Chapter 12:  A New Beginning

Time:  Seventh Year, second half

        "There's a letter," Harry announced as a non-descript owl landed before him nearly upsetting the pitcher of cream.

        Hermione looked up over the edge of her Daily Prophet at Harry who was unfastening an envelope from the leg of a dull brown owl. Ron paused in mid-bite to watch.

        "It's from Snuffles," Harry said quietly.

        Hermione immediately folded up her paper while Ron began to pile toast onto a napkin. They made as hasty an exit as they could without attracting too much attention from the rest of the Gryffindors who were enjoying their breakfast. They stopped indecisively outside the main hall torn over where to go.

        "The common room will still be busy." Harry said finally, "let's go outside."

        "We don't have much time before Potions," Hermione warned them as they left the school.

        They eventually ended up in the Quidditch stands, high above the ground with a good view of the school. They would be able to see anyone approaching. Ron unfolded the toast and set it on the seat in front of them. Hermione cast a quick warming charm over them to fight off the bitter cold. Harry removed the letter from his pocket and began to read.

Dear Harry and Ron

        Harry stopped abruptly and looked at Hermione. For her part, Hermione was trying very hard to look as if she was unconcerned that she been pointedly left out.

        "Well go on," Ron prodded Harry.

        Harry continued.

        I don't have much time to write so I'll make this quick. I am grieved to hear about the Creeveys. This means that it really has begun. Voldemort has become very brave if he is willing to make such a crude show of power in front of Dumbledore.

        I don't care what Fudge says, he's an idiot, Britain is no longer safe. I wouldn't even go so far as to call Hogwarts safe given past occurrences. I do not want any of you leaving the grounds. Stay together when you're in the school. Do not go walking alone, there may not be any Death Eaters hiding in the school this year, but their children are. Now I realize that none of you are going to listen to me, so I've decided to come back to England.

        I'll send you word when I've returned. And for God sakes boys, keep your heads down and your ears open. Oh, please give my regards to Hermione as well.

- Sirius

        Hermione flinched as Harry finished the letter. Regards? She wished that she hadn't been mentioned at all. It would be better to think that Sirius had somehow forgotten her rather than that he had thought of her but felt she warranted as much concern as her Great Aunt June.

        "Did you get into a fight with Sirius?" Ron asked, being a bit more perceptive than usual.

        "No," Hermione sighed reaching for a piece of toast, "no we were getting along fine last year. I thought we were friends."

        Harry looked as if he had thought of something but he shook his head decisively and reread the letter to himself. "He shouldn't be coming back here. It isn't safe."

        "I imagine that he's more concerned with your safety than with his own." Hermione comforted.

        Harry groaned and crumpled the letter. "I never should have told him about Colin and Dennis' parents."

        "Yes you should have," Hermione snapped.

        "He would have found out anyway." Ron agreed. "The Daily Prophet delivers to Japan."

        "The Daily Prophet said that the deaths were caused by a few remaining supporters who had gotten nostalgic for the glory days." Hermione recited, remembering the idiotic article well.

        "He Who... Voldemort," Ron said slowly, "is going to destroy the Ministry at this rate."

        "No he's not," Harry's voice was sharp and determined, "we're not going to let him."

~*~*~*~

Hermione was thankful that the holidays were over and that school had recommenced. Christmas had come and gone with very little fanfare. The deaths of Colin and Dennis' parents had hovered like a shade above what was generally a very happy time. Most students stayed at the school. There was never anything officially said but Hermione believed that the Headmaster had convinced most parents that the safest place for their children was in his school. So the corridors had stayed crowded through the festivities. But now there were other things to think about besides the deaths. The professors seemed to be using homework as a means to keep every one's minds off of darker things.

She sat on a stool next to Harry and Ron, absentmindedly thumbing through her Potions homework. Four feet of dissertation on the numbing effects of Bamboo extract. Harry and Ron had been stricken at the very thought of so much writing, but really, once they had gotten started they hadn't minded so much.

Professor Snape was running late. It was unlike him. She looked around the classroom wondering if anyone else had noticed. Malfoy was watching her. She met his eyes questioning. Without breaking eye contact he got to his feet and began walking down the row towards her. She noticed a flash of white in his hands. He looked away a few feet from her and Hermione thought that he was going to go on past her but instead he kicked her bag.

She had left it sitting on the floor, not tucked under her stool like she normally did but leaning against the leg of the table. He caught the strap with his foot and kicked it; knocking the bag over and spilling it's contents.

"Hey!" Hermione cried indignantly getting to her feet.

Malfoy spun on her, roughly grabbing her arm, "why don't you watch were you put your stuff you stupid..."

"Is there a problem Mr. Malfoy? Potter? Weasley?" Snape's icy voice echoed through the silent class.

Harry and Ron had gotten to their feet at Hermione's shout and both of them had wands pointed at Malfoy.

"I was just telling Granger that she should be more careful with her things." Malfoy released Hermione's arm and strolled leisurely back to his seat.

Hermione scowled after him. He had done it intentionally. And to think that only a few weeks ago she had been comforting him over the deaths of the Creeveys. Hermione squatted down and shoved her books back into her bag none too gently. It was only when she had sat back down and reached into her pocket for a quill did she find the note.

Cautiously she opened it with one hand under the table, the other hand diligently taking down the ingredients that they would need for the day's potion. When she adjusted her Potions' book to the right page, she slipped the note onto the table for the fraction of a second that she needed in order to read it.

"I know something. Meet me at Greenhouse 2 after class."

Hermione reread it once before slipping it back into her pocket. After a few moments she risked looking back over her shoulder at where Malfoy was sitting. He was waiting. He raised an eyebrow and she nodded slightly. Malfoy then sneered at her before looking back at his Potion.

Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand; it was shaping up to be a very long day.

~*~*~*~

The greenhouse was hot and steamy. Water clung to the air and Hermione felt the dampness even through her thick winter robe and cloak. Row upon row of greenery covered the floors and hung from the ceiling. He was already there. How he had beaten her there she wasn't sure. But he stood far in the back under the fronds of a carnivorous palm tree.

"You should be careful," Hermione said, "that tree almost ate Neville last week."

"Well, Longbottom is an idiot. And anyway, this tree just had lunch."

Hermione didn't have nearly as much faith in the tree and she stopped several feet away and pulled herself up onto one of the dirt-covered tables that they used for repotting. "You know, the next time you want to send me a note why not just use an owl?"

"No one would notice you getting cryptic messages from an owl every few days?" Draco leaned dangerously close to the tree.

"Because berating me in Potions is normal." Hermione frowned, "okay, I'll admit that it is normal. But I don't like it very much."

Draco grimaced, "I have to keep up my cover."

"You sound like a spy from some movie." Hermione quipped.

"I think I am a spy." Draco told her softly.

Hermione closed her eyes, "you're really in a lot of trouble aren't you?"

"Trouble is my middle name, Draco Trouble Malfoy, that has a nice ring to it don't you think?" Draco grinned cheerfully.

"A nice ring if you're staying in St. Mungo's." Hermione agreed.

"Stay away from Snape," Draco said suddenly.

"Why?" Hermione asked although she knew the answer already.

Draco pushed his hands into his pockets and turned away from her, studying a row of stinging nettles, "he was there, at the meeting."

"Oh," Hermione replied, of course Draco didn't know that Snape had been a spy for Dumbledore, and Hermione wasn't going to tell him either, the less people that knew, the better. "Is that all that you wanted to tell me?"

"I don't know very much," Draco wasn't looking at her, he seemed very focused on what he was saying as if it was taking every bit of moral fiber that he had to be so forth coming with something that he would rather never talk about again.

Hermione folded her hands together silently; she wouldn't push him if he didn't want her too. She knew from experience with Harry that you couldn't make someone relive something painful unless they wanted to.

"It's really awful, you know?" It was a rhetorical question and Draco didn't bother waiting for an answer, "it was over the Holidays, at the Manor, at my house. They all came, just like the good little dogs they are. He was there of course, the Dark Lord, he's really scary. Have you...?" He didn't have to finish his question.

"No," Hermione said quickly, "no, I've never seen him but Harry has."

"I hope you never see him," Draco said so softly that Hermione almost didn't hear him.

Hermione fingered the fringe of her red and gold striped scarf that had settled over her knee when she sat. She didn't respond; there didn't seem to be anything to say.

"They're not to fond of Snape though," Draco explained. "Used the Cruciatus on him until he passed out. Not that I minded, I can't believe that dirty bastard is my head of house."

"He has been looking very pale since Christmas," Hermione mused aloud, ignoring Draco's insult.

"They're planning on attacking a Ministry office in Manchester." Draco said hurriedly almost afraid that if he didn't speak fast enough he wouldn't be able to speak at all, "Voldemort doesn't like that the Ministry is ignoring him. He wants people to know that he's back, he wants them scared." T

Hermione slid off the table and approached him quickly, "Draco, you have to tell Dumbledore."

Draco looked at her resolutely, "I won't."

"What?" Hermione grabbed his arm, "why not? You can't let Voldemort kill those people, not if there is something that you can do about it."

        "They would send me off to Azkaban."

        "They wouldn't, the Headmaster wouldn't let them." Hermione pleaded.

        "You forget that I'm a Slytherin, it's not the same for us. I can't just walk up to the Headmaster and go 'Sir, I joined the Death Eaters over the summer but as it turns being a homicidal ego-maniac just doesn't work for me very well, can I come spy for you?' Dumbledore would hand me right over to the Dementors." Draco pulled his arm out of Hermione's grasp and leaned against the tree.

        "You would be surprised," Hermione replied thinking of Snape.

        "This is the best that I can do." Draco muttered. "It is up to you now."

        "That's not fair," Hermione scowled at him and crossed her arms in a position very similar to his own, "you know that I have to tell the Headmaster. I can't let people die if I can stop it."

        Draco smiled then, not his usual smirk but a soft wistful smile, "why do you think I told you. Only... only don't tell them that I told you."

        Hermione ran her fingers through her hair and groaned softly, "Draco..."

        He stepped towards her and pulled her hands free from the tangle of tendrils. "Promise me, please."

        "All right, I promise that I won't tell the Headmaster. But I can't keep this from Ron and Harry, you know that, don't you?"

        Draco let go of her hands and stepped back to lean against the tree again, "you had better go, classes will be starting in a few minutes."

        Hermione looked at her watch, glared at him, and then spun out of the greenhouse. Would it have been asking too much to have just one normal school year?

~*~*~*~

        "Might I be able to interest you in a piece of candy Ms. Granger?" The Headmaster motioned towards a crystal cut bowl of brightly colored red sweets.

        "N...no thank you Headmaster." Hermione stuttered nervously.

        Harry and Ron had wanted to come with her. They had all agreed that the best course of action was to go straight to the Headmaster with Draco's news. But she insisted that they stay in the common room. The Headmaster would be suspicious, rightly so, and Hermione didn't see any reason for all three of them to be in trouble. So Harry and Ron stayed behind while she went to the Headmaster's office. But now that she sat here before the patiently waiting Headmaster, Hermione wondered why in the world had she made her friends stay behind.

        "What was it that you wanted to speak to me about my dear?" Dumbledore prompted kindly.

        "I..." Hermione stopped again biting her lip there seemed very little point in stalling, "Voldemort is planning on attacking the Ministry offices in Manchester."

        Time passed slowly as the Headmaster watched Hermione closely, she couldn't be sure but at the mention of Voldemort's name his eyes had seemed to darken. Hermione shifted nervously in her seat.

        "How do you know this?" Dumbledore asked her, his voice maintaining the gentle tone.

        "I was told." Hermione whispered.

        Dumbledore nodded, turned in his chair and threw a handful of glittering blue powder into the fireplace to his right. The flames sparked angrily before turning silver.

        "Severus," Dumbledore's voice was clear, "I need to speak with you now."

        His attention turned back to her once more. He sighed and then pushed the bowl of candy closer to her, "Please take a piece of candy Ms. Granger, you look rather pale."

        Hermione reached out, pretending not to notice the tremors in her hand as she placed a fire-red candy in her mouth.

        It took Professor Snape a surprisingly short amount of time to reach the Headmaster's office. Hermione supposed that he must have been in the dungeons by the strong smell of sulfur that accompanied him but he appeared through the door only a few minutes after being summoned. The Potions master approached quickly but silently, his black robes billowing out behind then draping back around him when he stopped before the Headmaster's desk, a little in front of Hermione whom he didn't even acknowledge.

        "Yes, Headmaster?" He asked in that low voice that made even aurors shiver.

        "Ms. Granger," Dumbledore motioned towards Hermione in case Snape had missed her, "has some interesting news about Voldemort."

        "Does she?" Professor Snape turned eyes as cold onyx in the wintertime on her. "I would certainly be interested in whatever gossip has reached Ms. Granger's ears."

        "Please repeat for Professor Snape what you told me," Dumbledore asked her kindly.

        Hermione nodded, twisted her hands together nervously while she studied the ground and spoke, "Voldemort is planning on attacking the Ministry in Manchester."

        Professor Snape laughed harshly, "What makes you think that Voldemort would make such an insane move against the Ministry?"

        Hermione frowned at her professor, her nerve was returning, "he doesn't like being ignored. He wants the Ministry to admit that he has returned, force our world into a panic."

        "Oh really?" Professor Snape leaned towards her his hands fastening on the arm rests to either side of her, "what makes you think that you know more about the plans of Voldemort than I?" Snape pushed back from the chair and turned back to Dumbledore. "Headmaster, why have you brought me here? This is a complete waste of time, this girl knows nothing."

        "He punished you," Hermione said softly looking away.

        Snape stopped his tirade and turned to look at her his voice no more than a menacing whisper, "what did you say?"

        "He performed the Cruciatus curse on you until you passed out." Hermione risked a quick look at her professor he had gone white. "That's why you don't know."

        Hermione bit her tongue a moment to late as Snape stepped back in shock and the Headmaster rose to his feet. Hermione wished that she could melt into the chair as the two men stared at her as if seeing her for the very first time.

        "How do you know this?" Snape stepped towards her menacingly, "you couldn't possibly have been there."

        "I wasn't, I wasn't there," she tried to assure them quickly.

        "Who told you then?" Snape leaned over her his hands once again clenching the armrests of her chair. He leaned so closely to her that his lank black hair hovered only an inch above her face.

        "I can't tell you." Hermione replied sinking farther back into the thick velvet.

        "Can't tell us? There are ways that we can make you tell us." Snape hissed, his eyes dangerous.

        "Please Headmaster," Hermione called out though she could no longer see Dumbledore because Snape was blocking the way, "please I promised, I can't tell you."

        She couldn't tell them anyway, even if she hadn't promised. She had told Harry and Ron. They had made it their own secret. Unless the Headmaster was willing to use some very extreme measures, Hermione didn't think they would be able to drag the truth from her.

        "Professor Snape," Dumbledore's voice was just as soft and gentle as it ever was, "please allow Ms. Granger to stand, she will be late for her dinner if she stays with us much longer."

        Relief flooded Hermione even as Snape looked down at her with murder in his eyes. He let her push past him. She snatched up her bag and backed up towards the door.

        "Ms. Granger, thank you for your information, if you ever hear anything more, please do not hesitate to come to me." The Headmaster was smiling at her kindly although Snape looked like he wanted to break something.

        Hermione needed no more invitation to leave than that and she darted quickly through the door. But she paused on the other side as she heard Professor Snape curse loudly.

        "Damn it, Albus, only someone that was there could have known about the Cruciatus. Don't you realize that she's protecting a Death Eater in this school?"

        "I do understand the ramifications, Severus. But I'm not going to force the child to break her word. And at the moment, we now have much more important things to worry about."

        Hermione wanted to linger, wanted to know more, but the Head Girl in her wouldn't allow herself to eavesdrop on her Professors any longer. She drew back from the door and fled down the stairs.

~*~*~*~

        They met Sirius a week later in Hogsmeade. It was their first Hogsmeade trip since the Holidays. They would be meeting him in the Shrieking Shack. Sirius hadn't wanted them sneaking to the cave since it was so far from the town. They brought him as much food as they could carry from the kitchens.

Hermione had been more than a little hesitant to go. She wanted to see Sirius, but she was under the strong impression that he wouldn't be entirely pleased to see her. But Harry and Ron had wheedled at her for several days, telling her how she was being ridiculous, that there was absolutely no reason why Sirius wouldn't want her there. Eventually she had given in.

        Harry and Ron were very stupid.

        Hermione threaded her fingers through the straps of her book bag and twisted them hard, focusing on the whiteness of her knuckles as the blood was cut off. It helped her ignore the fact that Sirius had hardly spoken to her the whole evening. But it seemed that he didn't want her to think that he had forgotten all about her because every now and again she would look up to find him watching her, his eyes dark and unreadable, a faint frown on his face. Hermione squirmed in her dusty armchair.

        "It was a lucky break for Dumbledore to get wind of Voldemort's plan before the attack on Manchester." Sirius' voice was gravely but cheerful.

        Hermione looked up to see Harry and Ron glance quickly at her then away.

        "Yes it was," Harry agreed.

        "But the damn Ministry still says that Voldemort hasn't returned. I can't understand how Fudge can be so single-minded!" Ron cursed.

        "Fudge hopes that if he ignores the problem it will go away on it's own." Sirius said calmly before rummaging through Harry's bag in search of more food. "It has worked for him so far." He said between bites of the chicken leg he had just discovered.

        He was dirty and disheveled from travel. Not quite as mangy and emaciated as they had seen him in the past but Hermione had heard Harry's quick intake of breath at the site of his godfather who had improved so much while at Hogwarts the previous year.

        Hermione shook her head violently, surprising everyone since this was the most she had moved in almost an hour, "but it hasn't been working! People have been dying all along, good people. Fudge is letting them die. He's as bad as Voldemort." Hermione's voice broke off and she clenched the armrest of her chair so tightly that she felt the red upholstery start to give under her fingernails.

        Sirius was watching her thoughtfully again. At one point Hermione had been flattered by receiving such an intent interest from the older man but given his recent behavior she decided quite suddenly that she hated it.

        "You should be heading back to school now." Sirius said to Harry even though his eyes were still lingering on Hermione. "It will be dark soon and I don't think that it's safe."

        "How long are you staying here?" Harry asked as he got to his feet.

        Sirius stood up and walked over to the fireplace, placing another log in. He stood there looking at the flickering fire for several minutes before answering, "I'm leaving in the morning."

        "Leaving?" Ron voiced their mutual surprise, "But you just got here."

        "I have information about Peter. He's hiding in Brighton, in an old church. I'm going after him." Sirius was still looking at the fire.

        "But that's really dangerous," Hermione got to her feet and approached him. "You shouldn't go alone. Go to Dumbledore, he'll help you." Hermione cautiously placed a hand on his arm.

        Sirius looked at her hand as if questioning its existence then stepped slowly away from her. "I have to do this alone. This is between Peter and I, no one else."

        "That's very stupid you know." Harry snapped taking everyone by surprise.

        "What if something happens to you? How will anyone know to come help you?" Ron asked.

        Sirius looked at the three, they were all wearing equal looks of concern. He smiled ruefully and ruffled Harry's hair in a father-like gesture. "I'll owl you in three days. If I don't, then you can worry."

~*~*~*~

        He didn't owl them in three days.

Harry was in a state of panic by Thursday. It had been two whole days past when they should have received word. He sent a letter to Sirius hoping to get a response, hoping that Sirius' owl had simply gotten lost, that the notice of his safety existed but simply hadn't made it all the way back to Hogwarts. But when Hedwig sailed off, Harry felt this mission was too important to trust to a school owl, none of them really expected her to find him.

Hermione watched Harry very closely all throughout Potions as he sat next to her silently grinding his dried squid tentacles into a fine powder. He hardly spoke at all and Hermione was nervous.

"Maybe we should go to Dumbledore," Ron suggested cautiously from Harry's other side.

"He's not here," Harry responded while pressing his pestle down perhaps a bit harder than was necessary, his wild black hair hiding his eyes.

"Not here?" Hermione whispered as Snape past by their table. "Where is he?"

"Don't know," Harry added more squid to his pestle, "McGonagall wouldn't tell me. Said that he would be back in a day or two and not to concern myself with the Headmaster's personal affairs."

He pushed back from their table then and walked to the front of the room without a single word, an empty beaker clenched so tightly in his hands that Hermione could see the white of his knuckles from across the room. They watched as he ladled some of the base potion that Snape had provided for them into his beaker before turning back to them. Hermione looked at Ron out of the corner of her eye, he met her look and the silent thought that passed between them was obvious; this was bad.

Harry didn't speak for the rest of the class.

~*~*~*~

Hermione spent the rest of the day on edge. She couldn't really explain it but it felt like something very important was going on just out of sight. Hermione found herself feeling that if she walked just a little bit faster she would turn a corner right into whatever it was because it was definitely something even if she couldn't see it or describe it. There was a building edge of adrenalin that went along with the strange feeling and Hermione's heart beat so quickly that her pulse was visible along the sides of her throat.

It was no wonder then that when Draco reached from a darkened classroom as she passed and jerked her inside of it that he soon found himself sprawled across the ground with a smarting chin and a wand pointed at his head.

"Oww, Hermione, I didn't know you could hit like that." Draco rubbed his chin, completely unaffected by the wand aimed at him.

Hermione drew in a deep, shuddering breath, "I've hit you before you great prat. And would you stop sneaking up on me!"

Draco got to his feet and straightened his robes casually, nonplussed by her anger. There was a cocky smirk on his face that made Hermione's already frayed nerves tense.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked slowly enunciating her words carefully in hopes to calm herself. If she stayed upset Harry and Ron would be upon her in minutes, they could always tell with her, she simply wasn't very good at hiding her feelings.

Draco's smirk faded then, his jovial air disappearing. "I wanted to warn you." Hermione's eyes widened slightly and Draco continued. "Stay in the school for the next couple of days. Don't let Potter and Weasley drag you off somewhere." Hermione opened her mouth to protest but Draco held up a hand to silence her, "I know that you three have grand adventures that nearly get you killed all the time. But for now, just stay here, won't you?"

"What's happening?"

Draco shook his head ruefully, "I don't know." He pushed his sleeve up carefully and studied his left arm, Hermione could see it again, the mark. He was being called. "When it goes completely black I'll have to go."

Hermione shook her head and closed her fingers over it hiding it from view. "Don't go, Draco."

He carefully removed her fingers and stepped towards the door, "Stay here." And then he was gone.

Hermione followed him to the door but he had already disappeared. She walked through the hall towards the common room deep in though, the setting sun shining dimly through the windows casting reddish shadow along the floor. Something was happening. Draco was being called. Sirius was missing and something was happening. Hermione started to run.

Harry and Ron were waiting for her when she burst into the common room. They were both carrying traveling cloaks and were trying very hard not to look like they were up to something. As Hermione leaned over, her hands on her knees gasping for breath, she realized that they had her cloak as well.

"We're going after Snuffles," Ron told her softly and Hermione nodded breathlessly.

"I still don't think you two should go." Harry muttered as Hermione finally stood. They had obviously been arguing about it for a while.

"Of course we're going," Hermione said as she pulled her cloak away from Harry and stepped back out of the common room.

"But it will be dangerous, really dangerous." Harry replied half-heartedly.

"What? Dangerous? You don't say. And this wouldn't be like any other year for us then?" Ron smiled at Harry and after a moment, Harry returned it wryly.

"I talked to Draco," Hermione told them as they walked as quickly as possible through the halls without attracting undue attention. "He says that something is happening with the Death Eaters."

"Do you think it has to do with Sirius?" Harry asked coming to a sudden halt.

Hermione nodded quickly and grasped his arm pulling him along, "It fits very nicely, Sirius goes missing, and the Death Eaters decide to have a sudden get-together."

They reached the entrance hall and headed towards the main doors. They quickly piled through and headed across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut but once they reached the sheltering edge of the Forbidden Forest they turned sharply and ran towards Hogsmeade. The sun had fully set now and a cool rain began to fall misting them completely. At the outskirts of Hogsmeade they changed out of their conspicuous school robes and into some muggle clothes.

The driver of the Knight Bus hardly even glanced at them as they climbed aboard and told him their destination. Together they walked to the back of the bus and sat on the edge of a bed. Harry adjusted his glasses, Ron rubbed at a spot on his nose, and Hermione clenched her clammy hands together in her lap. They spent their trip together in nervous silence.

~*~*~*~

        It was midnight. They had found the dilapidated church where Pettigrew had been hiding. It was at the bottom of a hill, dark leafless trees surrounded it, their long spindly branches reaching like fingers over top of it, sheltering the crumbling stonewalls from wind. Hermione shivered in fear just looking at it.

        "I don't see anyone," Ron whispered to them.

        "Neither do I," Harry replied. "Watch your foot Ron, it's sticking out."

        Ron quickly pulled his foot back under the hem of the invisibility cloak. "Well? What now? I don't see anyone."

        "There's probably an underground level. These old churches all use to have underground catacombs and chambers." Hermione said knowingly.

        A snap from behind made them all go still.

        "Did you hear that?" Ron hissed louder than he should have.

        "Shut up," Harry growled.

        But it was too late.

        "Expelliarmus!" a voice from behind them shouted.

        They were knocked off their feet. Hermione made a desperate grab at the invisibility cloak and was able to remain covered despite losing her wand. Harry and Ron were not so lucky. They lay sprawled on the ground, very much in the open.

        "Well what do we have here?" The voice belonged to man in a black cloak and robe. His wand was held tightly in his hand, the cowl of his cloak rested on his shoulders, they could see his dark eyes glinting almost madly at them through the shadow of the night.

        "Where's Sirius?" Harry asked bravely.

        The man's eyes narrowed on Harry and Ron as he brought his wand level to their heads. "You have much larger problems than worrying about him."

        Ron and Harry scrambled back but the man casually followed him. Hermione, who was covered in the invisibility cloak stood silently as the man walked past her. She looked around for their wands, but she didn't see them.

        "Who would have thought that I would be responsible for killing Harry Potter?" The man laughed at Harry's incredulous look, "Yes boy, I know who you are."

        Hermione was looking for something, anything that she could use as a weapon. Not far from her feet was a jagged rock the size of a melon. Gripping it with both hands she rushed forward.

        "And so ends the leg..." The man started to say but had no chance to finish as Hermione made contact.

        There was no sound from the man other than the crunch of rock against bone and an exhale of air. Then their attacker slipped wordlessly to the ground. The hood of the invisibility cloak had fallen backwards. Harry and Ron stared up at Hermione's white face. The rock was clenched in her tight hands still. Her arms trembled as her eyes flew downward following the descent of the body. The tremors in her arms shook her hands so hard that the rock fell. Before it could hit she had already spun around and collapsed to the ground, retching into the bushes.

        Harry immediately went to her side while Ron took the wand out of the still man's hand.

        "Is he dead?" Harry asked as Ron checked for a pulse.

        Hermione whimpered and retched again.

        "No, I don't think so. He appears to have an unnaturally thick skull." Ron said over his shoulder. "Accio Wands!" Ron called softly as he stood. Three wands flew into his hands. He looked back to the prone figure. "We can't very well leave him here can we?"

        "Better?" Harry asked Hermione as the shaking began to subside. She nodded silently and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Turning to Ron, "we should tie him up somehow."

        "Don't suppose you have any rope?"

        Hermione stood suddenly and reached for her wand. Ron handed it to her quickly and she pointed it at her victim. She muttered a quick spell and ropes sprung from the end of her wand encircling the Death Eater tightly.

        Hermione rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand; it was sweaty. She still felt faint. The cloyingly sweet flavor of sickness lingered in her mouth.

        "Here," Ron rummaged around in his pockets before handing her a single peppermint drop.

        She took it from him cautiously, eyeing the bits of lint stuck to it. But the sticky film in her mouth was too urgent to ignore. Hermione scraped as much gray fuzz off of it as was possible before putting it in her mouth and sucking greedily at it.

        "We have to keep going." Harry whispered finally.

        Ron dragged the prone form of their attacker over to a clump of shadowy bushes. He pulled some of the branches down over the man to hide him. Satisfied that no one would find him easily he returned to Hermione and Harry.

        Hermione straightened out the invisibility cloak and draped it carefully over her shoulders. Ron and Harry disappeared under it a moment later. Together they headed towards the derelict church.

~*~*~*~

        "We have to split up." Hermione said softly.

        "Absolutely not," Harry hissed angrily. "It's too dangerous."

        Ron shifted silently between them. The problem was that they were both right. The catacombs underneath the church were extensive. They were never going to find Sirius at this rate. They stood now, still invisible, at a proverbial fork in the road. Two doors stood before them, one to the right, and the other to the left. In between these was a rough-hewn stairwell leading down into dimly lit shadows.

        "We don't have much time Harry," Hermione pleaded, "The longer that we're here, the more likely it is that we'll get caught."

        "I don't care, we're better off together."

        "Harry," Ron muttered finally, "I don't like it either but you know that Hermione is right. The sooner that we find Sirius, the sooner we can get out of here, and I really want to get out of here."

        Harry pushed past them, ducking out from under the protective cover of the cloak. He turned on them angrily, "Fine, we'll split up."

        "Harry," Hermione grasped his wrist and pulled him back towards them, "you can be seen now."

        "Well we can't all have the cloak's protection if we go on alone now can we?" Harry's eyes were flashing dark green.

        "I...I hadn't thought..." Hermione muttered apologetically.

        Ron stepped away from her, "you should take the cloak, Hermione."

        "I will not, it's Harry's cloak." Hermione still hadn't released Harry's wrist.

        "No," Harry pulled away from her, "Ron is right, you should keep it."

        "This way," Ron grinned, "when Harry and I get into trouble you can rescue us again."

        "This isn't the time for jokes," Hermione hissed angrily.

        "It will be all right," Harry said gently before turning away from them and walked towards the left door. "Be back here in ten minutes, with or without Sirius."

        Ron nodded and then reached towards Hermione, searching out her invisible hand. "He's right you know, it'll be all right." And then he was gone too, through the right door leaving Hermione no choice but the stairwell.

        It was long and winding, dull light flickered from ancient torches that probably hadn't been used since the last priest had vacated the fallen down church. The farther she got from where Harry and Ron had left her, the more nervous Hermione became. She shouldn't be here, she wasn't a hero, she was much more useful with a book in a library somewhere.

        Her foot slipped on a loose slab and Hermione pitched forward, her hands grasping at the rough wall desperate to gain purchase. Unable to do so, Hermione landed in an ungainly heap at the foot of the stairs. She lay perfectly still for almost a minute, listening for the sounds of someone coming, someone who had heard her. No one came. Hermione got unsteadily to her feet and adjusted the cloak. She hadn't fallen far, only a few more steps and she would have been at the bottom anyway, but her head ached now and there was a painful tenderness in the elbow of her right arm.

        Gingerly rubbing her already forming bruise, Hermione surveyed the room she was standing in. The stairwell had deposited her into an even darker corridor. Several doors led off this hall, most looked as if they hadn't been used in a century and would probably crumble at a touch. Water was dripping off of the dank walls. But from the farthest end of the corridor light was shining from around a slightly opened door. Hermione could hear someone talking.

        She crept forward, careful not to touch the door as she slipped into the far room. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. The room was wide with a low ceiling. Like the rest of the church, rough stones lined the walls. Two of the walls were covered in deep shelves that had been carved from the rock walls. Hermione's hand tightened around her wand. She was in a tomb and she wasn't alone.

        Peter Pettigrew was far changed from when she had seen him last chained between Ron and Professor Lupin as they led him back towards Hogwarts in their third year. At that time he had been frightened, pale, and showing the signs of a man who was very sick. He was no longer frightened or pale but Hermione still thought that he was sick as he stood before Sirius with a mad glint in his eyes.

        Sirius Black sat with his back to the far wall, his hands strung up above his head by thick chains. His dark robes were nearly shredded. His head was bowed and long, black hair hung around his face in sweaty bands. Hermione thought that he was dead. But she was wrong.

        "Why don't you just kill me Peter?" His voice was low, pained.

        Pettigrew chuckled, "It doesn't serve my Lord's purpose to have you killed just yet."

        "What does he want?" Sirius seemed to be having trouble forming his words.

        "Information about Dumbledore's spies."

        Sirius' laughter, much to Hermione's surprise, was actually amused. "You damned fools, I won't tell you anything."

        "So quick to be a martyr then Sirius?" Wormtail placed a gentle hand on Sirius' head. It was almost a caress.

        Sirius kicked out at Wormtail at his touch and the other man jumped backwards, growling angrily. Sirius looked up at Wormtail, "keep your filthy hands to yourself you little rat."

        Wormtail was smiling again, but it was tight, forced. "You're going to die tonight, Black. My master is going force all your secrets from you and then cut you down. You'll die a Brutus. No one will ever know that you didn't betray James and Lily. Not even the other Death Eaters know the truth. And once you're gone, who will be left to protect poor little Harry?"

        Sirius moved forward once again trying to get to his feet, the chains connecting him to the wall clashed angrily. Sirius fell back against the floor with a groan. Wormtail laughed and pointed his wand at Sirius.

        "Shall we begin again Sirius?"

        Hermione squeezed her eyes shut as Wormtail cast the Cruciatus on Sirius. It was only after his screams had subsided did she open them again, pain stinging in the palms of her hands from where she had driven her own fingernails into the soft flesh to keep from crying out.

        "He's unconscious again Wormtail."

        Hermione had been so busy watching Wormtial and Sirius that she hadn't noticed the other dark robed figure enter the room through the door to her left.

        Wormtail sighed and tucked his wand away, "So he has Avery, so he has. And to think that he use to have such stamina when we were younger."

        "You have been doing this for hours." The other man, Avery, looked unimpressed with Wormtail.

        "Has it been so long?"

        "The others will be arriving soon. Have you even prepared the chapel for our Master?"

        Wormtail went white, "N...no not yet, I was just on my way. Come and help me Avery." He turned his back on the limp form of Sirius and walked past Avery towards the door. Avery scowled at him once he had past by but he did follow him out of the room.

Hermione pressed herself against the rough stonewalls hard. She held her breath as Pettigrew walked past her through the door. She dared not move until the door clicked shut and the footsteps echoed away then she exhaled shakily and stumbled towards Sirius.

        If he heard her coming he didn't show it. His once again mangy hair hung low over his face hiding it. His robes clung wetly to his body and Hermione whimpered when she realized that not all of it was sweat.

        Kneeling besides him she touched his shoulder lightly, "Sirius?"

        He moaned lowly in response and tried to press against her touch as if it pained him.

        Hermione quickly withdrew her hand and turned her attention to the ancient shackles that secured him to the wall. She held her wand above them searching for some sign of magic but Pettigrew was obviously not expecting a rescue attempt for there were no wards.

        "Alohomora"

        The shackles opened instantly and Sirius' hands fell lamely to his sides. He moaned again but seemed unable to fully regain his consciousness.

        "Sirius?" Hermione reached through the black mass of hair and tilted his face up.

        He flinched away from her touch but Hermione only tightened her grip and brushed his hair away from his face.

        "Sirius, you have to wake up now," She commanded softy.

        "No," he moaned but his eyes opened slowly, uneasily focusing on Hermione's face, his eyes widened.

        "No?" Hermione repeated in confusion, "but we have to get out..."

        Sirius suddenly became very much alive again as his hands snapped up, one gripping her arm while the other grabbed the hair in the back of her head and pulled her closer.

        "You're not real," He hissed at her.

        Hermione squeaked as he pulled sharply on her hair, "Don't be ridiculous, Sirius, of course I'm real."

        His half-mad eyes flashed murderously and he jerked her hair again, drowning out her cry of pain as he pulled her mouth down to his.

        Hermione didn't struggle as he kissed her. He was far from gentle as he pulled cruelly on her hair and his teeth bit sharply at her bottom lip. But Hermione wasn't afraid. Much to her own surprise she leaned closer to him, her hand gripping his shoulder.

        He pulled harder on her. It felt as if he was trying to devour her very soul. Hermione was going to faint. Her eyes drifted shut and she murmured against his mouth, whether it was a sound of pain or pleasure she wasn't sure but Sirius pulled away from her in surprise.

        Hermione opened her eyes and found Sirius looking at her with an expression close to horror.

        "Hermione?" He whispered hoarsely. His hands fell away from her. "I didn't...I thought..." He stammered painfully.

        Hermione folded her arms around herself, suddenly aware that at some point over the last few seconds she had begun to shake violently.

        There was the click of a latch and Hermione fumbled for her wand, she had somehow lost tract of it when Sirius had kissed her. It had fallen and rolled almost a full foot from them. Hermione lunged towards it as the door behind her began to swing in. Sirius leaned forward, attempting to put himself between Hermione and whoever was about to join them. But Hermione didn't really appreciate the gesture, it only served to block her view of the door and she would only have one chance to stop someone with her wand. She clutched at the chain hanging from the wall and pulled herself unsteadily to her feet, her knees were oddly weak. Sirius tried to pull her back down but he was once again very weak. Hermione held her wand pointed at the door, the words of the first hex she could think of already leaving her mouth before the door had fully opened.

        Hermione went silent, the curse ending unfinished. It was Harry and Ron. The door wasn't open yet but she knew that it was her friends. She was more certain of it than she had ever been about anything else her entire life.

        "Hermione?" Harry whispered as he pushed the door open, his wand held in front of him in a dueling stance.

        "Harry, Ron, we're here." Hermione moved towards them, thankful to put some distance between Sirius and herself.

        "Are you all right?" Harry asked her. "Is Sirius?"

        "I am fine, but Sirius..." Hermione looked fretfully at the older man who hadn't moved, "they were torturing him Harry."

        "Hermione," Ron reached out suddenly catching her chin in his hand and tilting it examining her face closely, "You're bleeding."

        She touched her lips gingerly with her fingers they came back stained with her blood from where Sirius had bitten her. "It's...it's nothing." By their expression Hermione knew that Harry and Ron were aware that she was lying to them. "We don't have time to talk about this!" She snapped jerking out of Ron's concerned grasp, "let's get Sirius and get out of here."

        Harry helped Sirius get to his feet. Hermione tried not to look at them as they hobbled over to her. Harry stumbled at the foot of the stairs and Ron had to go to Sirius' other side to help him climb. Sirius wavered in and out of consciousness, his wounds weren't life threatening but they were extensive.

        "Come on," Hermione hissed at them as she led the way, "there isn't much time, the others are coming."

        "Others?" Ron whispered, "what others?"

        They had reached the top of the stairs. Hermione turned back to tell Ron who the 'others' were but voices echoing down from the door that would lead them up into the chapel made her stop.

        "Oh no," she breathed as the voices came closer.

        "This way," Harry jerked his heads towards the door that he had gone through earlier.

        They rushed through the door and into another hallway.

        "Which door?" Ron asked Harry.

        Sirius' head lolled from side to side, he had lost consciousness again.

        "That one," Harry pointed at a door to the right, "it was a storage room, odd bits of stuff, we may be able to hide in there."

        Hermione opened the door, darted through, and ran right into the arms of a waiting Death Eater. A black-gloved hand that pressed across her mouth silenced her scream. Her attacker held his wand steadily pointed at Harry and Ron. Hermione only had one option available to her. So she bit him. With a curse the arms disappeared and Hermione spun to face her attacker. She pointed her wand at the black robed figure but did not utter a hex for the boy was sputtering angrily over his wounded hand.

        "You bit me!"

        "Draco?" She asked lowering her wand a fraction.

        "Hermione?" Draco pulled his mask off of his face and stared at her in complete shock realizing whom he had captured. "What are you doing here?"

        Harry and Ron both had their wands pointed at Draco now. Ron was spluttering in uncontainable fury. But Draco seemed completely unconcerned with their rage as he seemed to be feeling some of his own. He grabbed Hermione's arm again and pulled her behind him as he advanced on the other boys and Sirius.

        "Bloody hell Potter!" He growled angrily pulling Hermione after him, "Have you gone insane? Do you have any idea where you are? And bringing her here, can you even imagine what they would have done to her if they had found her?"

        Harry and Ron were so taken aback by Draco's outburst that neither spoke.

        Draco rounded on Hermione, "didn't I tell you to stay in the castle? Didn't I tell you not to go wandering off with your friends? This is exactly the type of trouble that I was talking about! And who the hell is that?" Draco pointed at Sirius whose face was hidden yet again by his lank hair.

        "No one!' The trio exclaimed at once.

        "I don't believe this," Draco was grumbling out loud, he still had a tight grip on Hermione's arm and he started towards the door.

        Harry pointed his wand at the Slytherin, "let her go Malfoy."

        "Oh come off it Potter, I'm not going to hurt her." Draco scowled at Harry. "Look," he began for Harry and Ron weren't lowering their wands, "do you want to get out of here or not?"

        Ron frowned in disbelief, "you're going to help us?"

        Draco glanced around the room; "I don't see any other guardian angels around here, do you?"

        Hermione blinked up at him silently, had he really just compared himself to an angel? The distraction proved to be too much for Harry and Ron because they let Draco push past them, Hermione pulled along after him. He led them farther down the hallway. He brought them into a room at the far end of the hall.

        "This is supposed to help?" Ron asked angrily as they stood looking around the nondescript room.

        "Here," Draco held out a box that held an old copy of Most Potente Potions.

        "What the hell?" Ron snapped.

        "It's a port key isn't it?" Hermione asked.

        Draco nodded, "it will take you back to Hogwarts, it's the one that I used to get here."

        Harry looked at the book suspiciously, "why are you helping us?"

        Draco glared at him, a muscle tensing under the porcelain skin of his forehead. "I'm not helping you, I'm helping her." Draco looked thoughtful for a moment then added, "and no one deserves what they would do to you."

        Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances. Hermione trusted Draco. She really had very little reason to but she did anyway. She nodded at her friends and Harry finally sighed in agreement while Ron sent rebellious scowls in Malfoy's direction.

        "Would you just use the damn thing and get out of here? I don't know who you have there but very soon someone is going to know that he's missing and come looking for him." Draco forced the box into Hermione's hands.

        "You aren't coming with us?" She asked softly.

        Draco paled but his voice was firm, "no, I have a meeting to attend."

        "But you can't," she argued desperately, "if they find out that you've helped us..."

        "That's why Weasley there is going to hit me." Draco cut her off.

        "Hit you?" Ron asked bewildered.

        "It will have to look like you attacked me as I arrived." Draco faced Ron proudly waiting.

        Ron looked at Draco then down at his hand, which he had already balled into a fist. He let go of Sirius and stepped towards Draco.

        "Ron..." Hermione whimpered slightly.

        Ron and Draco ignored her as they stared at each other. Then, without warning, Ron drew his fist back before slamming it into Draco's jaw. Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth to cover her cry as Draco fell down. Draco touched his jaw and then stared up at Ron.

        "You've been wanting to do that for a long time, haven't you Weasley?"

        Ron looked at his fist again before grinning sardonically at the Slytherin, "every day Malfoy, every day."

        "We need to go," Harry said, "listen."

        They went silent. Voices could be heard again, angry voices, worried voices. The Death Eaters knew that Sirius was missing.

        "Draco," Hermione reached out to him, "will you be all right?"

        Draco pushed her hand away, "just go!"

        Hermione nodded once before turning her back on him and reaching out a hand along with Harry and Ron to touch the book. The door to the room crashed open as her fingers made contact and she saw only a flash of black robed figures rushing towards them before a pull behind her belly button took her off towards safety.

~*~*~*~

        The whole situation reminded her of the year before. Hadn't she sat in the hospital wing last year wiping the grime off of Sirius Black? It seemed like so long ago but the memory was very clear. She hadn't been nervous then. She hadn't been afraid that he would open those to black eyes of his while she was alone with him. It had been much easier last year.

        The port key had indeed deposited them unceremoniously on the Hogwarts grounds. Unfortunately Draco had failed to mention that they would end up right below the Whomping Willow. Hermione had escaped without a scratch but Ron now had claim to a sprained ankle and two cracked ribs. Harry had been thrown almost twenty yards and had broken his leg. Sirius had regained consciousness long enough to stumble along with Hermione to safety before he abruptly passed out again.

        The Headmaster had been livid. None of them had ever seen Professor Dumbledore so angry. They understood that it wasn't just because they had left the school but because they had endangered themselves. It hadn't made the anger or disappointment in his eyes any easier to bear though. For the first time in several years Hermione actually thought that she might be expelled. She imagined that the repercussions would be forth coming once the morning arrived. Dumbledore seemed to believe that he was unable to think rationally about the matter at the moment.

        "Ow, Madam Pomfrey that really hurts!" Ron yelped from down the hall.

        "It's only what you deserve for sneaking off. You three are lucky that you weren't killed!" Madam Pomfrey's angry voice echoed back.

        Hermione dipped the cloth in the bowl of water again. Madam Pomfrey had given Sirius a draft of some dark green liquid that sparked slightly in the glass. She said that it would help calm the muscles; it was necessary after the Cruciatus curse. Hermione wrung the cloth and turned back to Sirius only to find him watching her, his eyes clearer than she had seen so far this night. She was so startled that she stepped backwards, her elbow knocking into the bowl of water and almost upsetting it.

        "Hermione, wait." Sirius reached out and caught her arm before she could pull it away.

        Hermione forced herself to stay still, what was she doing? She wasn't afraid of Sirius. "How are you feeling?" She asked gently.

        "Hermione, what happened earlier, you've got to understand that I never would have had I known it was you." Sirius tried to sit up his grip still tight on her.

        "I...I know that Sirius." Hermione felt nervous as she subconsciously tried to slip out of his grasp.

        "It was a terrible mistake." Sirius pulled her closer. "You have to understand." His voice was desperate.

        Hermione gave up any pretense and twisted violently, breaking his grip. Surprised, Sirius let himself fall back onto the pillows. He watched her back away from him with dark, unreadable eyes.

        "Disgusting," his whisper was barely audible as he turned his head away from her.

        Hermione flinched as if he had struck her. He thought she was disgusting. Hermione felt her chin begin to tremble. She took another step backwards.

        "Hermione? Are you all right?" Ron had hobbled up to her without her noticing.

        Startled, Hermione wiped quickly at her eyes as she turned towards Ron. "Sirius is awake." She told him simply before bolting out of the hospital wing.

        She didn't know where she was going until she got there. The entrance hall was dark and deserted. Only a little bit of light flickered through across the great stairway as she sat down to wait. Hermione wasn't sure how long it would be but the wait didn't seem to matter at the moment. Harry and Ron would start to worry when she didn't come back to the hospital wing but she knew that they wouldn't come looking for her. She sat on a step halfway up the stairs, her chin resting on her knees while she tried not to think about Sirius. An hour past and then another before the great doors opened and a lone figured cloaked in black slipped stealthily into the school.

        Hermione stood quietly and watched as the figure pulled the door shut behind him. He surveyed the room, stopping when he noticed her. He pushed the hood of the cloak back as she started walking towards him.

        "Are you all right Draco?" She asked him softly when she reached him.

        "I...I'm fine," Draco lied; his shaking hands belied his statement.

        Hermione stepped closer to him, studying his pale face, his uncontrollable tremors, and his tight lips. "What did he do to you?"

        "It's all right, it will pass." Draco said slowly managing not to stutter.

        Hermione knew what had happened. She had seen the after effects of the Cruciatus curse after all. In fact, this wasn't even the first time this evening. It didn't make it any easier though. Her lower lip trembled and tears filled her eyes. Draco tried to step nervously back from her, not quite sure of what to do if Hermione became hysterical, but Hermione wasn't going to let him go. She reached out and caught him in her arms; squeezing him tightly she pressed her head into his chest wishing that she could force his shaking body to still.

        "We're going to get him." He stiffened at her choked words. "I swear it Draco, we're going to get him."

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