Dawn didn't come until nearly a half hour after curfew had ended, so Hermione had to be very, very careful sneaking Sirius Black through the school, as there were more people about. It was much easier logistically, though, to just drape the invisibility cloak over him, and Hermione was careful to float him out of the way of any person or ghost coming anywhere near.

She floated him down a set of stairs to the second floor, and then down the hallway to an oft-forgotten bathroom, which she entered, locking the door behind her. She suspected Sirius was rather confused why she had brought him into a girls' room, and he was about to be even more confused now.

"Open," she hissed to the sink.

There was a thunk, and the sink sank into the ground and moved out of the way, disappearing. Hermione smiled.

"You'll go first," she informed Sirius, levitating him over to the open pipe. "Have fun!"

The dog disappeared rapidly down the slide with a muffled yowl, and Hermione hopped in after.

Once they were both at the bottom, Hermione dusted herself off and levitated him once more, carrying him down the dank corridor to the stone chamber at the end. A hissed password opened the way to the chamber, and once she emerged into the giant stone chamber, the dog began whimpering and thrashing about, clearly recognizing where they were.

"I'm going to set you down now," she warned him. "I'll unbind you, but if you make a move to hurt me, you'll regret it."

The dog nodded, and Hermione set him down, vanishing the ropes around him. There was a blur and suddenly Sirius was back, gaping around.

"The Chamber of Secrets?" he said hoarsely. "This is mad."

"It is, but very few people come down here," Hermione said. She paused. "…I should probably warn my coven not to come down here for a while. They're the other ones who can open the way."

Sirius scoffed. "Your whole coven knows Parseltongue?"

"Sure," Hermione said shrugging. "Very useful language to know, as it turns out."

Sirius snorted, before turning to look around at the imposing stone chamber. Hermione left him to it for a few minutes – it was grand, and its magnificence took a while to fully sink in upon first viewing.

When Sirius wandered back over, Hermione laid down the restrictions.

"As I said, you are my prisoner," she told him. "I will make sure you get fed, and I'll try to arrange for some sort of bath and new clothing as well for you. You will stay here while I verify your story. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"At times, I will come down here, sometimes with other people present," Hermione warned him. "During these times, I will need you to transform into a dog, and I will hide you somewhere in the chamber to keep you out of view. This is for your own protection, as well as for my own privacy."

"That's fine," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to see or hear your little Slytherin orgies anyway."

Hermione ignored him.

"If you try and escape, you will regret it," she told him. "If you do escape and are caught, the Aurors and dementors will not show you the same degree of respect and rationality I have shown you. You will receive the Dementor's Kiss, and Pettigrew will go free. I am your best chance at justice and freedom."

"I get it, girly," Sirius snapped. "Just leave me here to rot while you go 'verify'. It's better than a cave in Hogsmeade – definitely warmer, at the least."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Enjoy, then," she said. "I'll see you again – eventually."

She turned to go, making her way to the entrance when Sirius called out to her.

"Wait," he said. "Just one more thing."

Hermione turned.

"Yes?"

Sirius looked at her.

"Who are you?" he said finally. "I don't even know the name of my jailer – just that you're Harry's friend..."

Hermione smiled.

"My name's Hermione Granger," she said, sweeping him a fine curtsy. "I'm currently the Youth Representative to the Wizengamot, the Heroine of Hogwarts, and the first New Blood in over a century." She gave him a sweet smile. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sirius Black."

Verifying Sirius Black's story required a checklist. After Hermione had Time-Turned back far enough to get a decent night's sleep in her own bed, she set about verifying what parts she could. The increased security from Sirius Black's latest break-in made it somewhat easier – the professors were seen everywhere, patrolling parts of the castle, making it easy to track them down despite it being the weekend.

"A spell to detect an Animagus?" Professor McGonagall repeated, blinking.

"Yes," Hermione said. "One that will just tell you if an animal is an Animagus, without actually turning them back."

Professor McGonagall looked thoughtful.

"Not that I know of," she said. "There's the Homorphus Charm, but that will revert the Animagus to a human. I don't know if one exists."

Hermione sighed.

"Thanks, professor," she bid. "I was just curious."

She ran into Neville on her way to the third floor, who was pale. Concerned, she took him aside, coaxing the shaking boy into sitting with her on a cushion by a window.

"She—she's furious with me," Neville said miserably. "She banned me from Hogsmeade visits, gave me detention – she's even forbidden anyone from giving me the password into the tower. I'm going to be forced to wait outside the common room every night for somebody to let me in."

Hermione's sense of indignation and fury rose.

"Professor McGonagall's just going to make you lie there?" she demanded. "She's going to block you from getting to your bedroom?"

"Y-Yes?" Neville stammered. "I mean – it is my fault Sirius Black got in—"

"That's no reason to risk your safety," Hermione said dismissively. "Detention, sure. Points off, of course. Banned from Hogsmeade, okay. But putting you at risk for an accident, when she was the person to put that ridiculously ineffectual knight portrait there in the first place—"

"It's not like I can do anything about it," Neville said, shrugging hopelessly, and Hermione growled to herself, vowing to figure something out.

She left Neville to his worries as she continued her trek through the castle, turning his issue over and over again in her mind. Leaving Neville outside of the portrait hole brought up bad feelings for Hermione, ugly memories of Manny sleeping on a couch in the Ravenclaw common room for weeks on end. She had to think of something that would work – what kind of friend would she be to Neville if she just left him to languish there?

Professor Lupin wasn't one of the ones patrolling. Hermione managed to find him in his office, and though Lupin was surprised to see her, he let her in.

"More questions about what it's like to be a werewolf?" he asked, smiling wryly. "I hope there's no more painful silver runes this time."

"Not quite," Hermione said. "I need to blackmail you into answering a couple other questions, though." She settled into a chair across his desk from him, regarding him.

Lupin raised an eyebrow, mildly amused. "Oh?"

Hermione took a deep breath.

"When you were in school," she began, "did you spend your full moon nights with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew in Animagus form?"

Lupin choked on his spit, his eyes widening as he started coughing.

"I—I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me," Hermione said, folding her arms. "Were your friends unregistered Animagi? Or not?"

Lupin's eyes were wide, alert, and Hermione sighed.

"Look," she said. "James Potter is dead, Pettigrew's presumed dead, and Sirius Black's already sentenced to the Kiss. You admitting they broke the law isn't likely to make their lives substantially worse at this point."

Lupin's eyes widened even further.

"Presumed dead?" he breathed. "What do you mean?"

Hermione winced.

"Nothing," she said. "Nevermind that. Just – your friends were Animagi, yeah?"

Never breaking his gaze with her, Lupin slowly nodded. Hermione let out a breath she was holding.

"What animals were they?" she asked.

Lupin's eyes were still on hers.

"James was a stag," he said. "Sirius was a dog. And Pettigrew transformed into a rat."

Hermione nodded to herself. She'd expected as much.

"You saw them transform dozens of times, yeah?" she asked. "If you saw one of them in Animagus form again, would you be able to recognize them?"

"Absolutely," Lupin breathed.

Hermione sighed.

"That's all," she said, standing up. "Thanks, professor."

"Wait," Lupin pleaded. "Miss Granger – what are you—"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. She turned back to face him. "One more thing, professor."

Lupin was looking at her, his eyes faintly stunned.

"Yes?" he said.

"On the night Sirius Black sent Severus Snape to the Shrieking Shack," she said, "were you aware of his plan ahead of time?"

Lupin recoiled, visibly shuddering.

"No," he said quietly, vehemently. "When I learned, I was horrified. I would never want to condemn someone else to this life. Never."

"Not even your childhood enemy?" Hermione asked lightly.

"No one," Lupin vowed. His eyes seemed to glow amber with anger. "Once I learned what Sirius had done… we fought for days. I was livid. I felt used. I could have killed someone."

"Yes," Hermione said, nodding. "You could have."

Lupin was staring at her.

"Please believe me, Hermione," he said, surprising her with her first name. "I would have never wanted to harm Severus Snape in my right mind. But as a werewolf – I couldn't—it doesn't let you control yourself—"

"I understand entirely," Hermione said. "Thank you again, professor."

"Wait—!"

Hermione closed his office door behind her and ran down the corridor, not wanting to answer any counter-questions he might probe her with. She mentally ran over her checklist, figuring out what was next. She'd already verified that morning that Scabbers was missing a toe. The next big thing, really, was to determine if Sirius had or had not had a trial.

She sighed. That would be harder.

On a whim, Hermione took a detour on her way to the library, passing by the main staircase to the dungeons where Snape was on patrol. She stopped in front of him, looking up at him with her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth slightly on her toes.

"Miss Granger," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Professor," Hermione said, greeting him. "I was wondering something I thought you might be able to help with."

Snape seemed like he wanted to sigh.

"And what," he said, "has your curiosity burgeoning on such an illustrious day?"

Hermione bit her lip.

"How long of an Azkaban sentence," she said, "would a sixteen-year-old be likely to get for attempted murder?"

Snape froze.

Beady black eyes fixed themselves on her, and Hermione met his gaze squarely, not hiding anything from her Head of House.

"You are not talking to anyone of anything they need not know, are you, Miss Granger?" he said, his voice quiet and dangerous.

"And risk my entrails? Absolutely not," Hermione vowed shaking her head vehemently. "I'm just curious. Do you know?"

Snape looked at her steadily for a long moment. Hermione waited patiently, holding his gaze. She suspected, if Snape were like her, he would have looked up what his attacker's sentence should have been.

"If we are presuming the individual in question is being tried as an adult, and not just getting expelled from school as a punishment," Snape said finally, "the historical sentences for attempted murder of a wizard have been between five and ten years in Azkaban."

Hermione blinked. "That's not very long."

"Azkaban is considerably more… intense, shall we say, than a muggle prison," Snape said dryly. "You will find every year in Azkaban wears on a prisoner more like five years in a regular jail, to say nothing of the effects of the dementors on their mind and their magic."

Hermione shuddered.

"Right. Understood," she said. "Thank you, professor."

Snape watched her go with beady eyes as she turned and left.

To Hermione's surprise, Tolly was entirely okay with directing the House Elves to take food and water to the prisoner in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Hogwarts is having prisoners before," Tolly said, shrugging. "There is being a protocol for it. We is giving bread and broth and water." She paused. "We can be finding old lost robes for him too. I is not sure about a bathtub."

"And… you won't tell the Headmaster?" Hermione said, astonished. She bit her lip. "Truly?"

Tolly snorted.

"He is not being Dumbledore's prisoner, is he?" Tolly said cynically. "If he is not, then why would Dumbledore be needing to know?"

"I mean, he's the Headmaster," Hermione said, blinking. "Generally, he knows everything that's going on in the school."

Tolly laughed, but it was a bitter laugh.

"The Headmaster should be busy doing things he is needing to be doing," she said, annoyed. "Teaching things and teacher-y things. He should be leaving things that the elves should be doing to the elves."

Hermione blinked.

"Is he micromanaging you now?" she asked, curious. "Really?"

Tolly made a face.

"He is still being suspicious that so many elves went to visit family," she said. "He is making new rules – we is having to submit requests to visit family to him in advance, and he is needing to approve it before we can go. We is also not allowed to have more than five elves go at a time."

Hermione scowled.

"Well, that's kind of unfair, isn't it?" she said. "Is that in your contract?"

Tolly tilted her head. "Contract?"

"Your agreement to work here?" Hermione clarified. "The one that says you have to wear your House Elf uniform all the time?"

Tolly looked puzzled.

"That is just sort of being the agreement House Elves is having with Hogwarts," she said slowly. "We is staying and cooking and cleaning, and Hogwarts is being our home. We is supposed to be wearing the Hogwarts uniform so people is knowing we is Hogwarts Elves, not other elves." She paused. "So long as we are getting the things done elves need to be getting done, we is allowed to come and go as we please."

"Is that kept in the Headmaster's office?" Hermione asked.

Tolly looked at her sideways.

"It is not really being written down," she said. "It is being in the Hogwarts magic."

The idea that the House Elves could somehow communicate directly with the magic of Hogwarts was an intriguing one, but she set it aside for now, folding her arms as she looked at Tolly.

"So Dumbledore doesn't really have any business mandating you doing anything you don't want to, does he?" Hermione said. "If it's not in your agreement with Hogwarts, you shouldn't have to do it."

Tolly looked worried.

"But he is being the Headmaster," she said. "Tolly is not wanting to make him mad."

"Well, make him sign a contract with you directly, then," Hermione suggested, entirely reasonably, in her opinion. "If he is going to tell you how you should be working and when you can and cannot have off, that sounds like an employment contract. Which means in exchange, the elves should be getting things too, like wages and time off."

Tolly looked alarmed.

"Elves is not getting paid for their work," she said, horrified. "That is not how it is working."

"Then not wages," Hermione said, shrugging. "Nicer uniforms, maybe. Colored embroidery thread so you can customize your uniform or stitch on the Hogwarts crest. Or maybe a summer and a winter uniform, so you can all stay warm."

Tolly laughed.

"House Elves are be magical," she told Hermione. "We is not getting cold."

"Still," Hermione pressed. "If Dumbledore is demanding things of you, you should demand things back. There's no need to concede if he truly doesn't have power over you. It sounds very much like he's trying to demand things of people he presumes to be his workers without dealing with the appropriate union representatives first."

Tolly looked uncertain and confused, and Hermione sighed. She touched a nearby elf on the shoulder, the elf turning to her curiously.

"Excuse me," Hermione said. "Can you find Neemey and send them over, please?"

The elf's eyes went wide, and it nodded rapidly.

"I goes and finds Neemey," it told her.

Tolly still looked uneasy when Neemey arrived, large purple eyes examining the scene.

"You sent for me?" Neemey said.

Hermione bit her lip.

"You… have some experience with bargains and deals, correct?" she asked Neemey.

Neemey's eyes gleamed.

"I have overheard many bargains and deals being made," Neemey said. "I have not made many myself, but I know how the game is played."

"Would you give Tolly lessons?" Hermione asked.

"In negotiation?" Neemey laughed, turning to Tolly. "Do you want such lessons?"

Tolly looked torn.

"It does not feel right, learning to act out against the Headmaster," Tolly admitted. "It is feeling very contrary to how House Elves are supposed to be being."

"You're not acting out, you'd just be demanding respectful treatment," Hermione argued. "Out in the muggle world, if this sort of thing was done, the workers would all go on strike—"

"Strike?" Neemey asked, eyes sharp.

"Collectively refuse to work," Hermione clarified. "Then the management would have to bargain with the workers fairly in order to get them to work again."

"House Elves cannot do that," Tolly said, exasperated. "We is having an agreement with Hogwarts. We cleans and cooks in exchange for Hogwarts being our home."

Neemey had a glint in their eyes that made Hermione uneasy.

"It was just an example of how this is unfair and an injustice," Hermione said, waving a hand. "But Tolly - you represent all the Hogwarts elves. You were ambassador to the goblins for them. You need to stand up for the House Elves against the Headmaster's unreasonable demands."

Tolly's eyes went wide, and she drew herself up.

"Tolly is Head Elf," she declared. "I is representative." She looked at Hermione, before nodding rapidly. "Tolly will learn and do it."

Neemey grinned, showing much sharper teeth than House Elves typically had.

"Truly?" Neemey said. "I will teach you the art of negotiation?"

Tolly nodded. "Tolly will learn."

Tolly and Neemey exchanged a smile – Tolly's tentative, Neemey's decidedly more shark-like – before Tolly turned back to Hermione.

"Tolly will makes sure your prisoner gets fed and watered, and that the Headmaster knows nothing of it," she promised. She paused. "But if the Headmaster is finding out on his own, Tolly is going to play dumb and pretend she is having no idea."

"That's entirely fair," Hermione agreed. "Save your own skin however you need to."

Tolly looked confused by the idiom, while Neemey cackled.

"'Save your skin'?" Neemey said, eyes glinting. "I didn't realize flaying was a thing they did here too."

Hermione shuddered, and she hastily bid the elves goodbye.