I'm back, Baby Dolls! Darlings, thank you everyone who expressed concern. Real life has been INSANE. My husband received a surprise promotion as we were prepping to move, so my son and I did a bulk of the work. And by bulk I mean 90% of it. We did this the week before vacation so the one staying wouldn't have to deal with anything. All this while working 40 hours myself. By that time I didn't have the time or mental energy to post anything. So, sit back and enjoy.

Chapter 29 Dark Times Again

Rhys invited her to come home with them after Midsummer. "I feel like we never see you," he complained.

"There's a lot going on in my life. But I'm ready to do nothing more complicated than hang out for the next week," she smiled at her cousin. "Are you ready for your last year of school?"

"Gods, no." The two walked towards the park to meet some of his friends. "Or rather, I'm not ready for what comes after. How did your exams go?"

"Pretty good, I think. We won't have the results until August."

"How are things going with Marcus" he gave her a sly side look.

"Good. You dating anyone?"

"Numerous ones," he laughed. "We're too young to settle down. Unlike you, I intend to play the field."

"Have fun, be safe." Seeing the park coming into view, she asked, "Are we meeting anyone I know?"

"I don't think so. I'm not sure who will be there. It's an informal hangout. But they know you're visiting and want to meet you."

"Why?"

"You're another druid. They think I made it up as an organized religion."

She raised an eyebrow, "They can literally go research it."

"But why would they?" he laughed. "Not everyone does that." He slung his arm over her shoulders. "Not when they can just badger you. And possibly embarrass me."

Three teenage boys sat on a picnic table talking animatedly. They looked up as the two approached. "Hey, Rhys!"

"Hey. Hermione, this is Owen, Bran, and Arthur. Guys, my cousin, Hermione." She waved when they nodded. The two were quickly folded into the conversation.

Eventually talk turned to the unconventional religion of the cousins. "So, like, do you dance naked in a field?" asked Owen.

"No, but we do turn people into toads," responded Hermione flatly. "You're thinking of Wiccans. And even then, not all of them do, and never with minors present." She rolled her eyes. "We're pagans, not perverts."

"Told you I wasn't lying," crowed Rhys.

"You'd hardly want to share the naked birds now would ye?" retorted Owen.

"His sister and cousin?" questioned Bran. "Yeah, I'd want you to see them. Oh, wait, no I wouldn't." Owen playfully swung at him. There was a brief tussle.

"Knock it off," ordered Arthur. "Hermione will think we're nothing but a bunch of savages."

"Please, savages have better manners," she sniffed, playfully throwing her hair over the shoulder. They all laughed. The tension broken, the teens returned to hanging out for a few more hours before splitting up to head home.

"Thanks for putting up with them. I know they're idiots," Rhys said.

"But they're your idiots," she laughed. "No, I had fun." She felt a tremor of terror run through her, someone else's terror. "I need to go. Something's wrong. Let Aunt Mari know I'll be back later." She spun and dived into an alley. She created a door to follow the feeling.

She emerged near the Ramble, in the middle of the meadow. She looked around and saw two hulking men chasing two smaller figures towards the woods. When the smaller ones passed the treeline she ordered it closed. "Tearmann." (Sanctuary.) She watched the two rage when the forest fought back. Once she confirmed the forest repelled them, she traveled to the circle to wait for the two there. Jasper and Dahlia raced into view moments later.

"Hermione!" Dahlia cried, flinging herself into her arms. "You came."

"Of course, I did. Let's get you two out of here." She used a door to deposit them in Linus's office. She returned to her aunt and uncle's house before anyone got a good look at her.

"That didn't take long," remarked Aunt Mari as she made dinner when Hermione entered the kitchen.

"The problem was sorting itself by the time I arrived. Or rather, events I put in motion were solving it by the time I arrived."

"That's good, dear. Eilowyn and Gareth think you ran over to a friend's. Rhys claimed your friend, Erin, lives nearby."

"I won't disabuse them of this notion," she promised.

"Thank you. Though," Mari said slowly, "your mum mentioned you could do druid magic outside of school. Would you?" Hermione grinned and stirred the air, drying the dishes in the sink. "Amazing. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I hate not being able to share this with all of you, but I understand the reasons for keeping the worlds separate."

"Yes, Bethan explained it to me once when I complained. You aren't wrong."

M: Thank you for saving Jasper and Dahlia.

H: I didn't really do anything, your forest did.

M: You got them out of the circle long before anyone else would have.

H: You are welcome even if I didn't do much or anything I wouldn't do for anyone else.

M: We'll agree to disagree. Have you seen the papers?

H: No. Still at my uncle's. Why?

M: Someone broke the story about Frank and Alice Longbottom's miraculous recovery.

H: Oh.

M: The healers suspect magical intervention, possibly the Druid.

H: Bugger.

M: Indeed. They insisted it could not be traditional magic. People suspect the Druid is a Hogwarts student as nothing has been said in publicly.

H: I knew they would think that. The time is coming.

M: Are you ready?

H: People keep asking me that. The honest answer is I don't know. I hope so. And even if I'm not, it's still coming.

M: Sometimes I wish we could just leave all of this behind. Run away and let someone else handle this. But I know you couldn't, wouldn't, do that.

H: You're right. I won't run away from my responsibility. Though I understand the desire to live without the fear of war and its dangers.

M: Yeah, not having the fear of losing you would be brilliant.

H: I agree. But that is not our reality.

M: I've wanted to tell you something for awhile, but I keep losing my nerve, so I'm going to do it here then go to bed. You can take your time responding.

H: Okay.

Me: I love you. I have since forever. I don't think I ever didn't love you. So, there it is. Good night, little witch."

H: I don't have to think about anything. I love you, too. Since always. But good night, sweet dreams.

The doorbell ringing, paired with furious knocking woke Hermione. She glanced at clock. The red numbers floating in the darkness declared it to be nearly 3am. Hermione stood at the top of the stairs as her father checked the front stoop from a side window. "It's Sirius," he announced. She hurried down the stairs as Richard opened the door.

Sirius burst through the door looking around wildly, "Hermione! We need you. Albus did something."

She hugged her father, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Go do your thing, baby," Richard hugged her back.

She held out her arm to Sirius, "Let's go." He side-alonged her to Dumbledore's rooms at Hogwarts. Snape furiously fussed over a brewing potion at one side of the bedroom while Madam Pomfrey cast charm after charm over the ashen faced . "What happened?"

"We don't know how, but he's been cursed with some kind of wasting hex," Pomfrey told her.

"Would you see if there is anything you can do?" asked McGonagall.

"Certainly." Hermione moved to the bed. The headmaster lay on the quilt pale and still. His breathing, rapid and shallow, concerned her. His left hand rested on his chest looked black and wizened. She closed her eyes and let her magic loose. The darkness of the curse sucked her magic in, swallowing it greedily. "It just absorbs the energy. There's nothing I can do, I'm sorry. It will just keep gorging."

"I suspected as much." Madame Pomfrey patted her shoulder, "Thank you for trying."

Snape joined them by the bed with a vial, "I have a potion that should slow the spread, but at a cost."

"Everything has a cost," Hermione responded sagely.

Sirius looked at her, "Let's get you back home, kitten." Since he seemed to want an excuse to leave, so she let him. "He was once a brilliant, compassionate man, now all I can see is the manipulations," he admitted quietly.

"I understand. Perhaps the Order needs to discuss what's going on. Like it or not, we stand on the precipice of war. It won't take much to fall over the edge."

"You are very wise for your age, kitten." He transported her home.

"Just doing my job," she smiled. "Get some sleep, Sirius. We're all going to need it."

"You're right. Good night."

Hermione unlocked the front door and slipped inside. "Good night."

"Everything okay?" asked Richard, rising from the couch.

"As okay, as it can be, I suppose." She hugged herself.

He walked over to his daughter. "I know your mother and I don't really understand the nuances of your new world, but nothing can change the you are our daughter. We love you and will support you anyway we can."

"I know, I've always known. I love you, too."

He hugged her, then wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He turned her towards the stairs. "Let's get some sleep, shall we?"

She slept in. The event with Dumbledore and learning the public at large knew about the Longbottoms had her looking over her researching on blood curses. She couldn't help the one, had no idea how she helped the other, but she hoped to create a repeatable cure for the last. She fixed herself a sandwich and began reviewing her notes in a research haze. She stretched, her back popping. A dark Eagle owl pecked the window. Hermione rose and collected some leftover bacon on her way to the window. She fed the owl and took his load. "Thank you." It gulped down bacon and swiftly departed. She opened the missive.

Miss Granger,

I have an important matter to discuss with you. Please met me this afternoon at 1pm at the tea shop two blocks north of Grimmauld Place.

Professor Severus Snape.

A glance at the clock told her how badly time had gotten away from her. She ran upstairs and changed her clothes before traveling to Grimmauld Place. The tight embrace of Molly Weasley engulfed her in as she exited the fireplace suggested the flaw in her plan. The old place teemed with people. Weasleys, Order members, and the three permanent residents. Most of them would want to know where she was going. "Oh, you poor child, how terrified you must be," cried the older witch.

"Molly, let the girl breathe," snapped a middle aged witch. Hermione suspected she was an Order member she hadn't met.

Molly released her, smoothing her shoulders. "Yes, well upsetting news about Albus," she said to the other woman, "heavens knows what happened."

"Indeed," replied woman.

"The boys are up in Harry's room," Molly told Hermione.

"Thanks." She sighed, no way she could escape now without going up to see them first. She climbed the stairs.

"Hey, Mione," greeted Ron.

"Did you hear about Professor Dumbledore?" asked Harry.

"I did. They asked me to look at him last night. The only thing helping him is Professor Snape's potion."

"Damn," said Ron. "We don't know much, only what Mum keeps slipping up and saying in front of us. But I was hoping there was something you could do."

"The curse seems to be designed to eat energy. Trying to heal it would deplete the healer. The potion slows the speed at which it is eating, for lack of a better word, the headmaster from the hand up."

"Hermione isn't a god, Ron. She has limitations," Harry said.

"I do. But I'm not here because of Dumbledore. Professor Snape asked to see me about an important matter."

"Hermione! It could be a trap. Snape is still a Death Eater," protested Ron.

"As he spent hours last night saving Dumbledore, I think we can be confident he is still on our side. You need to stop seeing the world in shades of black and white." She moved towards the door, "I need to get going."

"Not without us," Ron insisted.

"The man is hardly going to abduct me in broad daylight in a muggle shop. And even if he tried, I can handle myself against one wizard, thank you very much."

Harry noticed the mulish set of Ron's jaw, "While I agree you're right you will be safe, I think Ron needs to see that for himself. We care about you and would hate to see you get hurt. We'd always wonder if we could have helped prevent it."

"Fine. But keep your objections and opinions to yourself." The three of them informed Sirius of their plans and destination. Hermione smirked when he did not object to her plans.