Hermione was glad to be back at school once they arrived. There was something about the castle that felt wonderful. It wasn't quite home, but it was comfortable in a way that she couldn't quite explain.

"Where did James go?" Theo yelled loud enough from the boy's dorm that Hermione could hear him in the common room.

"Uh oh," she said.

"Should we check?" Tracy asked.

"I'm not sure," Daphne said. "Surely someone will come get us if we're needed."

"Speak of the devil," Pansy drawled.

Draco came up the stairs from the dorms with a scared and awed expression on his face. "You have to come see this," he said to Hermione.

"What?" she asked.

"This is so cool!" Greg yelled.

Hermione followed Draco down to the boys' dorm. She felt nervous and self conscious. It was the middle of the day and everyone was awake, but she still felt nervous about the possible implications.

James was just a head floating there.

"What is this?"

"James got an invisibility cloak," Theo said. "Apparently it belonged to his father."

"Mr. Potter had an invisibility cloak?" Hermione asked. "And James just got it now? Why wasn't it locked away in Gringotts?"

"The note that came with it said that it was being returned by someone who had borrowed it before the incident," Draco said.

Hermione nodded solemnly. She knew James didn't like the death of his parents being brought up and she couldn't fault him for that. But she could only think of one person who might have had the cloak and not returned it until then.

"Dumbledore?" she whispered to Draco.

"Who else?" he muttered. "At least my mother would say so. I'm inclined to believe her."

Hermione nodded. Her parents didn't have much to say about the man, having never met him, but they weren't particularly fond of the way that Hogwarts handled muggleborn children. Had Hermione not met Draco and formed the friendship they had, she would have been totally left in the dark.

"We should use this to bug Weasley," Vincent said.

Hermione groaned. "Oh Vince, you know he'd hate it. And we don't need any more Weasley in our lives. He's too much as is."

"But he's fun to bug," Greg said. "He turns purple."

Hermione had to agree that it was rather fun to watch Ron Weasley turn all sorts of colours. She particularly liked the green he turned when his brothers grossed him out. It was as if he never learnt to hide his discomfort. And considering his outbursts, he probably hadn't.

Hermione shook her head. "You still shouldn't bug him too much. Who knows what would happen?"

Hermione hated the way that Theo's mouth turned into a smile at her words. His devilish smile struck fear into her heart. Theo was smart, and that made it even worse. She turned her mind to any gods that might be listening begging them to keep Theo from getting caught.

"Don't worry," James said. "We'll keep out of too much trouble."

"Not what I wanted to hear," Hermione moaned. She walked back up to the common room and fell onto the couch with a certain lack of grace.

"Everything alright?" Daphne asked.

"James got an invisibility cloak," Hermione said. "No harm. Yet."

Daphne smirked. "Sounds like the boys are plotting something. Any particular mark."

"Only the easiest one possible."

Daphne smiled. "That will be entertaining to watch."

"Who's watching anything?" Pansy asked coming back into the common room after what must have been the fifteenth time she'd rearranged her robes.

"The boys have decided they want to pick on the little Weasley," Daphne said. "It would be rather entertaining."

Pansy shook her head. "Someone needs to tell him to control himself. You'd think he would have the perfect upbringing for that. He's near to youngest in his family. And the only one younger than him is the only girl."

Hermione had to agree. She was an only child, but she knew how Draco's parents treated him. And she'd seen how the Greengrasses got when Astoria cried. No matter how unjustified it was.

The next day dawned relatively early and Hermione was just double checking her homework by the fireplace before breakfast when James came in from outside, cloak slung over his arm.

"You're up early," Hermione said. "Most everyone isn't up for another hour or so."

"Actually, I'm up rather late," James admitted. "I haven't slept yet."

"What possessed you to stay up until dawn?" Hermione asked. "Don't you have more sense than that? This is just perfect. Flint's going to kick us off the team if you don't get it together."

James sighed. "I'm sorry Hermione. But, I saw my parents."

Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked at her friend. "They're dead."

"I know that. And I know it had to be magic. But, just come with me tonight. I have to show you."

"Go get some sleep." She waived him off knowing he still had an hour or two before most of the other boys would be up. She didn't approve, but she could see what kept him up all night.

She turned back to her homework, knowing it was nearly perfect. She tried to focus on the subjects, but found that she didn't have the mind for it right then.

"Morning," Draco said as he came up. "How was your night?"

Hermione shrugged. "Alright. I can't say I slept badly. Better than James for sure."

"He was fast asleep when I got up."

Hermione exhaled in relief. "He wasn't when I started checking my homework. He saw something."

She shoved her work into her bag and picked it up to head to breakfast. She started walking to the door but Draco grabbed her hand.

"What sort of thing?"

"He said he saw his parents."

"What?"

They stood there in silence for a minute. Then two.

"How?" Draco finally asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. But I think we'll find out."

A/N: Thank you guys for reading and enjoying this. Yes, we've had a break. Now back to some of the main part of the plot. Also, I'm sorry if my updates aren't consistent over the next few weeks. I'm currently on an elimination diet to find out what foods are causing certain issues and I'm a bit cranky.