AN: So we are back for Chapter twenty one, and I am quite proud of this one! When I wrote it a few months ago, it was what spurred me to continue and take the story in a new direction. So I hope you enjoy it too. Don't forget I am open to all reviews/comments/suggestions.

Chapter Twenty One- A Strand of A Memory

-MP-

As she promised Harry the previous day, Hermione had taken a day off from work for the sole purpose of performing some initial examinations on Minerva. She had taken plenty of research home that evening, Ron seemed to be catching on so she looped him in on what she could. Knowing instinctively that Harry wouldn't mind, and Ron would be fully supportive.

Except, Ron wasn't as supportive as she had assumed. In fact, he seemed to tense up at the suggestion that anything untoward was going on with Minerva.

"Well y'know 'Mione sometimes we look for an easy explanation for the hard stuff."

Hermione was sat across from him the living room, her head tucked away inside an old volume of alchemic magic. She looked up at her Husband, feeling a sense of surprise churning away in her stomach.

"But what if there is something more, Ron? And we chose to do nothing."

Ron was sat up with his elbows resting on his knees. "Maybe that's not the worst thing in the world, that's all I'm saying." He shrugged before looking away.

Hermione rested her hand on the book, subconsciously bookmarking the page she was on.

"What?" She barked. "You would be okay with that? With everything we've been through?"

Ron focused his blue eyes sharply on his wife, his brow furrowed slightly in frustration. "No!" He bit back. "Because of everything we have been through!"

After hearing Ron's last sentence, she felt her heart almost stop in its tracks because she finally understood her Husband's reservations, the Weasley family had been hit particularly hard by both Wizarding Wars so it only made sense that they wanted to stay as far away from dark magic as possible.

She slowly closed the book and placed it on the empty sofa space beside her. Her expression softened, and her brows knitted together as they often did when she felt concerned or anxious.

"I'm sorry Ron, I should have talked to you about this before agreeing to anything with Harry. We're not teenagers anymore."

"That's not what I'm saying Hermione." Ron said, his gaze focused entirely on his wife. "It's just, now we have an understanding of what the consequences are in getting involved in stuff like this. I dunno if I am ready to do that again."

She looked across at the red-headed man, soaking in the sincerity in his voice. There was a choice to be made but Hermione felt herself swinging between her two best friends, but was yet to land on either.

"Sorry 'Mione, It's just I worry about Mum y'know and talking about this kinda stuff again just reminds me of things I'd rather forget."

Hermione got up and joined Ron on the other sofa, leaning into his side gently and sighing intu his warmth. "I understand that Ron, and I should have spoken to you. But this is just an examination on Minerva. Nothing more at this stage, and that's a promise."

Ron squeezed her thigh and nodded. "Okay then, let's start there."

She cuddled herself into her Husband and felt his protective arm wrap around her, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as he summoned the remote to him. Flicking it on to find something to watch.

"Do you want to visit Fred soon?" Hermione asked tentatively. She looked up to find her Husband smiling in agreement.

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Great, that's settled then."

-MP-

It was early evening and Hermione felt prepared enough to conduct some basic tests to search for traces of memory magic; she had agreed the day before to meet Harry outside St Mungo's so he could lead her to Minerva's ward without attracting unwanted attention.

"Hey Harry." She said calmly, when she spotted him leaning against a wall nearby the St Mungo's hidden entrance.

"Hey." He answered back, he cocked his head in the direction of the abandoned shop with the creepy shop window mannequins. "It's this way."

Swiftly, they had entered and found their way to the Janus Thickey Ward which Minerva was staying in, and without further improvement in her condition she would likely be staying in for some time.

They spoke in hushed whispers throughout their entire walk there, as only Healers employed by St Mungo's were allowed to do any sort of tests or experimentations on patients so they had to be very careful carrying out the task they had set themselves.

"So, what exactly is the plan here Hermione?"

The pair had almost arrived at the ward which Minerva was staying in, Harry couldn't help noticing the nervous expression that Hermione was wearing. It was curious to him how much different their approach to these situations was, especially as they were no longer teenagers.

A thought that plagued him recently was how in his younger days fighting Voldemort didn't give them the same reservations as he felt about it now as an adult. They had families, children, to think of which put a whole new perspective on the idea of placing any of them in danger.

Once they arrived at the double doors, Harry tugged Hermione's hand and pulled her to the corner seating area. "You do have a plan, right?" Harry looked at her with worry contorting his features.

"Of course I do!" She bit back. Harry recognised that feisty side of Hermione stronger than anything he had seen so far on the journey to visit Minerva.

Her shoulders slumped, as she sighed heavily. "I'm just mulling over things in my head, that's all. This is some advanced magic, and it's not like I am dabbling with memory magic on a daily basis."

"Fair point." Harry added, adopting a calm and even tone in his voice. "Talk me through it."

She smiled briefly at Harry and sat down on the nearby bench which prompted Harry to do the same. The drab cream walls of the hospital corridors surrounded them, as many of the portraits seemed to eye them suspiciously but they pressed ahead regardless.

"Well, magical explanations of memory are not too dissimilar to already established muggle ideas. See, they explain that messages in the brain are carried by neurons. They form almost like a webbed structure to process sensory information from the world around us."

Harry nodded slowly, taking in the information. "Like, when we touch something hot and we pull away quickly?"

"Yeah." Hermione replied. "The difference between muggle explanations and wizards, is that muggles don't view memories as something tangible. They explain how they are stored, retrieved and changed over time but a neurosurgeon couldn't pluck one out and show it to you."

"But wizards have gone beyond that explanation, they say that magic allows us to see the same webbed like structure that makes up memory. We see an example of it when we pull out a memory for a pensieve."

"Okay…." Harry said slowly, the crease between his brows deepened with thought. "So you want to look into Minerva's mind for this webbed like structure?"

"Sort of." She said, smiling at her friend's understanding. "I want to see what it looks like and compare it to baseline drawings I have found in the research I've been doing. I'm looking for signs of tampering, or anything really that stands out."

The pair stood and turned around to face the double doors that would take them to Minerva's ward.

Harry placed his palm on the door but froze before he had the chance to open it. "So, how are we going to pull this off in there?" Harry nodded towards the doors. "There are plenty of medi-witches around and not to mention the patients."

Hermione was much lighter in her response this time. "You'll keep them distracted of course."

"Of course." He repeated, as he pushed open the door and both of them made their way inside.

As usual, Minerva was on her bed with several pillows propping her up. Her head was buried in a book from the library, this time it was charms instead of transfiguration but it seemed to maintain her attention nevertheless.

She looked up from her book and smiled at Harry, her gaze then quickly fell onto Hermione as her face crinkled with confusion.

Harry went to her side and placed his hand on her arm. "Don't worry Minerva, do you remember who this is?"

Hermione bit her lip as she allowed Minerva's eyes to wander over her, searching for something she found recognisable. The lack of anything in Minerva's eyes felt like a twisting dagger in her stomach, she knew of course that it was unlikely that Minerva would remember anything about her but the reality still hurt much more than she had expected it to.

"I'm sorry…" Minerva's weak voice croaked, she looked desperately at Harry as if she had done something wrong.

"No.. no…" Harry soothed, instinctively rubbing Minerva's arm to calm her down. "This is Hermione and she's our friend. In fact, she was one of your lion cubs too."

Minerva smiled at that, and at Hermione too. Which Hermione was more thankful for than she would let on.

"If it's okay with you Minerva. Hermione is just going to run a couple of tests on you, it's nothing to worry about, she just wants to help."

Again, Minerva focused on Hermione who still remained at the foot of the bed. After a long moment she nodded in agreement, and that meant Harry and Hermione could start putting their plan into practice.

Harry stepped away from Minerva and glanced around the room, signalling to Hermione that she was clear to make a start.

So she pulled out her wand and whispered a light sleeping charm on Minerva so she wouldn't feel too distressed when conducting the tests. It probably wasn't strictly necessary but Hermione didn't want to risk anything since memory magic wasn't something she practised regularly.

She then placed her wand gently on Minerva's temple and closed her eyes, she spoke the incantation "memoria deambulatio.'' Slowly and clearly to begin to test.

What enveloped Hermione's mind took her completely by surprise, she looked around the hospital room and whilst the furniture looked the same everything else certainly did not. It was dark, but not just with an absence of light, the air around them seemed thick like treacle but with a rushing echo which deafened you.

Hermione stumbled backwards and looked around, stepping out into the main section of the room to find it completely empty. No medi-wtiches, no patients and no Harry. She went back to Minerva's bed and strangely she was still there- laying perfectly still.

After rushing to her side and touching her skin, it was cold and damp to the touch. It was beyond anything Hermione could reason and understand. What had she done? Was it reversible?

Above her sounded the echo of running children, she looked up and found that white smoky tendrils trailed the room and beyond it. Much like a tangled spider web or strands of glue. There were moving figures along them, visible, audible for just a second before disappearing back within the substance.

It was a memory, Hermione thought suddenly. Wondering whether she had inadvertently placed herself within Minerva's mind, perhaps this spell revealed a way to explore a person's memory?

With her heart thudding in her chest, and a horrible feeling of confusion and panic swirling within her she left the disturbingly cold body of Minerva behind and followed the trail of memories out of the room.

The further she walked, she thought she heard voices she recognised. Positive that she had caught glimpses of Dumbledore, Snape and Harry as she progressed.

It didn't seem like a hospital environment anymore but instead a long, dark corridor with denser and denser tendrils woven throughout.

Doors lined the corridor and once opened she would catch a moment of various scenes, such as the first year sorting ceremony, Minerva's Hogwarts graduation, waking up to a sleeping Albus at her side and an order of the phoenix meeting with blurry version of Sirius, Remus and Molly in the background.

Hermione froze to the spot, struggling to take everything in. It suddenly all felt too much, she wasn't sure what she was looking for or if she would find anything. She felt like she was seeing things she shouldn't, and people she missed dearly. It was a terrible mixture of emotions engulfing her all at once.

-MP-

At that same moment the sound of something hitting the floor pulled Harry's attention from the main room and back to Minerva's bedside. Hermione had dropped her wand to the floor, her eyes were closed but moving rapidly behind her eyelids and when Harry tried to get her attention she didn't stir.

He felt alarmed, confused, and quite unsure of what to do next. He moved to Minerva's bedside, understanding quickly that a sleeping charm had been placed on her and he hadn't the remotest idea of what Hermione was doing.

Harry walked around Hermione who seemed to be in some sort of trance, he touched her hand and jumped back. Her skin felt ice cold and clammy, almost too wet to be called clammy. It was like every inch of her was suddenly damp.

Just then, he heard Minerva's medi-wizard Aeden talking to his assistant as he walked towards Minerva's bed.

After looking at both Hermione and Minerva several times, panic intensified inside as he racked his brain for an idea, to prevent whatever was going to happen next. He encountered many tricky situations as an Auror, but something about a situation involving your close friends throws everything out of balance.

Aedan began to pull back the curtain but Harry jumped in front of him heading him off. "Aedan!" He beamed, as he stepped sideways once more to obscure what was behind.

"Mr Potter." The medi-wizard responded. "Can I just? I need to examine Minerva."

Harry shook his head, his expression probably looked wild-eyed and crazy. He folded his arms against his chest and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Well uh…she's resting."

Aedan scowled at Harry, obviously not appreciating the delay in his rounds. "No matter, I will be in and out in a minute.

"Actually!" Harry interrupted. "She's sleeping…. So…"

Again, Aedan seemed to eye Harry with some level of suspicion. "We can wak-"

"No!" Harry interrupted again, this time his voice rising to almost that of a shout in his own desperation to drive the medi-wizard away.

Aedan cocked his eyebrow at Harry, and then spoke lowly to his assistant about rearranging to schedule for the evening.

"Fine. I will return later."

The relief of that sentence made Harry drop his shoulders almost to the floor. Aeden began to turn away from Harry, but something niggled at him which caused him to question Harry again.

"Is everything okay, Mr Potter?"

Harry paused, Aedan's face seemed stoic and stern. He couldn't read much into what Aedan was thinking or suspected, and decided it was best to keep him at arm's length as much as possible.

"Yeah.. yeah! Of course. You know, just a busy day at the… uh…. Ministry." Harry offered.

Aedan smiled in understanding. "Ah… well that is understandable. Well, have a good evening Mr Potter. I'm sure we will have a catch up soon regarding Minerva's care."

"Yep.. yes.. sure will." He nodded enthusiastically, as another wave of relief washed over him as the medi-wizard walked away.

-MP-

Hermione was still following the increasingly dark corridors. She examined the tendrils around her, above her, raking them closely with her eyes to find anything that stood out, that was different.

She tried to block out what she could hear or see around her, sometimes a booming man's voice would drown out everything around her and make the hair on her arms stand on edge.

Other times, there would be shouting or the light of duelling spells that would catch her off guard, unprepared.

She pressed on until the corridor felt like it was growing smaller and darker around her. She stood still and looked at the pale, silvery white memories dancing in the air. When something finally stood out as different.

As the corridor grew darker, the more connections between the tendrils had seemed to be broken. Hermione couldn't tell what had caused this except for the fact that where the tendrils were separated. The wispy, thin ends swayed gently against each other. Almost, like they wanted to knit back together but instead slipped against each other endlessly.

Hermione carried on walking until the corridor became so small she had to bow her head, hunch over until eventually she was crawling. Into a space that felt too dark and cramped, pushing apprehension behind and for the first time she felt the rumbling of claustrophobia instead.

She wanted to back out, to get away and find her way back to Harry. For an instant she made the decision to go back when her head suddenly and forcefully made contact with a hard surface in front of her.

The thud of it rang in her ears and stung at her skin, she rubbed it briefly feeling it throb underneath before she began to explore whatever it was in front of her. Frantically palming at the cold material until her fingers wrapped around a handle which she immediately pushed open.

Hesitantly, she reached inside and felt around, glad to find the cramped space she was in continued along past the doorway. The brief joy it brought quickly dissipated into fear, so against her better judgement she crawled inside.

As soon as she had crossed the threshold the room took on a different look altogether.

Multicoloured orbs of light seemed to flash on and off around the room. Illuminating different parts of it as they drifted around.

Her heart pounded faster than it had ever done so before, her breath was rapid, she was sweating and her chest heaved up and down almost painfully.

She looked around, her head swivelling trying to make sense of what the lights revealed to her in second by second snapshots. Rapid flashes, bursts of light repeating over and over like lightning against a dark summer sky.

A green light flashed and for a second Hermione thought somebody was standing nearby.

The green light was followed by a burgundy one. This one had finally cast enough light to make out the face of whoever stood near to her. With a gasp at what she saw, Hermione froze again. Rooted to the spot.

It was Minerva.

Or some version of her.

The woman across the room had noticed her as well. Her eyes were wide and panicked, and what confused Hermione the most was that the woman who looked like Minerva, seemed to recognise her too.

"Hermione!" The woman shouted.

Hermione went to step forward when the woman's voice sounded loudly again. This time with an authority that would stop anybody in their tracks.

"NO!"

She froze.

"DON'T MOVE!"

Hermione looked around the room, the lights swimming around even more rapidly, casting their momentary bright glow one after the other, red, geen, blue, amber… teal… pink… anything you could think of.

She turned her head and noticed a flash of purple light illuminating somebody else in the room. Except, this person she shouldn't be able to see at all.

A wizened face, and a long white beard. A man she hadn't seen in over 20 years stood, unmovable in the corner. His eyes a black chasm, his arms limp by his side. Whatever was masquerading as that man, wasn't something to be messed with.

Minerva's voice shouted for a final time. "HERMIONE GO. DO NOT STAY HERE!"

She looked around rapidly, scared and confused. Unsure of what anything she had seen so far meant, she knew none of it was normal, typical.

Hermione closed her eyes and thought desperately of her children, Ron,.. Harry. She wanted nothing more than to get back to them all, away from the crushing darkness of the world she found herself in. She just wanted it to end.

-MP-

Harry repeatedly looked at both Hermione and Minvera, he kept going back to check the corridors and then to his friends. After Aedan had left he had picked Hermione up and placed her in the hospital chair next to Minerva's bed.

He had gone to touch Hermione's arm when she suddenly collapsed to the ground into a heap on the floor.

Minerva gasped and looked horrified out from the bed at Harry and then at Hermione. She said nothing, except remain in a state of terror.

Immediately he dove to the floor and scooped Hermione up, he felt for her pulse and thankfully found it but that only provided momentary relief. He felt her head, watched her chest fall up and down and guessed she must have fallen unconscious somehow.

He turned to lay her gently on the floor so he could go and get a medi-witch to help him when a man standing at the bedside curtain cast a shadow over them.

Harry paused and swallowed, thinking perhaps Aedan had returned to find out what all of the commotion was about.

Except it wasn't Aedan. Instead he stood up to find Gilderoy Lockhart looking at the three of them with a wildly giddy expression plastered all over his face.

"A bit of the old memory magic, eh, Mr Potter?" He asked in an oddly jovial tone.

Harry gulped and rubbed at his head. Finding himself in one of those rare occasions where he felt completely bewildered on what to do next, what would be the best course of action to get out of this scenario?

How come twenty years after leaving school he is still finding himself in ridiculous situations because of some half-cocked plan he and his friends had come up with.

For now, he hadn't got the time to figure all of this out. Instead, he had to deal with what was in front of him. He could hear Hermione stirring behind him, Minerva still hadn't spoken a word and that left him staring back at the joyful Gilderoy Lockhart that stood before him.

-MP-

"Well…"