Chapter Two

~ Chapter Two ~

Only an hour later, she woke up having had nightmares of Bellatrix killing Ginny and Ron. Hermione hadn't taken the Dreamless Sleep and was haunted by Bellatrix's voice taunting her about her "vaunted cleverness."

She knew she'd have to find another way to control her dreams. She thought Ginny was probably sneaking up to sleep in Harry's arms. She remembered the comforting rhythm of Ron's breathing and considered Flooing back and forth from Shell Cottage. But the middle of the night wasn't the right time. She took another four-hour dose and tried to clear her mind before succumbing to its effects.

It was nearly four a.m. when she woke again. There had to be something she could do. She finally summoned an elf and, after apologizing for waking her up, asked for some chamomile tea.

As Hermione sipped her tea, she considered the unicorn question. The whole forest was probably in uproar after the battle. Picking up her wand, she Summoned her bag from the other side of the room. She was frustrated again by the less-than-precise response of Bellatrix's wand. She was surprised the thing hadn't gotten her killed.

She found the text Professor Grubbly-Plank had favored and opened it to the chapter covering unicorns. The professor had glossed over the exact criteria for being near a unicorn, probably feeling that human sexuality was an inappropriate topic for her class. Hermione had wondered if the legends were true and had added notes from her research.

Hair from a unicorn's tail wasn't difficult to find in unicorn-populated areas, but those in the forest were guarded by centaurs as well as patriarchal unicorns. She felt confident that the unicorns would consider her innocent enough but knew that the centaurs would recognize her and likely hold a grudge, especially considering the recent evil that had been among them.

Realizing that the subject matter was having opposite the intended effect, she closed her book and cleared her mind, then swished the light off and focused on an image of young unicorns drinking by a stream.

When she woke the next time, the sun was peeking into her window--another feature of the Gryffindor Head Girl's room.

She showered and changed into fresh robes. After being in Muggle clothes for so long, it felt odd to be in robes during her off-time, but she knew the witches she would be with wore robes, and she didn't want to draw attention to her heritage or youth.

The Great Hall held few people. Hermione stopped briefly by Neville and his Gran to ask their plan for the day.

"Our place took some heavy damage. Volunteer crews," Neville gestured to some others around them, "are going to spend mornings repairing the castle and afternoons repairing one dwelling at a time until they can all return home."

Hermione wished them luck and sat down near Professor Sprout, who was already eating breakfast with Professor Flitwick. Sprout informed Hermione that she could find them in the greenhouses when she needed them.

When a handful of owls arrived with the Daily Prophet, everyone gathered around to see the headlines.

"Dark Lord Defeated!" blared the biggest, with, "Shacklebolt In Charge" beneath the fold. There was the obligatory "Boy Hero" story, as though he hadn't been "undesirable number one" just the day before. The dead on both sides were listed as well as those in St. Mungo's and Azkaban. All of the political prisoners of Voldemort's regime had been freed; their names were listed, too. It was a thick issue, but no one tarried to read it all. There was work to do.

Of course, Snape was listed among the dead. Hermione knew that the number who knew his true status was necessarily small, but it caused a pang, and she gulped down her pumpkin juice so she could get to work.

Using her new password, she accessed the Potions classroom. Knocking on the door to the office, she was met by Mrs. Malfoy, who acquiesced to Hermione's request to say good morning to the Headmaster.

He looked better all cleaned up and in fresh pajamas. Hermione went to the bed, took his not-quite-warm-enough hand, and told him all about the potions she was going to brew.

Turning to leave, she said, "Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy."

The older witch stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Please call me Narcissa." She then pulled away slightly. "I am capable of brewing those potions, but I sense that you need to more than I do."

"What do you mean?"

"Though I owe Severus a great deal, family is here with me, and I'd lose little by brewing those potions. But you have chosen to help him rather than return to your friends."

"They've lost a brother. You've lost a sister. There's little I can do. I think he deserves some consideration. I'd appreciate your help. I suppose I know where to find you."

"Yes."

The women shared an awkward silence until Hermione decided to take another leap of courage. "You can call me Hermione, too."

"I'd be delighted."

"See you later, then."

Hermione returned to the classroom and started the base for the balm. All of the necessary ingredients for the base were in stock, and that would require twenty-four hours of simmering.

Draco and Mr. Malfoy arrived as she was chopping Flobberworms.

"If you require assistance procuring ingredients, we are at your service."

Hermione felt as though Mr. Malfoy had been speaking another language for a moment before regaining her equilibrium. "Thank you. Professors Spout and Flitwick have already offered to help, but thank you."

She eventually located the professors in question by noting which greenhouse seemed to be spontaneously regrowing windowpanes. She entered to find Flitwick casting individual Reparos on each one. "Could do the whole thing at once, but this way they'll be stronger."

Sprout was seeing to individual plants and had been setting aside ingredients in a basket for her as she went. "You'll need Mandrake root from the next greenhouse. I'm afraid most of them were sacrificed in defense of the castle, but there should be enough left for you and cuttings for next year."

Sprout confirmed that Hermione could identify the plants already in the basket before adding a small cutting of yarrow. "This is for the balm. Who do you need it for, dear? Did they use it on Harry or Ronald?"

Hermione looked down slightly. "We were captured a few days ago. Bellatrix... It still aches." Her mouth went dry.

Sprout hugged her with one gloved arm. "You three did a good thing. It's good of you to stay here and help care for the Headmaster. It was rough going and we all doubted him, but we shouldn't have."

While Hermione helped Sprout tend the rest of the yarrow, she heard the door open.

"Oi, Hermione. You've let them put you to work?"

"Ron!" Hermione maneuvered around tables as fast as she could, flinging herself into his arms. "Thank you for coming. How is everyone?"

"Kind of a mess, really. Um, d'you wanna go for a walk or something?"

Hermione turned to Sprout. "What will I need from the forest?"

She handed Hermione a scrap of parchment. "This mushroom is best if you can get it from a Fairy Ring. You'll find the best moss growing on a willow. Remove it right with the bark. And, of course, the unicorn hair."

"Thank you. We'll pick up the basket on our way back to the castle."

"I'll leave it with Minerva if you aren't back by the time we're finished," Sprout assured her.

Flitwick added, "If you run into danger, remember we've reestablished the wards preventing Apparation onto the grounds, but not those preventing Apparation from place to place within the boundries. Take care of yourselves and escape if need be. We can pay for those ingredients, but we can't replace you two."

Thanking them for the help and advice, Hermione and Ron began walking away from the greenhouses. "Actually, Ron. I'd like to see if Hagrid's home first."

"Sounds good." It seemed as though Ron was going to leave it at that, but he soon confirmed it was too much to hope for. "What are the ingredients for, just helping stock up again?"

"Actually, I'm going to be doing some brewing. Some of those staying in the castle need some potions that were destroyed during the attack." Everything she'd said was true. She felt a niggling of guilt at what she'd left unsaid, but knew that Ron would have a hard time keeping something like this from his whole family and Harry. She didn't know how Harry would take it and preferred to err on the side of caution until Professor Snape was able to defend himself again.

As Hagrid's hut game into view, they saw that a second, larger hut had been built beside it. "I guess we know where Grawp is," Ron observed.

Hermione nodded. She hadn't seen Hagrid in the castle since yesterday and hoped someone was caring for him. She doubted he'd be welcome at St. Mungo's, just because of the sheer amount of space he'd take up. When they knocked on his door, an elf answered. Hermione had developed a new appreciation for the creatures since Dobby's death. In the middle of her inquiry, she heard Hagrid's voice.

"Is that 'Ermione? Come on in."

As they entered, they saw Hagrid in his enormous bed, his face a bit puffy, but not too much the worse for wear.

"Hello, Hagrid. Ron's with me, too. We wanted to see how you're doing."

"Yeah, and Harry says hi," Ron added.

"Well, it's good ter see ya'. 'Aven't 'ad any visitors, but Tiffy here is looking after me and Grawp."

The elf gave a curtsey.

"That's lovely."

"Well, won' you sit down? How're all the Weasleys?"

They sat, and Ron related the damage to the Burrow and reported that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had suffered only minimal damage, which was more than could be said for those who had tried to loot the place. "I reckon I'm going to help George with the shop for a while. Angelina's at the cottage, and I think she'll be sticking around, too."

After having a midmorning snack, served by Tiffy, Hermione asked Hagrid if he had any advice for dealing with the unicorns.

"Ya' shouldn't have any trouble wi' 'em. Jus' have Ron hang back a bit. I've missed the unicorns. Used to love seein' the babies, but I haven' been able to these last few years."

Hermione decided to thank Hagrid and take her leave to spare them all the embarrassment before Ron decided to ask Hagrid why.

Both of them drew their wands when they got to the edge of the forest.

"We should be able to get the moss, bark, and mushrooms without much trouble. Let's do that first."

The forest floor was dappled with light this time of day. Hermione used a charm to locate running water, and she found the moss growing on a willow right away. After storing the moss and the bark, it didn't take long for Ron to spot a fairy. They followed it to a ring where Hermione carefully removed one large mushroom and left the rest intact.

The Fairy had led them deeper into the forest, and Hermione reached out with all of her senses. Ron balked when she slipped her wand into her pocket, but Hermione reassured him. "It's okay. I'll be less threatening this way, and besides, you've got my back. I can have it in my hand in a second if I need it."

They soon found the stream again and another stand of willow. As they got nearer, Hermione gasped softly at the sight of one white unicorn watching two little gold ones drink from the stream. The idea of two such magical creatures drinking from the same stream that fed the healing willow danced in Hermione's mind. She gestured for Ron to stay back a little as she contemplated how to cross to the other side without disturbing the foals.

She touched her wand in her pocket to carefully cast an Impervious Charm on her trousers, socks, and shoes before slowly wading in. On the other side, she was about to reach for the closest foal, just to stroke the fur, when all three startled and bolted.

Whipping her head around, she spotted Ron on the other side of the stream.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You did, since there doesn't seem to be any other danger." Frustrated, Hermione checked the nearby bushes and thankfully reached for a tiny gold hair and placed it in a vial. "Let's go before anyone else finds us."

Using her wand as a compass, she led him back upstream, her feet squishing in her shoes. "The Impervious worked on my trousers and shoes, but not socks. I need to owl Mr. Ollivander and see if I can't get a new wand soon. This is ridiculous."

A few more tensely silent minutes passed until Ron took Hermione's hand to stop her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Don't worry about it." She turned from him.

"Well, I am worried. I'm sorry I scared away the unicorns, but you got what you came for, right?"

"This isn't the place."

"Why not? We've got a nice, long walk back to the castle. Why shouldn't we talk about it here?" He carefully placed his arms over her shoulders from behind, but she shrugged him off.

"I don't want to draw the attention to ourselves that raised voices would cause."

"Why should there be raised voices?" Hermione looked pointedly at him, and he continued in a softer tone. "Then let's Apparate back now. It's almost lunch time. We argue less after a good meal."

"Well, Merlin forbid I should stand between you and your desires," was her scathing whisper.

"What's that all about?" Ron continued their argument in his stage whisper.

Fist on her hip, she answered in kind. "I'm not going to talk about it."

The sound of hoof beats quieted them both; then Hermione took a deep breath, spun in place, and was gone.

She was mildly surprised to find herself under a tree by the lake. This had never been a particular hangout of hers, although she had spent some lovely afternoons trying to read while Harry and Ron argued about Seekers and Keepers. She thought she'd intended to end up closer to the greenhouses, but was just as glad that she didn't splinch since she obviously hadn't a clear destination in mind.

Peering down at the roots, Hermione remembered the memories she'd seen yesterday. She remembered the young Snape sitting under this same tree, looking over his O.W.L. exam paper. There was a kindred spirit. Ron and Harry never wanted to do that. But all of those memories were tinged with sadness. She wondered if Snape had ever sat under the tree with Lily, talking or reading. All the pictures she'd seen of Harry's mother had been taken in her adulthood, but the teenage Lily she'd seen in the Pensieve was younger than herself. Hermione reached out to touch the trunk of the tree, as though it connected her somehow to the friends now parted by death.

She'd put on a brave face for everyone, but she was beginning to feel the previous day's losses. Though, she hadn't been especially close to any of the lost but Fred, she missed Tonks and Remus. She imagined Remus had sat under the tree, too. The good and the bad, the light and the dark of heart--all kinds had passed through the halls of Hogwarts and made their marks on the grounds.

She had just decided to walk back up to the greenhouses when she heard Ron.

"Oi, Hermione!"

She'd have to walk past him to get to the greenhouses or the castle... Oh, no, she wouldn't!

She focused more closely this time, Apparated, then found herself standing in front of greenhouse one. Turning around, she saw the back of Ron's head looking about and figured that he knew where she was going.

Looking up the row of greenhouses, she saw that they were all whole. She was hungry, and chances were McGonagall had the basket already anyway. Taking a discreet glance in Ron's direction, she ascertained that he was going to try to catch up on foot. Rather than Apparate again, she took quick strides toward the castle doors. She had quite the head start and could be down in the dungeon before Ron saw where she'd gone.

Heading down the familiar steps, she felt slightly bad. Ron had left his family to be with her for a little while; why wasn't she more grateful?

The unicorns.

She didn't know why she was so surprised. Hadn't she seen Ron and Lavender all over each other in public? Who knew what they were getting up to in private?

But the thought stung. Through it all, she'd foolishly cherished the idea that some day, they'd be together and that, though they weren't each other's first kiss, they'd be the first for other things.

She quickly stored the ingredients and noticed that McGonagall had left the basket in the store cupboard. The balm base looked just as it should.

As she headed up the stairs again, she remembered that she still wore damp socks. Deciding against walking all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, she found a girls' restroom and dried her socks, washed her hands, and tidied her hair a little.

Ron was already at lunch with the work crew, which now included Luna Lovegood sitting beside Neville. Making a quick detour to thank the professors for their help again, Hermione slid in beside Ron.

"Sorry," she whispered, running her left hand briefly over his thigh to let him know she meant it, and gave him a smile.

His mouth full, Ron nodded.

Hermione found that she was very hungry and tucked in heartily. Seeing Neville and Luna, heads together in conversation, reminded her that many of her schoolmates, especially those in the DA, had probably paired off during the school year. It's natural to seek that special comfort in times of great danger. She and Ron would have, but she'd urged Ron to wait, her rationale that it would be difficult for and around Harry. How many nights had they fallen asleep holding hands, dreaming of more?

Before they left the hall, McGonagall stopped them. "The schedule for funerals and memorials is posted on the main notice board. Your brother's is tomorrow morning."

"So soon?" Hermione asked, wrapping her fingers around Ron's.

"Approximately seven per day for a week. Of course, that's only for our side and for those actually lost in the final battle. I imagine the memorials for those missing will go on for a while after. Minister Shacklebolt is commissioning a memorial for those dead or missing, and there will be a ceremony where Orders of Merlin are presented."

"Thank you, Professor."

Hermione scanned the schedule and saw that Fred's funeral was scheduled for ten o'clock in the morning. Professor Snape's was on the final day, as was Remus and Tonks'. Ted Tonks' name was in parenthesis; Hermione reckoned because his death had been earlier. Hermione sincerely hoped that Snape would be up and around in time to preempt any discussion of his funeral.

Then Hermione dithered. Ron hadn't said a word since McGonagall had told them about the funeral. She thought the last thing he needed was the discussion she didn't think they really needed to have anyway. She could tell Ron that she'd worked out her issue and she was truly sorry; maybe some snogging would help him believe her.

Hermione thought about tomorrow morning's potions schedule. She was going to have to take Narcissa up on her offer to help. She wished she could get started on the antidote right away. Turning to Ron, she asked, "When do you have to be back?"

"I told Mum I'd be back for supper. Won't you come with me? It's only a Floo away?"

Hermione contemplated spending the evening with the extended Weasley family and curling up with Ron on the sofa after a home-cooked meal. Then, she realized that there were a lot of people and only so much sofa. "I'll come for supper, but then I'll come back here."

"Now you've got the Head Girl's room, you aren't letting it go, are you?"

She gave him a playful shove. "No, it's just I don't want to be away from the potions overnight."

"Can't someone else watch the potions? Aren't the Malfoys here?"

Sensing the need for diversion, she changed the subject. "Do you want to see the Head Girl's room?"

"Am I allowed?"

"It's not exactly term time, is it? C'mon."

The two took the stairs at a jog, and Hermione gave the password to the Fat Lady. Then, approaching a door at the bottom of the girls' stairs, she whispered the password to the portrait of a former Head Girl, who gave a disapproving look at the young man, but did not say a word.

Just as though they were back in the tent, Hermione sat on the bed and gestured for Ron to join her.

"Are you finally going to tell me what you were so upset about?"

Wishing he hadn't dived right in, she tried to soothe him. "Yes, but we're finally alone. Do we need to talk right away?"

Ron took the barest of moments to ponder Hermione's words before leaning over and kissing her. Hermione opened her mouth to him for a few moments before gently pulling back. "I missed you last night," she said.

"Really?" Ron scooted closer and began fingering her hair.

"I had nightmares. I'm so used to hearing you and Harry breathing on the other side of the tent, and this room felt lonely."

"Ginny snuck into our room last night. I wished you were there, too." He pulled her into a one-armed embrace. "What was it with the unicorns, Hermione?"

"It was nothing. We've all been through a lot in the last couple of days, and I overreacted."

"No offense, but I've seen you overreact to nothing, but that wasn't it. Something is still bothering you."

She snuggled closer, hoping it would be easier to have the conversation with his chest instead of his earnest face. "How far did you go with Lavender?"

"Lavender? Hermione--" He pulled away to look down into eyes, his voice softened to a gentle whisper as he stroked her hair. "Hermione. Don't you know that it's always been you?"

"If it's always been me, then how come you couldn't keep your hands off her? The unicorns--the legends are true--they know who is a virgin."

"Hermione, I swear. We fooled around, yeah, but we never--" He took a deep breath. "I was so hurt. I thought you didn't have faith in me anymore. But it wasn't the same with her. She didn't know me at all. For Christmas, she gave me a gold necklace!"

Hermione began to giggle. "Did it have a charm on it that said, 'Won Won'?"

Ron cringed. "No, but it was almost as bad."

"What did it say, then?"

"Oh, no. You're not getting it from me that easily."

Hermione reached for a ticklish spot. "Oh, yeah?"

Ron retaliated, and before Hermione could catch her breath, she found herself lying back on her bed, partially pinned under him. He was kissing her face and her neck and whispering, "If those unicorns are so sensitive, I must have confused them with my thoughts of you. I wanted you so badly. So beautiful with the sun shining on your hair."

She was half listening, overwhelmed with the sensations of Ron's lips and a warmth that was gathering where it never had before. Suddenly, she wanted that elemental change for herself, something that would separate the woman from the innocent girl she felt she no longer was.

Her mind raced. She'd been in battle, seen and done things, been touched by the darkness, felt an Unforgivable Curse run through her veins, destroyed a portion of someone's soul. But the unicorns accepted her, would have let her touch them. The unicorns, the unicorns...

"Ron, stop. I can't."

He looked down into her eyes, his face tense. "Why not?"

"The unicorns. If something happens and I have to go back--"

"Potions ingredients can be bought."

"For over twenty Galleons, but that's not the point. I'm just not ready yet."

"Hermione, you're over-thinking it."

"Or you're not thinking about it enough."

"I don't want to think, not after the last few days." He rolled away, turning his back to her.

She reached out to rub his back. "I'm sorry." Ron mumbled something, and Hermione strained to hear it. "What?"

"The cottage is full of people, but not the right ones."

"Oh, Ron." She moved to snuggle beside him, but he maneuvered her head to his chest.

"Charlie and Percy and Angelina are alright, but they aren't you, and they aren't... Fred."

Hermione kept her eyes down, not wanting to intrude on Ron's tears. Several minutes later, Ron sniffled a couple more times, squeezed her briefly, and brought his lips down to hers again.

After the night she'd had, it shouldn't have surprised her that she fell asleep, but the sun was on the other side of the castle when she woke up with Ron. Standing up, she straightened her robe and realized she'd never even kicked off her trainers. "Ron, you need to be getting back. Your mum will be worried if you don't show up for supper."

She picked up her comb from the vanity to fix her ponytail. Ron came to stand behind her and frowned at her in the mirror. "You're coming, too, aren't you?"

"I don't think I should. I slept the whole afternoon."

"You needed it."

"I needed to get started on the potion."

"You have to eat."

"I'm not hungry yet. I'll eat later."

Ron gently turned her to face him. "You'll forget to eat."

Hermione dropped the comb in frustration. "Fine. But I have to come straight back after pudding."

"Then I hope it'll have to bake or something."

When they reached the entrance hall, Hermione braced herself for the next hurdle. "Why don't you go tell Professor McGonagall that I'm leaving, and I'll meet you back here as soon as I'm finished?"

"What do you have to do? You don't have time to start a potion."

"I know. I need to ask Mrs. Malfoy if she can take care of it for me. It will be at a critical stage tomorrow morning."

"Draco's mum is going to help you?"

"Earlier you said she should, and she did offer."

"Well, okay."

Hermione could feel Ron's eyes on her as she quickly descended the stairs.

When Hermione explained that the potion would need tending whilst she was away, Narcissa asked which one it was.

Hermione averted her eyes for a moment. "The only one I had the ingredients to begin was the muscle ache balm, enhanced for use--"

"To ease the Cruciatus ache?" Narcissa asked, and Hermione nodded. "It's for you?" Hermione nodded again. "I see. I've brewed that so many times, I could probably do it in my sleep."

"You like to brew potions?"

"I could probably write a book: The HouseWitch's Guide to Potions with a special chapter on the essentials for entertaining dark lords."

Her gallows humor suddenly made Hermione uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to remind you..."

"It's okay. We all have to live with who we are and what we've done, and that goes for both sides. I'm sorry for what my sister did, and I have a small tub of that balm in my overnight bag. Here's an idea! If we're going to be brewing together, we need to invest in some magical synergy. When was the last time you had a manicure?"

Hermione looked incredulous. "The day before... well, the day before the Ministry fell. My... boyfriend's brother was getting married, and all of us girls got manicures."

"That's been almost a year! Far too long. How about after supper, I come up to your room, and we have a girls' night in. I've been far too long with only men for company."

"Alright. I'm going to the Weasleys' for supper, but I'll stop by here when I return to let you know. I wanted to start the antidote tonight."

"Don't worry about a thing. Are the instructions in the classroom?"

"Yes."

"And you were able to gather all the ingredients without trouble?"

"Without too much. They're all in the store cupboard."

"Then I'll get started on it tonight. We're both going to be very busy for a few days; it's probably better that we're both working on the potions anyway. Now, off you go. Your boyfriend is one of the Weasleys?"

"Yes, the youngest son, Ron."

"Ah. He was with you..."

It wasn't a question, but Hermione knew she was referring to their "stay" at Malfoy Manor. "Yes."

"We are related, you know. It hasn't been the fashion to acknowledge blood tra--" She delicately cleared her throat. "Well, those sorts, but in this new era, perhaps I can recognize them as blood, no matter the affiliation."

A/N: The idea of Hermione interceding with the Unicorns on Severus' behalf was inspired by Bambu's "Saving a Death Eater."

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