I am so sorry. No excuses, the story simply fell through the cracks in my busy life. Thanks to anyone who might still be reading. Y'all are a peach. ;) Hopefully, the next update won't be so long in the making.

And a special thanks to To die upon a kiss. Your reviews were absolutely amazing.

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"Have you completely lost your mind?"

"No, G, I haven't," Hermione said. "Look, you know as well as I do that Jack and Jill are two complete psychos. If they aren't put down now then they never will be." The girl glanced at Snape who was sitting in a conjured armchair, intently listening to her side of the phone conversation.

"That's not what I'm disagreeing with," Glitter said. "I'm disagreeing with the insane part. Jack and Jill are too powerful right now. There's no weak spot."

"There is a weak spot," Hermione argued. She had to convince Glitter that this would work. He was the key to this entire plan. The ritual that Snape had in his little book was only a last resort. The spell was Dark and if the Ministry cottoned on to it, it would be a one way ticket to Azkaban. The man wasn't willing to risk it until absolutely necessary and Hermione didn't dare ask him to either.

"If you have some sort of magic trick up your sleeve that you're not telling me about, now would be the time to let me in on it," Glitter snapped and Hermione nearly smirked at the irony. Her friend didn't know about her being a Witch and she had never had any desire to tell him. There was no telling how he would react to such thing. Regardless of his personal opinion, he'd probably use it to his advantage. If the kid had been a Wizard, he'd have been a Slytherin no questions asked.

"Harry Potter," she replied and the sudden dead silence on the other end of the line told her that she'd hit gold. She couldn't even hear the other teen breathing. Suspicions confirmed, Hermione pressed on. "Do you know him?"

"What makes you think I know him?" he asked but the tone of his voice told her he was preparing to lie through his teeth. She belatedly realized that she probably should have had this conversation face to face, but it was too late now.

"Because I know you Glitter," she said, finally losing her battle to not smirk. "This is your London and with Jack and Jill pissing on everything and everyone, I know you and your boys hold no love for them. " Glitter himself belonged to a group of kids who weren't technically a gang but were well on their way to becoming one. They were smart, tough, and not afraid to stand up to people. Jack and Jill saw them as a threat and had been placing pressure on them for months. Glitter had lost several friends to Jack and Jill's machinations.

"That's not the point," he said. "Even with Potter we don't stand a chance."

"What do you mean 'even with Potter'?" Hermione asked, quickly latching on to Glitter's slip of the tongue. She heard him inhale sharply.

"We call him Emerald," he finally told her. "He was one of Jill's favorite guys."

"Was?"

"Rumor has it that he fell for another girl," he said. "Some girl that used to volunteer at the Soup Kitchen he would always go to. Supposedly she's the daughter of some business mogul. Super wealthy."

"Which left Jill super jealous," Hermione finished, the pieces clicking together rapidly inside her head. No wonder they'd come after her so hard. Any friend of Potter's would be an automatic enemy to them. Potter had seemingly betrayed Jill in the worst way possible. The Gryffindor knew that Jill and her brother were both egomaniacs and more than a little unstable.

"Exactly," he replied. "Jill burned him. Bad. And he's been on the run ever since. I even heard the girl had to quit the kitchen."

"Who is this girl?" Hermione asked. It wasn't unconceivable to think that Potter would go hide out with her. If she really was the daughter of a very wealthy man she would probably live in a home with a good security system, if not a bodyguard. Also, if Potter really cared about her more than his gang, he would want to know she was okay. They were most likely together. She just had to find the girl.

"Catalina something or other," Glitter said. "Look 'Moine, I promised the kid I wouldn't tell anyone about that. The only reason I'm telling you is because it's you."

"Glitter, the only thing I want to do is help the kid out," she said, trying to alleviate whatever bad feelings he was getting in his stomach. "We all want the same thing."

"And what is that?"

"Jack and Jill taken down."

"I can't convince you to stop this can I?" he asked, sounding half annoyed, half amused.

"No," she replied solidly. "Where does she live?"

"The Matador Building," he said. "You know, the one where all the rich people stay?"

"Got it," she said. "Thanks."

"Look Hermione," he hedged and the girl held her breath. "If you can get Emerald to agree to taking down Jack and Jill, I'll be able to rally up some people who'd be willing to help take them down."

"Why would Potter be the golden ticket?"

"Because he knew them better than anyone," he said. "Potter's the only one with the knowledge to hit them where it hurts most. Besides, if we can get one of Jack and Jill's own to flip on them we'll have the best rallying point we could."

"I'll do my best," she replied. "But I can't make any promises."

"I don't expect you too," he said. "Bye."

"Bye." She took a moment to process everything she'd just been told after she hung up the phone. Snape stayed quiet just long enough to let her gather her thoughts.

"Well?" he inquired. "Do you have a location?"

"I have his girlfriend," she told him. "With any luck, he'll be there."

00000

Hermione went alone, leaving Snape to deal with the other three. They hadn't been present when she'd made the phone call. She had purposefully done that to avoid questions and sneers and everything in between. She'd set them up in the other room with breakfast and the 'moving picture box'. Once they were sufficiently distracted it was easy enough to slip out.

The Matador Building was beautiful. It was modern, sleek, and so far out of any working man's price range that its mere presence sparked both envy and daydreams. Hermione felt no love for the building. After spending her last few years Hogwarts, modern conveniences were simply that. Modern conveniences. If there weren't moving portraits or ghosts floating around, she wasn't interested. Despite her general wariness for all things pureblood, she did, in fact, consider Hogwarts a second home. At least, on a good day.

Sneaking up to the right floor was easy enough. She simply 'borrowed' a workman's jumpsuit from the laundry and headed up on the service elevator. Nobody stopped to comment on her youth or by the fact that suit was four times too big for her. But that was London. Even in a fancy place like this, people weren't going to bother themselves with someone else's business. Especially when they looked like the help.

Hermione found the correct apartment quickly and rang the bell. It didn't take long before a girl around her own age opened up. She could instantly see why Potter had fallen for her. Long black hair that fell down her back in waves, shining hazel eyes, olive skin, and a petite form. She was dressed casually but everything was name brand. Her designer jumper cost more than Hermione's entire wardrobe.

"Can I help you?" she asked, clearly confused as to why a teenager like herself was dressed as a one of the buildings onsite maintenance workers.

"Hi," Hermione replied pleasantly. "I'm looking for Harry Potter." The other instantly became defensive. Hermione knew she was getting ready to lie. Catalina may be dating a boy from the streets but she was no street girl. She was just daddy's little rich girl. And while Hermione wasn't ready to judge her on that alone, she knew that it was an entirely fair assumption to make that Catalina was incapable of lying or living rough.

"I don't know who that is," she said. And there it was. While a pretty girl, Catalina was incapable of lying.

"You might know him better as Emerald," Hermione replied. "Ex-gang member, you met him at a soup kitchen."

"Who are you?" Catalina snapped. Hermione was actually surprised that the other girl hadn't simply slammed the door in her face.

"I'm his friend," the witch replied hoping that her own face wasn't nearly as expressive as Catalina's. She didn't expect it to be but she was a Gryffindor. Lying wasn't her forte. "I'm here to help him." The other girl eyed the witch precariously and Hermione could practically see the inner wheels turning in her head. She looked over shoulder nervously and then back at Hermione before she finally stepped aside.

"Come in," Catalina said Hermione immediately went in, glad that she wouldn't be having this conversation in the hallway. Hermione followed the Muggle girl into the large, opulent flat. It was decorated in an art deco sort of style and while pretty it wasn't the most functional of living spaces. It made Hermione uncomfortable. She was afraid to touch anything. After all, if she broke it, she wouldn't be able to replace it.

Catalina turned and faced her guest, crossing her tanned arms over her chest.

"Harry isn't here," she said.

"I didn't really expect him to be," Hermione said truthfully.

"Then what do you want?"

"I just want to help him," Hermione repeated. "You know about Jack and Jill?" Catalina nodded. "I want to stop them. I need to stop them."

"Why?" Catalina asked. "What did they ever do to you?"

"Plenty," Hermione responded. "Jack and Jill burned a lot of bridges on their rise to power. They hurt a lot of people and did a lot of bad things."

"They did something...to you."

"A long time ago," Hermione acquiesced. "Will you help me find Harry?"

"Harry has...many people he calls on," Catalina told her. "When he's in trouble, that is."

"Who Catalina?" Hermione pressed. "Who does he go to?" Catalina hedged on answering her. She shifted uncomfortably and seemed to draw in on herself.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Catalina asked. "After all, I don't really know who you are. I don't even know your name."

"My name is Hermione," she said.

"Well great," Catalina responded. "Now what exactly do you want?"

Hermione smiled. That was just the opening she needed. And as she spoke and the Muggle beauty listened, Hermione could tell that Catalina wasn't someone who scared easily. She might even be someone who could help. All Hermione had to do was convince her to help them which was something she was fairly certain she could do.

00000

Being left alone with Black was hard enough. Being left alone with Black and the two Weasleys was downright cruel. He vowed to kill Granger the second she returned from her harebrained little errand. There was no doubt in Snape's mind that this plan would most likely fail and fail with a vengeance. The girl may not have realized the major hole in their plan but he certainly had.

Runaways were simply runaways. They weren't street politicians, they weren't that powerful. They were barely even useful. So what exactly had turned Jack and Jill into such tyrants? Where had they found the means to take over what they had? Snape believed that Granger and her little ragtag team of untouchables were about to poke a sleeping dragon with a bullet. He was almost positive that Jack and Jill-the unstable beings that they were-were incapable of doing this on their own. They worked for someone and Snape wasn't looking forward to finding out who that might be.

And luckily for them all, Potter was trapped in the middle of this war. He had seen or done something that had caused the gang of violent teens to turn against him and force him underground. Snape doubted it had happened because Jill been jealous like Granger had said. But he wasn't about to step into the middle of it all without a very good reason. He was there to get Potter to Hogwarts. If he had to rub elbows with gang members and Creepers he would. It wasn't like he hadn't done it all once before.

He looked over to Black and rolled his eyes. The man was seated at the other end of the couch, his head cocked to the side, and looking like a confused puppy. There was a daytime soap opera on and Snape could easily see that Black was both riveted by it and horribly confused. The Potions Master didn't have the heart or the energy to tell him that it was TV trash.

Finally, Granger walked through the door and this time she wasn't alone. The girl was pretty all things considered. She was Granger's height and while she had clearly tried to dress down in jeans, a lime green jumper, and sneakers, all her clothes were designer and Snape could easily tell that she was from money. She carried herself like a princess and Snape was actually impressed. She did what most Purebloods tried to do almost effortlessly. However, she did look highly uncomfortable standing in the motel. She wasn't used to this kind of living.

"Who is this?" he asked Granger. Black looked just as curious and he saw the two Weasleys looking just as curious from their spot near the beds.

"This is Catalina," Granger said. "Harry's girlfriend."

"Hi," the new girl said quietly, sounding somewhat shy.

"Severus," he said as he stood up to greet her. They shook hands and he could feel that she had a fairly powerful handshake for someone so small. A confident girl, then. "That's Sirius, Ron, and Ginny." He pointed to each person in turn leaving out last names. They wouldn't mean anything to her and the less of themselves they left behind, the better.

"It's nice to meet you," she greeted. Still looking uncomfortable but willing to push past it, she took a seat on the edge of the couch that he just vacated. It gave Snape the opportunity to pull Granger aside as Black immediately began asking the Muggle questions. Mostly about who she was but he suspected that it would quickly lead to questions about Potter.

"How did you get her here?" he asked quietly.

"She doesn't like Jack and Jill either," Granger replied and Snape rolled his eyes.

"Try to remember what we are really here for," he told her. "How is bringing a Muggle into all of this going to help us get Potter to Hogwarts?"

"She was already in all of this," Granger countered. "There's no avoiding that Professor. She can help us; with all of it. Potter trusts her, probably even loves her. If she vouches for us, he'll be much more likely to work with us."

He regarded her for a moment and then decided he might as well let her run with this plan for now. It wasn't as if he had a better way to go about all of this. Potter was undeniably missing, possibly underground. There were only so many options they had at this point. Every day they dallied was another day that the Dark Lord could become aware of the boy's presence in London.

"Fine," he acquiesced. "But how did you get her here?" He knew on instinct that anyone Potter trusted would be leery of strangers claiming to be friends. The kid had too many enemies.

"I told her the truth," Granger said and Snape's eyes nearly bugged at that. "No! Not about Magic, about what was happening in the streets. I told her the truth about me, so she could trust me."

"What truth about you?" he asked, thoroughly curious. What was the bookworm talking about now?

"About what Jack and Jill did to me," she said. "I told her why I want them dead."

With that, the girl broke away from the conversation and rejoined Catalina. Probably to rescue her from Black's incessant questions and leading conversation points. Snape just stared after the Muggleborn. What had happened to her?

He suddenly had a horrible feeling that this story went much deeper than a pissing contest between a bunch of teenagers. This was a deadly game and he was caught in the middle of it without knowing the rules, the players, or the purpose.

Snape dearly hoped that this wasn't what would be the end of him.