A/N: OK, I'm terribly sorry for taking so long, but I have homecoming and my Emily is coming into town, and it's just been so hard to find time to sit down and write, but I did. Anyway this weekend is Homecoming (GO IRISH!) and I doubt I'll have time to start the next chapter, but I will sure try. Now, my beta has been terribly dreadful recently, she says she keeps mentioning me and my story and blah blah blah, so I'll mention her story, I don't exactly remember the name but the premise is great, I mean if you read stories for good writing, read this, but as of now, it isn't exactly up yet, so I don't know why she insists upon me telling you, but I will. Oh, and by the way, it's Snape and Hermione, I know icky!
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"Surprise!" he repeated.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked
"I'm here to assist you, and if need be, save you!" He said with a cocky smile on his face.
"Draco, go home!" Hermione said.
"See, I can't do that, because I know what's going to happen if I go home, and let's just say it won't be pretty!" Draco said, "Listen I'm not meaning to sound like an asshole, and I'm not trying to move in on the time you two share together, but whether or not you know it, I was there, and now I need to be here."
"But that doesn't make any sense, why would Dumbledore put someone in danger that doesn't need to be in danger?" Hermione asked.
"To calm Lavender!" Draco said, Hermione's looked up, "Lavender woke up and started freaking out when Sirius told her that you two went alone to put the book back, she only calmed down when he told her he would send me. Odds are better with three!" Draco said walking over to Hermione and taking the book from her. "So how does this thing work, do you just do this…" Draco asked putting it on the platform, immediately causing the book to flip open. "Nifty!"
"Draco…stop!" Hermione said stepping up to the platform, "There are certain incantations that need to be said, certain formulas needing to be said!"
"Not really!" Harry said speaking for the first time since Draco had arrived. "You just do this…" Harry said placing his already cut finger over the book and as the drop of blood hit the book it snapped shut, and all that was heard was Hermione's piercing scream as she fell to the ground.
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Lavender knew something was wrong, something had happened; she could feel it in her heart. She thought that sending Draco down there would be enough, but she knew now it wasn't and now, there was only one thing left to do. As she took her wand out of her robes and changed, she heard the door open.
"You know, knocking would be nice!" Lavender said turning to the door and coming face to face with her Aunt, "Persiam?"
"Lavender, what are you doing?" Persiam asked.
"What does it matter…" Lavender said, when she noticed the look on her face she softened, "I'm sorry, Persiam, I didn't mean it!"
"Why do you call me that?" Persiam asked. Lavender threw down her cloak.
"What would you like me to call you?" Lavender asked in an agitated voice.
"Lavender Brown, I don't care what you think, I am still your Aunt and you will treat me with the respect I deserve!" Persiam said.
"I don't have time for this!" Lavender said picking up her cloak and walking towards the door.
"Stop…" Persiam said causing Lavender to pause. "What has gotten into you?"
Lavender spun around, "You knew that if they went in there one would die, and I refuse to let that happen!"
"You know, for a smart girl you overlooked one major part of the stories!" Persiam said, "In my stories god never wins, because I didn't win!"
Lavender looked at her Aunt, "You aren't supposed to remember that!"
"I'm not supposed to remember a lot of things!" Persiam said
"Fine, but what does that have to do with anything?" Lavender said.
"They are sent to fix my mistakes, this time they will succeed!" Persiam said.
"And what if they don't succeed? What if something goes wrong?" Lavender asked.
"They will become trapped…the one that survives that is, they will become just like me, trapped until that book is destroyed." Persiam said, "But Lavender, you need to have faith in your friends, you need to believe they are stronger than I was!" Persiam walked over to Lavender, "Now get back into bed and recover!"
"What would happen if I went?" Lavender asked quietly
Persiam sighed, "Well, if they are destined to succeed the chances in you altering the future are very high!"
"But it goes the other way, right? If they are destined to fail, and I get there in time to help, I could help them succeed, or maybe it was my destiny to help them and if I don't go down there they might fail!" Lavender said, "I'm leaving with or without your blessing, I just hope you'll understand why I had to do this!"
"Lavender, if you feel so strongly about this then I won't stop you!" Persiam said. Lavender looked at her aunt, picked up her things and left, not looking back. Persiam smiled, things were in motion!
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She had fallen; Hermione was on the ground and not moving. Harry ran to her and shook her, but she wasn't waking up.
"What happened?" Draco yelled.
"I don't know, that was supposed to destroy the book!" Harry said.
Draco looked over at the unharmed book, "Well it didn't do anything!"
"Of course it didn't!" a voice sounded from behind them, Harry and Draco turned to find Persiam standing there. "If the book was that easy to destroy, heck if it was that easy to use, it would have been gone from this cave ages ago! That book, is so complicated, Harry, you can't just drop your blood on the book and have it work, someone has to place your blood on it, and it has to be someone that has used that book."
"You mean…" Draco began
"Me!" Hermione said standing up. Harry looked at her, a second ago, he wasn't even sure she was alive. They all looked at her, she was different, "What are you all looking at? Let's destroy this book!" Hermione walked over to the book and closed her eyes. Draco walked over to the wall and grabbed the torch and threw it on the book. When he stepped back and watched the book burn, Hermione's eyes shot open, and she looked at Draco, "Why did you do that?" she asked before falling to the ground.
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When they returned to the castle, they immediately took her to Madame Pomfrey who shooed them out of the Hospital Wing while she tended to her. Dumbledore had summoned Harry and Draco to his office while Lavender, whom they had met on the way, went to sit with Hermione.
"So who wants to begin telling me what happened?" Dumbledore asked, Harry and Draco immediately told him what happened with Hermione and how she had reacted to Draco torching the book.
"Odd, that is very unlike Hermione! When she woke up from her little spell, was she different?" Dumbledore asked, thoughts filling his head.
"Oddly confident!" Draco said, "Like she had nothing to lose!"
"Hmm…what I think…" Dumbledore began before being interrupted by the door swinging open to reveal Madame Pomfrey.
"Sir, I think you need to come and see this!" she said before turning and heading out. Draco, Harry, and Dumbledore followed her back to the hospital wing to find a sleeping Hermione. "She woke not to long ago, and she acted very strange, very unlike Ms. Granger would. I gave her a sleeping potion, and examined her mind and powers. I don't know what occurred down there in that cave, but I do know that the person lying in that bed, is NOT Hermione Granger!"
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Hermione was lost! She remembered being in the cave and fainting but when she woke up she was a completely different person. She saw everything that she was doing and she felt everything that she should, but she had no control over it. She had to wake up, and she felt her eyes opening, she suddenly was in control of her life. Harry, she heard his voice, she had to open her eyes.
"What do you mean it isn't her?" she heard Harry ask.
"Well, it's her, but it isn't, there is something else in her mind, whispering voices." Madame Pomfrey said.
"Let's take this outside!" Dumbledore said, suddenly she shot up in bed, only to find Harry staring at her.
"Oh dear," Madame Pomfrey said rushing to her side, "let's check you over; perhaps you can be out by tomorrow." Madame Pomfrey began checking her, to make sure she was okay, but Hermione's eyes didn't move from Harry's. Harry began to leave the room and when he looked away she suddenly felt herself in control again. "Ms. Granger?"
"Yes?" Hermione said.
"Are you all right, dear? You worried me for a while; Harry said you seemed to pass out!" Madame Pomfrey said.
"Yes, I…just got over excited that is all, when can I leave?" Hermione asked.
Madame Pomfrey eyed her, and turned away, "I want to keep you a night and monitor you, and if everything's okay then I'll release you."
"Can't I leave now?" Hermione asked, needing to see Harry.
"This is not a choice Ms. Granger, if you won't stay willingly, I'll be forced to make you; you are not of age you cannot leave on you own, now must I force you, or will you stay on your own?" Madame Pomfrey said with a serious face.
"I'll stay!" Hermione said begrudgingly. Madame Pomfrey walked away and came back with a vial.
"Drink this!" She said shoving it down her throat immediately making her fall into a deep slumber, thoughts of Harry running through her head.
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"What do you mean that isn't her?" Ron asked incredulously. Dumbledore had summoned Ron, Lavender and Draco to meet himself and Harry in the Room of Requirement.
"Ron!" Lavender said, "Professor Dumbledore, what do you mean?" Lavender asked.
"Draco," Dumbledore said, "Harry tells me you destroyed the book, may I ask how?"
Draco shrugged, "I just threw the fire on the book, and it was gone! It was still burning when we left. Hermione fainted and then we came back here and we went straight to the hospital wing."
"Yes," Dumbledore said, "But you didn't tell me about how entranced she was with the book."
"I didn't think it relevant…" Draco said, "Is it?"
Dumbledore didn't say anything, just stared at Harry, "Harry, I'm afraid Hermione is tied to the book." He said stepping towards a table that hadn't been there before. "And now, I'm afraid there is only one thing left to do." He picked up a sword that appeared and handed it to Harry.
"I have to kill her?" Harry asked. Dumbledore's eyes locked with Harry's, and Harry saw something in them, but when he registered what it was, it was gone.
"Yes, Harry, you must kill her!"
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