Hey everyone, Kasing here with a new chapter! I had a bit of free time to write and so you got a new chapter three weeks in a row. I'll turn it down a little again and will return to the former 3-4 weeks as not to burn myself out.
Hope you'll enjoy the chapter =)
"Luna! I missed you so much!" exclaimed Hermione as a blonde whirlwind came running towards her, almost knocking her off her feet with her tumultuous hug. She wrapped Luna tightly in her arms and gasped as the two of them were hit from behind by a thump.
"Susan!" cried Hermione, wrapping her laughing best friend in her arms as well. "How are you guys? You must tell me all about your holidays! Have you seen Ginny yet?" gushed Hermione and Susan pointed to the throng of ginger-haired people coming down Platform 9 ¾ along with Harry.
Ginny came up to them and was also embraced by everyone. Hermione noticed that the Weasleys were accompanied by a couple of wizards who were smartly dressed and all looked alike in their emerald green velvet suits.
"They're Aurors. They accompanied us to London for protection," Ginny said after Hermione asked her about the reason for their escort. Hermione looked at her with wide eyes and glanced with interest at the first Ministry officials she had seen as such.
"And why do you need guards?" asked Hermione after eyeing the Aurors who were glancing around nervously.
"Because of Sirius Black, of course," Ginny said, looking at her with wide eyes when she noticed Hermione's questioning look. "Were you on holiday on the moon?" she asked and Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"No, in France. But I did go on a Muggle holiday. I haven't heard anything from the wizarding world," she said and Ginny explained briefly that the infamous Muggle murderer Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and had now been spotted in England.
"Muggle murderer? Do I have to worry about my parents?" asked Hermione in shock, looking anxiously at her parents who were talking animatedly with Mr Weasley. Luna, Susan and Ginny looked at her pityingly and Hermione actually got a little scared.
"I'll see you on the train then, I'll find you," she excused herself from the three girls and walked with quick steps to her parents, who had just been asked by Mr Weasley what these 'mobile fellytones' were all about.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" her mother asked as she met Hermione's gaze and noticed her worried expression.
"I think I know what Hermione wants to say and I can reassure you all," Mr Weasley said just as Hermione opened her mouth. She looked at him confused but breathed a sigh of relief when Mr Weasley explained that the Ministry would protect the parents of Muggle-born students.
"Don't worry, our Aurors won't let anything happen to your parents," he said, smiling encouragingly at Hermione.
"Thank you, Mr Weasley," Hermione said and hugged her parents goodbye. As always when she had to part from them, her eyes grew moist, but she wasn't ashamed to openly show her love for her parents.
As she walked through the carriages of the train, looking for the compartment where Susan, Luna and Ginny were sitting, she could sense the nervous and anxious mood that prevailed among the students.
"Really miserable mood on the train," she said as she dropped into the seat next to Luna.
"Yeah, there's been no other topic in the Daily Prophet for four weeks," Susan said, a little annoyed, deciding to lighten the mood with a game of Exploding Snap with Ginny.
"How was everyone's holiday?" asked Hermione as she gratefully accepted the new Quibbler from Luna.
"Very nice, my parents won the lottery and we went to visit my brother Bill in Egypt. My mum gave me a Comet 260! After that I spent two weeks with Susan and one week with Luna," Ginny told them beaming and Hermione smiled happily at her. She also described how she had spent a lot of time outside with Luna and had practised flying non-stop with Susan.
"Watch your back, if Ginny makes the team this year we'll sweep you off your brooms before you can say snitch!" said Susan belligerently and Hermione rolled her eyes playfully.
"We'll see about that," she said combatively and for a brief moment, a spark of rivalry twitched between Susan and Hermione. Then they both laughed and Hermione opened the Quibbler, where the first thing she read was an article about the true identity of Sirius Black, whose real name was, of course, Willy Widdershins.
After a while, she noticed that Susan was subtly trying to get her attention while Ginny and Luna were discussing who would be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. She glanced over the edge of the magazine at Susan, who was looking her in the eye. She put on a questioning look and nodded her head in Hermione's direction. Hermione immediately understood that the question was whether Hermione had completed her dare task. Hermione mustered her complete willpower not to blush and nodded at Susan with a twitch of her eyebrows.
Susan looked at her wide-eyed and then pushed her lower lip forward, impressed, which made Hermione giggle. She winked at Susan and turned her attention back to the Quibbler. She was reading an article about the formation of an underground society by the singer of the Weird Sisters when the train slowed with a rumble and finally stopped. Confused, the girls exchanged glances and a moment later they were enveloped in darkness as all the lights went out simultaneously. Without thinking, Hermione drew her wand and said, "Lumos." Susan and Ginny's faces were illuminated by the light from her wand and they blinked, but immediately did likewise.
"Something's happening out there," Luna said, sitting by the window and looking out. Hermione felt the ambient temperature drop abruptly and in the light of her wands, she could see the haze of their breathing. Alarmed, she pointed her wand at the compartment door.
Condensed air billowed as mist outside the compartment door, bathing the scene in an eerie gloom that, combined with the sudden cold, gave Hermione the creeps. Out of nowhere, she was overcome by a feeling of helplessness. She would never be happy again and life would end here. With a horrified look, she recognised a figure behind the window of the compartment door, completely covered by a folding robe. Her eyes widened. He was back. He knew who she was, where she was. She had no chance. Her training was not yet complete. The elder had betrayed her. The figure seemed to hover and reached out towards the compartment door.
Hermione was frozen in place and heard a loud hiss of a snake from far away, echoing through a corridor. Her body began to tremble and she closed her eyes to avoid the basilisk's death stare. Then a bright flash shot through the carriage hallway and the figure was swept away. Hermione felt her lungs fill with oxygen and inhaled and exhaled gasping for air as if she had emerged from a freezing lake. The feeling of helplessness faded. Only now did Hermione realise that she was standing in the middle of the compartment, wand pointed at the door. She dropped into her seat and took another deep breath as the cold also disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
As the lights of the train came back on, she could see in her friends' faces that they had been through the same horror. Tears ran down Ginny's cheeks and Hermione quickly pulled her into a hug. She quickly calmed down, but Hermione stroked her soft hair and comforted her.
"What by Merlin's beard was that?" asked Hermione, looking at Susan and Luna.
"I think they were Dementors," said Susan, who was also breathing heavily. "My parents told me that the Dementors have been looking for Sirius Black since he broke out. I asked them what Dementors were and they described exactly what was there outside the compartment door."
Hermione continued to stroke through Ginny's hair, realising that it was also calming herself. The train set off again and they arrived at Hogwarts without further incident. Susan was confirmed by Professor Dumbledore, who announced in his speech after the feast that the Dementors would remain on the castle grounds to protect the students. Hermione, however, got the impression that he would rather do without. He specifically warned the students about the dark creatures and Hermione could hear the seriousness in his voice. There were times when Professor Dumbledore should not be taken entirely seriously, but this was not one of them.
Nevertheless, she enjoyed being back at Hogwarts. She gave Professor Snape her broadest smile and could see how, despite his mask of the sinister Slytherin Head of House, a brief smile appeared on his face as he returned her gaze. Again and again, her gaze fell back on him. He had only returned her gaze the first time, but Hermione was sure a few times that his eyes quickly jerked away as she turned her head towards the teacher's desk.
Hermione was pleased with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who seemed much more reserved than Lockhart. There was something wild about him that Hermione couldn't quite describe, but he seemed as if he had been acquainted with the Whomping Willow before he had appeared at the feast.
However, when the Headmaster introduced Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, there was no holding back for Hermione. Like most of the Great Hall, she jumped to her feet and clapped for the visibly moved Hagrid, who blushed under his enormous beard and waved. At the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins whistled loudly through their fingers and Hermione beamed at Hagrid who, in her opinion, fully deserved to teach the subject.
After Dumbledore's speech, Hermione went up to the Ravenclaw tower with Luna and the two of them snuggled in an armchair by the fire for a little while longer.
"Can we practice magic together again this year? I don't want to have to face those Dementors helplessly. Or Sirius Black," Luna said and Hermione looked at her with a sad expression.
"I don't know what to do about Dementors yet myself, but I'd love for us to practice together again," she said and Luna beamed at her with her blue eyes that Hermione's heart melted.
"Thank you, Hermione. You're so sweet to me."
"You're welcome," Hermione said and hugged Luna tightly. When Luna's eyes were starting to grow small, Hermione sent her to bed and then got out her Blotts Book to read some more of the Daily Prophet. After all, she needed to catch up again. Sure enough, the first five pages were dominated by reports of Sirius Black, who was staring at her, manically laughing, from the first page. She turned a page in disgust, but uninteresting local news was already beginning. Sighing, she slammed the book shut and headed for her dormitory.
As she was not yet tired, she decided to pay Lancelot a visit. She opened the window and changed into her raven form. She found Lancelot in his knothole, slumbering peacefully beside his mate. Hermione was glad he was alright and didn't want to wake the two of them. Flying back, she could feel the chill emanating from the Dementors posted all around the castle. She was terrified when one of them suddenly appeared in front of her in mid-air, but its effect on her was surprisingly much weaker than it had been on the train. She was glad that she had arrived back in her room in one piece as she closed the window. Before that fright kept her awake all night, Hermione charmed herself into a relaxing trance.
Her school year began in a very peaceful manner, apart from the Dementors on the school grounds. Hermione was glad to have a competent teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts in Professor Lupin. In their first lesson, she had already learnt more than in Lockhart's entire class put together. Professor Lupin was nice, but a little distant and Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that there was a secret surrounding him.
The morning before class, she had received an offer from Professor McGonagall that she couldn't refuse. To be able to attend all her new subjects, she had, in consultation with Professor Dumbledore, obtained a Time-Turner from the Ministry, which enabled Hermione to travel back in time one hour per turn and attend another lesson.
Professor McGonagall, however, inculcated in her not to consciously face her own self under any circumstances, as all the wizards and witches to whom this had happened had gone mad, or had become entangled in time loops to prevent them from facing themselves. Hermione took her warning seriously, but could not deny her euphoria at the powerful magical artefact.
"Use it wisely and with care," Professor McGonagall said as Hermione took her leave. So Hermione had effortlessly taken Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Muggle Studies in addition to her normal third-year timetable.
After the first lesson, however, she had dropped Divination in consultation with Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore had explained to her that he was keeping Professor Trelawney, who Hermione recognised as the woman who had spoken the prophecy about Voldemort and Harry, at Hogwarts only for her own protection and was thus forced to let her teach.
Hermione understood his intention, but still preferred to make better use of her time and visit Arithmancy regularly rather than having to use her Time-Turner to do so. Hermione was euphoric as she turned it for the first time and subsequently saw her surroundings flash by in time-lapse until she was standing at the spot where she had turned the Time-Turner an hour earlier.
She remembered Professor McGonagall's warning and didn't want to make it appear to anyone else that she was travelling in the castle twice. Without further ado, she cast a Silencio and a Disillusionment Charm on herself and walked slowly through the corridors so that no one would see or hear her.
She was a little envious of Harry's invisibility cloak, which would have made her much faster, but she also realised that Harry would be just as envious of her Time-Turner and would probably do all sorts of nonsense with it.
She glanced around briefly when she arrived at the Ancient Runes classroom and ended her spells. Professor Babbling, a very tall, thin teacher with a snub nose and kind eyes, waved Hermione in. She appeared to be the last student and looked around the room briefly, where only five students were seated. Besides her housemates from Ravenclaw Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Padma Patil, only Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff and Draco Malfoy had taken the course.
Hermione sighed in thought and made her way to the only empty seat, next to Malfoy. Their eyes met as she walked towards the table and they both rolled their eyes. Reluctantly, Malfoy cleared the table where he had already spread out.
"Was wondering where the head of swots was. Thought I'd have peace in a subject for once."
"If I'm the swot, then what are you doing here?" replied Hermione, raising an eyebrow.
"One must expand one's prospects when one is the heir to one of the greatest and most important pureblood houses in England, Granger. But it's no surprise you don't know that."
Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled her Blotts Book out of her bag. Malfoy was still trying to get her going a bit with his teasing, but she ignored him until class started.
"Welcome to Ancient Runes, a subject that involves dexterity and brains as well as wand skills. I've spoken a bit with your house tutors and I think you all have great skills for successfully handling runes. Is there anyone who can tell me what runes are predominantly used for these days? Mr Boot."
"For enchanting items and making artefacts."
"Very good. Five points for Ravenclaw. As Mr Boot put it, runes are used in enchanting items. However, when it comes to enchantment, runes are just the tip of the iceberg. I was pleased to learn from Professor Vector that you have all taken Arithmancy. This discipline is indispensable when it comes to enchantment and we will have quite a bit of overlap with your progress in Arithmancy this year. But let's start small. I want you all to open up Spellman's Syllabary."
The students opened their books and Professor Babbling handed out a sheet of parchment to each with a wave of her wand. She instructed them to pick a word that described an object or creature and draw it in runes as precisely as they could with their wands on the parchment. She showed them the engraving spell and then gave them half an hour to pick out the runes and engrave them on the parchment with the spell. Hermione had already had a smile on her lips when the teacher had suggested a creature. She leafed through the book, for besides the runic alphabet, there were thousands of runes that had special meanings, but were also much more complex and intricate than the letter runes.
She had found the rune for 'raven' after some time and was weighing up whether to venture immediately into the single-word rune. When she saw out of the corner of her eye that Malfoy was also looking around at the more complex runes, she accepted the unspoken challenge. It took a little getting used to drawing with the tip of the wand as if it were a quill, but Hermione took her time and tried to draw the rune as perfectly as possible. Professor Babbling made a few rounds of the small classroom, helping the students to perfect their runes and correct them if necessary.
When everyone had finished their runes, they discussed the different ways of connecting runes, both theoretically and practically, as the individual letters, in order to form a word, first had to be connected with fine lines. There were different kinds of connections and Professor Babbling limited herself to the simplest kind in their case. As well as letters, word runes could be joined together to create sequences that were used in strong enchantments.
Since Hermione and Malfoy didn't need a connection for their individual runes, they had time and Hermione glanced at Malfoy's parchment. Curious, she pulled up Spellman's Syllabary and searched for the rune he had drawn. She raised her eyebrows and compared again, but it appeared to be the rune for 'wolf'.
"Interesting rune," Hermione said, resisting the impulse to roll her eyes when Malfoy just gave her a snide sideways glance. "Why wolf?"
"Why not? More imaginative than 'raven', anyway."
"You looked up my rune?" asked Hermione with raised eyebrows, grinning as Malfoy turned pink. "And why should Wolf be more imaginative?"
"Because you're all about ravens. Your animal companion is a raven, you're in Ravenclaw. Sometimes you even paint little ravens on your fingernails."
Hermione looked at Malfoy in wonder. She had indeed drawn ravens on her fingernails a few times last term using a spell from Emily Clearwater's book, but she wouldn't have expected Malfoy of all people to notice, let alone remember.
"Okay, so Wolf is more imaginative only because you didn't take a snake?"
"Wouldn't that have been what you would have expected me to do?"
Hermione shrugged and rolled her eyes as Malfoy crossed his arms in satisfaction as if he'd made an irrefutable point. She pulled a blank parchment from her pocket and practised connecting two letter runes together some more, for Professor Babbling had asked them to use only the letter or word runes they had chosen earlier on the parchment.
When the lesson was over, Hermione immediately jumped up and hurried two corridors away to the Arithmancy classroom, so as not to run into anyone who had seen her before she had used the Time-Turner in the flurry of students between lessons.
Gradually the other students trickled in and looked apologetically at Hermione as they sat down exactly as they had in Ancient Runes. Apparently, no one wanted to sit next to Malfoy again.
"You think I'm enjoying this?" asked Hermione as Malfoy sighed theatrically. He pulled the chair towards him and sat at the edge of the table.
"Yeah, you better stay away, you might catch it," Hermione said wryly, reaching out to touch him. "Get thee away from me, Pureblood!" she said, laughing when he winced as she touched him on the shoulder.
"Good morning. Mr Malfoy, would you please take a proper seat at the table. Thank you," they were greeted by the young Arithmancy teacher, Professor Vector. She welcomed them warmly to her class and began by introducing the various applications of Arithmancy. Hermione thought to herself after the long list that it would have been easier to enumerate in which magical discipline Arithmancy did not play a role.
"Professor Babbling will surely have introduced you to the close connection of runework with Arithmancy and if all went well in your lesson, you should all now have a parchment in your pocket with runes engraved on it," she said, prompting them to take out the parchments. Interested, Hermione placed the parchment in front of her.
"Revelio," Professor Vektor said with a smile, and Hermione's eyes grew wide as she caught sight of the many delicate runic sequences that had been made visible on the parchment by her teacher's spell. "A little piece of magic we have come up with to illustrate to you the connection of the runes with Arithmancy. We will spend this hour analysing the runes on your parchment and working out exactly how much magic is needed for the sequence to be activated and remain active. As you have almost no experience with runes and arithmantic tables, we will add up the runes together. In the end, you only have to add the values of the runes you have chosen yourself. If everything works out, we'll have a great ending to the lesson."
Hermione pulled the parchment closer to her with interest, marvelling at the complex runic sequences Professor Babbling had engraved there. She had been able to draw a little experience with runes in her trances and also Arithmancy from the textbooks, but these sequences were more complex than any example in the books.
She followed Professor Vektor's explanations attentively and kept up much faster than her classmates. By the end of the lesson, they had analysed the complex runes and Hermione looked in the back of the book for the table she would need to activate her rune.
She practised the spell a few times on a quill before pointing her wand at the parchment, trying to channel just as much magic into it as the table dictated. Her eyes lit up as she watched the runes begin to glow and then disappear. Only a blink of an eye later, the parchment lifted into the air and folded into a detailed raven, beating its wings jauntily.
"Very good, Miss Granger! Ten points to Ravenclaw."
Hermione smiled and glanced with interest at Malfoy, who gave her raven a look out of the corner of his eye.
"Um, Draco?"
"What is it?" asked Draco irritably when, after the second attempt, his runes only flickered slightly.
"You've got the wrong table. You have to use the fifth Merlin table."
"Mind your own business, mud...," Malfoy ruled her and Hermione glared at him with narrowed eyes, but his swear was interrupted by Professor Vector.
"Mr Malfoy! Twenty points deducted from Slytherin. Ten for throwing around unspeakable swear words and another ten for failing to accept help from Miss Granger, who is absolutely right," Professor Vector said sternly.
"Whatever," Malfoy grumbled in a whisper and flipped open the page that had the correct table on it. With that, he too managed to charm his parchment into a small wolf, which sat on its haunches and howled silently. Hermione giggled as her raven joined the wolf and it wagged its tail excitedly. Malfoy let out a hiss and took the wolf in his hand.
"Good work, really. I think we can come a long way this year. You may keep your enchanted parchments, of course. If you treat them well, the enchantment will not fade," Professor Vektor concluded the lesson and Hermione happily took her enchanted parchment to dinner. The little raven would live on her bedside table from now on.
"Good morning, class!" thundered Hagrid as he welcomed them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest for their first lesson in Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione was once again glad for her Blotts Book as she realised that most of her classmates were struggling with a rampaging copy of the 'Monster Book of Monsters' until Hagrid described to them how to tame it. He led them deeper into the forest to a clearing, where he made them wait for a moment and returned with an impressive creature that Hermione recognised immediately from its distinctive anatomy.
"Now, who can tell me what this beauty here is?" he asked, patting the animal's rump. "Hermione!"
"A hippogriff," Hermione said, avoiding the eagle-head's intense gaze. When Hagrid asked who wanted to volunteer first, Hermione instinctively backed away with the rest of the students. Only Harry seemed brave enough to stay put. Hagrid showed him the proper way to handle hippogriffs and Harry actually managed to gain the trust of the proud creature. When he had returned safely from a short trip with Buckbeak and had endured the applause of the students with a red head, Malfoy suddenly stormed forward.
"Oh, what are you all afraid of?" he yelled, and Hermione acted instinctively.
"You're just a majestic, magnificent creature!" said Malfoy loudly, and a moment later looked as if someone had punched him in the face.
"Very good! Malfoy, right?" asked Hagrid and Malfoy nodded. "Bow, and always keep eye contact."
Hermione pressed her lips together to keep from laughing out loud as Malfoy bowed as if he were the lowest servant of a king. Buckbeak looked at him with a sharp gaze for several seconds, then bowed his head.
"Very good, Mr Malfoy. Ten points for Slytherin," Hagrid called out and she heard Harry, Neville and Ron wondering what had happened to Malfoy. Hermione left the Confundus Charm on Malfoy until the lesson was over and watched him, highly amused, as he moulted into Hagrid's personal assistant. Hermione congratulated Hagrid on the great first lesson but advised him not to count on Malfoy working as enthusiastically in the next lessons.
When Hermione wasn't in class during the first week, she could usually be found on her broom. The fact that Susan and Ginny had been practising Quidditch during the holidays spurred her on all the more to improve. Fortunately, the Dementors kept relatively well away from the Quidditch field and Hermione enjoyed being able to practice again after the long break.
At the end of the first week, McFinley held the selection matches, but none of the new applicants were able to beat last year's team. McFinley motivated them every day to think about the Quidditch Cup already and to train harder than ever before. Ginny actually made the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and Hermione realised that she would have to train hard to keep up with the other teams.
Since she had missed a large part of the last school year during her petrification, her private lessons with Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore continued unchanged for the time being.
"Good evening, Miss Granger. I trust you had a pleasant holiday," Professor Snape greeted her. He stepped aside and let her into the Potions classroom.
"Good evening Professor, yes it was really nice, how was your holiday?" she asked with a smile and Professor Snape pursed his lips for a moment.
"Quiet," he said curtly, but Hermione could tell that was his definition of a nice holiday. She grinned and asked what they were going to do today when her eyes fell on the ingredients lined up neatly on a table.
"Well, since you showed great talent last year, this year we will turn our attention to challenging potions. I hope you will work with the same concentration and precision as before," he said and Hermione blushed slightly at the compliment. "Today we will be preparing the Wolfsbane Potion. This potion will prevent those who suffer from the werewolf's curse from having to indulge their thirst for blood defencelessly during the full moon. Instead, they can retreat and await the end of the transformation."
Hermione looked wide-eyed over the collection of ingredients and nodded determinedly when Professor Snape asked if she was ready. It was her responsibility this time to oversee the potion and stir it correctly while he prepared the ingredients and added them at the right time. He always explained each step he took so that Hermione could follow along.
"Are we brewing the potion just for my education?" asked Hermione casually, noticing that Professor Snape froze for a moment but then continued to grind the wolfsbane in the mortar. Hermione didn't want to disturb his privacy and avoided reading his thoughts or emotions, but tried to interpret his facial expressions. When they bottled the potion an hour later, Hermione couldn't resist following her curiosity.
"Is the potion for Professor Lupin?" asked Hermione, who could remember the first lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry had almost collapsed when the boggart that had been the subject of the lesson had taken the form of a Dementor. She could understand him only too well, for her blood had frozen in her veins too. Nevertheless, she had been a little disappointed not to find out for herself what she was really most afraid of in life.
Professor Lupin had stood protectively in front of Harry so that the boggart dementor would leave him and it had transformed into a glowing yellow orb that had reminded Hermione of a floating cheese. Professor Snape managed to mask his surprise a moment too late and Hermione challenged him to tell her the truth.
"Indeed, the potion is for Professor Lupin. That you have figured that out after only a week shows your perspicacity," Professor Snape said appreciatively after his shock at revealing his colleague's secret had worn off.
"It's really nice of you to help him with his illness," Hermione said, smiling and looking into Professor Snape's eyes, who returned her gaze. He held eye contact for about two seconds and then looked down at the vials they had bottled, a little embarrassed.
"Miss Granger, although I know you are trustworthy, I must ask you not to tell anyone about this. Professor Dumbledore, as well as I, believe that Professor Lupin is only viable as a teacher if students and parents see the person, not the disease."
"Of course! Professor Lupin is the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher yet," Hermione assured him and Professor Snape nodded curtly. Hermione was a little sad that the lesson seemed to be over already and when she already had her hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath and turned around.
"Professor?"
"Yes?"
"I have a few more questions. Could we possibly have a glass of pumpkin juice?" asked Hermione, concentrating all her magical power on not blushing and just looking like a dedicated student.
"Certainly. I'll just stow the potion and take it to Professor Lupin. Go ahead," Professor Snape replied, his back to her, still checking the vials of potion.
Hermione walked up to his office, heart pounding, racking her brain for what to ask Professor Snape. Now that her heart had asked him for the drink, her brain had to think of something so as not to look completely stupid.
When she had been waiting outside the door for about fifteen minutes, it was magically unlocked and Professor Snape came around the corner of the corridor. She entered and settled herself in the comfortable armchair she had also sat in during her first-year practice sessions.
With a wave of his wand, he made a glass of pumpkin juice appear for Hermione, while he conjured a glass of red wine for himself. He settled down on his sofa and took a sip of wine while gesturing with his hand for her to ask her questions.
"When we were aboard the Hogwarts Express, the Dementors stopped the train and came on board looking for Sirius Black," Hermione began and Professor Snape nodded with a scowl.
"They are truly disgusting creatures. I could well do without their presence here," he said and Hermione nodded.
"Anyway, they were driven away by a spell, a bright flash. Do you happen to know what that spell was?" asked Hermione and Professor Snape nodded after taking another sip of wine.
"It was certainly the Patronus Charm, the most powerful weapon against Dementors."
"I've never heard of that," said Hermione, who had yet to read about Dementors or the Patronus Charm in any book.
"I'm not surprised, the Patronus Charm isn't part of the Hogwarts curriculum and it's not particularly useful otherwise unless you work for the Ministry and deal with Dementors a lot," he explained.
"I'd like to be able to defend myself the next time I encounter a Dementor. I felt so helpless on the train," Hermione said and Professor Snape looked at her with an understanding look. "Can you cast a Patronus Charm?" she asked and Snape nodded.
"I can teach you if you like," Professor Snape said and Hermione nodded eagerly. "It will be difficult to recreate a real-world situation with a Dementor, though. Casting a Patronus in the presence of a Dementor is very different from casting it in a safe environment. As you have already described, Dementors make you forget all the happiness in the world and think only of the worst things you have ever experienced. They feed on grief and sorrow," he explained and Hermione got a queasy feeling in her stomach.
"Disgusting. And the Ministry uses these creatures on all of the offenders in Azkaban? Even the minor offences?" she asked and Snape nodded with a serious expression. Hermione was about to take a sip of pumpkin juice, but at the thought of the Dementors she had lost the desire for it and set it down beside her.
"Do you have any other questions?" he asked and she lost herself in his black eyes for a second.
"No. I just wanted to spend some more time with you," it echoed in her head, but she wasn't brave enough to actually say the words. She shook her head instead and emptied her glass. When she met Professor Snape's gaze again, he looked at her with slight concern, but she smiled at him to show that all was well.
"Thank you, Professor," she said and, without turning around again, left Professor Snape's office.
With Professor Dumbledore, she was getting better at applying her magic to the air element and by the end of her first individual lesson, she could effortlessly conjure a small tornado in her hand without a wand.
"Extraordinary, Hermione. It seems the break from magic has done you good. Sometimes it can be helpful to get some distance to better understand the process afterwards," Dumbledore said wisely. "Before you go, I'd like to share with you the reflections I've had plenty of time for over the summer."
Hermione nodded and conjured a chair for herself, taking a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk. He pointed with his hand to a number of items he had pulled out of a drawer. Next to the destroyed diary were three dangerous-looking teeth and the sword of Godric Gryffindor.
"What you see here is a Horcrux and two different items that can destroy Horcruxes. I am now absolutely certain that the diary was a Horcrux of Voldemort and, unfortunately, that Harry is a Horcrux. However, I'm still not entirely sure that he really is a completed Horcrux, like this one."
Hermione listened to him spellbound, looking down at the pierced and black ink-stained book.
"Fawkes was able to get me some of the basilisk teeth from the Chamber of Secrets through the access he used to fly Harry, Mr Weasley and Professor Lockhart out. I'm also certain that the sword has ingested the basilisk venom as a result of Harry's battle. Goblin-crafted weapons take in what strengthens them and you can come to the conclusion fairly quickly that such a potent poison makes the weapon more deadly."
Hermione nodded and let Dumbledore continue.
"So, for the time being, we can refrain from looking for more ways to destroy Horcruxes and concentrate on looking for them while Voldemort is still clinging to the remaining part of his soul."
"You mean he has more than this and Harry?" asked Hermione in astonishment and Dumbledore nodded.
"Tom Riddle has always had a penchant for extremes. Chances are he has created a multitude, although it weakened his soul every time."
Hermione shook her head and took one of the bloodied teeth in her hand. It smelled strongly of decay and Hermione felt the need to wash her hands after quickly placing it back on the table.
"I will be concentrating on doing detailed research into the life of Voldemort in the coming school year," Dumbledore said and Hermione nodded.
"Can I help you with that? I could search through old Daily Prophets in the library," Hermione suggested and Dumbledore smiled broadly at her.
"That's an excellent idea," he said, giving her a period that was interesting. Happy to be able to do her bit in the search for Horcruxes, Hermione left the Headmaster's office and, motivated, headed for the library, where she combed through Daily Prophets from the seventies for important clues. She quickly realised, however, that the repetitive work was quickly making her inattentive and decided to organise her search so that she did a little every day.
This kept her busy and the days flew by. She had managed to produce a Patronus Charm in the second individual lesson with Professor Snape, which he estimated was strong enough to ward off at least a single Dementor. Hermione's spell, however, was not nearly as strong as Professor Snape's. Wide-eyed, she had watched the silvery doe move gracefully across the room. The comforting feeling the elegant animal exuded motivated Hermione even more to perfect her own Patronus and give it form. She found it odd that Professor Snape seemed a little downcast after the lesson when he saw her off.
On her birthday, she was most pleased to receive a letter from Amelie, which she opened in her dormitory that evening. Amelie wrote to her that passion had returned between her and Philippe and that it was thanks to Hermione. They had also booked the chalet in the Alps for Christmas and hoped Hermione stayed healthy this year.
Hermione was overjoyed and told Susan about it the very next morning. Susan looked at her with an envious look. After Hermione had told her about her adventures in France, Susan had briefly been a little apprehensive that she was now no longer interested in her. However, Hermione had shown her immediately that evening that she was still interested in their arrangement to satisfy each other's desires while they were single.
"Wow, that's going to be hot," Susan said, and Hermione felt a pleasant tingle between her legs as she thought of what she would do with the two of them at the lonely mountain cabin when her parents weren't around. "I wish I had experienced something like that on holiday," Susan said and Hermione gently stroked her leg under the table.
"I'm sure you'll find someone. Is there anyone you fancy by now?" whispered Hermione, giggling as Susan blushed. She avoided Hermione's gaze and suddenly looked sad. Hermione frowned and looked at her questioningly.
"I'm a bit smitten with Ginny since she came to stay with me during the holidays," Susan said and Hermione looked at her pityingly. "And by a little smitten, I mean bloody head over heels in love. There's hardly a minute that I don't think about her," Susan said with a sad look.
"That's really sweet," Hermione said, stroking Susan's leg. "But don't throw in the towel just yet until you know 100% that nothing can come of it."
Hermione wondered for a moment if she was just saying that because she was in the same boat. The likelihood that she and Professor Snape would ever work out was frighteningly slim. And yet she refused to give up before she had even tried to convince him of her. After all, he wasn't married and, as far as she knew, single.
"Do you know if Ginny is even interested in anyone else yet?" she asked and Susan shook her head. "I don't think she's at the stage we were at last year. But she's also younger than we were for our grade. She wasn't as enthusiastic about Truth or Dare as you and I were," she said with a pained smile and Hermione grinned.
"You can't compare Ginny to us. But she really is a great girl. I'd be so happy if it worked out for you," Hermione said, trying to encourage Susan.
"That's easy for you to say. You have the widest choice of all of us," Susan said and Hermione sighed inwardly. Susan was right, but Hermione had chosen, of all things, to fall in love with someone who was almost unattainable for her. And yet she just couldn't get away from gushing about Severus Snape in every private lesson and class, imagining that there were no rules and they would be happy.
But she also knew that she wouldn't be able to stand having unfulfilled dreams of Professor Snape forever without satisfying her sexual cravings. She was extremely happy to have Susan, but since she had boarded the plane at the end of the holiday in France, her desire for sex with a man had increased.
She had briefly considered buying a sex toy from the Owl Order, but she could not reconcile herself to abusing the gold she received from the school for educational purposes and clothing for her unfulfilled sexual desires.
Instead, she invested more time than ever in Quidditch training, because during the sport she forgot everything around her. Roger Davies and she became a real dream team and scored 30 goals together in the last practice before the first Quidditch match.
When she met his gaze after practice, she thought she saw a twinkle in his eyes for a second, but the next moment he looked away as McFinley patted him on the shoulder. Hermione left the locker room and thought about her fellow Chaser on the way back to the castle.
He had shown signs of interest in her before. Susan had also noticed this several times and commented on it in an extremely vulgar manner. She thought of nothing else all evening but having sex with Philippe and Amelie. When she finally arrived at her dormitory and tore the robe from her body to satisfy her lust, she paused briefly as the Time-Turner dangled freely from her neck.
She had a brief dialogue with her conscience, but her lust won out. Heart pounding, she put her robe back on and ran through in her mind where she had been and when. Then she looked at her wristwatch and turned the Time-Turner four times. As if in a time-lapse from movies, the star-studded sky flew back before her and within seconds it changed from a dark blue to a beautiful dusk. Hermione opened the window, transformed into her raven form and closed it again with a spell as she sat on the window ledge.
She glided to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, enjoying the cool air brushing through her feathers. As she landed at the edge of the forest, at the moment she was about to change back, she heard movement behind her. Moving her head to the side, she made out a pair of glowing eyes between the trees, standing out clearly from the thicket behind them in her raven vision. Instinctively Hermione fluttered off, settled on a branch with a pounding heart and stared down at the spot where she had seen the eyes.
She couldn't see anything anymore, but the low growling and cracking branches proved to Hermione that she hadn't been mistaken. She realised how dangerous her action was and in the next moment thought of the Dementors that always approached the castle at night. She cursed herself and decided to throw overboard her plan to wait for Roger and see if one thing could lead to another and fluttered back to her window.
When she was back in her room, she threw herself on her bed in frustration. It really hadn't been a good idea to wait for him at the Quidditch stadium. She had completely forgotten about the Dementors. She felt a twinge in her nose as she thought about how she had no real feelings for her Chaser mate and was really only doing this because she wanted to distract herself.
She didn't stop the tears, wondering if she would ever have enough distance from Professor Snape during her time at Hogwarts for her feelings to eventually subside. In any case, she wouldn't give up the one-to-one lessons, for she learned far more each time than she could from just reading and following the recipes. After a while, her tears dried up.
Annoyed by the situation, she exhaled sharply and glanced at her wristwatch. She had to spend another three hours here in the past before the other Hermione came into the room and had her glorious idea.
After a moment's thought, she decided to use the time for self-care and ran herself a bath, where she could also dampen her frustration at least a little. By the time she had applied pretty much all the body care products and spells in Emily Clearwater's book, it was still an hour before her past self would use the Time-Turner in the next room.
She decided to go into a short trance and set the alarm on the longcase clock in her room for safety's sake, so as not to meet herself under any circumstances. When she arrived in her mind, she looked at the memory she had experienced just two hours earlier at the edge of the forest.
One great advantage of magical memories was that Hermione could move around the environment and thus explore without danger which creature the pair of eyes that had frightened her so much had belonged to.
Hermione was taken aback when she recognised the tousled black dog roaming among the trees, apparently looking for something to eat. She was glad she had reacted correctly, for the dog had taken up a lurking position when Hermione had landed only a few feet away from it.
She still wondered what a stray dog was doing in the Forbidden Forest and how it could survive there, among all the dangerous creatures. When she woke up again, she killed the rest of the time with the Daily Prophet, which she read in her bathroom on the closed toilet seat, until she heard the door in the next room slam shut.
She glanced at her wristwatch and waited another minute for safety's sake, then opened the door and threw herself into bed.
"Now that was successful," she said to the empty room and set the alarm for the next morning before charming herself into a trance.
Author's Note: I hope you liked the chapter! If you did, I would be happy to read a few lines from you. Also thank you to all the people that already reviewed, it really means a lot!
See you next time!
Kasing