Socius Criminis

Chapter 3: Behind The Night's Cloak

"There also stands the gloomy house of Night;
ghastly clouds shroud it in darkness.
Before it Atlas stands erect and on his head
and unwearying arms firmly supports the broad sky,
where Night and Day cross a bronze threshold
and then come close and greet each other." - Hesiod, Theogony

There was a knock at the door. This both intrigued and surprised Hermione, for she was not expecting visitors - especially not at this time of night (or was it morning? She had lost track). Presuming that it was a student playing a prank, Hermione walked over to the door and opened it, a stern insult at the tip of her tongue. It was not necessary, however. The person standing the other side of the door was certainly not who she had expected.

"P-Professor, I'm sorry to bother you...I can come back tomorrow if you want." Hermione shook her head.

"No, no, come in Mr. Snape. I was wondering when you'd come to see me about your specialisation project." She swept around her desk and began to pile up the papers she had been grading. Looking up, Hermione noticed that he seemed surprised. "Faculty members gossip just as much as students, you know," she smirked. "Not that I partake in such...frivolous chatter." Hermione thought she saw a smile creep across his face. "I'm not a people person," she explained.

"Neither am I..."

"I noticed. Pretty much the first day I arrived, actually..." Severus shuffled his feet and looked at the floor. "Your specialisation project then," Hermione suggested, sitting on the desk. He smiled.

"Well, you see, I had this idea..." he began, but then paused.

"Go on," Hermione said. She remembered when she had gone to him about her extra-credit project. She had been just as nervous. He shook his head.

"No, no, you'll just think it's silly."

"Mr. Snape, I will most definitely not call your project silly," Hermione stated firmly. He nodded.

"Well, I was thinking about what you said about the Polyjuice Potion...that certain combinations of the ingredients created certain properties...and I was wondering if this applied to any other potions. So I went to the library and spent some time looking up those combinations...and I could only find one." Hermione nodded.

"You don't need to tell me it's the Instauratio Potion, Mr. Snape. I have spent the best part of my adult life researching into the connection between the two and their counter-draughts. Obviously, because Polyjuice needs no antidote, this has proved to be quite...challenging..." especially when you're sent back to 1977 in the middle of it, Hermione trailed off, and her eyes drifted to a figure hovering in the background. "If you excuse me, Mr. Snape, I would just like to speak with the Headmaster for a moment. He has been positively floating about at the door ever since we said the words 'specialisation' and 'project' in the same sentence." Hermione smirked, and walked over to Albus.

"How do I let him do this project without telling him I'm not from this decade, or the last, or the one before that?" she asked hurriedly as soon as she reached Albus. He looked at her, searching for something - though she did not know what.

"Do you trust him?"

"Severus?"

"Yes."

"Of course."

"Then you already know the answer to that." After a moment, Hermione nodded, and turned to walk back to Severus. Pausing, she looked over at Albus.

"Only if you'll help me explain." He nodded in agreement, and they walked over to where Severus was waiting.

"Mr. Snape, there's something we need to tell you," Hermione began. "Now, if you're anything like the you that I know, you won't want all the pre-point of the conversation prattle... thus I will come straight to the point." She looked at him to see if he was listening properly. "I'm from the future." He looked at her.

"That explains a lot," was all he said, giving her a slight sneer. Hermione nodded, presuming this response was for not telling him before. She had, after all, been using him as an assistant for re-stocking the infirmary's supply of potions every now and then, thus their friendship had grown.

"I know...things, about what will happen. The fact that I know what will happen to everyone here torments me constantly. As for how this affects you...I did not lie when I said I had researched the Instauratio Potion. However, I did not tell you of the context. I was...will be," she corrected herself, "a researcher in the top-secret department of the Ministry. I will not lie to you, Mr. Snape, I cannot tell you everything. I will affect...well, everything...far too much." A pause.

"You understand, Mr. Snape?" Albus asked. A nod was given, and Severus sat down at one of the desks. Hermione wandered around her desk, wondering if she dare ask her next question.

"How long have you been studying Dark Magic, Severus?" she asked, so quietly that it was almost inaudible. His head snapped up. "Since your fifth year, I expect...that incident with the Whomping Willow?" He stared. "Well?" she whispered, brushing her hair out of her face.

"That's right," he croaked, and looked at the Headmaster, who seemed to be blanked out.

"He can't hear us. I've put him in stasis."

"But that's-"

"Dark Magic. Yes," she affirmed, seeing his pensive gaze, "I have studied Dark Magic since the age of 17. Admittedly that's only three or four years, but...oh shit," she grumbled. "I was trying to keep my age secret for my own sake." She looked up at him. "I presume I can trust you?" He nodded.

"That's always nice to know," she replied. There was an uncomfortable pause. Hermione sighed. "It's good that you're sitting down," she said, "because you're not going to like what I am about to say." His black eyes watched her closely. "I am refusing your specialisation project." His eyes widened, and he stood up, about to protest. She walked over to him and stood in front of him, trying not to note the fact that he was taller than her. "In return, I will not tell anyone you are studying Dark Magic."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"I've kept it a secret so far, haven't I?" A pause as they each searched the other for signs of defiance. "I know I can trust you to keep my secret," she whispered, and walked back to where she had been standing. Muttering in Latin, she removed Albus from stasis.

"Then we are at an agreement," Albus continued from his earlier speech. "Professor Granger will accept your extra-credit project in return for you keeping her secret." They nodded, and waited for Albus to exit.

"Professor, he thinks I'm going to do this project with you."

"I never said you weren't."

"You did!"

"No, I didn't. I merely said that it would not be accepted as an specialisation project." They shared a smile, and it was then that it occurred to Hermione that she had not seen him smile before. Lost for a second in memories of her past...or rather, future life, Hermione sat down at her desk and put her head in her hands.

"Professor?"

"Don't worry," she mumbled, and looked up at him. He could see the dark circles under her eyes more clearly now - the moonlight was flowing in through the window. "It just gets to me sometimes. The fact that I know what's going to happen and I can't - mustn't stop it, only assist with making sure it can be remedied. I was told I had to change the future. I understand now that this is what I have to change. The outcome, not the events behind it." He walked over and pulled a chair up to her desk.

"Is it bad? I mean, really?" he asked. She halted, wondering how much she could tell.

"I cannot tell you everything. I can tell you little and what I do tell you may not make sense."

"Tell me." Hermione nodded, and stood up. She motioned for him to follow her, and he did. They passed through a door he had not noticed before and into a room like no other he had ever seen. The walls - if you could call them that - were entirely bookcases. Hermione blushed.

"Erm, I...I've always been a reading person, the Headmaster thought I'd like the room," she offered, and they sat down around the circular table in the middle of the room, upon which many parchments were stacked. "It is safer if we talk in here, I have more wards up." Severus nodded, and waited for her to begin. "Let's see, what can I tell you. Well, as you've probably guessed - it's hard not to even if you try not to pay attention - Lily and James, they're inseparable. In fact, they're going to get married this summer. Don't look surprised, they've been engaged since New Years'. They're going to have a son called Harry - he's going to be my best friend when I'm at Hogwarts. Marvin Weasley in sixth year has a brother called Arthur who's married to Molly - one of their children will become my other best friend." Hermione paused for breath.

"You following this okay?" she asked. He nodded, eager to hear more. "Lucius Malfoy is going to marry Narcissa Thatcher of Ravenclaw and they're going to have a son called Draco. He'll be the same age as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley but they'll be sworn enemies for reasons I cannot go into." Hermione stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry, relating this like a textbook is getting to me," she admitted. "I'm okay normally, but..."

"But?"

"It's different telling you," she whispered. Sensing that he would question her as to why he was such a problem for her, Hermione attempted to add humour to the situation. "Rather than my mirror," she snorted. He chuckled, and she smirked in return. There was a knock at the door, distracting them from their conversation. Hermione got up, and went out of the library room to answer it. Severus followed incase he would have to leave, stopping by the desk he had sat at that evening.

"Ah, Remus, do come in," Hermione said. "Severus, I do apologise, but I've been tutoring Remus for some time and this really can't be missed. I don't suppose you mind starting your project by yourself?" He shook his head.

"It's quite alright, Professor." She smiled, and threw him a bunch of keys.

"These will open the store rooms. I trust you can work out which key is which?"

--

Hermione paced around her room. It was the middle of April, and she was getting moody. Her familiar in this time, a demiguise-snake cross by the name of Dru (short for Drusilla - Hermione had always had a soft spot for Muggle television, although she really couldn't stand how they managed to get the spells wrong), was not helping.

"Perhapsssss you are sssssimply full of hormonesssss," Dru suggested, slinking around Hermione's ankles as she paced. Hermione groaned.

"I should never have let you at my Muggle biology textbooks," she grumbled. "Snakes are too damned intelligent for their own good." There was a hiss of protest from underneath her. "Sorry, sorry, I mean part-demiguise snakes." The familiar relaxed. "I never did understand how you could cross-breed demiguise and snakes."

"It meanssssss that I have the ability to become invisssssible, misssstress," Drusilla slinked, her silvery hair shining in the moonlight to accent this point. Obviously the how was not important to Drusilla, but the outcome. She had inherited the self-indulgent, vain side of the demiguise as well as the long, fine, silky hair that could be woven into invisibility cloaks.

"I still think you should call me Hermione," the 'mistress' added, changing topic. "I'm not your boss, you know."

"But what elssssss ssssshould I call you? You are not from thisssss time...you are not yourssssssself." Hermione span round on her heel, stamping her foot.

"I am Hermione Granger!" she cried indignantly. "At least, I will be...in a few years or three...but then I can't be here yet as I'm not there yet...oh forget it." Hermione would have sworn that Dru laughed, but it came out like a hiss and therefore she dismissed it. She moved to sit on her beanbag (her favourite type of seating bar her bed, which Dru was currently occupying) and ponder the last week's events. Namely when she had revealed to Severus the true nature of her presence. She had shown her vulnerability in front of him. She couldn't afford to do that. Not considering who and what she was, let alone what she had to do.

"You have to do something about him, Hermione," a voice whispered. She whipped out her wand at once, but it was only Albus. She sighed.

"Severus?" she asked. He nodded in reply.

"I don't know what happens to him in the future, Hermione. But I have a pretty good idea." This last statement made Hermione chuckle.

"You usually do."

"I will not tell you what to do. I will merely tell you that you need to do something, and quick. We need to lose him. You understand?" Hermione looked into Albus' eyes as he spoke. Within them was a commanding streak, a raw power that Hermione had not seen before. She recognized it because it reflected the power in her own eyes, that which flowed through her blood also. Her eyes widened.

"You're Unicus," she whispered. "I should have known." Albus smiled, about as close as he could come to a smirk. He nodded.

"As are you." She nodded likewise. "And you understand what you must use this for?"

"I do." He nodded, and turned to leave.

"Just one thing, Hermione..." he said, looking back at her. She smiled.

"Nyx," she whispered. He did not smile. "And you?"

"Mentor." Hermione chuckled despite herself.

"Figures."

"There are others here, you know. There are two others."

"Lily," Hermione whispered.

"Yes, and Severus."

"Do they know?"

"No."

"They need to."

"Indeed. Tell them?" Hermione nodded. "Until then, my dear Nyx." Dumbledore swept out of the room.

--

The Complete Documentation Of Modern Powers So Beyond Belief We Begin To Wonder If They Exist

Unicus

M.O.M. Rating: ?????

The Unicus are so incredibly rare that they are the only beings to earn five Ministry question marks. Each one representing a Greek God or Goddess, they embody the properties of the God(dess) according to Greek mythological tales. There are only three in known existence at this time (1970), although we have only known of two before this (Merlin and Grindelwald) and they cannot be named; only sensed. They have powers beyond belief (hence their inclusion in this text) and can perform, amongst other things, wandless magic - a talent lost in normal wizards and witches beyond the age of 11. It is believed that they also have powers that tap into Gaia itself, relating to the God(dess) that they embody. All Unicus are automatically animagi, mostly turning into animals that represent their God(dess). Their powers normally manifest themselves at the ages of 16+.

--

Hermione had never read this particular description before, and it amused her. At the time of publication, she had not been in this time. Now, it seemed, there were four Unicus, and that Hermione had some talking to do. Rolling the idea around in her mind, she pondered, using what knowledge she had, who their deities were. Lily, she presumed, would be Aphrodite - Goddess of love. It seemed to fit. Severus, on the other hand...Hermione had no idea, though she presumed she would find out. It was a complicated ritual, uncovering a Unicus, and she would require Albus' presence to perform it. Now, when to sort this out? She would need time to look up the exact specifics of the ritual (in between marking essays, planning lessons, researching the reverse for Peragro Tempus, tutoring Remus and working on the Instauratio Potion with Severus). Whoever said she did too much work was obviously not looking hard enough. She did far too much work.

Hermione seized her chance when Sirius and James decided to blow up - literally - the potions classroom. The Slytherins stared, eyes wide, as their potions flew up into the air, hitting the ceiling, and began dropping onto their heads. Screams came from them, and chaos ensued.

"Silence!" Hermione yelled above the racket. Everyone froze. "Those of you who have been hit go to the hospital wing, now! Evans, Snape, stay here, you can help clear up." The others filed out of the room, throwing confused looks at Lily and sneering ones at Severus.

"Professor, have we done something wrong?" Lily asked, putting her books on Hermione's desk so that they wouldn't get hit. Severus followed suit, and Hermione ushered them around the other side of her desk so that they would not get hit.

"I'll explain in a second, for now, please use the most powerful cleaning charm you know on my classroom. I am an untidy person but I hate disorganisation and especially," she paused to sneer at the classroom, "potions dripping from my ceiling." Snape gave Hermione a knowing smirk, and she raised her wand.

"Abluo Totalus!" she commanded, and the ceiling was cleaner than it had ever been in the whole history of Hogwarts. The other two followed suit, and in a moment the classroom was cleaned. Swiftly putting the fires out on the cauldrons, Hermione turned and opened the door to her office. "Do come in," she said, ushering the students in before entering herself and shutting the door. Hermione sat at her desk, and Severus and Lily took the seats in front of it, looking at each other quizzically.

"Don't look at me like that, you two. What I'm about to say isn't that other-worldly." They chuckled. She leant on her desk and looked up at them. The look in her eyes told them that from now on the conversation was no longer a laughing matter. "Unicus," she whispered. "Ever heard of them?" Severus looked confused, but Lily nodded her head slowly.

"They're representations of Greek Gods and Goddesses, aren't they?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"A little more than that, in fact. Please study this text," she said, handing them the paragraph from The Complete Documentation Of Modern Powers.... After they had both read it through, they gave Hermione back the book.

"What does this have to do with us?" Severus asked, eyeing the paper warily.

"Are you familiar with Greek mythology at all, Severus?" Hermione asked. He shook his head.

"You soon will be," said Albus, stepping out of the shadows.

"At least, you will need to be," Hermione said, finishing Albus' sentence. Lily's eyes widened as she made the connection.

"Are we - I mean, that is to say..." Albus smiled.

"Yes, Miss Evans. You, Severus, Professor Granger and myself are all Unicus. The only existing ones, I might add." Severus' eyes widened also at this, and Lily looked like her jaw was about to fall off.

"That's why you're here," Hermione said. "Voldemort is on the rise - we see that in the newspapers every day. Although normally we stay out of political feuds, this is different. You both have roles to play. Important roles." Hermione sighed, and for Lily's benefit, explained again how she was, in fact, from the future.

"Thus, Professor Granger knows what your purposes are." Hermione paled at this and looked at the desk. "Are you prepared to accept whatever job she may give you?" They nodded, slowly.

"Come with me," Hermione whispered, almost inaudibly, and led them through to another room. It was a large, empty room, with no windows or doors except the one through which they had come. "Welcome to my haven," she said. "This is where I can concentrate my energy. There are no distractions, no comforts. Only solitude. There are only windows at night-time so that I can see what my Goddess has created for me." Hermione looked up at them. "I am Nyx, Goddess of the night, that which puts the stars to brightness and men to sleep, that which throws shadow upon the world...I am the embodiment of night." Lily and Severus stared at her, gulping slightly. "Now let us find out who you are. Come forth, sister, brother" she whispered, and they walked timidly forwards. Albus raised his wand, and instantly the four of them were dressed in the clothes of the Unicus.

Nyx wore a long dress of the darkest silk, her cloak, fastened at the neck and draped over her shoulders, shimmered even in the nighttime. Her hood lay over her brown hair and hid her face from the prying eyes of others, sealing night's worries off from the rest of the world. Mentor was in a flowing cloak of the reddest gold, but speculation could be made as to what was worn underneath - the cloak flowed over him, sealing him from view.

The new Unicus, standing in the purest white, awaited their destinies.

"I call upon you, Chaos,

Parent to that which is I

And all that upholds to me,

Teach these - this woman,

This man, who they are,

Where their true loyalties lie,

And then we shall hear both Zeus'

And Hades' command.

Come forth, and show them

The path to Olympus."

There was a flash, and Lily fought the urge to scream. She felt herself being lifted up, as was Severus, and the light flowed through them, probing their inner soul. It was a queer sort of torture that enveloped and overtook them. Power surged through them, tiring them, wearing them thin. They began to drift slowly down to earth. It was like they had been lifted to heaven and then dropped on a long cord, only to bounce back up and be hit by the force again. It was a terrible strain on their bodies.

Hermione, as she watched the task, was reminded of her own passage. She had lain on the floor, shaking, for some minutes afterward. When she was called forth she had barely the energy to stand. Hermione could only hope that these two would be hardier than she. Within minutes they were collapsed in bundles upon the floor. Hermione smiled. Pushing back her hood, she held her hand out to Lily.

"The task is over. Come forward, sister Aphrodite, and accept your destiny as Goddess of love." Aphrodite smiled at Nyx then, and taking her hand, stood up. As she took the hand night offered, her clothes became a beautiful white dress, flowing to the ground and sparkling bright in the darkness of Nyx's abode. Albus walked over to Severus and did the same for him - only a Unicus of the same gender could detect the new one's deity.

"The task is over. Come forward, brother Erebos, and accept your destiny as God of darkness." Erebos nodded to Mentor, and took his hand. He was dressed, almost instantaneously, in clothes similar to that of Nyx. "Let us exit," he said, and they left Nyx's abode.

--

Entering Hermione's office, their robes immediately changed back to normal.

"This is..." Lily began.

"...weird..." Severus finished. Hermione smiled mysteriously.

"Your powers should be coming into effect now," she whispered. They nodded. They could feel the raw energy coursing through them, and Hermione could see it, reflected in their eyes - the power, the hunger to use it, but the restraint also. Respect for their deity that they have been entrusted to become. Hermione strode past them, and swept out of the room. Severus, for some reason beyond his understanding, turned to go after her. He was stopped by Albus.

"Leave her," he whispered. "There are some battles that can be fought only by one."

Yes, thought Hermione as she left the dungeons, but what if the two people have become one, in mind, soul and...Hermione shuddered in anticipation at this...body?