Hermione Granger and the Beginning of the End

When I close my eyes

I think of you--it takes me places that I've never seen

And the rain that flows

You're brushing up against my skin to wash me clean

You're all I've ever wanted

You're all I've ever needed

It's you

You're all I've ever wanted

Loving you is the right thing to do

And I'll see it through

"I'll See It Through"--Texas

**

They had two weeks of bliss--two glorious weeks. Although they didn't stop working tirelessly on N.E.W.T preparation and research, the problems of the world seemed to be far away. Harry shook his head with a pensive smile whenever he saw his two best friends together, because he had never seen the two of them happier. Ginny Weasley would watch her brother and her best friend longingly, thrilled for them, but at the same time secretly wishing that she could have that with a certain someone. Students would giggle and whisper, teachers would watch with knowing smiles, and it was just simply beautiful that despite the horrible war that was tearing up their world, two students could fall in love. Ron and Hermione had been together for a couple months now, but ever since she had kissed him in front of the entire school, it was as though a light had clicked on and all the puzzle pieces of their lives were snapped firmly and irrevocably into place. They were finally together in the way they were meant to be: exactly like this.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped with annoyance.

"Hermione!" Ron mocked in the same tone she had just used.

Harry just laughed.

Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she pushed Ron's long arm away from her book. He was trying to convince her to stop studying and instead play a game of Exploding Snap, but Hermione wasn't about to be persuaded. She really needed to finish her reading for Arithmancy. Scooting her chair back so that it was wedged between her and Ron, she slid the book as far down the tabletop as she could manage. She held up one arm, blocking Ron's groping hand, and the other arm caught his wrist, all the while calmly reading her textbook. Harry chuckled as he busied himself by shuffling the Exploding Snap cards, hoping it would lure Hermione away from the very large and very boring book she was reading. Since Hermione had first started dating Ron, she had always been worried that Harry would feel left out. However, although there were moments that Harry felt a bit uncomfortable or out of the loop, the vast majority of the time they all felt that the trio was still firmly intact, despite the alteration in Hermione and Ron's relationship.

"Hedwig!" Harry abruptly exclaimed when he spotted his snowy white owl waiting serenely to be let in through the common room window. Ron turned his attention to the window, watching Harry retrieve his letter, but he didn't stop struggling against Hermione's pinion. She couldn't see a thing, as her back was necessarily turned away from Harry.

Ron lost interest in Hermione as Harry scanned the short letter hastily. "What'd they say?"

"Peterborough checks out--their local werewolf ran out of aconite, so his Wolfsbane didn't work." He balled up the letter and rifled through his school bag. Ron dropped back down in his chair to read over Harry's shoulder. Harry pulled out the list of cities with unusual werewolf sightings during the March full moon and crossed out Peterborough. "We still got four more," Harry commented as he frowned down at the page. "Did we owl all of the local authorities?"

"Yeah," Ron jabbed his thumb at each city as he named them. "Pig is out at King's Lynn, Rowena went to Brighton, and we sent school owls to Dovetown and Salisbury."

"Dovetown?" Hermione interjected with surprise. Harry and Ron both swung around to her. "That's not far from here," she reminded them.

"Yeah," Harry said distractedly. The distance of the werewolf sightings from Hogwarts didn't interest him.

Ron, however, seemed intrigued by Hermione's statement. "Maybe we could go over there," he suggested. "You know, check things out?"

Harry snorted with disbelief. "Ron, we can convince them that we're concerned members of the Fellowship for the Protection of Magical Creatures by post, but it wouldn't be so convincing in person." After going through all of the werewolf sightings in March--which were a lot bigger in number than Hermione, Harry, or Ron had ever suspected--Ron had begun to write letters to each of the Ministry officials that represented the areas in question to find out why there had been an unusual amount of werewolf sightings in the past month. Since he was finished with his reading on wandless magic, Harry had helped with the composition of all of the letters, but all Hermione had had time to do was to come up with the name and aims of the fake society. Ron had thought she might be good at it after her experience with S.P.E.W. Other than that, Ron and Harry had handled the search for Lupin all on their own, while Hermione had continued to research Dark potions and rituals. Harry and Ron were having much more success than Hermione was, and although that frustrated her to no end, she was becoming quite proud of her boys. She had taken to watching the two of them as they brainstormed together, and it was obvious that the two had a natural sense of partnership.

Ron kicked Hermione lightly under the table when he caught her staring at them. "What's with you?"

"Nothing," Hermione said with a small smile. "I was just thinking how lucky the Auror squad is going to be to have you two on board."

Harry and Ron both flushed at her praise. Ron nuzzled her foot under the table with his, and Harry ducked his head in embarrassment. "We don't even know if we got in," Harry muttered modestly.

"Oh, go on, Harry." Ron clapped him on the back. "You saw the way Kingsley drooled when he heard you wanted to be an Auror."

"Or how about how impressed Kingsley must have been when you wrote to your father with the exact same plan that they had come up with to find Professor Lupin," Hermione reminded Ron. The Aurors assigned to find Professor Lupin had also thought of using the Ministry register to track him down, but they were able to search each city personally, while Harry and Ron had to settle for writing letters. The boys knew that they could just let the Aurors handle it, but Harry couldn't just sit still and let someone else look for Lupin, and Ron was too invested in this project to back out now. Hermione had a feeling that those two were going to be the ones who ended up finding Lupin first. "You're starting to think like an Auror, Ron."

"I don't have Potions," Ron pointed out dejectedly. "And they almost never take anyone straight out of school. If they do, it'll usually be just one." He shot a sideways glance over at Harry--he knew very well that Harry would be their top pick any day of the week and twice on Tuesday.

"There aren't any rules against taking more than one student into the Auror training program," Hermione said quietly. "They just haven't yet." She pressed her foot even closer to Ron's as she looked steadily at her two best friends. "Believe me. If they see what I see, they're going to be falling over themselves to accept you two." She smiled wryly. "Especially since I practically wrote your applications for you."

Ron rolled his eyes and slapped his hand over them with a groan. "Oh, great, Harry. When we get in, I'm never going to hear the end of it. She's going to hold this over me until the day I die." Harry shrugged as he unfolded the letter to read it again.

"Of course I will," Hermione replied wickedly.

Ron looked at her for a long moment with a half-smile playing delightfully on his lips. "Harry, we done for now?" he asked without taking his eyes off of Hermione. Hermione felt herself being pulled into the thrall of Ron Weasley's charm, so she barely heard Harry answer an affirmative. Ron nodded slowly and brought his hand up to smooth Hermione's hair in the way that she loved. "Right," he said slowly. She instinctively moved her face toward him. With abrupt agility, Ron leapt out of his chair, threw one arm around Hermione's shoulders, and snatched her book away with the other, holding it well out of Hermione's reach. "Now I can hold this over her head," he quipped to Harry.

"Ron!"

"Hermione!"

Harry just laughed once again.

**

They had had two wonderful weeks together.

Now, those two weeks were up.

They had been in the Great Hall when it had happened. Harry had received the last letter from Brighton, which, like all the others, gave a logical explanation as to why there'd been an unusual werewolf attack in their city during the month of March. The Aurors had discovered almost the exactly the same during their interviews, although they hadn't been able to reach a couple of the cities that had replied to Ron and Harry's very cleverly, yet falsely constructed letters. Apparently, Ron and Harry had taken the more sensible route--those cities must have feared retaliation from the Ministry for their inability to control a werewolf if they confessed to the Aurors. However, these cities had also feared a lawsuit from the so-called Fellowship for the Protection of Magical Creatures, so they had responded to Harry and Ron, rather than responding to the Aurors. Of course, Harry and Ron had reported their findings to Kingsley and Tonks, and Hermione could tell from their grateful thank you note that they were very impressed with the boys.

But now the unsettling question had been raised that if Lupin hadn't been responsible for any of the werewolf sightings, where in the world could he be? Ron suggested that perhaps one of the Ministry officials could be lying, but Harry and Hermione didn't think that that was the case. The only logical explanation could be that Lupin hadn't been let loose during March, probably because he was being held against his will somewhere.

They had been discussing other possibilities with little success when Professor McGonagall had quietly approached the trio. "Mr. Weasley?" she asked in a throaty voice. "May I have a word with you?"

The three of them stiffened at the sight of McGonagall's haggard face and thin, pursed lips. All three of them knew the professor rather well after seven years, and it was clear that whatever she had to discuss with Ron would not be pleasant in the least. Ron nodded and got up. Hermione's hand slid into his for a moment, and with a parting squeeze, Ron followed the professor toward the Ravenclaw table.

The Ravenclaw table? Hermione and Harry exchanged puzzled glances before they spotted the vivid red curls that could only belong to Ginny Weasley. She had hidden herself from view by sitting across from Michael Corner and taking shelter behind his hulking shoulders so that she wouldn't be visible from the Gryffindor table. Ginny's fury at Harry had faded after a few weeks, especially when she witnessed Harry's noticeable pain every time Michael so much as touched her. It had been satisfying in the beginning to hurt Harry after he had hurt her, but that quickly passed, and now all Ginny wanted to do was to spare Harry from any unnecessary pain--he certainly had to deal with enough already. However, although she was no longer angry at Harry, she was still very hurt by his inability to say those three little words to her, so she'd had to find her solace somewhere. Hermione knew that despite Ginny Weasley's confident exterior, she really was quite lonely.

Harry let out a little breath and studied the crumbs that adorned his nearly empty plate. Hermione bit her lip, wondering if she should attempt to press the issue once again, but Ginny and Ron were now following McGonagall out of the Great Hall, and Hermione was quite anxious to learn what the devil was going on. "Harry." She nudged him, diverting his attention away from his plate. "You finished?" she asked meaningfully.

Harry glanced up in time to see Ron and Ginny exit the Great Hall. "Yeah," he agreed instantly, throwing down his napkin and swinging his legs over the bench. Hermione was already on her feet, and it was only after a few steps that she began to sense that something was really wrong. She wasn't an empath, so it wasn't as though she was abruptly flooded with someone else's emotions, the way Ron experienced it. It was more that her stomach was suddenly and chillingly clenched with panic, and her mind sensed a tentative tap before promptly vanishing. It was as though Ron wanted to touch minds with her, but then had changed his mind and hastily backpedaled away. But Hermione had felt it nevertheless, and with that sentiment, she quickened her step and half-ran out of the Great Hall.

It took them several minutes, but Hermione and Harry finally found Ron in his dormitory, hastily packing an overnight bag. Hermione swallowed hard as Harry cleared his throat. "What's going on, mate?"

Ron paused for a moment before slamming the lid of his trunk and wheeling around to his two best friends. Hermione's breath caught in her throat at the wild terror in his eyes, and instinctively took a step forward. "They got Bill," Ron said in a heart-wrenching voice.

Hermione's stomach sank straight down to the soles of her shoes, and Harry looked as though he had just been punched hard in the stomach. The methodical assassination attempts of Order members had finally turned toward the Weasleys. Hermione wanted so badly to touch him in some way, but Ron was too worked up to be held, and he crossed to his dresser to retrieve the rest of his belongings before she could make a move.

"Fleur found him in their flat," Ron explained. His voice became increasingly more and more desperate as he told the story. "It was completely wrecked, and Bill's a bloody mess--they don't know if he's going to pull through. They think that the Cruciatus curse was used, so there's a chance that if he does make it, he'll be like Neville's parents." He forced the remaining articles into his bag with forceful shoves that physically conveyed how awful he was feeling. "Mum wants us at St. Mungo's because she wants us there if he--"

Instead of finishing that thought, Ron violently zipped his bag shut as Hermione and Harry just watched in silence, too horror-struck to say anything. What do you honestly say in a situation like this? Hermione couldn't even imagine what Ron had to be going through. Bill and Ginny were his favorite siblings, and he had to see both of them an inch away from death within two months. She didn't have any siblings, but Hermione thought it had to be similar to what she went through whenever Harry was injured, which was rather often, she added to herself as she glanced over at Harry's sickened face. It made her physically sick on the inside to watch Harry in pain, and the pain would gnaw away at her heart as she would watch helplessly from Harry's bedside. And Ron, who felt emotions more intensely than anyone--Hermione bit her lip. He had to be in absolute agony right now. The Death Eaters had unintentionally hit on the most direct way to hurt him. All they had to do was go after someone he loved--strike him with a clean, crippling blow straight to the heart--and he was gone, lost only to his and others emotions. He had to be in a real state right now, and Hermione wished that she could just put her arms around him and sweep him up to her room like she did the night Ginny had almost been killed by Riddle.

But it wasn't that simple. She couldn't just make the world go away for him--it wasn't healthy or sensible, and Hermione Granger always did was practical. However, she could certainly make certain that he didn't face the horrors of the world alone. Somewhat numb, she gently extracted Ron's bag from his shaking fingers, and reassuringly entwined her fingers with his. Looking him dead in the eye, she tried to keep her voice as steady, soothing, and calm as humanly possible. "I'll go get my things and meet you in the common room," she told him with a squeeze of his hand.

She slipped out of Ron's grasp so that she could go to her dormitory and grab her overnight bag, but Ron was effectively snapped out of his daze by her words, and by the sight of Harry mutely crossing to his trunk to start getting his things together. "Whoa," Ron protested, "you can't come." Hermione and Harry both turned to him with stricken expressions that were so nearly identical that Ron had the irrational urge to laugh. "It's family only in that ward," Ron explained heavily, "and we tried to explain that you two are family, but McGonagall wouldn't budge."

Harry swore under his breath as he dropped down onto his trunk, but Hermione only gave a firm nod. "Right then, we'll wait out in the main waiting area on the ground floor," she informed him. Harry nodded eagerly in agreement as he got back to his feet.

"No," Ron refused flatly. "You two would be sitting gnomes if you just hung around St. Mungo's all night."

"Ron, it's a very public place--nothing would happen," Hermione argued. Harry sighed as he sank back down onto his trunk. He had the good sense to just sit still, keep his mouth shut, and let his friends argue as a way to alleviate some of the mounting, horrible tension bursting to explode out of them. "We want to be there--you shouldn't have to go through this alone!"

"I don't need you to get through this--I can do it by myself!" Ron shouted unnecessarily, only because it eased the knots in his stomach. "I'm not totally dependent on you, Hermione!"

"It's not about you being able to get through it on your own--I know you can!" Hermione countered fiercely. "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met! It's just that I don't want you to do it alone!"

Ron let out a very long, annoyed breath before appealing to Harry. "Just stay home, please?" he begged both of them.

However, Hermione knew precisely how to counter his argument, and with a defiant raise of her chin, she caught him square in the eye again. With an outpour of devotion, friendship, faith, hope, passion, and pure, true love, Hermione fueled all of her emotions toward him so that he could receive the following message empathically. She didn't have the courage at the moment to say it aloud. Home is where you are, Ron. She had to swallow hard and blink a few times. I'm only really home when I'm with you.

Ron's eyes widened and softened at the same time and without another thought, Hermione flung her arms around him. He closed his eyes and buried his nose in her neck, unconsciously breathing in the smell of her hair, which partly reminded him of the sweet smell of the summer breeze that whipped past you while you zoomed along on your broom, and partly of the musty books that Hermione loved so much. He irrationally wondered if by inhaling her sweet scent, he could also breathe in her strength and tenacity so that he could get through this bloody awful day. Hermione could feel the anxious drumming of his heart reverberating through his chest and into hers, so although she was already wobbling a bit from standing for so long on her tiptoes, she squeezed him even closer.

"Please stay here," Ron pleaded through a sea of her curls. He burrowed his face even deeper into her, so that the bridge of his nose was pressing comfortably into the side of her neck. His ragged breath burned her skin. "You and Harry need to stay here, or else I can't--" Ron couldn't finish the thought, and abruptly settled for letting his lips speak for themselves by brushing softly against hers for a few seconds.

As always, his lips instigated a sharp, spine-tingling jolt of toe-curling pleasure and empathic connection, and Hermione knew precisely what he was trying to say. He wanted his friends to be with him more than anything, because he depended on their support as much as they needed him to survive. But at the same time, there were psychotic, incredibly biased wizards out there who were hell-bent on ridding the world of Muggle-borns and of Harry Potter. Ron needed his friends now more than ever, but he also needed them alive. He would rather stand a few hours of agony, then to have them by his side right now and potentially lose them a few hours later.

Ron, why do you always have to sacrifice yourself for us, Hermione thought at him as she pressed her lips against his for a moment before dropping back down on her heels. "Fine," she whispered. "We'll stay." She looked up at Ron with her trademark mixture of sternness and adoration. "You'll come see me the moment you get back?"

"Yeah." Ron needed to taste her lips one more time to give him the final boost of fortitude needed to leave the reassuring presences of his two best friends. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked over to Harry. Hermione blushed slightly when she realized that she and Ron had been rather intimate right in front of him. They had promised that they would never make Harry uncomfortable about the change of their relationship--in fact, the only time they had been really openly affectionate and intimate in front of Harry was when Hermione had kissed Ron in the Great Hall. Then again, that had been in front of the entire school. It had to be a great deal more uncomfortable right now for Harry, and Hermione couldn't help feeling a bit guilty--although she wasn't sorry in the slightest that she had done it. Ron needed her, and although she did feel bad that Harry had to watch, she'd do it again.

"Hey," Ron paused in front of Harry and lowered his voice so that Hermione could hardly hear him. "You want me to tell Ginny anything for you?"

"Yeah," Harry said instantly. "Tell her I--I-" Harry colored slightly as he remembered it wasn't his place to express these thoughts for her and shook his head. "Tell her I'm sorry Bill's hurt."

Obviously, this was not the heartfelt confession Ron had hoped to convey to his sister. "Yeah," Ron said with a roll of his eyes. "Will do." He gave Harry a nod of farewell. "See you."

"See you," Harry repeated as he reached out to clap Ron on the shoulder. The fierceness in both men's eyes said more than any brotherly embrace ever could. Ron nodded again, and with a tentative glance back at Hermione, he shot over one final empathic message before making his way down to the common room.

I love you.

Hermione's heart swelled. They didn't say that to each other often enough--not that they needed to, it was always just there. They both just knew it deep in their hearts, so it wasn't always necessary to voice the sentiment aloud. However, Hermione couldn't deny that whenever she heard Ron actually say the words aloud or voice them empathically, it gave an indescribable, incomparable thrill. She never felt more alive than she did when Ron said that he loved her. And one of the most thrilling parts about it was that she knew that he felt the exact same way when she said it to him, so there really was only one thing to do.

I love you too.

**

"I guess he's not here," Hermione noted with surprise after she and Harry had waited in the April dusk for several minutes for Hagrid to open his door. Ron and Ginny had been at St. Mungo's for almost twenty-four hours now, and all they knew from a hastily scribbled letter from Ron was that Bill's condition was still unstable, and that he was not the only Weasley to receive a visit from Death Eaters, Fred and George's joke shop had been torched while the twins were still inside. Both Fred and George managed to escape without any serious injuries besides minor burns and smoke inhalation, but they had lost all of the products they had spent over five years producing, except for a shipment of joke wands which had arrived while the flames were still licking away at the charred, splintered wood chips. There was no way that either Harry or Hermione could concentrate on anything school related at the moment, so they had decided to pay a visit to Hagrid. However, it appeared that the half-giant wasn't at home.

Harry was peering through the windows with a slightly concerned frown. "Everything looks alright," he commented slowly.

Hermione hopped off of the stoop to peer into Hagrid's hut through the window. Everything appeared to be undisturbed and in its proper place. "Do you think something happened to him?"

"Dunno," Harry replied. "Doesn't really look like it. Maybe he went to the pub or to visit Grawp."

Hermione wasn't quite sure if Harry actually believed that logical explanation. "What do you want to do now?" she asked quietly. "Go back to the castle? Take a walk?" She smiled weakly. "Sneak over to St. Mungo's?" She was joking, of course, but not really. If he suggested it, she would go along in a heartbeat. She was simply aching to see Ron again.

Harry gave a short laugh before glancing over toward the lake. "A walk sounds good," he agreed. He led the way over to the bank of the lake and paused to collect a handful of stones. Hermione hung back and remained silent when she read the expression on his face. He wanted to talk to her about something. Harry had had Occulmency training right before they had gone out to Hagrid's, so Hermione suspected that he had pumped Dumbledore and Snape for information that he was about to relay to her. He violently tossed the first stone and watched as it skipped several times across the placid surface. "Why would you kidnap a werewolf, let him out to torment him during one full moon cycle, but keep him locked up and safe the next month?" he wondered abruptly.

Hermione only shook her head. Harry had been going over this question in his mind for weeks now, and they were no closer to an answer. He was only asking it out of habit--it wasn't the real reason Harry wanted to take a walk with her. "Full moon's in a couple of days," he noted. She continued to wait while Harry jiggled his fingers absently, the stones clinking together in his palm. His fingers tightened around the stones as he glanced over again at Hermione, and suddenly changed the subject to the real reason he wanted to speak to her. "Why now?" he asked before skipping the second stone. "Why go after the Weasleys now?"

"You don't think it's just a coincidence?" Hermione suggested, realizing what Harry was doing. He was thinking aloud, brainstorming, much like he had been doing the past couple of weeks with Ron about Lupin. But Ron wasn't here, so she would have to do for now.

"Can't be," Harry protested. "Nothing they've done toward the Order has been random--only Muggle attacks are random." He tossed the third stone, but it only skipped twice due to Harry's lack of concentration. "They could have gone after the Weasleys any time, but they chose now--why?"

"Well, the Weasleys are one of the most influential pureblood families, now that Mr. Weasley's the Minister of Magic," Hermione thought aloud, "and they've always been very prominent in the wizarding world. You mentioned that Dumbledore spoke about the panic that occurred when Ginny was taken down into the Chamber. Everyone who's on our side cares about them, so if anything happened to them--"

Harry's cheek twitched at the reminder of Ginny in the Chamber, and the fourth stone didn't skip at all as he flung it into the water. "Panic would ensue," Harry finished flatly for her. "Everyone would be rattled, especially if more than one of them got attacked." He looked off toward the horizon. The sun had just finished setting, and the friends paused to stare at the beautiful sight that they had been ignoring.

Hermione shivered slightly as the first chill of night washed over her. She knew that they should really head inside, but she had always found the grounds to be so utterly peaceful at night. Since they were discussing something that was anything but peaceful, she found it comforting to remain in the increasingly darkening night. "So they want us to be especially rattled," Hermione stated.

Harry nodded slowly in agreement. "Something's coming." He was nervously tossing the last stone up into the air and catching it with his wicked fast Seeker skills before whipping it up into the air again. "Something big."

"Do you think they'll go after any more of them?" Hermione asked anxiously. She bit her lip at the thought. "Charlie's still in Romania, isn't he?"

"Yeah, and we don't know about Percy," Harry said dejectedly. "They've got guards on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Harry reported. "The Order thinks they're next."

"But you don't," Hermione observed shrewdly. Harry shook his head slowly and steadily after a brief hesitation. Hermione's heart turned to an icy block of fear at the thought, but she knew that Harry was right--it would be just like the Death Eaters to go after all of the Weasley children first before turning on the Minister of Magic and his wife. "Ron and Ginny," she whispered.

"Ron and Ginny," Harry repeated grimly.

Hermione's hand snuck toward her own wand and she lifted her chin. Those bloody Death Eaters were going to have to get through her if they were even considering trying to go after two of the dearest people in her life. "Please tell me they have Order guards too."

"Yeah, Kingsley and Tonks are sticking with them," Harry reassured her. "They won't let them out their sight."

"They should just bring them back here," Hermione fretted before she could stop herself. "They're safer here." Her heart clenched when she caught the look on Harry's face and her voice faltered. "Aren't they?"

Harry let out a long, worried breath. "I'm not so sure anymore."

"What do you--" Hermione started to ask, but the sight of the person over Harry's shoulder caused all conversation between her and Harry to cease. Her stomach jolted with pure shock, but that didn't stop her from swinging her wand up. "Harry!"

Harry spun around and instinctively flung out the last rock to distract the intruder and give him time to grab his wand--he was only supposed to use wandless magic when absolutely necessary. The stone caught the man square in the forehead, but it hardly registered with him. Hermione stared warily as he continued to stumble toward Harry with dazed, unfocused eyes.

"There you are," Percy Weasley giggled as he drunkenly weaved his way over to them. "I've been lookin' for you." He waved both of his hands, which were without a wand, much to Hermione's relief. "It's so noisy," he complained somewhat wildly to no one in particular. "Noisy, noisy, noisy--why can't it just be quiet!?" He gripped the side of his head as if to cover his ears. "Hush, hush, hush!" he ordered up to the air.

What the devil is wrong with him, Hermione couldn't help wondering as she caught sight of his almost bulging eyes and untidy appearance. It appeared as though Percy hadn't slept for several weeks and had been living out in the Forbidden Forest. He stumbled, and Hermione instinctively stepped forward to help, but Harry's arm flew out to block her path.

"'Arry Potter," Percy said slowly in an uneven, wobbling voice. "You're in a spot of trouble, mate." He threw his head back and laughed uproariously. "You're in so much trouble!" He stamped his foot abruptly and brought a finger to his lips while raising his eyes in annoyance toward the heavens. "Shush!"

"Harry, he's insane," Hermione whispered as she stared in horror at Percy.

"Hermione, stay back," Harry shot over his shoulder as he poked his wand sharply into Percy's larynx, causing his Adam's apple to bob painfully. Percy laughed so hard that he staggered, falling away from Harry's wand tip. Harry swiftly moved his wand back to Percy's throat, and his eyes narrowed warningly. "Don't even think about it," he threatened menacingly.

The moonlight hit Percy's face, and Hermione couldn't help gasping at his ghastly pallor. Percy stared blankly down at the holly wand before cackling wildly, rolling his eyes back, and slumping down to his knees. Harry jumped back so that Percy's head wouldn't bang into his knees, and he fell to the stone beach of the lake, out cold. Hermione and Harry gaped down at him. "You better get help--" Harry began, but Hermione had already dropped to her knees next to Percy. "Hermione!"

"Give me a minute," Hermione said absently as she took Percy's pulse. His skin was rather cold to the touch, and his pulse was a bit irregular, but it was nothing to be too concerned about. Harry stepped to the other side of him, his wand trained on Percy's heart, while Hermione carefully pulled up one of his eyelids and felt his forehead for a fever. "Don't you think it's a bit funny that Percy shows up the same day that three other Weasleys get a visit from Death Eaters?" she asked Harry quietly.

"Yeah, well," Harry said dryly, "maybe because he is a Death Eater!"

"Harry, I don't think it's standard Death Eater procedure to pass out while trying to capture the Boy-Who-Lived," Hermione snapped. She sat back on her heels and stared up at him indignantly. "Honestly, Harry, doesn't this remind you of something?" A flicker of recognition started to dawn on Harry's face, but Hermione forged ahead before he could say anything. "If it helps, try to imagine that I'm a rather dour-looking Quidditch player, and that Percy is his old boss--the one who sent his son to Azkaban and is horribly cruel to house-elves."

Harry recalled the incident when he and Viktor Krum had found Mr. Crouch babbling away to a tree all too well, and his eyes widened behind his glasses. "You think Percy's under the Imperius curse and it's driven him mad?"

"I thought something was wrong when I talked to him the last time he was here," Hermione explained hastily. "And I always said it was like he was leading us exactly to where we needed to be, so that you could get to Riddle. It's like he's trying to help us, but he's been fighting the curse for so long that he's insane." Hermione's heart was still thudding rather quickly, but the adrenaline was now fueled primarily by hope. "If we can wake him up, he might have a chance," she added quickly. "Harry, go get Madame Pomfrey."

Harry gave her a look as though she was the one who had gone mad. "No way, Hermione." He crouched down on the other side of Percy's limp form so that he could look dead on into Hermione's eyes. "Do you remember what happened when I left the dour-looking Quidditch player alone with the boss who was horrible to house-elves?"

"Percy isn't even armed!" Hermione protested. But almost as if to prove Harry's point, Percy abruptly came to and seized Hermione's shirt collar and pulled her roughly toward him to whisper harshly in her ear.

"Ron," he rasped. "Talk--Ron--want--Ron--"

"Hey!" Harry protested as he wrenched Percy's fingers away from Hermione's shirt. He let go of him momentarily so that he could slam the side of his forearm against Percy's collarbone and effectively pin him to the ground. "You're not getting anywhere near Ron!"

"Help," Percy gulped desperately. His eyes were now anything but dazed and only shone with pure terror. "Needs--help--Ron--want--" His head lolled to the side as his eyes once again rolled up inside of his head, but he continued to mumble feverishly. "...girls...Harry Potter... kill... Ron... Lupin... Master... Ginny... home...I...want...home..."

Harry leaned forward and shook Percy's shoulder roughly. "Percy? Percy, wake up!" he demanded. Percy just moaned and his eyes fluttered shut. He had fainted again. Harry stared at Hermione in shocked confusion. "What the hell is he going on about?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted worriedly. She had to admit that her heart had ached with sympathy for Percy at those words. It really seemed like he wanted desperately to go home, but just did not have the courage to face up to what he had done. She knew it was rather risky to be helping a Death Eater like this, but it had to be done--this was Percy, after all. Ron had come dangerously close to losing three brothers today, and maybe, just maybe, she could bring one back to him. Even in the smallest way, she wanted to alleviate some of the pain that he had to be feeling. And if bringing Percy back to the Weasleys had even the slightest chance of helping Ron, Ginny, and the other Weasleys feel a bit better, Hermione was willing to take that risk. "Come on, Harry," she urged. "We've got to get him help."

**

Hermione never knew it was possible for such a small, elderly woman like Madame Pomfrey to snore so loudly. The rasping sound had initially surprised her upon entering the hospital wing late that night, but now it was oddly comforting. It reminded her that there was someone in the next room who would be at her side an instant if she called to her. It made her feel less alone somehow. She wasn't exactly sure what had possessed her to creep out of her dormitory at two o'clock in the morning to come and visit Percy. Perhaps it was the jarring nightmare that had left her wide awake and unable to go back to sleep, or perhaps it was because she knew that despite what his brother had done to him and his family, Ron wouldn't want Percy to be alone. He would want someone from his family to be at Percy's side, and since none of his family members were here, Hermione felt that she would just have to try to fill that spot. Percy obviously wanted to be accepted into his family more than anything. It was because he felt rejected by the family he loved so much that he had been driven to join the Death Eaters in the first place. Hopefully, Percy would be able to find some peace of mind when he finally did see his family--he was going to be transferred to St. Mungo's in the morning.

Hermione quietly sat down in Percy's bedside chair and studied him for a moment. He was still quite pale, but at least he was no longer murmuring deliriously. Both Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore had agreed that he was showing clear symptoms of insanity derived from extensive use of the Imperius curse, but only a registered Healer who specialized in Spell Damage could make the final diagnosis. Harry had rather hoped that Percy could be awoken and questioned about what he was doing at Hogwarts in the first place, but Percy had yet to regain consciousness, despite the nurse's best efforts. They would just have to wait until morning to discover what the devil Percy was doing at Hogwarts.

She let out a soft little sigh as she opened the book on N.E.W.T. preparation that she had brought with her to pass the time. There was no point in simply being idle. She had a bit of difficulty studying for the first half hour, but once she was finally able to lose herself in the book, that was the moment that Percy chose to cough weakly and open his eyes.

Instinctively, Hermione scooted her chair farther away from Percy, the legs scratching against the floor with a horrid grating sound. Percy swung his head toward her, and a faint ghost of the Weasley smile flickered across his face. "Penny," he mumbled.

Hermione froze. Penelope Clearwater had been Percy's high school sweetheart, but if she remembered correctly, they had drifted apart after graduation, since Percy had become so obsessed with his job. She had no idea that Percy had harbored feelings for Penny all of this time.

"Yes, Percy, I'm right here," Hermione adopted Penny's slight lisp and more bashful tone of voice as she faked a wide smile for him. Hermione had a feeling that Percy would be more apt to make a heartfelt confession to his former girlfriend, rather than to his little brother's present girlfriend.

"Penny," Percy mumbled hoarsely again, his left hand flopping uselessly on the mattress as he tried to reach out for her hand. His right hand was chained to the bedpost, so he could only move a few inches. "I've been bad."

"What makes you say that?" Hermione asked cautiously.

Percy's hand continued to flail about in desperation for Penelope's hand. "I--I-I've hurt people, Pen."

"Who?" Hermione scooted her chair back to its original position so that she could remain seated and stretch her hand out to take Percy's, yet still remain at a safe distance. "Who have you hurt, Percy?"

"Ron. Ginny. Everyone." Percy clung to Hermione's fingers for dear life. "You remember Ron, don't you--you always liked Ron, didn't you?"

"Yes, I like Ron very much," Hermione said honestly.

"I helped them get him once--" Percy choked on the words and his head rolled away from Hermione, unable to look at her any longer. "--and now they want him again."

"WHAT?" Hermione demanded sharply, her voice squeaking as her heart and stomach hurtled up into her throat. "They want Ron?"

Percy's head snapped back toward Hermione and all of the dazedness had vanished. Hermione swallowed hard as her stomach plummeted back to the floor. In her anxiety, she had forgotten to speak with Penelope's inflection. "You're not Penny."

Hermione normally would have apologized, but this was much too important. "Percy, what do they want with Ron?"

Percy dropped Hermione's hand and sat up a little straighter. "Is he here?" he asked almost hopefully.

"No, it's just me," Hermione told him swiftly. "But if you tell me, I can warn him for you."

"Because you and he can talk to each other," Percy remembered flatly. "In your heads."

"Yes," Hermione answered somewhat hesitantly. She remembered all too well how intent Dolohov had been on ensuring that their connection was severed. "Percy, why do they want Ron again? Did you come here to warn him?"

Percy shifted higher onto his pillows and stared down into his lap for a long moment. "No," he admitted. "I have a mission."

Hermione fought the urge to sigh. The conversation had been steered away from Ron, and there was nothing she wanted more than to find out what the hell those bastards wanted to do with her Ron again, but they also needed to know just why Percy came to Hogwarts. She would just have to make sure that she questioned Percy about Ron later. "What was your mission?"

"Scare someone," Percy revealed. "She needed to be shut up."

"Who?" Hermione's stomach was twisting nervously. She wasn't exactly sure that she wanted to hear just how Percy had planned to shut up this girl.

Percy grimaced as he instinctively tried to reach into his right pocket with his chained hand. By maneuvering his body uncomfortably, he managed to reach into his pocket with his other hand to pull out a photograph. "Her."

Hermione got up out of her chair to take the wizarding photograph. Her chest clenched at the sight of the dirty blonde hair, wide luminous eyes, and the wand stuck behind the girl's ear. The photograph had obviously been taken when she wasn't watching, and Hermione also knew precisely when it had been taken. "Luna," she whispered, horror-struck as she watched the Ravenclaw pause to catch her breath at the gates of Hogwarts. The picture had been taken the night that she, Ron, Harry, and Ginny had gone to the Malfoys, while Luna had gone back for help. They had been watching her for all of this time, and Hermione had a sinking feeling that Percy wasn't the first wizard to try to shut Luna up.

"Why Luna?" Hermione asked with a slightly trembling voice.

"She talks too much," Percy stated. "She's been talking to Potter about the veil."

Hermione's eyes jerked away from the photograph. "The veil in the Department of Mysteries? The one that Sirius fell through?" She had had an awful feeling about that veil the moment she had laid eyes on it. Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Neville had all appeared to be eerily enraptured by the swinging tattered curtain, but it had only filled Hermione was a sense of impending dread and doom. Luckily, Ron had appeared to be similarly repulsed by the veil and had been able to help her get the others away from it. Hermione hadn't thought about that eerie sight since that night, but apparently Harry and Luna had talked about it. "What does that have to do with anything?" she demanded harshly.

But Percy's eyes were becoming a bit unfocused again, and his mind drifted away from that point of discussion. "My mission was two-fold," he said abruptly. Hermione just stared at him in expectant horror--what else did they have planned for her friends? He shifted uncomfortably again as he tried to get into another pocket, but this time the angle was too awkward for him to be able to reach inside. Too overwhelmed from all of the things she had been learning, and without thinking about the possible dangers, Hermione bent over to discover what else Percy had planned.

Obviously, this was a mistake.

Her wand had been safely in its holster inside her robes, but when she bent over Percy, it had been clearly exposed. Luckily, this was her only mistake, for Hermione had been trained well by Harry and the D.A. She spotted his hand snaking toward her wand and immediately jumped back so that his fingers only swiped at empty air. Percy hissed under his breath as he dropped all pretenses and furiously rattled the chain that kept him shackled to the bed, eyes shooting daggers at her. The Death Eater Percy was back.

Hermione's heart was hammering, not only because of the close call, but also in infinite disappointment. She had really thought that Percy had changed, that he had been under the Imperius curse and had finally had the courage to try and fight it. But now it appeared that he was same old diabolical Percy that had willingly helped kidnap his own little brother. Pressing her lips together, Hermione had the irrational urge to start crying, but instead all she did was shake her head with tears and defiance in her eyes, turn around, and stalk out of the hospital wing. Suddenly, she had no desire to keep a constant vigil at Percy's side.