"Okay, Draco," Rosalie said, "We need to teach you some geography."

Hermione looked up from her Charms work. Harry did as well, because that's what you do when Rosalie drops a one-liner like that.

Rosalie had taken two of the TV's that Dudley had given them and mounted them beside each other. She had an HDMI cord and had just barely gotten an adapter to connect her laptop to one of them today. And apparently, this was her first priority.

Draco was leaning back in a chair and examining the screens. He was dressed casually, because it was Saturday and they had no classes, and now that there were no battles and no lies and nothing he was balancing besides preparation for OWLs next Monday(not that that wasn't a gigantic ask in and of itself), he seemed a lot lighter and calmer.

Hermione had heard from Rosalie that he'd explained a small part of the crazy to his parents, and they were "terrified into being angry", whatever she meant by that. And they had decided to let them cool off. Harry was practicing monitoring them from afar, though he wasn't very good at it yet.

Rosalie sat beside Draco and handed him the mouse. Her laptop remained plugged into the wall, facing away, but with the mouse, they could navigate the single TV screen that was on. A website loaded that Hermione vaguely recognised.

"Welcome to Google Earth," Rosalie said. "You've not used a computer before, right? See this rolling thing here on the mouse?"

"Mouse?"

"This thing in my hand. You have a left click, basic click, a right click for more options, and the scroll. And on this website, the scroll takes you all the way in and out. And that white arrow is the icon for your mouse. See?"

Rosalie zoomed in on a random place in England, and then out so that the globe filled the screen. "Woah!" Draco said. "That's the planet."

"Exactly," Rosalie said. The blue globe began to slowly turn over the Atlantic Ocean. They watched it in silence. When it crossed over the pacific ocean, Rosalie said, "Can you see England?"

"Um… no," Draco said.

"Well, it's up here, on top. See, colder places are on top and bottom of the world and hotter places are around the middle." Rosalie used the mouse to put the UK in the middle and scrolled in. The clouds disappeared. Labels popped up on the bigger countries. Draco stared at the United Kingdom. "It's so… small…" he said.

"And yet, they have invaded every country in the world except for 22," Rosalie said.

"How many countries are there?"

"Guess."

"Oh, come on, Rosalie." Draco was not impressed in the slightest. She burst out laughing and Hermione also bit her lip. "That's not funny!"

"I'm sorry!" Rosalie opened a new tab and googled how many countries were in the world. The top option said 195.

"One-hundred and ninety-five countries," Draco said softly. "Can you visit them all?"

Rosalie asked Google. The answer was yes.

Harry got up to come and sit behind Draco and stare at the globe and Hermione took the opportunity to join him. Rosalie clicked and dragged and flew them over Africa and showed Draco Brazil. She outlined the country. "All of this is Brazil," she said.

"The whole thing?" Draco asked, gobsmacked. "It could swallow Britain!"

"Oh, several times," Rosalie said. "That's America…" Draco's mouth gaped wider.

"Where's New York?" Harry asked.

"Here." Rosalie picked a spot and zoomed straight in. "That's Manhattan. An island most people think of when they think of New York. This here is the Empire State Building, that's Broadway – you can see plays there, and that's the Statue of Liberty."

"What's it look like?" Draco asked, staring.

"A very tall lady," Rosalie said She zoomed in until an icon showed up and then clicked through pictures until she found one she liked.

"And you lived here?" Harry asked.

"For a while," Rosalie agreed. She zoomed all the way out on America and let Draco see the full scope of the country. She clicked a tool on the hot bar and then clicked on New York and San Francisco. Words appeared – Four million miles, apparently. "It takes 45 hours to drive all the way across," she whispered.

Draco exhaled. "How long to drive from here to Brazil?"

Rosalie smiled. "See this ocean? See how you're on an island? You're driving nowhere, mate. It's a twelve-hour flight."

"Ah," Draco said. "So flying is faster than driving. Okay."

Rosalie zoomed in on an area that was brightly coloured in the middle of the ocean. In a bunch of deep blue, this spot was gold and teal and green. "This is the Bahamas," she said. "And do you see this little man down here? If we pick him up, we can dangle him around and plop him down wherever these little dots are. Try it."

Draco took the mouse very hesitantly and then set it on the carpet to control it. It took him a moment, but then he clicked on a place and the entire screen tilted as if they were flying down from space. Draco gasped. "Oh my gosh," he said. "Is this what it actually looks like?"

"Welcome to the beach, Draco," Rosalie said. "It's twenty-eight and-"

"What?"

"It's hot. Nevermind - I'll teach you heat measurements later. Fahrenheit and Celsius."

The screen showed a white sand beach with people nearby laying and basking in the heat. The ocean stretched in front of them, sparkling on the screen, and seashells were even visible in the photograph. And Draco was absolutely smitten with the view. It didn't look half bad to Hermione either.

"Imagine the sunburn," Harry said, and Hermione moaned and shook her head.

"I've never had one," Draco said, using the mouse to spin around. "Are they terrible?"

"Absolutely horrendous," Rosalie said. "Let me see the mouse. I've just had a thought."

She flew them out and then back to England. Hermione guessed where she was going before they arrived. "There's Manchester… there's Bolton…"

"Wigan!" Harry said, excitedly. "I miss their pies."

Hermione groaned in agreement and closed her eyes. Rosalie put the icon on the street by where they'd stayed. All four went quiet and stared at the little AirBnB. "I miss it," Hermione whispered.

Draco nodded and went quiet. "Rosalie, can I take your laptop to my parents? I want to show them the world too."

She hummed and thought about it. "Maybe not right now. But when they've calmed down, maybe they can come with us… anywhere."

Severus Snape held a private conference with Professor Dumbledore upon his safe return to the castle. And by Hermione's reckoning, Dumbledore sat alone for a half hour before he requested Hermione come visit him in his office.

Dumbledore had moved all of his things from the Headmaster's tower, which from the outside was now about three meters tall off the castle and shrinking daily, and filled the Defence teacher's office with them. It made for quite a magical place, though Hermione did feel bad about him losing the Headmaster's space. Although so many events had transpired that it was hard to keep track of, she recognised that it had probably been her to activate the old rooms and she just… felt bad about it.

Dumbledore was sitting in a chair beside his desk with his feet up when she entered the room and took note of the bookcases, the draperies, the spinning instruments, and the perch for Fawkes. It all fit quite nicely and was cozy in here.

"You wanted to see me, Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, smoothing her robes down.

Dumbledore nodded, but did not look at her. He was too busy gazing out into the distance. "Yes, thank you for coming. Have a seat, anywhere. This won't take long."

Hermione looked around and then selected a poof that was strategically placed just near enough the bookshelf to be tempting. She took a seat and began skimming the titles.

"Ms. Granger," Professor Dumbledore said, "I believe Voldemort will soon target your parents."

Hermione no longer found the books appealing. She stared at Dumbledore in horror. "My parents? Why?"

Dumbledore finally looked away from the window. "Nagini," he said, "has told Lord Voldemort everything. Every conversation you had around her. Your ability to tear horcruxes out of the objects he has placed them in. And Draco's affiliation with you and Harry. He is angry. And since he cannot lash out at Draco's family, he is seeking out yours."

"And Snape told you this?" Hermione asked. "Can he warn my parents?"

"Professor Snape was tortured mercilessly for not warning Lord Voldemort of Draco's betrayal," Dumbledore said. "We must tread carefully, for his life is on the line." He got to his feet and began to pace in front of the desk. "I must say that between the Dursleys and the Grangers, I'm having a hard time figuring out a safe space to put Muggles. Severus kindly opened his home to the Dursleys while he was away… I wonder if they will move away soon… but he may not take kindly to me opening his home to strangers even if they do have another place to go."

"Aren't the Dursleys also strangers?" Hermione asked, slowly.

"No. Petunia Dursley and Severus were aware of each other growing up. I wouldn't say they got on then, but he did offer to help them." Dumbledore rubbed his forehead. "And the Malfoys and Mr. Lestrange are to be moved to number twelve… can't have them in the same place with your parents. It would be a dreadful experience for them all."

Hermione shuddered. "There are places and ways for them to get out," she said. "Muggles have ways you can rent homes and go exploring, see."

"This is not a vacation," Dumbledore said sternly. "The reason I have asked you to come in today is because you may need to convince your parents to leave everything in the Muggle World. They will not be able to go to work. They will not be able to go to the store. If they want to leave the country, that may be a viable solution, but as Muggles… they would need to immigrate or arrive somewhere to go missing, correct?"

Hermione saw his point. She didn't even know if her parents had valid passports. And if they left the country… she wouldn't be able to see them for ages.

Course, if they died, she'd never see them again at all.

"I admit, I do not have the best record for hiding things… but no one does, do they? Things that are lost sometimes simply want to be found. Lord Voldemort is learning that now." Dumbledore seemed to mostly be muttering to himself at this point, but his words made Hermione's fingertips cold. The only two examples Hermione could think of Dumbledore hiding a home was the Dursley residence and the Potter home. Neither had held up.

"Can't we put my parent's house under Fidelius?" Hermione asked. "I can be the secret keeper."

"They would have no way of getting food," Dumbledore said. "They would not be able to leave the house at all. The boredom almost killed James Potter before Lord Voldemort did."

Hermione slumped into her chair. They couldn't even get food from Uber Eats. The delivery drivers would never be able to find it. "And they can't come to Hogwarts," she said. "Muggles can't come onto the grounds."

Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles. "Perhaps… we could arrange…"

"Dobby," Hermione said. "Could Dobby pop food in and out for them? Or Kreacher, if Sirius were to ask."

Dumbledore cracked a smile. "I believe Kreacher would rather not," he said. "I would not be opposed to you asking Dobby, but I must say… you've come quite a long way if you are suggested house elves could help you sustain your family."

"Well, of course I'd pay them!" Hermione exclaimed. "In whatever way I can to make them happy – oh, Professor, you're just having a laugh at me. Aren't you?"

"You must pardon an old man's humour after a long week, Ms. Granger," Professor Dumbledore said, looking out the window again. "A successful week. A notable week. But a long one."

He sighed deeply and spun on his heel. "But I will need you to inform your parents of the situation. And they will need to prepare to leave immediately…" He paused and looked at Hermione again. "I wonder…" he stopped. "Perhaps… you could ask Rosalie if she has any ideas. I understand she's very well-traveled?"

That was an idea, if nothing else. Hermione stood and nodded. "I'll head out now," she said. "Rosalie is supposed to be studying for her Transfiguration exam tomorrow. If she has any thoughts, I'll send her your way."

Hermione left the office and hurried through the corridors. Yes, she could technically just pop herself wherever she wanted to go, but it took a lot of focus and Salazar really preferred her to just walk when it was short distances. So she hurried to the Slytherin common room, gave the password, and then sprinted to Salazar's door.

The common room was full of people studying. Hermione even saw Millicent Bulstrode, who'd stopped picking on people for good about a month back and was now giving Hermione a run for her money in Care of Magical Creatures. Millicent had started giving Hermione crap about how "I'll make you run for my cuppas when I'm Minister, Granger!", but then mellowed out and now was talking about woman versus beast wrestling matches and how she could potentially get people to pay to see her fight a hippogriff. Ambition at its finest.

Millicent happened to look up from her book about trolls for a moment, and she and Hermione locked eyes before Hermione disappeared. Hermione waved and Millicent waved back. Without a smile, but still. Hermione from the end of fourth year would have fainted from the shock.

Harry and Rosalie were studying together, though only Harry had his wand out as they went over a Transfiguration textbook. Hermione was a little worried for Rosalie. She hoped she would do well on her exam tomorrow. She shivered to think what Rosalie's grade was like after all the classes she'd skived off.

"Rosalie!" Hermione called, just as Harry was about to transfigure one of their new mice – the adult ones – into a teacup. "Emergency!"

Harry waved with his hand and then cast his charm. The mouse was turned into a cup and back again. It didn't look like it was in any pain. It just looked around, confused.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked, closing the textbook with her finger in it. "You look worried."

"I've just been to see Dumbledore," Hermione said. "Voldemort is targeting my family. Dumbledore is trying to figure out where to put them. We were thinking… we could send them out of the country, but-"

"Which country?" Rosalie interrupted.

Hermione thought. "Any? I mean, so long as they're safe. I haven't told them yet. But Dumbledore was trying to figure something out and-"

"Have your parents ever wanted to visit a particular country?" Rosalie asked.

Hermione thought about this. "Mum's always wanted to see Australia…?" she trailed off. "But, this isn't a vacation. We don't know how long they'll need to stay there."

Rosalie thought for a moment. She even took her finger out of the Transfiguration book. Harry transformed the mouse into another teacup. This one looked very nice. It had beautiful patterning around the brim and on the handle. Then he turned it back and gave the little mouse a piece of cheese. It held it in its mouth and scurried off to a corner of the table to hold it with its two front paws and nibble.

"I can't believe we didn't think of this when we had Nagini," Harry said. "We could have fed the mice to her!"

"True, but we wouldn't have kept Nagini if we'd have realised we could keep non-sentient mice instead," Hermione said.

"I still have nightmares about Nagini," Rosalie said. "I don't know how she became a snake, but I imagine her life was absolutely horrific."

This sentence took Hermione a few seconds to process. "You mean… she was human?" This thought was so alarming that her fingers went cold. "How do you know?"

Rosalie blinked. "Oh, I told Draco. I didn't tell you. I thought I did – Harry's map. Harry's map gave her a full name. When you were chasing her through the school, I told Draco on the phone that I thought she might be human. I looked up her name. I found a record of her in a paper in New York. Nagini the Snake Girl."

Harry stared at Rosalie in open, undisguised horror. "I really hope that's not true," he said. "Because I'm positive Voldemort has fed people to that snake."

Rosalie's face also morphed into shock and disgust. "What?" she croaked. "Do you… you think that that's what happened to those Muggles…?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"I don't want to not mourn them," Hermione said quickly, before Rosalie could become too distressed. "But… I'd like for my parents to not join them. I think I'll pop out soon to go see them. But if you have any ideas, will you go chat with Dumbledore?"

"Don't leave yet." Rosalie wiped her eyes. "Let me make a call real quick. I know someone who owns a house in Australia. I can see if it's available."

"You know someone who owns a house in Australia?" Harry wrinkled his nose. "Don't they live there?"

"He's a researcher," Rosalie said. "He studies sea urchins. He may not be there. Let me try and call him. Give me five." She took her phone and headed up to the Ravenclaw room. As soon as the door had shut, Harry turned to Hermione.

"What kind of person just knows a researcher whose house in Australia is always empty?" He asked.

"You serious?" Hermione replied. "Rosalie uses five different names. That's at least five different lives."

Harry went quiet. "I've been thinking about her old theory. The Hogwarts communication one. And I realised… none of us asked her about her life when she first showed up. And sometimes I decide to myself, 'I'm going to ask her' and then I thought I was just chickening out but… it kinda feels like I shouldn't ask, y'know?"

"Salazar said that the castle was trying to help Rosalie stay hidden," Hermione remembered. "But… can you sense her okay?"

"I can't sense a single thing," Harry said. "Maybe I've not got Gryffindor's ability after all."

He thought for a moment and Hermione reached forward to brush his hair off his scar, thinking he could use a haircut. Then she blinked and she was staring at a cape knotted around a very different neck. She jumped backwards.

"Nope, not yet," Godric Gryffindor said. He was about a head taller than Harry – still short, as she'd noticed the first time she'd seen him - and had hair longer than anyone's. It came down to his thighs! All red and a big beard whose end tucked into his belt. Brown eyes, same round face Draco had attempted to smack. Hermione wished he had. She stamped her foot.

"Honestly, Godric!" she said. "Didn't you see me reaching forward? You're going to scare me to death!"

"Ah, it's funny!" Godric chuckled. "And sorry – we've never done this before. It takes quite a bit of concentration, and it's not like there's a little bell we can ring. The idea is that once we're really in sync, we can work together and go in and out with warning. But there's only one way to get to that point!"

Hermione groaned. "Are you sure you're not just doing it to be funny?"

"Oh no, there's that too."

Hermione held out her little finger. "Do you know what a pinky swear is, Godric?"

Godric hesitated, looking at her outstretched finger. "I've heard of it," he said softly. "Tis a solemn oath?"

"Exactly," Hermione said. "You wrap your little finger around mine. And I want you to swear, Godric, that you won't do this just for fun if you see me going to kiss him. Or anything else. Do you swear?"

Godric laughed and linked his little finger through hers. "Don't worry, lass. I'm not interested in you. You know what Dumbledore and I have in common?"

"What?" Hermione asked in a deadpan.

"We both vye for the companionship of a male," Godric said, very solemnly.

"Oh, Godric!" Hermione put her hands over her eyes. "I… actually, it's my fault. I should have stopped you when you asked. But you can't go revealing things about other people like that! What if Dumbledore didn't want someone knowing?"

"I'm just letting you know that I won't purposely interrupt something like that because I'm not interested in kissing a girl," Godric said. "And Salazar is not interested in kissing a boy! So you're good! We won't interrupt you!"

"Godric," Hermione sighed, "What do you want?"

"Rudolphus is about to kill Lucius."

Hermione felt like flipping a table. "Why didn't you lead with that?"

"It's not urgent," Godric said. "But it probably will grow more urgent if you keep them in that room together. I'd like to suggest dividing it."

"Great idea," Hermione said, feeling her patience wearing thin. "Any other updates?"

"Yes, actually," Godric said. "The Chamber of Secrets entrance is clean and ready for the doors to be opened. Hagrid's brother has moved deeper into the forest and we don't consider him a threat anymore. And we hope you will take care of the vanishing cabinet situation soon."

"All very useful," Hermione said after Godric went silent. Her stress ebbed. "Thank you, Godric. I'll put a new room together. How soon do they need it?"

"Sooner rather than later," Godric replied. "I know you were planning on leaving, but it'll only take a moment."

"Right." Hermione nodded. "Can I have my boyfriend back now?"

Godric bowed low to the ground. Hermion saw his red hair hit the floor a moment before Harry was back and falling face-first into her shoes. "Gah!" he yelled and rolled to the side. "Godric!"

"He's such a tease," Hermione sighed, leaning down to offer him a hand up. "Wonder how he knew that about Dumbledore?"

"Because he's seen all the students come and go for millennia," Harry said, taking her hand and pulling himself to his feet. "That's why Salazar knew Tom Riddle and not Lord Voldemort. And why they keep saying they've been watching us for years."

"They have said that, haven't they?" Hermione recalled Salazar jumping into her during the faculty meeting. She still hadn't lived that experience down.

"And Rowena wanted you to be Ravenclaw," Harry said, elbowing her a little. "But you were too ambitious. You were prime market material, huh?"

"What, are you patting yourself on the back for dating me?" Hermione blew a springy curl out of her face and smiled at him.

Harry didn't reply right away, which turned the moment from a goofy exchange to a heart-thumping experience. Hermione waited, then felt herself blushing as he just smiled at her. Finally, he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Hermione chucked and put her hand underneath his chin. He leaned halfway in and she leaned in as well. "I swear," Harry said softly, "If Godric goes back on what he said…"

"I know, right?" Hermione chuckled and then closed the distance and kissed him. She liked kissing him. She felt like she could do this for several more years.

Then the Ravenclaw door opened up. "I've got it!" Rosalie announced. "Hermione, your parents are – oh no! I'm so sorry. I didn't realise…"