Nightmares

Hermione ran, trying hard to catch up to Rose. She didn't know where she was, nor could she remember why she was trying to catch Rose, but she knew she had to. It was important. It could be her last chance to save her best friend.

Faster. Faster. People and places flew by. It might've made her dizzy, but she felt nothing. She only knew she had to catch Rose.

A snake reared up ahead of them. At first, its scales glistened green, but the colors ran together, changing from green, to brown, to colors she couldn't name. But its eyes stayed focused on them, never wavering. No, not on them; on Rose.

Without warning, the snake struck Rose, devouring her in one bite. Hermione began to weep; she'd failed again. She'd done nothing but watch.

"You killed her," the snake hissed. "This is all your fault."

"What? No it isn't! I saw you! This is your fault!"

"You killed her."

More voices shouted at her from all around, saying the same thing, echoing the snake's words. Was it her fault? But the snake had killed Rose, it couldn't be Hermione's fault.

"I killed her." Hermione sank to her knees as the snake loomed over her. "I killed her."

The snake slithered and coiled itself around her, all the while hissing to Hermione.

"You killed her. You're no better than me."

Hermione repeated everything the snake said. It was all true. She'd killed Rose, and she was no better than the snake.

It laid down its head and opened its maw. Hermione stared into the black abyss, then walked towards it. Everything was her fault. Rose's death was all her fault. Everyone else's death was her fault.

She walked into the snake's mouth, no longer putting up a fight. After all, she was the villain now. This is what had to happen to villains.

The snake's mouth snapped shut, and Hermione's eyes shot open. She was inside a forest, sleeping close to Luna and Tutela. From her other side, Crookshanks purred softly in his sleep.

She blinked, and realized there were tears in her eyes. Wiping them away, she sat up and took stock of her belongings. She had no reason to think there was a problem, but she couldn't be too careful. Besides, it kept her mind occupied.

When she'd finished, she sat back down and stared up at the stars. Her mind wandered to one of many questions she'd had in the past few months: Did Rose's family know about her? Did they know she was dead?

Hermione had thought about trying to contact them, but she had no way to get a message through. With Rose dead, her condition conch was useless. That meant she'd have to rely on them getting through to her. Given that they hadn't responded to her at all in the last few months before Rose had "died" the first time, she didn't think it likely. They had other things to do apart from tracking her down.

That meant they'd never know what had happened to Rose. They'd probably assumed she'd died on the Rowling Plane, far away from home, cut off from all of them. It wasn't the wrong conclusion; thanks to Hermione, that was exactly what had happened.

Crookshanks stopped purring and opened his eyes. He stretched out his head, then his front paws, then his back ones. After that, he walked over and curled up in Hermione's lap.

"I feel a little bad for you," she whispered. "You're the only one here that needs food."

Crookshanks looked up at her, then stood up and walked off into the forest. Hermione worried for a moment that he'd get hurt, but reminded herself that he wasn't an ordinary cat. He was, however, one of the last pieces of home she had left.

She leaned back and stared at the stars again.

"I miss you, Rose. I wish things could've been different. If only you'd talked to me, told me what was going on. I'd forgive you, and you'd smile, and probably hug me whether I wanted you to or not."

Hermione laughed at the many, many times Rose had ignored her boundaries. She'd hated it at the time, like it'd annoy her if Rose did it again, but it'd been something she'd had that was special. Time with Rose, something they'd shared. She'd never see Rose again, never scold her for threatening someone, never laugh at something stupid Rose had done or how Rose didn't seem to understand what was appropriate or not. She was so much like a kid sometimes, but when they needed her, she'd been there for them.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she wiped them away and turned her mind to their next task. They had to return to the site of the World Cup, the only one Hermione had attended. The one where she'd changed forever.

Crookshanks walked out of the woods carrying a dead squirrel. It sat down beside her and began ripping it open.

"Fair enough," Hermione said, turning away from her cat and his meal.

She looked back at Luna, who stirred and shifted her hand to the ground. It was odd seeing her new habits now that she was blind. She seemed so different, but the old Luna still shined through from time to time.

"Good morning," Hermione said.

"Good morning," Luna said, sitting up. She sniffed the air, then grimaced.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, looking around. She couldn't see far, but she wouldn't be caught off guard.

"Crookshanks found breakfast."

Hermione eased up and nodded.

"Yes, he did." She looked back at her cat, who was still eating. "He was proving that we don't need to worry about him."

"That's good. We've been out here a while, so it'd be bad if he were to go hungry."

Hermione nodded, then remembered Luna couldn't see her.

"Right, well, we've got a long way to go."

As they packed up camp, Hermione worked out what day it was. They'd left near the end of the summer, and had been gone for a few weeks. Their friends would've started classes already.

"I wonder what it's like at Hogwarts," Hermione said.

"I don't know. I wasn't there much."

"It'll be different now, what with Professor Dumbledore gone."

Hermione's mind drifted back to the funeral, thankfully held outside Hogwarts and not inside. So many people, and they all blamed Rose for what had happened. It wasn't fair. It wasn't Rose's fault. She'd been coerced, Hermione was sure of it, and somewhere on their current path lay the proof.

<Brain, are you there?>

At first, Hermione considered simply ignoring Ron, but she decided she might as well see what he wanted, so long as it wasn't another attempt at finding out what she was doing or where they were.

<I'm here. What is it?>

She told Luna what was going on, then started packing up her sleeping bag.

<We were wondering if you could… well, you see—>

<I haven't got all day, Cohort. What do you need?>

She dropped her sleeping bag into her pack, then pulled out her hairbrush and used it to clean herself.

<Can you recreate the equipment Rose made us?>

Hermione pondered that while she brushed her hair. Many questions popped into her head, not the least of which was why they wanted her to recreate them.

<Why?> she asked, realizing the answer was probably because they thought Rose was a monster.

<Promise not to freak out on me?>

<No.>

<Because Rose killed Professor Dumbledore, and we don't feel comfortable using the things she made us.>

<Then don't. While you're at it, forget everything she taught you and stop using the nicknames she gave you. And tell Harry to stop looking up to Alavel.>

Hermione put her hairbrush away, then stood up, thinking about what she was going to do the rest of the day.

<If you can't do it, you can just say so.>

<You don't want to use the gifts Rose made for you, but you can't live without them. Does that sum up your problem?>

Crookshanks finished his breakfast, then proceeded to clean himself. As dignified as her cat tried to act, Hermione knew he had no problems being carried around when he was tired of walking.

<Brain,> Sally-Anne said.

<Like I told Cohort: If you can't stand using Rose's gifts, don't.>

<You know it's not that simple.>

<It is for me.>

<So it doesn't bother you that your hair clip was made by the person who murdered Professor Vector?>

Hermione sat down and began to brood. Sally-Anne had a point; it probably should've bothered her more. She wasn't about to get rid of them, like she wasn't about to stop wearing Reflectesalon.

<It must be bothering you all if you're reaching out to me.>

<It does.>

The rest of her party got up and began to wander around the area. In part, it was to let them stretch their legs, but it also allowed them to search for traces that they were being followed.

<I'll see what we can come up with.>

<Thank you.>

Hermione turned to Luna as she was sniffing one of the trees.

"The other PCs want to know if we can recreate the equipment Rose made for them."

Luna frowned as the runes on her shifted around and she ran her hands through her hair, possibly brushing it.

"What for?"

"They don't feel 'comfortable' using it anymore."

Luna stopped doing whatever it was she was doing.

"That's odd."

"I know, but it's something to do. I can cast the spells, but I'm not sure if I can bind them to an object."

"I can help with that," Luna said. "It's probably only a matter of finding material that will hold them then imprinting runes onto it."

Hermione considered that for a moment. Rose's equipment all had runes on them, but they weren't strictly necessary, they were only for aesthetics. She'd have to figure out how to enchant items, but in a way that stuck forever. Most runes eventually lost their charge, so she doubted that she could make the items last forever like Rose could.

"How long would those last?" Hermione asked her local rune expert.

Luna tilted her head, her hair falling to cover her face.

"I can make them last for several years if I do it right, but for the rings, they'll need to be forged with the runes on them."

Tutela stood up and trotted off in search of Crookshanks, who'd wandered off again, while Hermione thought about how they'd even forge the rings.

"That's helpful to know, but how are we going to forge the rings?"

Luna pulled her hair back and tied it into a bun.

"I don't know."

"I don't suppose you were a blacksmith in another life."

Luna frowned, apparently not sure.

"I don't think so. I'm sure there's a blacksmith… oh."

Hermione perked up, hoping Luna had an answer.

"What is it?"

"Goblins might be willing to help. They're the crafters."

Hermione sank a little.

"That's not helpful, not really. We haven't got a lot of money between the two of us."

Tutela and Crookshanks walked back to camp. It surprised Hermione a little how friendly their animal companions had become.

"We can get Skyeyes to pay for it."

"But he can't send us money, otherwise Slytherin could send one of its pets to follow Hedwig."

"Oh. Right."

"And we can't explain that to the others, either."

Hermione felt a little let down. She'd gotten excited thinking of the challenges of crafting equipment, but they were blocked by the same old problem: money. Rose could literally make more gold, but they couldn't.

"We can always steal what we need," Luna suggested.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at this. Of all the people to suggest breaking the law, Luna wasn't even on her list. Naturally, Rose was at the top of it.

"We could… but we're trying to keep a low profile."

"Saturn thinks we should do it. She says they're our friends, and we should help them."

Hermione huffed, unable to argue with it. She didn't blame her friends for not wanting to use Rose's gifts, nor for not wanting to give them up.

Still, she didn't know how to proceed. They couldn't go to Harry for funds. Any interaction with their friends and Slytherin would know. Hermione didn't want to give it any clues about where they were.

"I don't know. I don't know. I doubt Rose considered any of this when she had to craft. How could we get the money without Slytherin knowing?"

"Dead drops," Luna said. "Multiple dead drops. Have Skyeyes send funds to eight different locations, then tell him to pick them up after eight weeks. We'll make our way to one of them, but they won't know which one. Slytherin can't keep eyes on all of them. You can teleport, so they don't need to be anywhere we'll actually be. Even if Slytherin follows Hedwig, she won't lead it to us."

Hermione considered it. As far as Rose knew, Slytherin's means of keeping tabs outside the castle were limited. It had Evelyn, named by Rose for "Evil Int", which it'd used on Hermione before. As Hermione had come to realize, part of their journey with Ana had been to throw it off. Luna could smell it, and insisted that no one had been following them. They'd all been checking for it.

If that was it… if Slytherin was limited, that would work. It was risky, though.

"We'll need to know how much it will cost to recreate the rings," Hermione said. "They may have to make do without anything else."

"That's their problem," Luna said, a slight edge in her voice.

Hermione stared at her. She couldn't think of one time she'd heard Luna talk like that.

"Why can't they just use the equipment and not care?" Hermione asked. "We haven't got time to worry about this. We're busy. The sooner we finish our quest, the better. We can't run after every side-quest the DM throws at us."

Hermione spared a thought to how Rose would've reacted if she'd heard her talking like that. Probably her stupid grin (that Hermione certainly didn't think of longingly), then bouncing on her feet (again, no nostalgia whatsoever), then lunge at Hermione and hug her (which Hermione was absolutely not wishing for).

"We'll do it after we've finished then," Luna said. "They can wait."

"Agreed. If they've got a problem with the equipment, they don't have to use it."

To her surprise, Luna frowned. She never made eye contact anymore, so it was harder to tell to what she was reacting. She could've been upset about their conclusion, or she'd spaced out again.

"Saturn says it sounds heartless," Luna said. "That we should be helping our friends, and she's usually right about that."

Frustration grew in her, something Hermione was doing little to stop until she glanced down and saw Reflectesalon on her waist. He would've told Rose off by now, urging her to keep a cool head.

Hermione closed her eyes and calmed herself down. Her friends didn't know the whole story. Once they did, they wouldn't have a problem with the equipment anymore, and everything would be fine.

After she said as much to Luna, her companion nodded.

"If they're not," Hermione said, "we'll work on them when we're back in London. I'm sure they can manage until then."

Luna seemed happy with that answer, so Hermione reached back out to their friends.

<We haven't got time to do anything now,> Hermione told all of them, <I don't know when we will.>

<Can you guess?> Ron asked.

<I can't, but Moon and I will work on the theory in the meantime. That's the best I can offer for now.>

<We can replace the packs,> Harry said. <It's mostly the rings that are hard to replace.>

<I'll try to have something by Christmas.>

<We'll make do until then,> Harry said, cutting off Ron. <Have you got a spell for the speaking thing?>

<Doublespeak,> Hermione and Ron said together.

<Not yet, but I can come up with something. I can't optimize it the way I do for myself, so you'd either need wands or runes.>

<We'll manage,> Harry said. <Thank you.>

<Alright. Hermione out.>

<Take care of yourselves,> Harry said. <Whatever it is you're doing, I hope it helps.>

Hermione didn't answer him, lest she risk giving away anything about what they were doing.

She told Luna what she'd told them, then stood up to start walking.

"We're doing the right thing," Hermione said. "They'll be fine."

Hermione let her mind wander as they started walking again. She wondered what was waiting for them. They'd fought Ana, a bunch of Nimblewrights, and a Bronze Serpent.

"What do you think the next challenge is?" she asked.

"I don't know. There are plenty of constructs Rose knows how to make."

Hermione felt a little let down. She wanted to know what it was so she could be prepared to fight it. The only time she'd done much was when the black ooze appeared again.

What was it? After the first time when it had nearly killed Luna, she'd looked it up, but there wasn't a spell like it. Not that summoned nightmares to fight your opponent like it had with Rose.

It came out when she was stressed or scared, like her mind was lashing out. She'd let go of her mind and allowed it to unravel against Rose, and since then, it hadn't felt like she'd pulled herself together again. Was that what it was? Hermione was unique; she used a form of magic no one had ever used before, so it was possible there were side-effects.

She didn't want to rely on the ooze, but it might've been her only weapon. What if it was hurting her to use it? What if she lost control again and hurt Luna?

She glanced at Luna and got rid of that concern. Luna wasn't helpless anymore. If Hermione lost control, Luna would manage.

Losha didn't care for towns anymore. There were too many people, too much going on, and not a lot of trees or grass. It pained her to think that the town they were in had probably destroyed something's habitat to make room for itself.

Brain liked them, so Losha tolerated it. It wouldn't be long. Losha was beginning to think that Brain just wanted to be near one, that she didn't need anything from it.

Losha knew something was wrong not long after they walked in. She could smell it in the air. Everyone was nervous about something, but they weren't saying anything. She caught another scent, one she recognized, but she didn't have a chance to investigate it before Brain got her attention.

<Moon, look at this.>

Losha faced Brain and waited for her to remember Losha was blind.

<Right. Erm… the Daily Prophet, it's got us marked as fugitives. Wanted for 'undisclosed crimes' according to…>

The scent of anger and hatred radiated from Brain, giving Losha a good idea who it was in the Ministry that was lying about them.

Losha smelled the air and. now that she was searching for it, caught a familiar, bitter scent: suspicion. It was coming from all around them, closing in. They had to get out of town.

<We're getting looks from people,> Brain said. <I think we should leave.>

They slowly started moving back the way they'd come, but Losha could hear the whispers.

"You've got to run, now!" Mercury said.

Losha smelled the air, then tugged Brain towards the familiar scent she'd picked up earlier. It was an opening, a way out. It was hope.

<Where are we going?>

<Somewhere safe.>

<We can leave, we… no, I see people moving towards where we came in, looks like they're moving with a purpose.>

Brain kept dictating what she saw, but Losha tuned her out and focused on the familiar smell. She hadn't smelled it in years, but she was sure of it. She'd always thought of the word "squishy" for some reason, but the owner of it did like bugs and other squishy things.

She rounded a corner, knowing that the rest of the town could turn on them any second. If she was lucky, her friend wouldn't turn them in.

She arrived at the source of the smell and heard a small gasp.

"Luna? Is zhat you?"

She sensed Hermione's confusion, but didn't have a moment to explain.

"Salutations, Sophie," Losha said in French. "Would you mind if we hid with you for a moment?"

She heard the sound of a head turning, likely Sophie looking around.

"The English papers say you are a criminal," she said, lowering her voice.

"There's a woman in the Ministry that made that up."

"Her name's Dolores Umbridge," Brain added. "She tried torturing me about two years ago, after branding my forehead with the word 'Traitor' and forcing everyone at Hogwarts to call me that."

While Losha couldn't see it, she could sense Sophie's disbelief.

"I'm here with some friends," Sophie said. "I can't say if they will accept you."

"We only need a place to hide while we get our bearings," Brain said.

"We haven't done anything wrong."

Sophie hesitated for a moment, then started off. Losha and Brain followed her, keeping to the shadows as best they could.

<Who is this?> Brain asked.

<Sophie Caron. We met during the Triwizard Tournament. I used to write her every so often, but I couldn't after I moved to the forest.>

<I think I might remember seeing her. How come you never mention her?>

<You never ask.>

Losha sensed that Brain was dumbfounded by her flawless argument, so they spent the next minute in silence.

Sophie led them into a small house off the main street. She checked it first, then brought them inside.

"Luna, are you okay? Your eyes…"

"I had a fight with a woman called Bellatrix Lestrange. She took my eyes, so I broke her spine."

Hermione buried her head in her hands.

"Just like your sister. Can't be normal for five minutes."

Sophie stared at them, looking like she was afraid of them and wanted desperately to escape.

"We're not going to hurt you," Hermione said, hoping to repair the situation. "Honest. Umbridge wants to get us, so she's telling everyone we've broken the law. Honestly, we haven't."

Sophie pointed to Luna.

"She just said she broke someone's spine."

"That was extenuating circumstances. Did you hear about what happened last year at Hogwarts?"

"There was some sort of attack?"

"Yes. There was, and Lestrange fought against us. She would've killed Neville and Luna if Luna hadn't fought back."

She saw the look on Luna's face and knew what she was thinking.

All the good it did us.

"I was sorry to hear about Neville. He was nice. He saved Fleur's life in the Tournament. My friend Gabrielle was so grateful, but she's always too shy to say how she feels."

"Is she with you?" Hermione asked, glancing around the room.

"Not right now, but she and Fleur came here with me. Fleur wanted to see the English countryside, and they invited me and my sister."

Hermione tried to picture the people she was talking about, but apart from Fleur, she drew a blank. She hadn't been at Hogwarts most of that year, so there was little to go on.

"We won't be long," Hermione said. "Once we figure out how to get out of town—"

Because nothing could go right, the door chose then to open. Three more people walked inside the small house. Hermione immediately recognized Fleur, but could only pick out the other two because it was obvious which one was Fleur's sister and which one was Sophie's.

Everyone froze. Hermione scanned for exits, hoping there'd be a way out. She couldn't teleport all of them safely, so they'd have to run for it.

"Sophie," her sister said, "I thought you were looking for some sort of beetle you said lived around here. Why are these people…"

Her sentence trailed off as she looked closer at them.

"Don't you two go to Hogwarts?"

Sophie looked between her sister and Hermione and Luna. Hermione could see her indecision. Sophie seemed to believe them, but her sister might not.

"You two are friends of Neville." Fleur said. She looked closer at Luna. "People said you were his girlfriend. Luna, yes?"

<Moon, she means you.>

"Yes," Luna said. "I remember smelling you at the funeral."

Hermione cringed at how bizarre that sounded.

"She's blind, and associates people by their scent," she said quickly.

She spared a thought to how Fleur knew Neville and Luna had been dating. Although if she'd been at the funeral, that'd explain it.

"Just the sort of weird girl I'd expect from him," Fleur said. "I didn't know much about him, but I remember the odd company he kept."

Hermione thought back on the Triwizard Tournament. It saddened her a little to think Fleur was probably talking about Rose.

"He saved my life in the Tournament. I think I owe him as much to look after his friends, even if they are wanted criminals."

"They're not!" Sophie exclaimed. She turned to her sister. "Adele, you've got to believe me! Some woman is lying about them!"

Her sister, Adele, looked from Sophie, back to Luna and Hermione.

"Any friend of Sally-Anne's is a friend of mine. We'll hide you both, no questions asked."

Hermione took a moment to catch her breath, and silently thanked Sally-Anne.

"Thank you," she said. "Really, thank you. There is one more thing. You can't tell anyone you've seen us. Our friends at Hogwarts don't know where we are, and they can't know where we are."

She knew how suspicious that sounded, but she had to say it. She couldn't risk Adele telling Sally-Anne she'd bumped into them.

The other girls exchanged glances, then nodded, although it was obvious they didn't fully understand.

"We'll leave when it's dark," Luna said.

"Which means we'll be out of your hair in a few hours."

"We were just about to make dinner," Adele said, holding up the bags they had with them. "I don't know if we have enough, but—"

"We won't need food," Hermione said. "Just somewhere to hide while we figure out what to do next."

The other girls slowly walked inside and put their bags down. Hermione could sense they had questions, but were more concerned with not getting involved.

Hermione helped a little with preparing food. They were hesitant to let her help, but everyone warmed up to one another before long.

"I know I said no questions," Adele said, "but why are you out of Hogwarts?"

"Clearing our heads," Hermione replied. "Neville was closer to us than anyone, and… it hit us both hard. Then our friend Rose, she fought against us during the attack, and… I'm sorry, I'd rather not talk about it."

Hermione fought back tears before she started crying over their food.

"I understand. Sally-Anne told me a little about it, but she couldn't talk about it either. Nikolai said she needs time to recover."

Hermione frowned as she finished chopping vegetables.

"Who's Nikolai?"

"My fiance," Adele said as she took the vegetables from Hermione and slid them into a pot. "We met at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament. We were together on a Quidditch team, and we stayed in touch after the tournament."

"So that's why being friends of Sally-Anne means so much."

Adele nodded as she began to stir.

"I thought he wouldn't pay any attention to me, but Sally-Anne insisted he would. Thanks to her, I didn't give up."

Hermione smiled. It was nice to know the world continued to turn and life went on.

She glanced back at Luna and the others as they talked. Hearing Luna speak in French had confused her until she'd remembered speak with anything. Luna could speak and understand every language, and she used it to the fullest extent.

"Shouldn't Sophie be in school?" Hermione asked.

"Both of them should be, but we got them a break for a few weeks. Everything in England seems so chaotic lately, so we wanted to go now while we can."

Hermione frowned as she began peeling more vegetables. She'd been so out of the loop that she'd had no idea. Maybe that was for the best. If Umbridge was rising in the ranks after what she'd done, it'd all only be another distraction.

As everyone sat down to eat, another thought crept around the back of her mind. Umbridge marking them as wanted fugitives made it harder to stay hidden, which increased the chances of Slytherin finding out where they were and what they were doing. That kept one question, one thought in her head.

The same thought stayed with her while they thanked the others for their hospitality and snuck out of town. The same thought stayed as they set up camp for the night. It stayed until she drifted off to sleep.

What if it wasn't a coincidence?