"Hermione!"

"Miss Granger!"

As fast as they could, the two men raced back the way they had come. Panic flooding through their veins at the thought of something terrible happening to the little witch, which their bodies were telling them was an absolute certainty right now.

Chapter 8 Balances Found

Black and Snape Apparated without the normal deliberation, focusing instead only on Hermione, not a specific location. As they arrived they found themselves in the clearing of their camp. To their confusion they were not the only ones there. The confusion did not stem from there being others present, as they had fully expected to be facing an assailant of some sort. No the emotion stemmed from who was there. Remus, while unexpected, could easily be explained from his connection to both Black and Hermione in the future. The other, a statuesque blonde caused quite the conundrum, as she was a complete disconnect.

The two new interlopers did not seem to be trying to attack Hermione but instead seemed to be just as distressed as Black and Snape, and were attempting to somehow get to the cause. They needed to get to Hermione.

Remus seemed wild with rage, needing to protect, to find the cause and destroy whatever was causing pain to the someone that must be protected. His eyes, which were normally a soft moss green, were glowing golden, the wolf within howling to protect what was his. His already impressive height seemed to swell with his growing upset. The predator within increasing its threat range in order to intimidate any obstacle in its path.

The other, a tall willowy woman, with wavy blond hair that swung to her hips, stood fierce. She had petite, yet sharp features. Her high cheekbones, and large eyes - slanted fairy-like, pointed chin, and bow-shaped mouth combined with her waif-like figure gave her an ethereal appearance. One nearly expected to see wings sprouted from her back, such was her resemblance to members of the fae.

Immediately wands were drawn and trained on each other, but they found themselves at an impasse. None seemed willing to go on the offensive when the danger didn't seem to be in front of them.

The showdown ended rather abruptly as the four antagonists suddenly felt a sharp pain in each of their chests.

Neither man concerned any longer about the interlopers at their hiding place, their sole focus was getting to the small witch.

"We are coming with. We have to." The airy voice of the blonde stopped both men for a moment.

"As you wish Miss Ollivander, but be assured you will not leave until both you and Lupin have taken a vow of silence."

Snape grabbed a hold of Pandora Ollivander as he spoke, allowing her to cross the wards so that she could enter the tent along with him. Sirius did the same with Remus.

As the four entered the tent they could hear the thrashing and screaming coming from Hermione's room. Not knowing what they would find, the four cautiously approached the room with their wands raised.

As they approached, the group noticed two very concerning things. The first was that Hermione while seemingly unharmed was thrashing and screaming in bed as though being tortured, the other was that there was a strange glow surrounding not only the witch but her beaded bag seated on a chair nearby. The glow on both connected by more strange light.

"What the heck is that!" Remus exclaimed. His eyes wide and terrified. His nose twitching at the stench of dark magic. He didn't think he'd ever been this close to something so foul. With three days left till the full moon, he was particularly sensitive to the dark magic rolling off whatever was in that bag.

"The foulest of evils. I believe it would be best to find a way so that the evil can no longer reach her. The it is making an effort to steal her power. That would be rather tragic if it were to actually succeed." a quick look at Snape, "We won't be able to wake her otherwise." The airiness of the voice did not detract from the very sound logic.

Snape stalked towards the beaded bag, with precise wand movements, the bag and it's contents were imprisoned. Stepping back, Severus assessed the situation once more. While, it seemed as though the spell had done it work and the horcrux could no longer attempt to feed off Hermione. She had yet to wake and continued to thrash and moan in her sleep.

Sirius, fed up with listening to the sounds of distress, moved towards the bed and gently shook Hermione's shoulder. When she failed to wake, he proceeded to be a bit more forceful in his attempt to wake her.

With a yelp, he jumped back.

"Owww! Godric damn it! That freakin hurt. Her skin shocked me! Why would her skin shock me?" Sirius' grey eyes were wide as he worked his way steadily towards panic. "I thought she liked me. Am I not a balance? What if I did something wrong and the Others decided I'm not a good balance?"

"Black, will you please stop your incessant prattling? While, it is mildly entertaining to know that you still are unable to handle any sort of crisis, now is neither the time nor the place for you to fall apart. Pull yourself together. Plus you are giving me a headache!" With that Snape walked to Hermione's other shoulder to run diagnostics.

Remus crept slowly towards the bed, stopping near her right ankle. Gazing on the witch that had caused such a fuss earlier, he felt something deep within reach out to the witch. There was a feeling of not only possessiveness but protectiveness. Thinking back to all that happened, he didn't really think she needed his protection but that didn't stop him from wanting to keep her safe. He had witnessed her facing down Dumbledore, protecting a crowd of people, as well as, ending the lives of many a Death Eater. She quite obviously was a very powerful witch, and could take care of herself but for some odd reason she called to him. Her happiness and health were strangely very important to him.

"Isn't it amazing how a tree starts from one tiny seed and a trunk? To stay strong the roots must dig deep and the trunk must branch out." Pandora glided farther into the room, stopping at Hermione's left ankle.

Snape gave Pandora a look of complete disbelief. "Do you by chance have a point Miss Ollivander?" Snape sneered at Pandora.

"I've always wanted to be a tree." Pandora's airy tones might just have been constructed to drive the Potion Master to insanity.

"If you do not get to the bloody point, I will transfigure you into one. Permanently!" Snape snapped.

"Her flares of magic need an outlet. She is the trunk, we are the roots and branches. We should touch her to give her magic a place to go."

"I'm not so sure that's the best idea, that bloody well hurt!" Sirius said.

"Sirius, I think we should listen to her. We can take a bit of pain to help. What's her name by the way?" Remus' gaze never wavered from the small figure on the bed, even as he spoke to Sirius.

"A bit! It was more than just a bit." Sirius yelped incredulously. "Her name is Hermione. And fine, Moons we'll give it a go. We obviously can't leave her like this. On the count of three?"

"Wait! Are we touching her on three or right after three? Also, umm where do we need to touch her? Like is here on her ankle good, because I am not alright with molesting an unconscious girl." Remus nervousness was portrayed in his voice and his awkward choice of questions.

"Oi! What type of wizard do you take me for Moons? I would never, and if I ever thought about it, she'd hex me twelve ways to Monday and I'd be singing soprano for the rest of my life."

"Indeed. Can we get this over with? Miss Gra - Hermione is still in need of assistance." Snape caught himself from giving away her surname, that was information that needed to be controlled for as long as possible.

"A touch on her shoulder or ankle will allow her power the outlet it needs to stabilize. So, one the count of three. One...two...three"

With a gasp of breath Hermione opened her eyes to her future.

As the four Balances laid hands on their Focus something magical took place. Tingles started at the point of contact and spread throughout their bodies. Wonderful feelings of bliss and warmth flooded them. It didn't stop there however: it provided each of them a stunning moment of clarity. Each Balance was inundated with the thoughts and feelings of the other members. It lasted for but a moment and yet it created something unique and powerful. It created trust and understanding. Lies and deceit were destruction, but they would create. There could be no room for enemies in the circle. Whether they were ready, or they had doubt, or still didn't particularly like one another, from that moment and for the rest of their lives they were one and in that moment they became Caim Còignear.

A flair of light, which started with Hermione, grew to encompass each member of the Caim Còignear It sent a magical shockwave of magic that would have far reaching ripples for years to come.

The Caim Còignear wasn't ready, but ready or not their journey had begun.

The Magical World was about to enter into a revolution, the likes of which it hadn't seen since Merlin. A new age had awakened, and with it a new power. A power ready to take control through any means necessary.

History would not repeat itself.

A/N Caim Còignear roughly means Protective Cirle of Five. I am extremely sorry for the short chapter, I hope the next will be quite a bit longer.