From a window on the third floor, Hermione saw that Markus Longbottom was sitting alone on a bench outside. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully. She knew that Tom was with Professor Slughorn just now, talking about his future, so the risk of being caught was low. She was dying to know how Augusta was doing. Hermione knew that it was only her guilty conscience that wanted to be soothed, that wanted to hear that everything was all right and that Augusta would not suffer any permanent damage. Nevertheless, she gave in to the impulse.

After a quick trip to her room to fetch her coat, she determinedly headed for the bench where Markus was still sitting. The cold November wind tugged at her, carrying with it the promise of snow.

"Mr Longbottom," she greeted him with an uncertain smile. Although they had been on friendly terms recently, Hermione wasn't sure if he was still well disposed towards her.

To her relief, he returned the smile. "Miss Dumbledore, hello. What an honour to see you."

A little guiltily, she sat down next to him. It wasn't as if they never saw each other; after all, Slytherin and Gryffindor shared various classes. But they never spoke to each other. It was as if the brief friendship between her and the three lions never existed.

"How is Miss Bargeworthy?" she asked bluntly. She knew Markus knew she was going to ask that question, so there was no point in making polite conversation.

A thoughtful expression came into his eyes. "I'm not sure. She's not the same as she used to be. There's something different about her. And I don't just mean because of what happened. Maybe that was the trigger, I don't know. She's become tougher. She was never as gentle and reserved as other young girls, but now it's more. She seems determined. She doesn't take any shit anymore, from anyone, pardon my language."

The image of Neville's grandmother came before her eyes. The old lady was tough and ruthless if you stood in her way. Hermione would never have thought that she could have been the cause of this. But she understood what was probably going on in the girl's mind. "She's decided never to be a victim again."

Confusion was reflected in Markus' eyes. "Excuse me?"

Hermione let her gaze drift over the Hogwarts grounds as she explained, "If you've been a victim of violence, you have to live with it for the rest of your life. The memory doesn't go away. It shapes you. Many people suffer from it for the rest of their lives and are fearful, reserved, or suspicious. They are plagued by the fear of being victimised again at any time. Violence such as Miss Bargeworthy experienced leaves you completely defenceless. She couldn't defend herself and had no control. The panic that it could happen again can engulf you. But what you describe sounds like she chose not to live her life in fear."

Markus still didn't seem to understand, because his tone sounded doubtful when he replied, "But you can't just decide whether you're afraid or not."

Hermione nodded in agreement as she turned her gaze back to him. "Right, of course you can't. But you can decide how you react to it. Do you let it control your actions? Do you let your actions be determined by fear? Or do you decide to look fear in the face and, precisely because you are afraid, go out into the world, talk to people, seek company?"

Silence spread between them. Hermione didn't know if she was judging Augusta correctly, but the woman Neville had described to her wasn't afraid of anything or anyone. Or at least she never let on. She glanced furtively at Markus. The young Gryffindor still seemed to be struggling with himself, as if he didn't want to understand what she had said.

"Augusta is just sixteen," he finally whispered in a raspy voice. "Sixteen! How can she ... how can she be so strong?"

With a sad smile, Hermione remembered the things she, Harry, and Ron had already experienced and gone through at sixteen. The world didn't care how old you were. Cautiously, she said, "Everyone is as strong as they need to be. And with you by her side, Miss Bargeworthy can be very strong. If she has someone who stands by her absolutely and is there for her, she can rise above what has happened."

"But I'm not doing anything," Markus whispered without looking at Hermione.

"You love her," Hermione contradicted gently, "You love her even though you know what's happened. That's the most important thing of all. It makes you strong too, Mr Longbottom. Not every man could do that."

"What kind of man would I be if I let Augusta down for something that wasn't her fault?" he retorted fiercely. "What self-respecting man would let a woman down over that? It doesn't change anything about her! She's still Augusta."

Hermione nodded emphatically. "Absolutely right. But not everyone thinks like you, believe me. But the fact that you think like that and show it has shown Augusta that she's still lovable. And she needed that. You said yourself that she blossomed after you proposed to her. That alone shows you how important you were to her."

Markus nodded silently. Hermione remained silent. Despite all his convictions, it was probably not easy for this young man to stay by Augusta's side. Who knew how she reacted to gentleness, to the touch of a man? But he wanted to be there for her, and that was all that mattered.

"Can I ask you something completely different?" Markus broke the silence abruptly.

Against her will, Hermione felt herself bracing herself. She had nothing to fear from this person, yet everything inside her went into a defensive stance. Mouth drawn into a grim line, she nodded.

"Do you know what happened to Orion Black?"

She almost breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't about her. Of course, it wasn't about her. What was she thinking? She returned the question openly, "In what way do you think something happened to him?"

Markus shrugged his shoulders uncertainly. "I can't describe it more precisely. Augusta spoke about him the other day. How withdrawn he was. And jumpy. He hardly seems to be able to look anyone in the eye. He's in your house, so I thought you might know something."

Hermione clenched her fists grimly. She knew, or at least suspected, what was going on in young Black's mind. Tom had manipulated him beautifully and now the boy obviously didn't know who he was or what to believe. Homosexuality was a difficult subject. The fact that Tom wanted to exploit it just like that to secure the loyalty of the Black family was despicable. She wasn't even sure whether Orion was actually gay, or whether Tom just made him believe he was. Tom's charisma and frightening aura could trigger feelings in a young, insecure man that could easily be mistaken for attraction.

"I have a suspicion what might have happened. And who is responsible," she said tersely. Her gaze was hard as she rose from the bench. "I'll see what I can do. Thank you for your candour, Mr Longbottom. I have the welfare of all my housemates at heart."

Confusion and something that looked like mistrust were reflected in his eyes. "You know who is responsible for this? The way you say that..."

She shook her head instantly. "Don't say it, I won't confirm or deny it anyway. But I will try to do something about the situation, I promise you that."

Something in her face must have shown her own dissatisfaction, because the mistrust immediately disappeared from his face and gave way to understanding. With a wry smile, Markus replied, "You have strange relationships, Miss Dumbledore, but I trust you."

With feigned disapproval, Hermione raised an eyebrow. "A lion should never trust a snake. You disappoint me."

Together they laughed at her words, but Hermione knew deep down that it was much more serious than she was letting on. Even though she didn't want to do any harm, she couldn't know if she wouldn't bump into the three Gryffindors again at some point during the school year. She hoped that Markus was smart enough to stay away from her.

oOoOoOo

Hermione was just getting changed for the night when there was a knock at her door. She was overcome with surprise and fear. At this time of night, it could only be another student. She swallowed and forced herself not to show the fear on her face. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a panicked voice was screaming that it had been a bloody stupid idea to meet Markus so openly. The voice was convinced that Tom had seen her.

She opened the door quietly and Tom entered without asking or saying hello.

"Tom," she said slowly after closing the door again, "what brings you here at this time of night?"

His expression was unreadable as he turned to her. "Do I need a reason to want to visit my favourite lady?"

Unsure, Hermione followed him to her bed. The naturalness with which he moved around her room and sat on her bed only served to remind her how much their relationship had changed in the last few weeks. Just yesterday, at Slughorn's Club meeting, they had both realised how attracted they were to each other. But what did he want now? Why that look on his face, that mask?

For several long minutes, they sat next to each other on her bed in silence. Nervousness spread through Hermione's body like cold ice. Had he seen her today? Had she done anything else to displease him? Had she upset him? She braced herself for the worst.

"I don't understand," Tom finally said after too long. His voice sounded cool, emotionless, but Hermione wasn't fooled. That was the voice he used when he could no longer control his emotions. She waited tensely for his next words.

"Slughorn has changed. He won't let me get close to him anymore. And he does it in his bloody smarmy way. So jovial, so friendly and obliging. Empty phrases about how he's always there for me. But as soon as I even hint that I want to ask him something that's not to do with potions, he blocks it. I don't understand."

Relief flooded through Hermione. It wasn't about her. She closed her eyes briefly, trying not to let her obviously inappropriate feelings show. When she opened them again, she placed her hand on his. "Professor Slughorn is an opportunist. You should know that better than anyone."

He angrily brushed her hand aside. "I know that! Stop lecturing me!"

Hurt, she moved away from him. "Then what's the problem?"

As if a dam had suddenly burst, Tom grabbed her and forced her onto her back. Blazing anger was in his eyes. "Slughorn knows things! Things that aren't in any of the books here in the library. And he won't share them with me. Not anymore. He used to be different. He told me so much. But not anymore. Not for almost a year now! Not since–"

He suddenly let go of her and sat up again. A thoughtful expression appeared in his eyes. Breathing heavily, Hermione stared up at him. Tom was dangerous when he was angry, whether she was the cause or not. For a moment, the old fear she had felt around him had returned. Nothing but panic had taken over her body. While Tom thought, she fought down the panic. She had no reason to be afraid of Tom. He wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't kill her.

As her fear slowly subsided, Hermione thought about what she had heard. Apparently, Tom wanted to find out something from Slughorn, but the professor stonewalled. She never saw anything up to this point that would indicate that Slughorn was in any way hostile to him. So why didn't he seem to want to give Tom any more information?

Then she remembered. Of course! Tom had tried to find out more about Horcruxes from Slughorn last year - and he had succeeded. How could she have forgotten that after Harry had taken so damn long to get hold of this manipulated memory? Obviously Slughorn suspected that he had revealed too much and didn't want to feed his former favourite with the Dark Arts any further. Had he already manipulated his memory? No, that was unlikely. He would probably only do that much later, after the whole world had seen what Tom really was.

"I was too open," Tom mumbled, obviously still deep in thought. "I thought he was trustworthy. I thought he shared my interest."

Cautiously, Hermione approached him again until she finally sat behind him. She leant against his back and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Tom. Slughorn is a coward. He'll hold your hand as long as you bring him glory. But if you do anything that might tarnish his public image, he'll back off. He's too cowardly to use his knowledge."

Although she couldn't blame Slughorn for being shocked by Tom's idea of creating multiple Horcruxes, she had no sympathy for him. The man she had met in her school days was just as sleazy and fake as his younger self.

"You're not afraid of it, are you, my heart?"

Surprised by his sudden change of mood, Hermione let go of Tom's shoulders. As he turned to face her, she collected herself. "Why should I be afraid of showing my power? If you're not afraid, then I'm not afraid."