"No way!" Hermione said, looking doubtfully at Rufus Scrimgeour.
"My dear, you are showing great courage, but I think that..."
"Abernathy's death shows that the situation is much worse than we thought! We still know almost nothing. Except that the only assumption we've had so far was wrong. Let's stop wasting time on this discussion that I could be investing in finding out more with Nephtys and Tonks."
Scrimgeour, who had asked Hermione into his office after the interrogation of Abernathy to tell her that he thought it would be better if she continued her internship on a more innocuous case, looked at her over his hands folded over the edge of the table. His gaze revealed that he admired her and, at the same time, questioned whether she could see the full extent of the situation.
"Miss Tonks has told me that she would never have progressed so quickly without you. In the end, I have to leave the decision up to you."
"My decision remains unchanged. If you don't mind, I'd like to help solve the case now."
"Fine, however, I will inform Dumbledore of what has happened."
"I have no problem with that," Hermione said, standing up, smoothing her robes and nodding goodbye to the Head of the Auror's Office, who continued to watch her over his hands. She left the office without another word and headed straight for Tonks' office door. She opened the door quietly with a barely noticeable movement of her hand and listened to the conversation Tonks was having with Nephtys. Tonks looked her in the eye briefly, and Hermione nodded, signalling that she would stay and continue to help them.
"I'll get started right away. Is there anything else I can do?" Nephtys asked just then, and Tonks shook her head with a serious expression.
"No, the encrypted records are our best lead for now. Hi, Hermione, what's the situation?"
"I'll stay and help you. I'd like to examine the hieroglyphics on the objects we found," she said, looking at Nephtys, who still showed the shock she and Hermione had felt, albeit for different reasons, at Abernathy's sudden death. The Egyptian witch nodded, and Hermione was about to spread her notes out on the table when Tonks shook her head.
"I've requested a room for you. There was a meeting room available in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that is much more suitable than my small office. Come along."
They followed Tonks into the neighbouring department, where a large room awaited them, with a magical ceiling that provided daylight and a pleasantly calm atmosphere. Tonks got them two cups of tea on the way and then asked if they needed anything else before taking her leave a moment later to examine the workshop in detail with Kingsley. Hermione and Nephtys spread out their notes and books, and Hermione started by telling her what she had researched in the library. Nephtys praised her and was able to answer some of her questions that she hadn't found answers to in the Muggle books. The two of them then examined the two objects Tonks had left for them to analyse.
"Interesting," Nephtys said after she had taken a closer look at the egg-shaped artefact.
"I can't decipher everything, but I'm pretty sure the characters on the bottom are the names of places. At least some of the characters can be translated into Latin letters. I don't know all of them, but if I'm not mistaken, this says 'London'."
"Really? But what does that mean?"
"Did you notice how the bottom half of the egg snaps into place when you turn a hieroglyphic phrase to this notch here?" asked Nephtys, handing the egg to Hermione. Hermione turned the bottom half and noticed for the first time that there was a barely noticeable resistance when one of the four sets of hieroglyphs on the bottom half arrived directly under the notch on the top half.
"You mean it's like some selector switch? With a selection of... cities... hmm," Hermione pondered aloud and got an idea a second later. "Wait a minute! What if it was a Portkey?"
"A Portkey?" Nephtys asked, frowning and letting the artefact float out of Hermione's hands to take another closer look at it. "But isn't the Portkey spell a one-time use? If I remember correctly, it can't be permanently cast on any item."
"That's not true, there's even a law in Britain which prohibits both self-created and permanent Portkeys. So it seems to be possible," said Hermione, who only knew this fact because she had asked Dumbledore in a memory about the fact that he was apparently the only wizard in England who could create Portkeys without consulting the Ministry. Nephtys raised her eyebrows and twirled the bottom half of the artefact, lost in thought, as she seemed to ponder.
"Let's say this was once a portkey. Then there would be three places on here that you could travel to other than London. We should find out what the other places might be," Nephtys said, leafing through one of the books Hermione had brought from the library. It was difficult to deduce the names of cities or places from the hieroglyphics, most of which were not even in the books, and the two of them had been at it for an hour when Tonks entered the room.
"Is there anything new?" Tonks and Hermione asked at the same time, and a smile flitted across Tonks' face before her expression turned serious again.
"There was nothing more in the workshop, but I've had a message from the autopsy to come and have a look at Abernathy. You don't have to come if you don't want to, but it sounds... unusual," Tonks said, and Hermione stood up immediately. Nephtys stood up too and, with a wave of her wand, levitated the artefacts to Tonks and the books to Hermione before they left the room. A lift ride later, the three of them arrived on the ninth floor, where the Department of Pathology was located alongside numerous smaller offices. Hermione noticed that the floor was visually very different from the ones she had visited at the Ministry so far. Dark mahogany wood covered the floor, and the walls were also dark. The long corridor was bare, and each branch seemed to end in a distinct department. Tonks paused for a moment as they stopped at a door and drew her wand.
"Bubble-Head charm. The smell isn't very pleasant most of the time," she said curtly and waved her wand, causing her head to be enveloped in a large bubble of air. Hermione, who knew the spell from her O.W.L. exam, imitated Tonks and Nephtys, who had also performed the spell. Tonks then knocked and curtly greeted the short wizard, who led her to one of the tables where Abernathy's body lay, shrouded in a white sheet.
"I'll get straight to the point. I wouldn't have called you if I hadn't found anything interesting," said the wizard and waved his wand, whereupon the sheet first revealed Abernathy's head. "As you requested, I first examined his blood. No signs of potions or other magical substances in his blood, nor any residue indicating anything taken in the past. I did find something else, though. I don't know if it will help you, but... See for yourself."
He let the sheet reveal Abernathy's torso, and Hermione couldn't help a gasp that echoed strangely dully in her bubble. The man's skin looked as if it had been drenched in ink, so black it stood out against the now pale skin of his face and hands. Through his robe, it hadn't been apparent that his entire upper body was covered in tattoos. However, the markings were unlike anything Hermione had ever seen on a Muggle. Abernathy's skin was coal-black and covered in drawings that must have been tattooed over it afterwards because every line on the pitch-black skin was white as snow and clearly different from his pale, dead skin colour.
"What the hell," Tonks said quietly, muffled by her head bubble.
Hermione followed some of the lines, recognising symbols and characters that she had already seen on the parchments in the workshop and also in her research. They all seemed to be connected and were arranged in different geometric shapes that were interwoven. Hermione's gaze followed the shapes, which became smaller and smaller towards the centre of his chest and became more and more closely interwoven. Several times, her gaze lingered on a symbol, but nothing caught her attention as much as the symbol that could be seen in the last circle on the centre of his chest.
Her eyes widened in horror, and she had to force herself not to make a sound as she recognised the symbol of intertwined circles surrounded by an eleven-pointed star. It was the symbol she had seen on the back of her own hand the night before. As if the sight of it triggered an allergic reaction in her, the back of her hand began to tingle and itch. Was this just her body reacting as it often did when she would see the image of a spider and suddenly feel a tingling sensation on the back of her neck as if a spider was actually sitting there? Her eyes flew to her right hand, but she could see no sign of what she had seen on it the night before. She forced herself to breathe calmly to avoid panicking. Tonks walked round the table once, her eyes fixed on the tattoos, and after a while looked up at Nephtys, who was looking over the numerous symbols and characters with a horrified but interested expression.
"Nephtys, can you make sense of this? My gut tells me that these are more than just tattoos," Tonks said, and Nephtys' head jerked up as if surprised that she wasn't alone.
"I'll have to take a closer look, but my guess is that those marks and symbols were enchantments. Hermione, what do you think?" said Nephtys in a hushed voice, and Hermione, who had been staring glassily at the centre of Abernathy's chest, was pulled from her thoughts. She thought feverishly about what Nephtys had said and now also realised that the connecting lines between the symbols on Abernathy's skin actually looked as if they belonged to engraved enchantments.
"I... I agree, but is that even possible?" Hermione asked, looking up at the two witches.
"Okay, we'll analyse this further. Thanks, Murphy. I need detailed photos of it. Are there any more of these tattoos?"
"On his back, the lower body is untattooed like the hands and the head," the little wizard replied.
"Then I would ask you to take enough pictures of his back as well. Thank you for calling me."
"Sure," said the somewhat shy wizard and waved his wand, whereupon a cupboard opened, and a camera floated towards him. Tonks jerked her head to indicate that they were leaving the room. Hermione was relieved when she could feel the cold air of the ninth floor on her face again. The head-bubble spell wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but it made Hermione feel isolated.
"Can you make sense of this? Can you cast spells on living organisms?" asked Tonks as they stood alone in the lift. Hermione and Nephtys exchanged a perplexed look. "Looks like we've got some work to do. How's it going with the hieroglyphics?"
"We think it's highly likely that one of the objects is a Portkey," Nephtys said, and Hermione was glad that the young Egyptian was answering Tonks' questions. She still had the markings on Abernathy's body in her mind's eye and was becoming more and more certain that the mark on his chest was exactly the same as the one she had seen in her vision. But had it been a vision? A queasy feeling rose up in her again. What if she had been imprinted with the same enchantments as Abernathy by touching the artefact?
As if guided by an invisible hand, she walked alongside the two witches, who continued to talk about Abernathy and walked in the direction of Tonks' office. She understood what they were saying, but it felt like she was separated from them by a veil of her mind. She shook her head as if to shoo away a fly as the memory of Ravenclaw's Diadem came to her mind, and it felt as if she was waking up from a dream. She glanced at the back of her hand, which still looked completely normal, and realised that she couldn't make the same mistake again. She took a deep breath and gently placed her left hand on Tonks' shoulder.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, and Tonks seemed to notice her tension immediately. She briefly let Nephtys know that they would be right behind her, then pulled Hermione to the side. Hermione conjured a Muffliato to make sure no one was listening to them and had to force herself to get a word out despite the lump in her throat. "I haven't told you everything last night. Something... happened. I... I thought it was just... but now..." she said haltingly, cursing herself for not being able to get the words out straight. Tonks, who was now looking at her with a serious expression, put her hands on Hermione's shoulders.
"Take it easy, breathe. Is this about the workshop? Have you noticed anything about Abernathy?"
"Yes. No. Okay," Hermione said, taking a deep breath as Tonks had recommended. "You picked up this diamond-shaped artefact yesterday, right?"
"Yes, why? Did it react when you touched it?"
Hermione nodded tentatively and told Tonks what she had seen when she had touched the artefact. "Listen, I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some kind of protection mechanism to drive away thieves, but the symbol on Abernathy's chest. It's the same symbol, I'm sure of it. And now I'm scared."
"Okay, good of you to tell me. I take it you tried to magically check your hand and the rest of your body for curses and the like?" Tonks asked calmly, her fingers gently massaging Hermione's shoulders as she gazed intently into her eyes. Hermione nodded and jerked her arm back slightly when Tonks tried to grab her right hand. Tonks pressed her lips together determinedly and grabbed Hermione's hand forcefully. "Don't be afraid, we'll find out what this is all about, okay?" she said, squeezing Hermione's hand tightly. She felt tears coming on, suppressed them with all her might and finally nodded silently.
"There's something else," Hermione said when Tonks let go of her hand and told her about the hieroglyphic eye that had stared at her and followed her with its gaze when Tonks had left to pick up Kingsley. Tonks' face showed alarm and triumph that she had been right in her guess.
"Okay. We need to keep a clear head now. I understand that you're scared, especially with what you told me about the diadem. But that doesn't mean it's the same now. It all sounds to me like the actual owner of this workshop was watching us and that they were trying to scare us so that they would have enough time to switch off the artefacts. But we'll do everything we can to make sure nothing happened to your hand after all."
"Thank you," Hermione said, feeling a hundredweight lighter after filling Tonks in.
"Shall we tell Nephtys? Maybe she can see a connection."
"Do you trust her?" asked Hermione, not sure why she was asking the question herself. There was no indication that the Egyptian Auror couldn't be trusted. Hermione had read her thoughts after Nephtys had stared silently through the window at Abernathy's lifeless body for a while, and what she had read there had matched her own thoughts almost one to one. Nevertheless, she wanted to leave the decision to Tonks, as it was ultimately her case.
"Nephtys has worked with Kingsley and Dawlish many times," Tonks said, a smile flitting across her lips. "If you put it that way, she's the Egyptian Hermione Granger. In Egypt, the age limit for Auror training had to be lowered by three years."
"Oh, she didn't tell me that!" said Hermione in astonishment, and Tonks grinned.
"Of course she didn't. Just like a certain witch from Britain, she doesn't advertise her abilities, but uses them to do good," Tonks said, and Hermione looked down at the floor, smiling sheepishly. "How about we take her out for dinner tonight and get to know her a bit. Then you can get an impression of her, hmm?"
"That sounds good, thank you, Tonks," Hermione said, leaping forward to hug Tonks after checking they were alone. It had felt good to talk to her, and Hermione was sure she had made the right decision. She followed Tonks to her office, where Nephtys greeted her without taking her eyes off the pinboard on which the previous leads were pinned, most of which had since turned out to be questionable. Abernathy's arrival had turned the case completely on its head. The three of them spent their lunch break in Tonks' office, recapitulating everything they knew so far so that Nephtys was also fully up to speed.
"We shouldn't just focus on the egg and Abernathy. I'd like to do some research on the other artefact," Hermione finally said, and Tonks nodded.
"Thank you for your help," she said, letting the diamond-shaped piece of rock float into Hermione's hand. She first wanted to find out about the material, which was unlike any rock she had ever seen. She searched through books on enchantment, which listed the known rare materials that could strengthen enchantments. However, her search was unsuccessful. None of the materials known to the wizarding world and used in enchantments came close to the artefact, which glittered in a different colour depending on the light.
She eventually let Tonks persuade her to call it a day, and the three of them arranged to meet in the early evening so that they could get some more rest. Hermione used the time for a relaxing bath, during which she kept looking at her hand and trying to remember if she had felt any different after touching the artefact. Could she really be that unlucky, or had it been, as Tonks had said, just an attempt by the stranger to buy time to drain the artefact of its magic? Was it only because of her experience with the diadem that she was now so afraid of what she had seen?
"Are you finished? Merlin! You're still in the bath!" Tonks exclaimed after sticking her head in the door. "Hurry up now!" she said, and Hermione giggled as Tonks began to suck the water out of the tub with her wand. Tonks took it upon herself to dry Hermione with a spell and finally picked out a matching robe for her, while Hermione dried her hair and tamed it in a wide braid. The two arrived in the bar room of the Dripping Cauldron about five minutes later than arranged, but learnt from Tom, the hunchbacked owner of the pub, that Nephtys also needed some more time and so the two had a beer until the beautiful Egyptian finally came down the stairs in a sunny yellow robe, in which she looked even more exotic than when they had first met that morning.
"Hey! I hope you didn't wait too long for me," she greeted Tonks and Hermione and sat down, whereupon all three witches complimented each other on their appearance and then toasted each other with laughter. At first, Hermione found it a little difficult to separate her thoughts from the case, but Tonks' cheerful demeanour and, not least, Nephtys, who talked a lot about Egypt and life there, were able to distract her for a few hours at least. Tonks invited Nephtys to a game of pool in her flat, but the young Egyptian woman declined, yawning, even though it was obvious that she would have liked to come along. She said goodbye, and after her legs had disappeared behind the corner of the first-floor corridor, Tonks stretched, and Hermione yawned heartily.
"That was an exciting day. How about we play that game of pool?" Hermione asked after Tonks had shifted and was now looking her in the eye. A little music and one-on-one time with Tonks was just what she needed to round off this exhausting day.
"How about we take this opportunity, and you finally do what you've been putting off for three days?" Tonks asked, twitching her eyebrows with a grin. Hermione knew immediately what Tonks meant and glanced at her wristwatch. It wasn't too late, and her parents were probably still awake. She smiled as she imagined them sitting cuddled up in front of the telly or on the couch with a book.
"Hmm," Hermione said, looking shyly into Tonks' brown eyes. She didn't know why she had hesitated that long to fulfil her part of the bargain with her parents. She knew they would love Tonks. Her parents meeting Tonks was another step in their relationship, and she was still conflicted. However, one look at Tonks' lips, which showed a sweet smile, was enough to dispel her last doubts. "Fine, but I'll give them a heads up. I don't want to surprise them in their pyjamas," she said, pulling out her Black Book to write a note to her parents.
"Very thoughtful," Tonks said, and Hermione could tell from her mischievous grin that she had a raunchy comment on her lips, which she refrained from making. She waited until her mum had answered and picked up the bill. Tonks thanked her and followed Hermione to the backyard of the Dripping Cauldron, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was hidden.
"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Hermione, as Tonks began to change her appearance. Her hair had become long and brunette, just like when she had first met her. "I don't want you to pretend. Be yourself, please!" Tonks looked at her uncertainly for a moment, and Hermione realised for the first time that the witch, who was usually brimming with confidence, was showing signs of insecurity. Smiling, she stroked Tonks' cheek with her fingers. "They'll love you, believe me."
"Are you sure?" Tonks asked sheepishly, and Hermione's eyes got moist for a moment because Tonks looked like a vulnerable fawn. She nodded and smiled as her hair turned pink again and shrank into the cheeky short hairstyle Tonks favoured. When she was done, Hermione took her hand and prepared to apparate them both. After her successful training in the days before, she was confident, which was a major part of success when apparating. The pair finally landed in her parents' garden without a sound, and Hermione pulled Tonks by the hand to the patio door, which was slightly ajar. She knocked on the glass of the door so as not to startle her parents and entered, still holding hands with Tonks. Her parents were sitting relaxed on the couch, and her mum beamed when she saw the two witches.
Hermione introduced them to Tonks, and to her delight, she was once again the confident, funky and funny Auror that Hermione knew and had taken to her heart. After she had drawn all the curtains in the house with a wave of her wand, they sat down on the couch with Hermione's parents and spent an enjoyable evening together, during which Tonks talked a lot about herself and the Ministry of Magic. Hermione could see from the look on her mum's face that she was delighted with Tonks, and when she demonstrated some of her Metamorphmaga skills, her father had also warmed up and had the heartiest fit of laughter Hermione had ever seen him have when Tonks grew a large duck beak and started talking in a perfect imitation of Donald Duck.
Hermione wasn't surprised that her parents got on well with Tonks, but she was all the more pleased. For two hours, she forgot what had happened the night before and that she was the Daughter of the Raven. Her parents finally insisted that Hermione demonstrate some spells for them since she had permission, and they all had great fun until tiredness finally got the better of Hermione, and she stood up. Her father insisted that they disapparated from the living room instead of the garden so that her parents could watch. Hermione smiled as her mum pulled Tonks into a tight hug before they both left, waving.
"That was really sweet, thank you," Tonks said, pulling Hermione into a tender kiss when the two had arrived in the sitting room. However, the change of location had brought the events of the last few days back to the forefront of Hermione's mind. She cursed herself for not being able to respond to Tonks' kisses as passionately as she would have liked. Tonks seemed to notice and looked into her eyes with concern. "Still scared?" she asked in a whisper, instinctively taking Hermione's hand in hers. Hermione nodded silently as a lump formed in her throat again, and she cursed herself for not being able to simply switch her head off at this sensual moment. Without breaking eye contact, Tonks lifted Hermione's hand to her face and covered her knuckles with gentle kisses. "How about we go upstairs, and I seriously make sure everything is okay with your body?" Tonks asked in a tender, loving whisper that gave Hermione goosebumps on her forearm. "I won't miss an inch," she continued to breathe, and Hermione nodded. She let herself fall into the gentle touches and giggled as Tonks enquired after each time if it had hurt when she had kissed another part of her neck.
"Thank you," she whispered, sighing as Tonks wrapped her arms around her tightly. "That helped."
"I'm far from finished," Tonks whispered lasciviously in her ear, and Hermione's neck hairs stood up as she covered her face with gentle kisses. "Follow me, young lady."
A day later, on the evening of the last day of her internship, Hermione was feeling much better. She had written a report about what she had experienced in the workshop and had realised on the last day that there were also days in the working life of an Auror when things were just treading water. The three witches had not managed to gain any further knowledge about the objects and artefacts, but there seemed to be a clear connection between the symbols on Abernathy's upper body and those on the artefacts. Nephtys had taken up residence in the Dripping Cauldron for the rest of February and wanted to support Tonks wherever she could, even if deciphering and interpreting the hieroglyphs and symbols proved to be much more difficult than initially assumed.
Hermione's plan to spend the last evening with her parents and apparate to Hogsmeade the next day in time for the second task of the Triwizard Tournament was thwarted, however, when she received a message from Albus Dumbledore instructing her to apparate to Hogwarts immediately and come straight to his office. She said goodbye to her parents and was curious to see what would await her in her Headmaster's office, as Dumbledore had not mentioned the reason for this unscheduled meeting.
When she arrived in Hogsmeade, she took a quick look around and then changed into her raven form in a dark alley. The sun had long since set, and a thin crescent moon dimly illuminated the Black Lake, over which Hermione glided silently. When she saw a large shadow flying towards her out of the corner of her eye, she took a startled dive and turned sharply. She turned her head to take a look at the creature, which seemed to have lost sight of her and was now making an eerie noise. She tried to make as little noise as possible with her flapping wings as she watched the horse-like creature she had now recognised.
"There are Thestrals at Hogwarts?" she thought, her eyes widening. Not only did she realise that she could see Thestrals from now on from watching Abernathy die, but that she had spent several years mindlessly roaming the castle grounds in raven form while invisible creatures that thought ravens were a delicacy flew around. The Thestral let out an unnerving neigh, then turned in the direction of the Forbidden Forest and glided silently through the air until it melted into the darkness. Hermione looked around carefully as she flew straight to Lancelot's nest. Once there, she was glad to find him and his mate safe and sound. Lancelot told her that the two of them could sense the Thestrals and were therefore well able to avoid them, but Hermione still couldn't completely stop worrying about her animal companion.
"Be careful, will you?" she said in farewell and waved to the two ravens, who were sitting close together in their nest and waving their wings at her. Since Dumbledore had explicitly asked her to use the official entrance to his office, she changed back into her human form in the shade of the large oak tree and walked through the ankle-high snow to the large entrance portal in the warmth of a heat sphere. She eagerly made her way through the corridors lit by flickering torches, which she had already missed even though she had only been in London for a week. As it was past the official curfew, the castle was eerily quiet, which only served to heighten Hermione's tension before she finally told the gargoyles the password and climbed the stairs to the Headmaster's office. As always, the door opened magically, and Hermione was surprised to hear a lot more noise coming from Dumbledore's office than she had expected.
"Hermione! Good to see you. We're finally complete," Dumbledore called over the clamour coming from a corner of the circular office. Hermione looked confusedly into the brown eyes of Cho Chang, who looked annoyed but happy at the same time, and finally took a closer look at the fireplace, where the loud crying and screaming that Dumbledore had had to overpower was coming from.
"I don't want to! I'm scared!" she heard the voice of a girl shouting in French, sitting on the arm of a little man and crying heartbreakingly. The man whispered seemingly soothing words, but the girl seemed inconsolable. Standing next to them was a blonde woman, the sight of whom gave Hermione goosebumps all over her body. She didn't need any further clues to realise that she must be looking at Fleur's family. With a furrowed brow, she looked at Dumbledore, who sighed loudly and beckoned her to his desk.
"I'm sorry I had to bring your internship to such a rough end. As you know, the second task of the tournament takes place tomorrow. I regret to inform you that you will not be able to attend the task as a spectator," Dumbledore said, and Hermione furrowed her brow but let her Headmaster continue. He told her that the champions had been summoned to his office one by one that afternoon, where one of Dumbledore's magical devices had been used to determine which person was closest to their hearts. Hermione looked at her Headmaster with wide eyes as he emphasised again that the device had chosen her for Viktor Krum. "Miss Chang has taken this news a little better than..."
"Let me speak to her for a moment," Hermione interrupted her Headmaster, who looked unusually helpless. However, the language barrier might have made the tall, imposing old wizard look terrifying in young Gabrielle's eyes.
"Good evening, my name is Hermione. Are you Gabrielle?" Hermione asked in French, after exchanging glances first with Dumbledore, then with the little man, and approached the family cautiously. Hermione smiled when the girl immediately fell silent and looked at her from her father's shoulder with big blue eyes. The resemblance to Fleur was unmistakable. Like her, she had inherited her mother's silver-blonde hair and facial features. Hermione had to stifle a giggle as the girl, who she estimated to be about eight or nine years old, seemed to have forgotten that she had been crying and shouting in surprise. "I'm a good friend of Fleur's," Hermione said, smiling broadly as Gabrielle's eyes began to sparkle at the sound of her sister's name, just as Fleur's did when she spoke of Gabrielle. "Fleur has already told me a lot about you," Hermione continued, waving her wand to summon a large sofa, that was now standing across the room. Smiling, she sat down on it and tapped her hand once on the seat next to her. Instantly, the shy Gabrielle buried her head in her father's neck, who giggled happily. He whispered something to her, then sat down with her next to Hermione, who smiled when Gabrielle dared a cautious glance at her.
"Do you know why I'm here?" she asked, and Gabrielle shook her head silently, still hiding behind her now-beaming father's head and observing her with one eye. "Because there's someone who really likes me a lot. You're here for the same reason. Can you imagine who really loves you?"
"Fleur," Gabrielle whispered, and Hermione almost started to tear up as the French girl's blue eyes began to shine again. Hermione nodded and carefully held out her hand to Gabrielle, which she looked at doubtfully for a moment but then took after another look into Hermione's eyes.
"That's right. Fleur told me that you're her biggest support for the tournament and that you write her letters every day," she said as she gently stroked the back of Gabrielle's hand with her thumb. Even without her powers, she could feel her slowly but surely calming down. Hermione was almost in tears again as the shy girl flashed a tentative smile. "Professor Dumbledore has called you here because we can help Fleur master the second task tomorrow even better than the first task. Surely that's what you want?" she asked, and Gabrielle nodded eagerly. "To help Fleur, we have to go straight down to the lake outside the castle. Will you come with me? I'll be with you the whole time and hold your hand."
Fear entered Gabrielle's gaze again, but after a glance at her mother, who nodded with a smile, she released the clasp around her father's neck and sat down between Hermione and Monsieur Delacour, her fingers still entwined firmly in Hermione's hand. Hermione glanced briefly over her shoulder at Dumbledore, in whose gaze she could feel appreciation and relief.
"I'll go ahead with Gabrielle, so it's less stressful for her. I'll walk through the corridors with her so she won't notice when you and Cho overtake us."
"Very well, I'll see you in a minute. Meet us at the big oak tree?"
Hermione nodded and told Gabrielle that she would see her parents again as soon as they arrived at the lake. She didn't like fibbing to the young girl, but she didn't want to frighten her anymore. Gabrielle nodded and didn't let go of Hermione's hand for a moment, as if the two of them were glued together with a spell.
"Here, you can illuminate for us," Hermione said and gave Gabrielle her illuminated wand, which she took wide-eyed in her free hand and held up immediately. Hermione smiled as Gabrielle beamed at her, and it only took two corridors before the young French girl was talking like a waterfall about her sister and her home in France. When they reached the first floor, Gabrielle suddenly stopped and clung to Hermione.
"There's someone there!" she said anxiously, pointing Hermione's wand into the sparsely lit corridor, at the end of which she recognised an outline that looked very familiar.
"Right, that's probably a teacher making sure the students stay in their beds. But we're allowed outside tonight. Shall we say hello to him?" Hermione explained, squeezing Gabrielle's hand to encourage her. Hermione couldn't help but smile as Severus slowly walked up to them and raised an eyebrow when he saw them.
"Good evening, Miss Granger. The Headmaster has informed me of the circumstances of your late-night excursion. Arrive safely at the lake," Severus said with his usual bad-tempered mask and glanced briefly at Gabrielle, who was hiding behind Hermione.
"That's Professor Snape," Hermione said to Gabrielle in French and had to stifle a giggle. "Most of the time, he's grumpy and scowling, but he can also be nice, like an Erumpent," she said, grinning at Severus as Gabrielle giggled. Severus raised an eyebrow, and Hermione could see that he had to stifle a smile. He walked on quickly, and Hermione giggled as Gabrielle pulled her by the hand towards the staircase in the entrance hall. Ever since they had left Dumbledore's office, she had been thinking about the most skilful and relaxed way for Gabrielle to hand her over to the Merpeople. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that the sight of the Merpeople was probably too much for the young girl, who had already shed many tears that evening. She tried to cast a weak enough stunning spell through her hand so that it wouldn't knock Gabrielle out completely but carry her over the threshold into a dreamless sleep. She hoped the adorable girl wouldn't notice and cast the stunning spell, immediately followed by a levitation spell.
"Sleep well, Gabrielle," Hermione whispered and walked down the winding path to the Black Lake with the girl now floating motionless beside her. Dumbledore thanked her for her help and cast the protection spell on her, which would protect her and later Hermione and Cho from the cold water of the lake. Hermione insisted on being allowed at least a glimpse of the Merpeople before Dumbledore charmed them into a dreamless sleep and scrutinised with interest the heads, that were now sticking out of the lake, looking eerie in the moonlight.
Hermione gasped as she opened her eyes and realised the coldness of the water from which she had just emerged. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings, and she was terrified when she recognised the head of a shark close to her in the water. Without hesitation, she reached out underwater and sent a stunning spell towards the monster.
"Krum has just surfaced! If I'm not mistaken, he's transformed into a shark! Well, at least a little," a magically amplified voice echoed across the lake. Hermione realised with horror that the shark had a neck and a thorax. She immediately brought Krum back from unconsciousness and watched as the shark changed. Gradually, the fearsome jaws shrank, and Hermione slowly but surely recognised Viktor, who blinked at her a few seconds later in his human appearance and finally grinned at her, much to Hermione's relief. He pulled her through the water to a pier in the lake that hadn't been there the night before, and Hermione hoped fervently that no one had noticed her mishap. "So we're just waiting for the champion of Hogwarts! Oh, I think I see something!"
Hermione gratefully accepted the towel handed to her by a Durmstrang student and let out a whoop when Krum pulled her against his chest a little too forcefully.
"You looked like an angel down there," he said, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. Hermione was still shivering from the cold and was so worried that she had accidentally cast a spell without a wand in front of three schools that she didn't even hear his words. It was only when he put his hand under her chin and closed his eyes that she realised he was about to kiss her and turned her cheek towards him. He didn't seem to mind as he covered her cheek with kisses. Hermione thought feverishly about how to get out of this situation without offending him or even exposing herself in front of almost three wizarding schools.
"Viktor, please..."
"Hermione, I've never had feelings like this for a girl before. The fact that you were down there proves that we're made for each other," he interrupted her and put pressure on her chin to make her turn her face back towards him. She looked up into the dark eyes and took another breath but didn't get a chance. "I would really like you to visit me in Bulgaria this summer. My family is dying to meet you."
"Viktor, I'm really sorry, but I can't do that. Unfortunately, I can't return your feelings," she said, sighing inwardly because he didn't seem to be listening to her and was tugging at her hair instead. They both looked in bewilderment at the large Beetle he had pulled out of her wet hair and watched as it flew away, buzzing. Hermione was about to repeat that her feelings did not go beyond friendship when Ludo Bagman raised his magically amplified voice again and announced the result of the task. Fleur seemed to have emerged from the lake just ahead of Krum, having scored only one point more than him and beamed at Hermione when their eyes met. Gabrielle was beaming even more than her sister, and Hermione melted when the little blonde rushed up to her and hugged her tightly. Before she could speak to Viktor again, she was pulled aside by her friends and bombarded with questions, which she answered as best she could.
Until Sunday, Viktor had never been alone, and, as he hadn't actively approached Hermione, he had probably heard what she had said to him after the task. Hermione didn't want to leave it at that, though, and approached him after dinner.
"What's up?" he asked with a grumpy undertone.
"So you... heard what I said when you pulled the bug out of my hair?"
"Of course."
"Then... Okay," she said, cursing herself for not managing to prevent the awkward silence that followed. "I really like you, just..."
"I get it, thanks," he said snippily, and Hermione sadly realised that friendship didn't seem to be an option for him. She looked at him with her lips pressed together, not knowing what else to say. She could see that he was hurt and wasn't used to being rejected. "See you around," he said, turning round with a sour expression and disappearing through the castle gates with his schoolmates.
"What's so funny, Malfoy?"
Hermione lifted her head from her cauldron when she heard Severus' voice. He hadn't said anything for the entire first hour of the double Potions lesson apart from a greeting and some instructions on today's recipe and had seemed thoughtful to Hermione. She hadn't dared to read his mind to find out anything more, but now he had caught her attention again. All morning and forenoon, Malfoy had looked at her funny and kept whispering with his entourage, but she hadn't thought anything of it. The fact that he had let Severus catch him in class was highly unusual.
"You're reading magazines when you should be concentrating on your cauldron?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but it's just... hilarious!" said Malfoy, snorting with laughter, causing the Slytherins sitting around him to burst out laughing as well.
"Give that to me. Five points off..." said Severus, but he stopped in mid-sentence, and his lips curled. "I see."
Severus' eyes darted to Hermione and locked on to her with a deeply mocking look, but she could see that his expression was beyond an act and was now beginning to read his mind after all.
"This is the perfect opportunity. This is probably going to be hard to take, but I need you to make it look real," she read his thoughts and now recognised her own face with horror on the back of the magazine he had taken from Malfoy and was now holding in front of him.
"If only I had known there was news of the fantastic Miss Granger's love life, Mr Malfoy. You'll allow me to do the work of filling the rest of the class in?" he said, pausing to allow the Slytherins' laughter over the bubbling of the cauldrons to be heard more clearly. Hermione braced herself for the worst and glanced at Harry and Neville, who were sitting to her right and left. Harry's knuckles were white against his clenched fist, and Neville's leg was bobbing up and down tensely. She prepared to use a spell to mute them if they tried to defend her against Snape. Hermione didn't want them both to get detention just because Severus took the opportunity to dispel any presumption of affection they might have been accused of having. "Hermione Granger. Warm-hearted prodigy or cold Ice Princess?" Severus began to read out the article in his most smug tone of voice, and Hermione braced herself for the worst. "Dearest readers, I regret to inform you that the relationship discussed in my last article between Quidditch star Viktor Krum and the prodigy of the British wizarding community, Hermione Granger, came to a tragic end when the unsuspecting Krum was at the height of his feelings. For months, the warm-hearted and approachable hero of Bulgaria wooed the jewel of Hogwarts. According to witnesses, the hard-to-get Miss Granger turned down more than a hundred candidates for the prestigious Triwizard Tournament Yule Ball dance, as she saw no value in it without a place in the limelight. Only the well-known and celebrated champion of the Durmstrang Institute was able to melt the ice princess's thick armour. Or so it seemed. As described in the last article, the young Miss Granger has an extraordinarily frivolous relationship with her circle of friends, and it has long been rumoured among her schoolmates that many of these relationships go beyond platonic friendship. So it seemed questionable whether there was any room left in the Ice Princess's heart and womb for the shy and well-mannered Quidditch star when she granted him nothing more than a dance at the Yule Ball," Severus read aloud, apologising incessantly in his mind, but Hermione didn't notice.
She was fixated on his lips and just listened to the words of the article, which struck her more than she had initially expected. She felt a lump forming in her throat and tried to give in to the stinging in her nose to shed a few tears. She knew she shouldn't listen to such trash talk, but her past was a fertile breeding ground for the hurtful words.
"It became quiet around the supposed dream couple, and I received hundreds of letters in which you, dear readers, doubted the authenticity of Miss Granger's feelings. Rightly so, as it turned out after the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. In a frenzy of emotions, Viktor Krum poured his heart out to the Ice Princess seconds after daringly rescuing her from the clutches of Merpeople and told her that he had never had such feelings for anyone before. If you, dear reader, melted at these words as I did, you have not yet met the Ice Princess, whose ice armour has not even been chipped. With a cool gaze, she rejected the brave and loving attempt to take their relationship to the next level and just turned her ice-cold cheek to poor Krum. Heroically, Viktor tried to persuade his beloved to change her mind with a generous invitation to the Krums' estate in Bulgaria in the summer. But even that didn't seem to be good enough for the Ice Princess, who only coldly informed him that she had no feelings for him. A stab in the heart for anyone who can muster even a hint of empathy because who else could then be good enough for the Ice Princess Hermione Granger, who prefers to play with other people's feelings like a cat with a ball of wool, only to throw it off the edge of the table when it's no longer interesting enough? Does everyone who has feelings for Miss Granger have to be prepared to be kept on the back burner for months and be replaced in the end?"
"Fuck, I didn't realise that would be so below the belt," Hermione heard in Severus' mind after he had paused for a bit, apparently skimming over the rest.
"You read correctly, dear reader because according to several reports from the Ministry, the indecent Ice Princess has danced at other balls even before she heartlessly dumped poor Viktor Krum. According to witnesses, Miss Granger spends every spare second with the young Auror Nymphadora Tonks. The untrained eye sees nothing reprehensible in this constellation, but if you dig a little deeper, you soon discover that dear Miss Tonks is a Metamorphmaga. Now I ask you, dear reader, is it a coincidence that the young Miss Granger, who seems to be hard to beat in terms of superficiality, is involved with a witch who can change her appearance at will? I look forward to receiving your letters and will keep you up to date in the next issue of Witch Weekly. Lastly, it is only to be hoped that poor Miss Tonks quickly realises that the Ice Princess is only interested in the limitless possibilities of her appearance, and not in her character. Rita Skeeter."
Hermione sobbed audibly, which gave the Slytherins, who had accompanied Severus' lecture with laughter and cheers, the final blow. Neville and Harry, who had been magically silenced by Hermione after the first few sentences, were both crimson red in the face. The last part of the article had hit Hermione so unexpectedly that the tears rolling from her cheeks were real.
"That's really disgusting. I'm sorry," she heard Severus' thoughts echoing in her head. She cursed herself as she sobbed audibly again, trying to stop the tears but failed. Had she been playing with Viktor? Had she given him hope for too long? Hermione felt caught out and humiliated by a woman who, despite being banned from the castle, had once again reproduced one-to-one conversations that no one could have overheard. Had Viktor told her everything? Had she misjudged him so badly?
"As you know, you should stop when can't get any better, so I declare the lesson over for today. Potter, if you don't straighten that spoon, you'll get detention this evening," Severus said, and Hermione looked at Harry, who was clutching his potion ladle tightly with both hands. He seemed to have bent it in anger, which was surprising considering the heavy metal. The spoon clattered onto the table as Harry stood up in a rage.
"Please, Harry! It's not worth it," Hermione said, waving her wand to straighten the spoon. Harry looked into her eyes for a moment, his face flushed with rage, but then, to her relief, he packed up his things without a word and left the classroom. Hermione knew that he was both angry and grateful that she had cast a silencing charm on him, as otherwise, he would probably have spent little free time with Luna over the coming summer. Without thinking about it, she cleaned the cauldrons of the three of them and was startled when Neville grabbed her by the arm. Wordlessly, he pointed to his neck, whereupon Hermione ended the Silencio and turned back to the cauldrons.
"Why are you letting him do this to you? And don't clean up! Not after he..."
"After he what, Mr Longbottom?" asked the piercingly cold voice of Severus, who had come up behind them like a black shadow. Hermione could see Neville flinch instinctively, but then a fire lit in his eyes.
"After he humiliated you like an arsehole in front of the whole class, even though you never gave him a reason to," Neville said, facing Severus, and Hermione closed her eyes.
"No shakes at all, Longbottom, and a whole sentence at that. I didn't think I'd live to see the day you grew a spine. Five points off for Gryffindor for that uncreative insult, but rest assured that I will not tolerate such misbehaviour a second time," Severus said, coming a millimetre closer to Neville with every word, who did not flinch so that their noses were almost touching at the end.
"I'm sorry, how could I, with such an exemplary mentor as you are," Neville said, holding Severus' gaze. "If you would remove your face from mine then, I could leave the room."
Severus narrowed his eyes but wordlessly took a step back and let Neville pack up his things. Without another word, Neville grabbed Hermione's arm and literally dragged her out of the classroom.
"I'll make it up to you tonight," she heard in Severus' mind as Neville manoeuvred her over the threshold. Her thoughts were interrupted when she caught sight of Harry, still muted by her spell and gesticulating outside the room, waiting for her. Apparently, he was silently saying everything he thought about Severus because the hand gestures left little room for interpretation. Hermione was about to raise her wand to give him back his voice when he raised his index finger. He took a deep breath and silently shouted an insult in the direction of the Potions classroom, which Hermione could easily read from his lips and made her giggle.
"Wow, that felt good," Harry said, pulling Hermione into a tight hug without another word. "Don't let those bastards get to you."
"I know. Thanks, Harry," Hermione said, looking into the green eyes that were now scrutinising her with concern. "It was just the last bit that hit me. If Tonks reads this..."
"Then she'll know it's a load of Doxy shite."
Hermione nodded, not voicing what she was thinking. She hoped Tonks didn't take it to heart, because she knew how insecure she was about this subject. The fear of being reduced to her ability and taken advantage of was the only point Tonks had ever shown weakness in front of Hermione. Since they still had half an hour before Charms class started, the three of them decided to sit down in the Great Hall, where Hermione pulled out her Black Book and wrote Tonks a long message trying to invalidate everything Rita Skeeter claimed and tell Tonks what she liked about her. She was aware that Tonks was highly unlikely to care what Skeeter wrote about them, but for the sake of her conscience, she wanted to leave no doubt about what Tonks meant to her.
Emotionally shaken, Hermione returned to her dormitory after the double lesson in wizardry and threw herself back on her bed.
"Why me? And why does this pile of shit affect me so much?" she asked loudly into the empty room, rubbing her tired eyes. She glanced at her bag and summoned the Black Book from it into her hand with a wave of her hand. When she realised from the summary page that Tonks had answered her, her heart began to pound.
Nymphadora Tonks
Nymphadora: Hey, had the article shoved under my nose this morning. What a load of doxy crap hahaha
Hermione: That's what Harry said too. I'm glad you don't believe it.
Nymphadora: What kind of deranged moron would believe that if they knew you? And what you wrote to me was really sweet. I should send Rita flowers for that alone.
Hermione: Don't joke, I meant it all. And I miss you.
Nymphadora: I hate to say it, but I've missed you since Friday afternoon. It scares me a bit, to be honest, but luckily I'll see you on Wednesday at the first "Core of the Phoenix" meeting. I have to go get groceries now. I'll write to you again later and hope you have a nice evening!
Hermione: You too, till later xoxo
Nymphadora: xoxo
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled for a moment as she realised how childish all this nonsense was. She stretched, yawning, and glanced at her wristwatch when she noticed something unusual in the corner of her eye. Something yellow shimmered behind her window and stood out clearly against the black night sky in the light of the candles on her desk. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she recognised the shimmering yellow orb as the eye of a bird rarely seen at Hogwarts. The falcon stared at her, clacking its beak impatiently as it realised Hermione had noticed it.
As she looked through the window, she spotted a rolled-up piece of parchment that the falcon was carrying in one claw. Curious, she opened the window and let out a surprised sound as the falcon dropped the parchment on her desk and immediately flew out again, disappearing into the darkness as it took a dive. Hermione, who was used to owls staying at least briefly to beg for something edible, scratched the back of her head and closed the window before taking a closer look at the parchment, which at second glance seemed different to the parchment used in the wizarding world of Britain. She paused at the last moment when she had already reached out for the scroll and cast an analysing spell.
"Hmm," she hummed when no spells were displayed and unrolled the sheet of what could only be papyrus to her. She frowned and lifted the papyrus closer to her eyes as she recognised the curved handwriting of her mother, who had written a letter to her in what appeared to be dark red ink. There was no doubt that it was her mother's handwriting, even if some of the letters looked strange, as if she had had trouble with the filler. The more Hermione read, the more her eyes widened.
Dearest Hermione,
You can't imagine my delight when I came across your face on the cover of a magazine in London this morning. At last, there was a name to go with the face that was etched on the inside of my eye a few days ago. I could hardly believe my luck and had to find out more about the young woman who destroyed my life's work.
I don't want to waste any of our precious time, so I'll get to the point. You stole something from my workshop that I have worked hard and sacrificed a lot for all my life. As I always want to believe in the good in people, I assume that you did not deliberately take the contents of the prism, but I must insist you return what is not rightfully yours. A contact person will be waiting for you in the first room of the 'Hog's Head Inn' in Hogsmeade to explain the next steps.
At this point, you're probably wondering why your mother is writing this letter for me in her own blood? Well, in the end, I felt that this message was missing a motivating factor.
I'm offering you a trade. Your parents' lives for the contents of the prism. Don't waste any time, follow the instructions and come alone, and there will be just enough blood left in your parents' veins when you see them again.
Tick Tock, Hermione. Drip. Drop.
M.
Author's Notes: I'm sorry, okay? I know cliffhangers are not nice but sometimes I really feel like it =)
Jokes aside, this chapter has (as always) become much longer than I had anticipated. I hope you liked this little two-part introduction into what is by now a major story deviation, which I hope to be able to interweave nicely into the classic canon storyline (whatever is left of it).
As always, I'd be delighted to read what you think about this chapter, and thank you to everyone who has already left reviews, favourites and follows! I hope you still enjoy what I come up with.
See you next time!
Kasing