A/N: just btw, im trying my best to use british terms and such but im not very well versed in British terminology in case you were wondering why they all sound so American lol

Chapter 5: An Extra Peice to the Puzzle

"Hermione," Harry whispered, gently shaking her shoulder to wake her.

Her eylids fluttered open as she slowly lifted her head, blinking repeatedly as her pupils adjusted to the light. "Ughhh."

"Hermione, its almost cerfew. We have to get going."

"Missed dinner?" She inquired groggily, rubbing her eyes as she sat up in the wooden chair.

He smiled, gesturing to a plate full of alluring food a few inches in front of her. "I brought us some food from the dining hall while you were sleeping."

She grinned back sleepily, reaching for the food. "Thank you Harry."

"Just remember we have about 30 minutes till curfew. So either you gotta eat that quickly or we have to bring it up to the common room. Oh, and we can't let Madam Pince see the food- you know how strict she is about eating in the library."

"Right." Hermione casted a quick spell to package the food as she gathered the books next to her in her arms. "Can you help me put these away?"

"Of course." Harry grabbed the remaining literature from the table and some from her arms as she turned to the shelves, putting away the books she had previously skimmed through. Hermione's thoughts flooded her brain as replayed her dream in her mind, trying to make sense of it all.

Was it just a dream, or was it actually a warning? And if it was a real warning, who was that woman and why can't she tell anyone what she saw?

And is the woman in danger?

She looked down at the last three books she had nestled into the corner of her arm- the only ones she hadn't searched through yet.

I have to find answers.

"Ready?" Harry asked, leaning over the table to pick up her boxed dinner.

"Mhm. Just gotta check these out."

They walked over to Madam Pinces desk, Hermione gently setting the books on the counter. "I'd like to check these out please."

Madam Pince peered at her skeptically over the rim of her glasses after reading the titles, tapping the top book, Playing With Time. "This is supposed to be in the restricted section, Miss Granger."

"What?" Hermione blinked, eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"It belongs in the restricted section." She repeated irritably. "Miss Granger, where did you find this?"

"In the magic section, Madam."

"Hmm." She commented, quickly storing the book in the top desk drawer to her left. Hermione noted its position in her head.

Madam Pince handed her the other two books as she shot her one last questioning glance.

"Thank you." Hermione said politely, avoiding her eyes.

There's something important in that book, I know it.

"I'm assuming we are going back to the library?" Harry inquired as they settled on the common room couch. "After you finish eating, of course."

"Yep." She replied, nodding as she spooned a peice of mash into her mouth.

"Alright, I'll go get the cloak then." He stood up from the sofa, climbing up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Quickly scanning the room for anyone awake, Harry quietly unlocked his coffee-colored trunk and pulled out the sliky fabric of his invisiblity cloak.

"Whats that, mate?" A hostile voice cut though the silence from his right.

Harry whipped his head around, finding Ron standing next to him. They hadn't spoken since the train in their first year. "Uhh..." Harry stuffed the cloak back into the trunk too late. "Nothing." He quickly got up from his crouching position on the floor, standing a few inches taller than the redhead.

Ron glanced down at the fabric messily stuffed in the suitcase, eyes widening. "It's a bloody invisibility cloak, isn't it?"

Darn it Harry, why didn't you close the trunk?

He kicked the lid closed. "I don't know what your talking about."

"I saw your hand vanish behind it." Ron retored, crossing his arms as a smug smirk- one even Draco Malfoy would be jealous of- spread across his face. "They are illegal, you know. You would get in a lot of trouble if someone found out."

He glared back at him, voice low. "Good thing no one will find out about it then." Harry wouldnt hurt a fly, but Ron didn't know that- maybe if he acted tough enough Ron would back off. "I strongly suggest you go back to bed, Ron."

His confidence faltered for a moment. "I won't tell anyone..."

"Y-you won't?" Harry tilted his head, eyebrows pushed together in a confused position- he hadn't expected his facade to have any effect.

"...if you do something for me in return."

He was right; it didn't have any effect.

"Evanesco." Hermione whispered, posing her wand at her empty plate which vanished with a satisfying whoosh.

Hearing footsteps trailing down the stairway, she turned her head to find Harry walking tward her with the cloak bunched in his clenched fist. "Everything okay?" She inquired, noticing his tense posture.

He snaped his head up, quickly planting a smile on his face. "Yep. Ready to go back for the book?"

She nodded, following Harry to the door.

"I wonder why the book wasn't in the restricted section like it was supposed to be." He mused, swiftly covering them with the invisibility cloak.

She shrugged, whispering as they began their journey to the library. "I don't know. But I do know that is a mistake that is almost never made- I think someone wanted us to find it."

"Really? You mean like, someone put it there for us to find?"

"I think so. But I could be wrong,"

"Pfft. You're almost never wrong." He sighed. "But then that would mean that this whole situation is lot bigger than we originally thought it to be."

"Yeah." She agreed quietly, remembering she still hadn't told Harry about her dream.

I'll tell him when we get back to the common room.

He quietly pushed the heavy library door open and the pair slipped inside, heading to Madam Pinces desk. "Do you remember where it is?" Harry whispered, gesturing in the direction of the drawers.

She nodded, pulling out the top left drawer and gently lifting the book out of its spot. "Geminio," she whispered while pointing to the book with her wand, a duplicate of the novel appearing noiselessly next to her as she put away the original. "Alright, let's go."

Hermione scanned the room as they left, expecting some sort of danger or a teacher to pop out of nowhere and catch them- this just felt a little too easy.

They exited the library, immediately seeing two shadows standing to the left of the corridor who were too deep in conversation to see the door open and close of its own accord.

"I told you, you don't have a choice." The man's low voice dripped with malice, hushed but still loud enough for her and Harry to hear.

"You think I don't know that?!" A familiar drawled voice replied, words measured and heavy.

"Then why can't you just do your bloody job!" He exclaimed, pausing for a moment as if weighing the possibilities. His voice quieted to a whisper, a trace of empathy just bearly evident underneath his stone-cold tone. "It's because he's Lily's, isn't it?"

Hermione could feel Harry stiffen next to her at his mothers name. Her blood ran cold as she realized that whoever they were, they were plotting against him. Her vision was confirmed- they are coming for Harry. But why would Harry's mother sway the man's opinion?

"I am done with this conversation." The second man spun on his heel, robes billowing powerfully around him as his footsteps echoed creepily throughout the hall. The other man stalked off in the opposite direction, muttering to himself.

Hermione silently slipped her hand into Harry's, gently leading him back to the common room as thoughts raced at 100 miles per hour in her brain.

Hermione pulled the cloak off of them as they arrived back in the Gryffindor tower, tentatively folding it and placing it on the red sofa.

Harry stood frozen as tears pricked the corners of his eyes, its emerald color made even more striking with the unshed tears that reflected it.

"We will figure it out Harry, okay? We can do this." She brushed the raven fringe that covered his scar to the side with her fingertips, exposing the jagged flesh. "You've defeated Voldemort three times already, I know you can do it again."

"It was all sheer luck, Hermione." He raised his eyes to her chocolate-brown ones, expression filled with a maturity beyond his years that was forced upon him since the day he could walk.

Hermione shook her head, disagreeing with his claim. "No. You are a powerful wizard, Harry, wether you realize it or not."

"But l'm not as smart as you- you excell in every subject you try, and-"

"It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, book smarts aren't going to save you; skill and experience will. You could have every textbook in the world memorized, but it is useless if you can't apply it correctly."

Harry pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Hermione."

"For what?"

"For being such a brilliant friend."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she rested her head on his chest. Typically Harry wasnt the type to 'talk about his feelings', mainly because of his early childhood, but she was glad that he is now. "You are a great friend too, you know. Oh, and before I forget- remember that vision thing I had?" She lifted her head, meeting his gaze again. "I got another one when I fell asleep in the library. I think I might get more, and I think they can help shed light on the situation."

"You got another one? What did you see?" He inquired, pulling black slightly with his hands still resting gently on her back.

"A woman. She was warning me not to tell anyone else about it- about anything. And she seemed to be in danger."

"So that means-"

"We can't tell Dumbledore. I'm sorry Harry."

"But- how else are we going to figure it out?"

"We have to do it on our own." He raked a trembling hand through his dark hair, trying to calm himself. "I wish we had help Harry, but we need to take percaution. Whatever situation we are stuck in is dangerous- but we can't count on teachers to help us anymore." They never really helped us in the past, either- though I suppose McGonagall tried here and there.

He sighed, dropping his hand to grasp hers. "Okay. I trust you."

"Thank you Harry. We'll figure this out." She flicked her wand, summoning three faintly glowing numbers that hovered by her hand, representing the time. 1:03. "For now I think we should get rest- we have classes tomorrow and we don't want anyone getting suspicious if we skip them."

"Alright. Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Harry." She gave him another quick hug before walking back to her dormitory.

He quietly picked up the invisibility cloak Hermione left on the sofa, also retreating to his dormitory.

She sat fully-clothed on her blanketed mattress, drawing her scarlet curtains around her bedposts to provide a sort of sanctuary for herself.

Hermione pulled out her notepad and quill, enchanted to automatically refill with ink as she used it. She feverently scratched down everything they knew so far.

My vision: We messed up and Harry died, we were warned someone is coming for him

Then we found the misplaced book- it might be something important

Then I had another dream/vision thing: I was warned not to tell anyone else about what is going on, and the woman in my dream seemed to be in some sort of danger

And lastly we saw the two men talking about possibly trying to kill or capture Harry- not 100% sure, but it seemed like it- which means there might be death eater spies in Hogwarts

but who can we tell without explaining why we were in the library past curfew? Could someone possibly infer that we were in the restricted section if we told them- after all, why would anyone go to the library outside of hours unless they desired to go there?

And how am I getting these 'visions', and who is the woman?

So far it seems like there's some sort of plan Voldemort has to kill Harry (assuming that the two men talking could be spies for Voldemort)

Other than that, we have no idea what is going on. Hopefully the book has some answers.

Hermione stored her notebook and quill into her bag with a small yawn, deciding to flip through the book before she tried to figure anything else out. Now pulling out Playing with Time, she settled back into bed and started reading.

A/N: I understand some things are a bit confusing right now- but the next few chapters might clear the air a bit (hopefully)