders reached out to his friend. "Focus on your dad. Remus and I will search for Sirius with Dumbledore."

"No, I should be out there—"

"No, you should be with your father." Lily insisted, agreeing with Peter.

"Yeah, mate." Remus gave him a confident smile. "We'll find him. I promise."

James looked at his friends helplessly in desperation. "Bring him home guys."

Remus stood up and helped Peter up off the sofa. They both hugged James before setting off to find their best friend.

"James," Lily sat on the armrest of his chair, rubbing his back and shoulders. "James, he's going to be okay."

He attempted a smile, but his lips quivered again. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, burying his face into her neck. She wrapped her legs around his waist and cradled him tightly into her. They stayed like that, as close as two people could be and just breathed each other in. It was intimate and comforting, it felt like it was them against the world, but as long as they were together, they would be able to withstand anything.

"Don't leave me, Lily."

"Never." She kissed his forehead. She removed his glasses and kissed each of his tired eyes. She kissed his lips gently, his unshaven stubble prickling her as she did so.

"I love you," she promised.

"I love you too."

…

Hermione woke up with a small gasp as sharp claws slashed through her body. She looked around the dark room with confusion as the day's events came back to her mind. She slipped out of her Egyptian cotton sheets that felt as soft as butter against her skin. Her feet touched the cold hardwood as she ventured into the dark corridors of Malfoy Manor. The whole place felt dead like she was the only one left awake in the world. Even her hallucinations weren't with her.

The silence felt comforting as though everything was frozen in time. Nothing she did right now would affect anything or cause anything. Her actions were finally free from responsibility and repercussions.

She hummed a made-up melody with no lyrics, her voice travelled in the empty hallway.

"Hermione?"

Suddenly everything faded away, and she was back in reality.

"Sev."

"You're up."

"Yeah, your blood replenishing potion did its job. Well done."

"It was your potion, not mine," he shook his head. "I must've nodded off in the kitchen while I was getting some food. Have you been up for long?" Severus rubbed his tired eyes. He looked different; taller in the few months she hadn't seen him and sadder too. There was a general sense of melancholy that radiated off of him.

She shook her head at his question.

"Hungry?"

She nodded.

"Can you walk to the kitchen?" He asked. "Or should I call an elf to bring a plate up?"

"I can walk."

The two of them walked together in awkward silence. It wasn't that they didn't have much to say to each other, but that there was too much. The months since her disappearance were eventful, to say the least. Both of them opened their mouths several times between the upstairs hall to the kitchen on the first floor, but no words were spoken.

"Miss!" Dobby the Elf came jumping to greet her. "Miss you're back!"

"Miss!" Several of Lucius's other elves came to greet her as well. Severus watched Hermione crouch down to their level and greet them by their names one by one.

"You're much too thin!" One of them, Severus thought his name to be Winston or something very…human. "Come come," the elf grabbed her hand and pulled her to the kitchen island. Some other elves dragged a stool and sat her down as they piled food in front of her.

It was very obvious how differently the elves thought of him and Hermione. When he was down here, just a mere 5 minutes ago, they gave him some leftover stew with bread. For Hermione, there was a roast, with multiple sides, the same stew but bubbling hot, warm bread, butter, fruits and vegetables, and a glass of wine.

"Guys, this is too much." She looked over at him, "Are you still hungry? Do you want some of this?"

Severus wanted to say yes but felt the piercing glares of the elves around him. "I'm okay. You should try to finish as much as you can, you know how upset they get if you don't finish their food."

"Right," she smiled at the expectant elves. "Thank you."

"Hermione," he gently asked, "you… have a plan, right?"

The spoon hesitated in midair, shaking from her weakness, before going into her mouth. Severus didn't have the heart to ask another question, so he just sat there until she ate her fill. He took the time to observe Hermione in a rather rare state. Unguarded, uncalculating, and vulnerable. With her hard outer shell peeled back, he could see her for who she truly was.

A sick, sad, and tired girl.

There was never a time in Severus's memories when Hermione was not skinny, but she'd never been so bony. Lucius's spare pyjamas were nearly overwhelming her tiny figure. Her hair was never so lusterless, skin so gaunt, and eyes so very dead, except the time Alphard died. These were all signs of prolonged malnutrition, thus not from this one-time event of severe blood loss. Her months away hadn't been kind to her and had taken something out of her.

Seeing her like this made him ashamed of himself and the rest of the Slytherins she's made so much effort into training. They'd all been waiting for Hermione as though she was a miracle that would solve all their problems, even though she probably had a mountain of problems of her own to deal with. The idea of burdening her with their stupid decisions and actions on those tiny frail shoulders felt abusive, yet Severus couldn't bring himself to tell her to rest, to take a break, to let them figure everything out.

"Thank you for the delicious food." She placed her spoon down. Surprisingly, she ate most of the food, only if it was to appease the elves. "Dobby, could you please go gather the other two boys and meet us in Lucius's study."

The elf nodded enthusiastically and disappeared with a crack.

"Come, Severus. Let's rectify your fuck ups."

…

The four of them stood in Lucius's study in silence, waiting for Hermione to start the conversation, but all she did was stand in the room, staring into the fire.

"If you aren't talking, I'm going back to bed." Lucius drawled. Regulus protested, but Hermione simply looked up, eyeing the glass of whiskey in his hand.

"Where's Narcissa?"

"That has nothing to do with the kidnapped Black and Avery's betrayal."

"Left, did she?" She mused. "Honestly, good for her. You treated her rather terribly."

Lucius's knuckles around the glass cup whitened, and his jaw clicked. "Watch yourself, Miss Evans. You are in my home."

"Pinky!" Hermione called out. The old elf cracked into the study with bewildered eyes. The small creature burst into loud sobs as soon as he saw her. He ran and hugged Hermione tightly wailing something at her that was incomprehensible through his tears.

She pet him softly on the head, consoling the elf.

"Mistress! Pinky was so worried! How could Miss leave Pinky without saying a word! How could Miss leave and not send a single letter?!"

"I'm sorry." She told them elf. She lifted her eyes and looked at the other Slytherins in the room. "I'm sorry." She repeated.

"Pinky, I need you to do me a favour."

"No! Last time Miss asked Pinky to do a favour, Miss left Pinky for months! Months!"

"It's different this time," she promised. "I'm not going anywhere this time. This time, you're going somewhere."

"M-Me?"

"Go search every Black residence or affiliated hotel in the country and the continent. Find Narcissa Malfoy and bring her back home. By force if needed. Please be careful though, she's preg—she might be pregnant."

"Miss will be here when Pinky returns?" The old elf was older than all of them but sounded like a child at that moment.

"Yeah. I promise." She held out her pinky. "A pinky promise for Pinky is a promise that can never be broken as long as you and I still love each other."

"Pinky promise." He hooked his pinky finger around hers. "Pinky is very happy Miss is back. Pinky wants to go visit Master Alphard's tree with Miss very soon."

Hermione nodded and the elf apparated in search of Narcissa Black.

"Next item on the list," she turned to the boys. "Legilimens!"

The assault was sudden and harsh. With no warning, all three boys fell to the ground, holding their heads as she plowed through their defences. If Hermione's normal Legilimancy felt like someone carefully snooping around their minds, more elegant and discreet, this time it was more aggressive and less orderly, as though she was ransacking their minds for information.

"Aragghhhhh! Enough! ENOUGH!" Lucius was the first of them who managed to push Hermione out of his mind. One by one, they managed to build their barriers against her assault.

"Sloppy and underpracticed. I'm shocked you boys attempted to trick Voldemort with your shit minds," she shook her head. "I assume none of you bothered prepping Sirius for Legilimency either."

"Sirius is a good Occlumens. He's had talent since we were kids." Regulus explained.

Hermione let out a sigh, she knew Sirius's mind was strong and that children with the Black lineage tended to have talent in Occlumency, but that didn't mean he could overpower Voldemort.

"These are the goals for this rescue mission; 1) Get Sirius Black out of Voldemort's grasp in one sane piece. 2) Save Avery and his family."

"What?!" The boys jumped in protest, but Hermione already had her hand up to silence them.

"What if Voldemort was holding your mum or Lily hostage?" She asked Severus. "Your wife and unborn child?" Lucius couldn't refute it. "Your brother?" Regulus looked away.

"He had no choice. Voldemort doesn't give an option when he gives out a command. Avery's compromise with Sirius instead of Lily already put his life and his parents' lives on the line. He made that dangerous compromise for me. The fact that he was willing to take the punishment that came with that compromise speaks more about his bravery and loyalty than anything else. I'm asking all of you to help me save him and his family. He gave you 24 hours. When you couldn't find me within that time frame meant that he couldn't wait any longer. Let's not be hasty and point fingers so easily. There are circumstances and people in our lives that we'd drop everything and risk anything for."

"But Hermione," Regulus looked wretched. "He took my brother!"

"And he will face consequences," she promised. "But we need to him alive to give it."

"Fine," Lucius nodded. "So what's the plan?"

…

"Angel!"

The workers in Deepest Desires were getting ready to open for the night when they saw a familiar redhead enter the establishment.

"Angel, my dear!" Verma, also known as Madame Virtue, ran to her and enveloped her in a tight hug, suffocating her with her breasts. "We've missed you! How was your…vacation?"

"It was eventful," she smiled as the other girls greeted her, cooing over her 'tan'. "Actually, I need to talk to you and Mr. Vampire privately."

Verma looked uncertainly at the vampire, who stared hungrily at Hermione.

"Let's meet in the office, shall we?"

The three of them walked toward the narrow stairway that led to the office upstairs, and as soon as they were out of sight from the other workers, Laisren slammed her against the wall and bared his long fangs to her jugular vein.

"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't drink you dry," he growled.

"Jordan Walsh."

His breath trembled as he tried to contain his thirst and anger. His red eyes burned into hers until he reluctantly pushed himself away. He stormed up the stairs, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Verma turned to her with a curious look, but Hermione ignored it and walked up the steps after him.

The three of them sat down in the office, all of them seemingly expressing different emotions. Verma seemed stressed, glancing nervously back and forth between her head of security and her best whore. Mr. Vampire looked equally furious and hungry. Angel looked unfazed by the intense glare from the vampire, instead, she looked serious.

"I'm not coming back."

"WHAT?!" The two stood up abruptly, knocking their chairs back. Hermione blinked slowly as the chairs banged loudly on the floor. Perhaps she could have approached that a little more subtly.

"You have to come back! Angel, you're- you're our star! You're our most paid and most requested girl! You can't not come back! Wh—" she paused. "Did you get scouted by someone else? Are they claiming that they'll pay you more? Darling, we are Deepest Desires. We are the hottest and most luxurious nightclub in all of Knockturn Alley! Even if someone is giving you a better cut, the customers that you'll get there versus he—"

"I wasn't scouted. I'm not going somewhere else. I'm just done."

"You're done?!"

"Verma, we started this so we could have enough money to get out of this shit neighbourhood. I have the money, so I'm done."

"B-but what about me? What about the girls? Your clients that have been hounding me for the past few days about your whereabouts?"

"I'm not forcing you to quit with me, Verma if that's not what you want. The girls will be fine. I've labelled my client list according to their kinks and style, and how dangerous they are, so the girls can have a good look and disperse it amongst themselves however they want. As for my clients," Hermione looked thoughtful. She suddenly dropped her voice low and mischievous. "I heard a rumour that Angel picked up some nasty succubus during her vacation. A vixen, that whore might be, but no sex is worth getting your life literally sucked out by a sex demon."

"But—" Seeing her adamant behaviour, Madame Virtue knew it was no use. She was a businesswoman, sure, but she also knew the terrors and abuse that this work brought. As heartless as she wanted to be at the thought of the piles of gold by those pretentious Purebloods, this girl had changed her life.

"Don't ever come back."

"Verma…" the woman rushed to the corner and opened their safe. She took out a large bag, heavy and jangling, and pushed it into her arms.

"Take it. It's yours."

"Verma, this is too—"

"I may run a business in the redlight district, but it's not a dishonest one. It's your cut for this place as the co-owner."

"I…" Hermione looked down at the pile of galleons in her hand. It was more than enough to pay Regulus and Avery back for the money they'd lent her before she disappeared. "Thank you."

"You should go, we're going to open soon." Verma readjusted her corset waist and walked out of the office. And that was it. Hermione's short stint in Knockturn Alley's notorious redlight district was over.

"Follow me, Mr. Vampire. We have our own promises to fulfill, don't we?"

The two walked silently out of the office. She could feel their others' stare, but she paid them no mind as she walked out of Deepest Desires for the last time in her life.

They were an odd duo, the whore and the vampire.

"How did you meet her? Jordan, I mean."

"Her mother and I were friends. Jordan was the baby I told Emily to get rid of."

"But she didn't."

"Em always wanted to have a family. Many people in this area come from broken homes. When she was alive, she tried to give that kid the best childhood she could. Breakfast at the Leaky, books, toys, and so much more. All of the money she had after paying rent for her shitty place was put into ensuring that Jordan has everything she wants."

"But she got sick."

He nodded. "Yeah, she fucking got sick. Good medicine is hard to come by here and even harder to pay for."

"You care about these people, don't you?" She looked around at the girls who worked their corners, their pimps in the background, people drinking and others simply going about their life, unfazed that the so-called debauchery surrounding them. "Good" society shunned them and labelled them as bad people, but the reality was, they were simply people who were placed or born into a crappy situation than others.

She felt terrible that she had to use them.

"This place has been my home for longer than you've been alive, girl. It's far from perfect, but it is home."

They reached her tiny flat with the rickety door.

"Are you sure anything's left in there? Burglary is common in these parts."

She waved her arm, telling him to try and break her door down.

He raised a brow and slammed into the door with vampire strength only to be pushed back with even more force.

"Wha—"

"It's a simple vector spell. A vector is simply magnitude and direction. When you apply force to the door, the magic redirects all of that magnitude back at you, in the opposite direction instead of absorbing it. The counterspell is quite easy, but I was pretty confident that no burglar from these streets would be able to think of it."

"I have no idea what you just said."

"It's muggle maths, linear algebra?"

"Do I look like I studied muggle maths?"

"In your long life, you never devoted a portion of it to learning the most universal language in the world?" She tsked her tongue as she muttered the counterspell. The door creaked open with a small touch, "You should consider it, it's beautiful once you get the hang of it."

He rapidly blinked as he entered her space. The tiny flat was filled to the brim with notes, pictures, and strings that connected them all.

"What is all this?"

"The reason I spent time here in Knockturn."

The things he was seeing made him gasp. She was linking corruption, fraud, kidnapping, murders and more with some of the most elite members of Wizarding England's society.

"Dear Merlin," he touched the walls where everything was pinned, scraps of notes with the workers from Deepest Desire's handwriting on them. "These are the payments for their protection."

Hermione nodded.

"I collect them at the end of the night and investigate during the day."

"When do you sleep?"

She just smiled.

"You're here for Jordan," she moved to the corner of the room where she kept a safe. With a quick turn of the magical knob, the latch unlocked and opened revealing a fair bit of galleons and a small note.

"This is the last address that I confirmed her at. This was just under 2 months ago."

"This is…a muggle town."

Hermione nodded, "I gave her some money to start a new life. She was never a match for this place anyway, don't you agree?"

"After a certain point, I was convinced you had killed her."

"Yet you worked with me."

"I hated you, but you look like her. Your blood was too good. And…when you live this long, death becomes a passing news. If she died making the stupid decision of trusting you, I thought that it must've been her fate."

She knew the vampire was not necessarily a good person or a bad one. He was complex with a long life that had complicated him even more, she felt attuned to what he was saying. Hermione was also embarking on a mission to work with the man who killed all her loved ones. She would seem devoted, obsessed even. No one would understand.

"I suggested she try working at a hair salon."

The corners of his mouth quirked up. "Yeah, she'd do well in that."

"Here," she lifted a pouch and dropped it into his hand. "It's the recipe for tasting my blood forever."

"What do you mean?"

"I made a unique mix of Blood Replenishing Potion and Polyjuice Potion. You have my real hair in there and a detailed scroll of the recipe. It'll be tough to brew, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to taste my blood until my hair runs out. Make sure you make it last. I made sure to give you some length so that you can cut the hair into even shorter pieces to make it last longer. I'm sorry, but this is the best I can give you."

He looked at the pouch and the note with Jordan's address.

"You fulfilled your promise. It's more than most humans," he looked up at her, still staring into those icy blue eyes. "You know I can see what you'll look like if I just brew Polyjuice potion with your hair, right?"

Hermione nodded.

"I wouldn't suggest it. I'm planning on becoming a pretty notorious criminal after this."

He frowned, focused on her heart rate, then looked back at her. "You're not joking."

"I also rarely joke, Mr. Vampire."

Laisren Byrne had lived many lifetimes and had come across even more humans. In those many meetings, he'd met many who were pretty, bold, intelligent, dumb, kind, and cruel, but they always faded from his memories eventually. He was certain this girl would never disappear from his mind. There would never be someone who impressed him so immensely that he was sure he'd remember for the rest of his long life.

"I am in your debt, young girl. If you ever need the vampires. We will come to your aid."

…

There was a tea set with biscuits and cake waiting for her when she flooed into the Headmaster's office.

"Good evening, Miss Evans." He greeted softly. "You look like yourself this time."

"You look dishevelled, sir."

"Yes," he put his hand on his long beard and patted it down. "The news of Mr. Black's disappearance has gotten a number of people quite frazzled, as you can imagine. You look," his eyes peered through his half-moon shaped glasses at her. She was paler than he remembered her being, the darkness beneath her eyes startling. She looked as light as a feather like a strong wind would knock her down. She carried a small purse with her, keeping it close to her body. "Calm."

"I think we've established that freaking out and running around uselessly is a Gryffindor trait." Hermione sat down and poured a cup of tea for herself. She lifted the cup to her lips, he watched her carefully with those intelligent blue eyes. She set the cup down without taking a sip.

"With that being said, I think we both know that I am not a Gryffindor."

He smiled at her.

"Let me make a new batch of tea for us. This one's gotten cold."

He flicked his wand, making the liquid in her cup disappear. He stood at the small kitchenette in the corner of his office and poured out the old water in the kettle, only to fill it up with more water with the Aguamenti spell and place it over a small stove.

Everything they did was a mind game. From the tea setup to the pleasantries that were exchanged despite the dire situation.

The truth was, veritaserum was colourless, odourless, and tasteless. Hermione had no way of knowing if her original cup of tea had any of the truth-telling potion in it, but if she was in his position, drugging her tea was what she would do.

Dumbledore's over-the-top show of starting a new pot of tea from scratch was exactly that, a show. She knew how the old wizard functioned, if only because she worked in a similar fashion. They were allies, but they could never fully trust each other because their morals were compromised if it meant it was for the greater good. However, it was precisely that mentality that made the other person reliable and dependable as long as their goals were aligned.

"The muggle detective on my case for my family's fire, how is he?"

"He's drinking his bodyweight in alcohol in every cheap pub in London, but other than liver failure, there is no imminent threat."

Hermione nodded.

"Sirius will be safe. At least for now."

"How do you suppose that?"

"He's a hostage. No use for a hostage if they're dead."

"So you'll save him?"

"No."

The kettle whistled loudly, stopping whatever Dumbledore was about to say.

"If I run in and save him, he becomes my weakness. Voldemort will know this and use him against me again and again. Lily is enough of a weakness, but at least that one is understandable and negotiable to him since she's my family. Blood matters to him, even if it's only because there's a possibility to make another me."

"Miss Evans, I implore you to reconsider," Dumbledore leaned forward, pushing his glasses up as he thought about what she just said. "If they figure out that you won't come to save him, he will no longer be a useful hostage. They will kill him."

"Then it's a good thing that the Order will come and save him."

"Will we?" Dumbledore raised his brow. "How presumptuous of you, Miss Evans."

"I'm not presuming anything. I know you'll do as I ask."

"Miss Evans I cannot put my people at risk for one—"

"You haven't let me explain." Hermione piled the digestives into the center while using the almond biscuits to surround them. "The order," she pushed the almond biscuits towards the center, crowding the digestives. "Will execute a successful coup in the Ministry."

"A coup?"

"To regain control of the DMLE so that the crimes that are happening around all across Wizarding England finally come to a stop."

"How does this help Sirius Black."

Hermione stood up, picked up the whistling kettle and poured the hot water into the teapot.

"Sugar?"

"Yes," he nearly stuttered his words. "Two please."

She placed two sugar cubes into his teacup.

"Milk?"

"No, I'm alright."

She sat back down, letting the tea steep. "Voldemort will not allow the DMLE to fall back into the hands of the Light. His possession of the Department is vital for the complete takeover of the Ministry. He will deploy all of his best soldiers to stop the coup, no matter what."

"Which means that the security around Sirius will loosen."

"Exactly. If you pull it off, you'll be killing two birds with one stone. None of your fighters have to risk their lives to save an insignificant Pureblooded student, they'll be risking their lives for something that they'll deem worth it for the greater good."

"And what will you be doing, Miss Evans?"

Hermione smirked, "According to Slughorn, I'll be doing the only thing I know how to do properly. Absolutely nothing."

Dumbledore watched his student pour his cup of tea and then her own. If everything went according to her plan, Sirius Black would be saved and the DMLE retaken. No one would know her involvement, no one would even see her face including Sirius Black himself. He wouldn't know her love and devotion, he'd think he was abandoned.

"This is… a good plan."

"Thank you, I thought of it on my way here."

The casualness of her brilliance shook him to the core.

"I'm assuming you have a plan for the coup?"

Hermione smiled as she sipped her cup, "Of course, but I wouldn't object to opinions from your war counsel since I did come up with the whole plan in less than 20 minutes."

"And I'm also assuming that Sirius Black will never know of your involvement in his rescue?"

She remained smiling, but it no longer had any warmth.

"The coup will happen in three days. Any longer will be too long of a wait, we'd be risking Sirius's physical and mental well-being."

Dumbledore nodded.

"The coup will start like any other, with a protest. Currently, there is a rise in criminal activity in Knockturn Alley." Something Hermione had made sure of. "Your main group of Order members will hide amongst the protesters who are simply there to protest the DMLE and Auror Department's inability to capture the criminals from Knockturn who are spreading drugs, sex, and violence to innocent civilians."

"How will the protest turn into a coup?"

She reached into her purse and pulled out a heaping pile of little pieces of parchment. She placed it in front of him with a proud smile.

"How else? We ignite the fury of the public."

Dumbledore reached forward picked one of the pieces of parchment and unravelled it, and then another one, and then another. Embezzlement, fraud, affairs, bribes, domestic and workplace abuse, sexual harassment, rape, and so much more. The crimes didn't stop within Wizarding England, they continued in the muggle world and internationally. The things he was reading made him gasp, dropping his tea with a clatter onto the floor.

"These are…"

"Dirt on every single idiot in power in the Ministry, in Wizengamot, in the Board of Directors for St. Mungo's, the Governors of Hogwarts, you name it, I've got it. It's mostly purebloods since they hold most of the top positions, but there are a handful of half-bloods and muggleborns too."

"Are these—"

"Real? Most likely. I haven't had the chance to check all of their validity, but most of them, while slightly embellished, are not entirely false."

"What have you been doing the last few months, Miss Evans?"

The small smile slid off her face.

"I will not move my fighters until you tell me what you've done to acquire this information."

"Professor…" The way she trailed off broke his old, mended heart.

"Miss Evans, if you sold your soul for this information, I cannot—"

"We do things, you and I, for the greater good, don't we? Regardless of whether we want to or not. Whether is right or not, as long as the end justifies the means? This is no different."

His hands shook at the sheer volume of information she'd acquired and at the thought of all the things she needed to do to acquire them. "What did… How could… You are a child."

She shook her head. "No. I haven't been a child since I was born."

"Just because you are a Seer doesn't make you less of a child."

"Just because you have a white beard doesn't make you more of an adult," she whispered. She set her finished teacup down. "I trust that you'll use the information wisely. I know a man who owns a news outlet, it's no Daily Prophet, but it's something."

"Which news outlet are you speaking of?"

"The Quibbler," she nodded at his perplexed expression. "It's small and mostly deals with obscure magical creatures and their properties. But news like this? It'd make it jump to new heights. Speak with Xenophilius Lovegood. Tell him that his wife's friend, Hermione Evans sent you. Pandora should be able to convince him."

Dumbledore remained looking confused and rather dumbstruck.

"Discuss this with Moody, give him the options. He'll know exactly how to use this information to maximize the effects."

"Miss Evans…" He paused. He'd never been so speechless in his long life. He'd never been so impressed with anyone, let alone anyone so young. He also hadn't felt so heart-wrenchingly sad for anyone since the death of his sister. "I'm so sorry. As your Headmaster, as your ally, and as an adult of this world," he stood up and reached out to hold her hand. A tear dripped down his face. "I'm so very sorry."

She stared at his hand for a long time before pulling away.

"Good luck, Professor. And please remember, timing is everything."

…