Author's notes: Conclusion of this Hermione/Cho slash series. Thank you to everyone who's read and commented on the story. Hope it's been as fun to read as it was to write. A bit of intertextual madness in this episode, as readers of H.G. Wells may note, among other things.
Thanks to Philip for inspiration re: cabals.
And oodles of gratitude to my patient and generous beta-reader, Wotan. His eagle-eyed editing has made this a better piece. Any remaining errors are, sadly, my own fault.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Gang of Four." Severus Snape declared as he eyed Hermione, Cho, Ron and Harry with suspicion. After Hagrid left, they had remained near the edge of the forest, and it now appeared Snape had been unable to resist taking a stroll. "What are you doing down here? Didn't I hear Hagrid say there are dangerous creatures loose in the Forbidden Forest?"
"We were just leaving," muttered Harry.
"I should think so. I wouldn't want any harm to come to our prefects," Snape sneered, looking hard at Hermione and Cho. "I'm sure the school would hardly know what to do if it lost two outstanding role models like you girls."
Even though Hermione was standing behind Ron and could not see his face, she knew he was about to say something back to Snape. She took a quick step forward, knocking into him as she did so. Ron, however, stood his ground and glared at Snape.
"Weasley, get moving," barked Snape. "Unless you'd like detention this week?"
"Ron," hissed Hermione, now grabbing his sleeve and tugging him along. "Let's go."
When they were out of earshot, Ron declared, "I hope whatever is in the Forest gets Snape. Just lunges out and grabs him." He mimicked the hoped-for motion with his hands.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's focus on more attainable goals. Like finding out what's after those unicorns."
Harry and Ron looked first at each other, then at the girls. "Library?" they asked in unison.
Hermione nodded decisively. "Library."
After a week of intense research, the four of them had assembled an impressive array of notes, lists, and newspaper articles. Hermione had got the idea of combing back issues of the Daily Prophet to see if they could establish any pattern in the attacks. So far, her parchment had a list of incidents they had deemed suspicious, but none of them seemed connected.
The only major piece of news from the autumn had been the dismissal of a scientist named Moreau. He had been a researcher at the Ministry of Experimental Magic, specializing in in hybridity potions, who had been dismissed after using Ministry funds for risky experiments without getting proper approval. This alone might not have made Hermione put the incident on her list, except for the fact that the article had also mentioned Severus Snape as one of the Board Members who was regularly consulted about potions protocol, and who had in the past backed Moreau's work. As far as Hermione was concerned, anyone associated with Snape was automatically suspect.
Hermione and Cho sat alone at a table in a remote corner of the library. They had skipped lunch and were using the hour to review old editions of the Daily Prophet from December and early January, looking again for clues they might have missed.
"This is the story Harry read right before Christmas, when he warned us about Death Eaters in London," Cho said, sliding the paper across to Hermione. "Then there's the New Year's Day coverage. A few more minor incidents, no one injured, then nothing. I don't get it." She pulled absent-mindedly at an eyebrow and frowned.
But Hermione wasn't listening. Instead, she was scanning the pages of the paper with new interest. "That's because we've been looking for the wrong story," she whispered excitedly. "Look." She tapped her finger on a small, one-column item buried in the middle of the paper.
"Research Laboratory Reports Break-in," read Cho. "What's this doing all the way back here?"
"Keep reading."
The Ministry of Experimental Magic reported a burglary at their London research laboratory on New Year's Eve. Only minor items were taken, including a sample of Mandrake extract, the herb Nepeta cataria and a flask of squid ink. Officials attributed the crime to drunken pranksters. No damage to the building was done, and a department spokesperson stressed the thieves had not gone near any of the wings housing magical experiments.
Cho looked up. "Do you think this is related to the Death Eater vandalism?"
"Yes and no." Hermione looked thoughtful. "I think the Death Eaters did those other attacks to draw attention away from this one. Better to get lots of publicity and to scare people by writing threats on buildings so nobody would care about a few potion ingredients gone missing."
"So why should we care?"
"Because those are the key ingredients for a cross-species hybrid potion." Hermione tapped the paper again for emphasis. "Except for the squid ink. No idea why they'd want that. Maybe their quills were empty?"
Cho smirked, then asked "So you really don't think Malfoy had anything to do with this?"
"Sorry." Hermione shook her head. "The worst he can be accused of that night is singing off-key."
"Then who? You already said you don't think the Death Eaters did this."
"Dr Moreau." Hermione reached across the table for the stack of newspapers. "Look at our list. Moreau was sacked in September. Nobody thinks twice about it." She handed the story to Cho, then thumbed through her notes and reached for a cutting. "Panther goes missing from zoo in November. Only reported in Muggle papers." She stopped talking and looked up at Cho. "You read the story. You know what his research is about. Whatever's loose in that forest is some kind of creature he's made."
Cho blanched. "So what do we do now?"
"Tell Hagrid?" Hermione suggested.
Cho shook her head. "He's gone."
"What?" Hermione struggled to keep her voice down. "How do you know?"
"I had Care of Magical Creatures this morning and Professor Grubbly-Plank was standing in. She wouldn't say anything, but I'll bet a sack of Galleons he's trying to track whatever is in the Forest."
"Let's at least tell Harry and Ron, then. See what they say."
"No." Cho stubbornly shook her head. "I really don't want Harry going after it. All I need is another friend killed."
"He already knows something's going on. And if anyone can stand up to You-Know-Who, it's Harry. He's had loads of experience."
Cho sighed, glanced at her watch and began packing away her things in anticipation of their next lessons. "Exactly. How many times do you think he can escape?"
Hermione slowly put her own books and notes into her bag and got to her feet. She'd often had the same thought herself.
Cho continued, "If anything happened to Harry because of what I told him I'd never forgive myself. So don't tell him anything until I think of some way to deal with this thing." The bell rang and before Hermione could say anything more, Cho dashed away.
Hermione kept her word and didn't show Harry what she had pieced together about the Forest. The next time she and Cho discussed the matter, again in the recesses of the library, Cho proposed the two of them tackle the creature.
"But it's the Forbidden Forest," Hermione pleaded. "There's a reason we're not supposed to go there."
"Hermione, I mean it. I'd rather do this myself than see anyone else get hurt. After Cedric -"
"Cho, that had nothing to do with you. You weren't responsible for his death. It was a totally senseless thing." As soon as she finished, Hermione realized the last bit might not have been very comforting.
"I know, but I can't help feeling I'm bad luck to my friends. Cedric was one of the sweetest people I've known and Harry - " Cho stopped abruptly and tried to get hold of herself. "I love Harry. Not like with you," she blushed, "but his friendship means a lot to me. And let's face it - who wants to be known as the person who sent Harry Potter to his death all because of some half-baked idea about something being loose in the forest?" She tried to joke, but Hermione wasn't laughing.
"And after all the trouble I brought on you, over us I mean . . ." Cho swallowed hard. "Well, it seems pretty clear I'm more a liability than an asset. Everyone I get close to dies or has a near-death experience or gets harassed by Malfoy."
"The last bit I'm willing to risk. Cho, look at me," Hermione demanded. Cho reluctantly raised her eyes. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"You don't think I'm bad luck?"
"You're the best kind of luck there is." Hermione smiled at Cho, wishing she could ease the tight, drawn face and anxious eyes that greeted her.
"Fine. Then let's take care of this thing together. We can fly in on my broom. What do you say?"
"We can't just fly into the Forbidden Forest and track some unknown creature," Hermione pointed out, shuddering inwardly at the thought of flying into the Forest.
"But if Hagrid's there we could help him, tell him what we've found out. What if Moreau's crossed something with a unicorn and Hagrid doesn't know?" Cho persisted. "It would be just like You-Know-Who, or one of his henchmen, to take something completely pure and good and mutate it into something awful. Hagrid could be at great risk, thinking something is a harmless unicorn when actually it's an evil creature."
Hermione could not deny Cho's scenario would be awful. "We ought to tell Dumbledore, then."
"Maybe Harry can get an audience with the Headmaster whenever he likes, but do you really think we can just stroll into his office? First you'd have to go through McGonagall as Deputy Headmistress. I know you're keen on her and all, but I don't think she's going to give you an appointment any time soon."
Hermione considered this. Although personally she felt Cho failed to appreciate her bond with Minerva, Hermione couldn't help remembering the time during her first year when McGonagall had told off Ron, Harry and herself when they'd tried to talk to Dumbledore about the Philosopher's Stone being stolen. "I still don't think we should go," she said at last.
"If you won't go I'll do it myself."
"Cho," Hermione said, her raised voice earning her a glare from Madam Pince, "please don't. Promise me you won't do that."
Cho ignored her. "I've been working on your star chart." She held up rolls of parchment covered with notes. She had started working on it over the winter holiday, hoping to convince Hermione of the validity of Divination. So far, however, Hermione had remained unimpressed.
"Lovely." Hermione gave Cho a sour look. "I bet it says 'She is brought good fortune by her friends who stay out of the Forbidden Forest.'"
"Won't know until I finish." With a return of her usual grin, Cho bent back over her notes. "Give me an hour and I can finish this before dinner, okay?"
Relieved to see Cho acting more like her normal self, Hermione agreed. "Alright. So you won't do anything stupid?"
"I don't do stupid things."
"Right." Hermione gave Cho one last, exasperated look, then gathered up her own books and placed a hand on Cho's shoulder. "Meet you after dinner?"
Cho bent lower over her work. "Sure."
But Cho never appeared at dinner. Hermione ate distractedly, keeping an eye out for Cho and wanting to tell Harry and Ron everything. As they stood up to leave, Hermione took one last look around the Great Hall. Still no sign of Cho. A leaden feeling - worse than eating two helpings of Shepherd's Pie - filled Hermione's stomach when she considered just where her girlfriend might be. "Come on," she ordered the boys, who followed her obediently.
Hermione ran to the library and made a beeline to the table where she and Cho had been sitting. Cho was gone, but her books were open and Hermione saw she had left the astrology chart she'd been working on. It was Hermione's, and Cho's notes for the page read "Twelfth House: House of Secrets, Sorrow and Self-Undoing". In this house, she had carefully written down "Venus" and the following notes from her textbook: Venus in this house suggests sorrow, loss or danger as a result of friendships or love relationships - then the writing broke off.
"I know where she is." Hermione tossed the parchment back down and faced the two boys. "We've got to go to the Forbidden Forest."
Harry raised his eyebrows at her and Ron stared open-mouthed with horror.
"Couldn't we just invent a cabal-like ritual involving a large wooden plank and self-flagellation instead?" inquired Ron hopefully, recovering his powers of speech.
Hermione shook her head. "Perhaps another time, Ron. Let's go."
They exited the library and dashed down the main staircase. Thankfully most people were still at dinner and they encountered no one who tried to stop them as they pushed open the enormous front doors of the Entrance Hall. The sun was just beginning to sink down, casting a peaceful, reddish glow over the horizon. However, the trio felt anything but peaceful, especially once Hermione explained the situation.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ron asked as they trudged down the path to the broomshed.
"What?" snapped Hermione, looking straight ahead.
"That word in front of Forest - it's 'Forbidden.' The Forbidden Forest. It's not the Fun Petting Zoo Forest. There are some seriously dangerous creatures in there!"
They had reached the broomshed. Hermione wrenched open the door and turned to Ron. "Grab your broom."
Still grumbling, he followed her inside. As Hermione had suspected, Cho's Nimbus was gone. Harry, who preferred the security of his own room to the broomshed, used a summoning charm to bring his Firebolt zipping to him.
Ron grabbed his own broom, then noticed Hermione glancing nervously about her. "If I have to go into that Forest again, the least you can do is fly. Take this one." He tossed her a broom, which she caught neatly.
"Sure you want to do this?" Ron asked as they assembled outside.
Hermione knew she had no choice; she'd never be able to cross the Forest in time on foot, especially as Cho had a flying head-start. Looking very pale, Hermione just nodded and gingerly mounted the broomstick. "Let's go."
They kicked off and followed Hermione's lead over the tree-tops and into the Forest. Steeling herself, Hermione glanced down into the darkened wood, trying hard not to be sick. She veered to the left and the boys followed.
They flew on, Hermione having instructed them to look out for Professor Grubbly-Plank's cottage as a landmark. "Over there!" Harry shouted, and pointed down to a thatched roof. They flew lower, and touched down in the professor's garden. Hermione's legs felt so wobbly she would have sworn someone had put the Jelly-legs curse on her. Leaning against her broom for support, she took several calming breaths.
"You must really love her," Ron finally said. Hermione realised he had been watching her in silence.
"Why's that?" she gasped, still winded.
"I would never have thought there was anything in the world that would make you fly - and on your own!"
"This isn't about me," Hermione replied briskly. "Come on, let's get going. You two follow that path and I'll take the other. Send up sparks if you find her."
"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Harry frowned at her.
"Positive. Haven't I got you out of enough scrapes in the past?" Hermione responded tartly. Flying always left her feeling a bit cranky and sarcastic. "I can take care of myself."
"I didn't mean -" Harry closed his mouth and gave a resigned nod. "Okay. But let us know if you find anything."
"Of course." Hermione had made a full recovery from her flight, and was now impatient to be off.
Once she got deeper into the Forest, Hermione forgot about her own fears and became even more intent on locating Cho. "I should have gone with her," Hermione kept thinking to herself. "I should never have let her try this alone. All because of my stupid flying fear." She jogged along, keeping her eyes open for signs of Cho's whereabouts. But the Forest was still.
Half an hour later, Hermione still continued along her path. The Forest was eerily quiet and dusk had fallen. Overhead, an inky blue sky appeared between gaps in the tree tops. "Lumos," she commanded. Following the thin ray of light from her wand, Hermione scanned the forest floor - no footprints, nothing. Up ahead, however, she thought she heard a faint noise, like the sound of snapping twigs. Wondering if she had just imagined the sound, Hermione advanced cautiously.
She rounded a curve, pushed aside scraggly bushes and stopped in her tracks. In the clearing ahead stood Cho. And she had found the creature.
Still partly obscured by the shrubbery, Hermione assessed the situation. Cho stood in the middle of the clearing, furthest from Hermione. Nearest was a trembling, wide-eyed unicorn yearling. Its coat gleamed an unearthly gold and sweat glistened on its neck and flanks. Equidistant from both was Moreau's creation, a huge, panther-like animal with a strangely humanoid appearance. Looking more closely, Hermione saw it had front paws that were a hybrid of claws and human hands, complete with opposable thumbs. The big cat's eyes flickered from Cho, who stood ready with her wand, and the unicorn. Glancing skywards, Hermione sent up red sparks, then took action.
She leapt forward, placing herself between the panther and the unicorn. Holding off the cat with her illuminated wand, Hermione raised her other hand and smacked her palm across the yearling's haunches. "Go!" she bellowed. The colt didn't need telling twice, and bolted into the Forest.
Now she and Cho formed two parts of the triangle. If only she could distract the creature, give Cho a chance to move closer to herself, they might be able to stun it together. Hermione expected to find the animal staring at her, but its attention was on a patch of light on the forest floor. Reaching out an enormous paw, it batted at the light.
Cho and Hermione exchanged puzzled glances. Then Cho pointed to her own chest. Hermione looked down and realized her prefect badge, which she had neglected to remove before setting off, reflected the light from her wand. Carefully, she used her free hand to twist the badge, sending dots of light around the clearing. Like an overgrown housecat, the panther swiped its paw at the light.
"Come on," Hermione muttered, trying to catch Cho's eye and encourage her to edge away from the beast.
But just as Cho took a step towards Hermione, the panther noticed her movements and ceased its playfulness. It now adopted the attitude of a cat in stalking mode.
For a moment, all three of them stood perfectly still. Then the panther leapt in a high arc, just as Cho stepped towards it, wand out. "Stupefy!" she cried, and a jet of light shot forward.
Hermione echoed this cry a split second later, hoping their combined use of the spell would subdue the enormous cat. But Hermione missed the creature entirely and she couldn't see that Cho had had any effect. Instead, the creature was able to shroud itself in a haze of blue smoke every time it was attacked. The squid ink, realised Hermione. Through the fog, she saw the dark body of the panther meet Cho's slender, upright form, saw it rip at her with its terrible hand-claws. She watched, helpless, as Cho's knees buckled and she fell.
"Cho!" screamed Hermione. "CHO!" She heard herself scream again, but the noise seemed to come from someone else. She had never heard herself scream this way - a ragged sound that came from deep within.
Footsteps behind signaled Harry and Ron's arrival, and Hermione became aware of them grabbing her, preventing her from running to Cho, who needed her - she had to go - she had to -
"Wait," Harry panted, squinting through the acrid smoke. He and Ron both had their wands drawn, but like Hermione they were helpless to strike until the visibility improved. Meanwhile, they heard the sounds of growling, thrashing and snapping tree branches. Straining to see, Hermione made out the bulky form of the panther. It leapt about, writhed, then lashed out a paw.
They heard Cho's muffled cry of "Stupefy!" and saw her slump forward.
"Stupefy!" the three of them echoed, aiming for the panther.
A terrific bang exploded right over Hermione's head, sounding like a huge clap of thunder but accompanied by bright jets of light that whizzed back and forth in the clearing. Their combined assault on the creature had produced yet more blinding smoke, and now the eerie silence had returned. Ron, Harry and especially Hermione strained to see any sign that Cho had survived the attack.
As the haze cleared, Hermione saw Cho striding towards them, emerging ever-clearer from the smoke. Her black robes billowed out behind her as she stood silhouetted against the awful scene.
Without looking back, Hermione broke out of Harry's grasp and ran forward. Cho had a smudge across one cheek, her right sleeve was shredded beyond repair, and her hair was definitely mussed, but other than that she appeared unharmed. Hermione threw her arms around the girl, burying her face against Cho's neck, unable to speak. Cho seemed to feel the same way. She sobbed noiselessly against Hermione and when the girls looked at each other, each had tears in her eyes.
"When I saw you fall I thought. . ." Hermione couldn't say it. Even replaying the image in her mind was too terrible. "How did you survive?"
"It caught my sleeve. Fortunately these robes are really loose-fitting." Cho held out her mangled sleeve. "But I thought it had me, too, and I just kind of fell forward out of shock. But as I fell, I saw my spell hit its paws, and then you three came along. . . " Cho, too, was having difficulty completing her thoughts. It seemed much more important to hold on to Hermione.
Moments later, McGonagall and Dumbledore appeared, with Hagrid and Professor Grubbly-Plank in hot pursuit. Dumbledore, along with Harry and Hagrid, hastened over to examine the fallen animal Cho had abandoned in the clearing. Professor Grubbly-Plank anxiously examined Cho for injuries, herbal kit and essential oils at her side.
"Miss Granger!" Hermione whirled to face McGonagall, whose face was white, yet also wore an expression of undeniable pride. "What exactly happened here?"
Hermione recounted the story as quickly as possible - how she and Cho had put the pieces together, how she had found Cho's astrology notes, how she had followed her to the Forbidden Forest.
"Wait - Professor, how did you know we were here?" interjected Ron to their teacher.
"It was a bit difficult to miss all the smoke and light rising over the forest top," Professor McGonagall informed him. "The Headmaster and myself happened to be meeting with Professor Grubbly-Plank and Hagrid, trying to determine what might be the best way to approach this menace, when we looked out the window and saw what appeared to be wandfire over the trees."
Their attention was distracted when the panther suddenly metamorphosed into a haggard-looking man, held captive at the tip of Dumbledore's wand. Hagrid immediately moved forward and hog-tied the man, who could only be Dr Moreau.
"But I thought . . ." Hermione didn't complete her sentence. Too many ideas were crowding her head, the most insistent of which was that she needed to be next to Cho.
"Dr Moreau, I presume?" Dumbledore addressed the mad scientist. "Very clever scheme, to create a potion that allowed elements of each entity crossed to remain present in the end product. I take it you found a new person to underwrite your experiments, a patron by the name of Voldemort?"
"That's right," snarled Moreau. "My Master knew he could not return himself, lest his presence be sensed by that infernal Potter. It was the perfect opportunity to prove the validity of my research and to obtain the unicorn blood the Dark Lord so desires."
"So the panther wasn't a panther?" asked Ron. For his part, he was relieved no spiders had been involved.
Dumbledore shook his head. "Not exactly. Given the nature of Moreau's past research, we had all assumed he was trying to create a new species. Instead, he created a kind of hyper-Polyjuice potion - temporary but potent - by which he could cross multiple species. Of course, in doing so most of the human cognitive abilities are subordinated to the dominant form, in this case the panther. Yet he did retain a bit of the human physical structure and combined it with the deadly strength of a predator."
"It would have worked, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" fretted Moreau, writhing under Hagrid's firm grasp.
Dumbledore nodded to Hagrid, who marched off with Moreau. When Hermione looked around again, she noticed Cho and Professor Grubbly-Plank had gone. Following her anxious glance, Dumbledore indicated the rest of them should follow him back to the cottage, where Hermione, Harry and Ron took a seat on the wooden bench by the front door.
Across the garden, Professor Grubbly-Plank had wrapped Cho in a large blanket. "Minerva!" she called out. "I think she'll be okay. I want to take a look at the two boys, however."
"Well," Professor McGonagall said at last, a smile creeping over her features as she looked at Hermione, "I think you'd better get going. Your girl is waiting for you." She nodded in Cho's direction.
Hermione followed her glance, and felt a smile break over her face as she saw Cho standing at the edge of the wood, her eyes flickering uncertainly from McGonagall to herself. "Yes, I'd better go," she said and ran to Cho, who was now grinning very broadly herself. Hermione felt Cho's arms around her, she was being lifted up, and Cho kissed her with a heretofore unknown passion.
When the girls finally broke apart for air, they glanced back at the cottage. Only Professors McGonagall and Grubbly-Plank remained, and as she looked closely, Hermione thought she saw Minerva actually blushing at something the other woman was saying to her. When the two teachers disappeared into the cottage, Hermione nudged Cho. "Fly me home?" she whispered.
"I thought you'd never ask." Cho picked up her Nimbus, climbed on, and Hermione joined her. She wrapped her arms tightly around Cho's waist and pressed her cheek against Cho's back. Hermione felt herself carried along on the soft night air as they rose higher. The stars winked down at them and Venus shone brightly in the sky. And silhouetted along the horizon, two young witches flew towards Hogwarts castle, oblivious to anything but their own true love.
