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Recap

Considering going to her mother to discuss the slag and what their next steps should be, Ginny then decided that perhaps a visit to her Italian lover might help de escalate her anxiety instead.

"Harry, Honey, I'm going to go visit Lavendar for some girl time. Monthlies and witch weekly and stuff "

"Of course,I love you"

Slytherin manor

"Hey all I-" whatever Cedric was expecting when he walked towards the house's other residents was definitely not a burnt Fred, a chuckling Snape, and a fuming Salazar Slytherin floating head. Where was the rest of his body? Was Fred okay? Snape could laugh? And where was Hermione? And right as he thought that exact question he noticed a twittering bird pecking at Fred's head, looking almost painful. It was a pretty pink color and would not stop chirping, using his stellar abilities of deduction the bird was clearly their lady love and it was almost certainly Fred's fault.

"Fred, what the hell did you do?"

Turning at the authoritative voice coming from the normally good natured Hufflepuff, Fred was just grinning despite his charred appearance and Hermione's continuous pecking.

"Well you see Ceddy, ummmm. Salazar was wondering what kind of wards I was placing around the house and I was offended, you see. Like, is he thinking that I couldn't do it? Because I'm very capable despite my specialty being tricks and pranks"

Salazar sighed exasperatedly

"Then you decided to prove it with no thought about the ward you were currently working on. When the dimwit left the ward unfinished it triggered the explosive quality he was intending to incorporate and burnt himself to a crisp"

"Words words words Sal ol' buddy o' mine. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted" he continues with a pointed look.

"I exploded mid spell. So my trajectory was a little off. So when our little bird- oh stop pecking at me! Ow! Not the eyes! They're the money makers!"

Shielding his more valuable body parts Fred steps back as Hermione flies over to Cedric and perches herself on his shoulder only to chirp happily as he rubs right under her beak.

Smiling at how adorable she was even as a bird, Cedric gives a look imploring him to continue

"And well I may have hit Hermione just as she came in" he rapidly says as a flushed look falls upon his face.

Cedric nods slowly attempting to comprehend the absurdity of the situation. Is this what living with Gryffindors and Slytherins will be like? This never happened in Hufflepuff! They'd never jinx a fellow housemate! At Least not one that induced this much chaos!

"And why is Sal a floating head?"

Snape now as straight faced as ever gives the answer in his classroom voice

"His ward exploding interacted badly with Sal's cloaking ward but because I was able to maintain the blast to a degree Sal was the only one to experience any real side effects which apparently is floating head syndrome" smiling at the thought, he suddenly struts toward Cedric only to stop a few inches away with an outstretched finger. Speaking slowly to the girl

"I'm sorry pet for laughing. Come let me help you"

Chirping almost indignantly she just nestled further into Cedric's reddish brown locks. Huffing, he turns to Sal who was now a floating head and chest,

"How are the rest of the wards?"

Still pouting at having been caught by someone else's stupidity

"They're exemplary, of course. We were just adding the last few when Weasley decided to set off a bomb display. Because of that the newer wards that we were working on won't be done until tomorrow at the earliest."

"I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to cause any-"

"Well you still did"

"We all make mistakes, Sal. I'm sorry"

"I don't"

"What do you mean you don't! You're an intellect! An experimenter! I know you've blown up something"

"Not by sheer stupidity"

"Well my stupidity has exposed all the flaws in our wards so you're welcome"

Grumbling Sal as a head, chest and torso just begins to recalibrate the wards.

Ward crafting was actually quite a beautiful thing. Even Hermione in her avian state could acknowledge the cross of colors and signatures crossing and merging by the ley lines was a sight to behold. Each ward was different, some looked to be as impenetrable as a wall while others sparkled around the room like a shower of mist. Cedric, attempting to get Hermione back to her original state attempts to step forward only to be stopped by an almost completely visible Sal.

"Don't step in. You'll sever some wards before they are completely set."

Just pointing to the small bird that had jumped onto his head, Sal chuckles slightly despite his dower mood and waves his hand as Hermione slowly begins to molt and become human again.

Crossing her arms she begins a tirade about the dangers of human transfiguration

"I know it wasn't meant for me but it's not okay to do that! It's dangerous what would have happened if I was stuck as a bird forever? Huh? What would happen to the wizarding world? Nothing! Cause I'm stuck as a fucking bird!"

"Umm Hermione"

Said Cedric becoming red as he attempts to cover her up with his robe and save at least some of her dignity.

Looking down she notices that her hand made dress was gone, huffing at the lost of her clothes and the situation in general, Hermione didn't notice the slacked jaws of her consorts until she finished tying Cedric's Robe. Thinking the worst of the situation Hermione runs back to what she thinks is the general direction of her room, not hearing the shouts from the front of the house.

Running and running Hermione just couldn't stop until she was lost in the depths of the halls of Slytherin Manor. She couldn't help but think about every flaw on her body that prevented her from looking like a Cho Chang or a Lily Potter. She was short, her hair was unruly and thick and wild and had a mind of its own, and her body was littered in scars. And not just tiny scars from Crookshanks claws or a fall in the park as a child but large scars that showed puckered, angry skin from Dolohov's curse to Bellatrix's knife to so many curses and adventures that made her a formidable witch but to her a less than stunning woman.

Allowing her feet to just take her far away, Hermione didn't notice she had run to a small clearing until she was suddenly hit with a wave of anguish and fatigue. Falling down, feeling the soft breeze and the scratchy grass she just let this overwhelming exhaustion settled into her bones and lull her into sleep.

Midnight at Slytherin Manor

At midnight every occupant of the manor was awake except for little Teddy who tried to stay up to see Aunty Mia as long as he could but quickly succumbed to his exhaustion due to the days events. The men in the lounge were yelling at one another, Severus was sitting somberly in the corner regretting every action and inaction he did and didn't do that led to Herniones disappearance. Sirius and Draco were seething they could believe That they're dunderheaded companions already seemed to fuck up the gift they've been given. Salazar was manipulating the wards attempting to locate her via a ley line created map. Fred was sadly tinkering on a gadget as the men yelled at him, and Cedric and Remus were crazily researching tracking spells hoping to find her with only her self made curtain dress as the anchoring possession. They didn't know what to do, they couldn't lose her now, not when they just got her.

Severus was beside himself with worry, despite his younger countenance his face still understood the commands of a spymaster so despite his calm facade he was wracked with worry. This was his chance at love, true reciprocated love where he could love and not fear the recipients reaction but, of course, him being himself he had to fuck it up.

A Random Clearing Probably Near The Manor

Hermione was sleeping on the grass with her only warmth in the cold English night being Cedric's large robes and her own resolve. For some reason despite the cold and her desire to go back and at least find a warm bed or someone who hasn't seen her naked but her body was completely drained of all energy, she couldn't even lift her head. She was paralyzed, alone, and barely dressed. Fear wracked her mind as her intelligent mind went haywire with the possibilities. She could die, nothing would change, her knights would die before they even got a chance to live. And as the cold and the exhaustion begin to once again invade her consciousness Hermione last thoughts were regarding a feminine silhouette standing over her looking down at her prone form.

Thank you so much for your reviews and your support! With a special thanks to Dragon5DragonBlitz8 because I gave myself an ultimatum that i'd write another chapter if I saw a recent review and I did! (I give myself ultimatums quite a bit). please review, favorite, follow and PM