Hermione didn't quite know what to think. When she had approached Professor Burroughs she had only wanted to know if he could help Ron recover from the mysterious curse that had him lying comatose in the Hospital Wing. She had never expected the tale she had just heard from the lips of Severus Snape!

According to him, the Headmaster had made sure to put a light forget-for-now charm on the Professors who had known Leandra Sophia Tawnee in the seventies so that they wouldn't recognize her as Hermione Jean Granger when she began her first year at Hogwarts. Severus Snape, though not a Professor during Hermione's second – or was that first? – stay at Hogwarts, had been put under the charm as well. For that Hermione was glad, and Severus as well. He wasn't sure how he would have taken it, when he discovered the annoying know-it-all Gryffindor was his girlfriend from the past. Dumbledore, in all his genius, had let the charms gradually fade away over this past summer and the first few weeks of school.

Severus, disguised as a Duelling Champion named Burroughs, had been recommended to McGonangal by Albus' portrait (which was different from the other portraits in the Headmistress' office only in that the person it depicted wasn't quite dead), and it hadn't taken Severus long to realise that Hermione and Leandra were one and the same. Had he not needed to maintain his cover, he would have broken down and confessed to her immediately.

For in addition to being a Duelling Professor at Hogwarts, Severus still operated as a spy within Voldemort's ranks. This, Hermione though, certainly explained his periods of absence.

He had not removed his disguise during the conversation, something which both disappointed and relieved Hermione. Hearing his voice and tone from someone who looked so foreign to her allowed her to remember the Severus she had loved. She didn't know if she could have bared to hear those words from a Severus twenty year his senior, and the bane of her existence for six years as her Hogwarts Potions Master.

One most definitely good thing did come out of this: Severus was sure he could figure out what was wrong with Ron, and promised to visit the Hospital Wing soon. Severus was a Death Eater after all, and few of the other Death Eaters could keep many secrets from him.

All in all, the encounter left Hermione torn.

She had loved Severus during her time in the past, however short, and he had loved her, he told her as much. They had both been heartbroken by the abrupt end to their relationship. And Severus loved Hermione still, she thought. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, and feel it in his touch the few times his hand had grazed hers. But she was far from sure whether or not she loved him. And it made her feel like a horrible person.

Hermione had never been good with girls. Her friends had been hard in the making, and they had always been boys. Growing up with boys – her three best friends in kindergarten and primary school had been muggle boys, and then Ron and Harry at Hogwarts – hadn't exactly prepared her for the feelings that would come with puberty.

It wasn't until her fourth year at Hogwarts that she even felt like a girl, and a pretty one at that. And that was something she could thank international quidditch-star Viktor Krum for. If he hadn't sought her out in the library and asked her to the Yule Ball, Hermione was sure it would have taken years for any boy to notice her, and even longer for her to do anything about it.

All in all, Hermione had had a crush on six, kissed three, and, well, been private with only one. Who would have thought that about the bookworm with the bushy hair and big front teeth? But had she ever loved anyone? Hermione wasn't so sure.

OoOo

After the confrontation, it didn't take long for Severus to stop by the hospital wing and check on Ron. Hermione had decided not to join the rest of the group in the Hospital Wing as Professor Burroughs was examining Ron. But she was close, sitting in a corridor just off the main hallway leading to the Hospital Wing. Ginny and Luna came out to join her after a while.

"They figured out what's wrong with him," Luna said as they sat down on either side of Hermione.

As Madam Pomfrey had suspected, Ron had been hit by one of the experimental spells the Death Eaters had been working on. Luckily, Burroughs was able to recognize it characteristics.

"And it's a horrible spell, really," Ginny said. "The Professor said that if the person casting it had been trained properly Ron would have become, I don't know, almost infected with ... Death Eater-ness?"

"Did he manage to remove it?" Hermione asked. "I mean, all of it?"

"Yes," Luna said. "I mean, Ron's still sleeping, but Pomfrey said she couldn't see any spellwork on him."

"That's good."

Harry, Neville and Draco joined the girls, leaving Ron alone with his parents, and they all went to lunch in the Great Hall.

"His technique was brilliant," Draco said, mouth full of chicken sandwich, excitedly trying to describe wand movements with his free hand. "He knew exactly what to do! It was almost like the magic itself told him what was wrong with Ron."

"Well, he is a Duelling Master," Harry said, trying to hide an amused twitch to his lips. "It's his job to know these things."

"I wish I get there one day," Draco said, continuing. "To have this intuitive understanding of how magic works, like Dumbledore has. Like you, Harry."

Harry just rolled his eyes. No matter how often Hermione or someone else told him he was good at something magical, Harry just flatly refused to believe it.

"All the professors are like that," Neville said. "Don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Hermione said. "I guess that's why Dumbledore hired them? You need to understand magic to teach it."

"Yeah," Ginny said. "To do magic like we do it, we just sort of have to understand what to do. At least in the younger years that's true. I know I'm not always sure what makes a spell work the way it does."

"It would be really interesting to learn more about magical theory," Hermione said.

"I agree," Luna said. "We learn some now, especially in Charms and Transfiguration, but it's not properly organized, just put in direct context to what we're learning that particular lesson."

"All spells have been invented, haven't they?" Neville said, pausing between bites of food to speak. "How cool wouldn't that be?"

Hermione turned her attention to the meal in front of her as her friends excitedly discussed what kinds of spells they would invent. She hoped Ron was going to be all right – he would have loved to be a part of this conversation. This incident with Ron had really made her think about the troubled times they were in. She had felt undone when her classmates and yearmates had been killed or hurt in the previous Death Eater attacks, but almost loosing Ron... How would she be able to continue if any one of her closest friends eventually were killed? And with reality as it was, Hermione was becoming increasingly aware of the terrifying truth – they couldn't all survive this.

She had never known a Harry that didn't risk his life, and now more than ever she was certain he would have to face Voldemort in a battle of life and death. And there was no way she was letting him go alone, knowing full well that all the others shared the same sentiment.

As dinner came to an end, Hermione was pulled away from her thoughts by Ginny and Nevilles discussion, now increasing in volume, about which of them would make the best auror. They had moved on from experimental spellwork, Hermione decided.

"What do you think, Hermione?" Ginny demanded suddenly, as they were making their way from the Great Hall to the common room.

"About what?"

"Ginny and Neville," Harry said with a sigh, "are both positive they would make the best auror."

"I'm sure they both will be great," Hermione said, causing both Ginny and Neville to ignore her completely and march of ahead, still discussing eagerly. "I know I would never."

"I'm sure you would be a great auror," Luna said.

"I probably would," Hermione said. "But I'd never choose to be an auror."

"You wouldn't`?" Harry asked.

"If I'm lucky enough to get out of this alive, and we're lucky enough to win this war we're in, then I couldn't ever do anything like this again."

"I know what you mean," Harry and Luna said simultaneously, making Hermione smile.

"Ron would, though," Hermione said, "and obviously Ginny and Neville. I though you would too, Harry?"

"Yeah, I know," Harry said. "I thought I would too. But... I don't know. What happened to Ron really made me think. As you said, if we all get through this alive I just want to ... live."

"I know exactly what you mean Harry," Luna said. "That's what I want to do too. I want to get through this and then spend years just doing what I love best. I'll go find strange animals all over the world, you'll be an international quidditch star, and Hermione will take over the Ministry of Magic!"

Harry and Luna laughed loudly as Hermione protested against Luna's prophecy.

As they headed into the common room they hear Ginny, had entered with Neville shorty before them, squeal enthusiastically. As they entered the room they found her embracing –

"Ron!"

The three of them joined Neville, circling Ron who had occupied the most comfortable chair in the room.

"Are you feeling better?" Hermione asked as she hugged him.

"Much," Ron said with a smile. "Don't remember much, honestly. I think you guys suffered more than me."

And he seemed honestly all right, sitting comfortably in the chair with his friends all around filling him in on what he had missed.

OoOo

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were visiting Dumbledore. The old wizard was doing much better, and was beginning to tire of his rooms. But he was the one who urged that they continue to keep his existence hidden.

"But when?" Ron asked, "When do you 'return'?"

"The moment will present itself," Albus said, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"What about the Horcruxes, " Harry asked, impatient. "We have Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup, but how do we 'kill' them? Morag suggested we use a basilisk fang, like with the diary."

"Would that work?" Ginny asked, interrupting. "Would they still be down there?"

"They are very potent," Albus said, "and strong."

"I'm going down there," Harry announced. "We have to try!"

Ron and Hermione immediately declared that they would go with him.

"I- I can't," Ginny said. "I can't go back down."

Harry grabbed one of her hands with his own.

"I would never ask that of you."

Eager to make headway in this battle against the Horcruxes, the three of them left Ginny with Dumbledore and headed towards the Room of Requirement. They had hidden the Horcruxes there, trusting in Hogwarts' own magic to hide them.

Ron grabbed the locket and Hermione the goblet, and they headed down to the second floor girls bathroom.

Hermione never felt comfortable in Myrtle's bathroom. In their second year Hermione had mistakenly ingested a cat-hair-infused polyjuice potion which had landed her in the Hospital Wing for weeks, and Myrtle kept bringing it up every time Hermione visited the bathroom.

Harry hurried over to the sink with the engraved snake, and hissed a word both Hermione and Ron recognised as 'open' in Parsletongue.

"I think I've been around you for too long," Ron joked. "I'm beginning to learn Parsletongue!"

Harry only grinned in reply before leaping into the hole that had opened, leaving Hermione and Ron to follow.

Hermione had never been in the Chamber of Secrets before, and was intrigued. This was a piece of wizarding history! Ron and Harry kept joking that she'd soon be sending in a revision to the publishers of 'Hogwarts: A History' including the stories and secrets the three of them had collected during their years at the school. Hermione laughed with them, but secretly she was sure they were right. An account of the Chamber should be written. Harry and Ron couldn't be bothered, Ginny would rather not think about it, and Lockhart couldn't think about it. It seemed as though it was up to her.

At the next entrance Ron tried to hiss out the 'open'-command a few times, but failed. He wasn't quite fluent in Parsletongue yet, though Harry swore he was close.

The three of them moved into the last room after Harry had taken pity on Ron and opened the door. Harry strode forward confidently, with Hermione and Ron following hesitantly. They had never been here before. As they walked the room opened up, and the giant snake was revealed. If Hermione hadn't known Harry had killed the snake five years ago, she would have tempted to believe it was still alive.

"Are you sure it's dead?" Ron, who had come to a full stop the second he spotted the snake, asked nervously.

"Yeah," Harry said. "I killed it, didn't I?"

"They're extremely magical," Hermione said, "and even more so the bigger they are. This one is huge."

Although the basilisk might look like it was sleeping from a distance, up close it was most certainly dead. Its scales were loose and some had fallen off, what remained of its eyes had turned grey and the general aroma didn't exactly smell fresh.

"How do we do this?" Harry asked. He was standing by the basilisk's head. Hermione couldn't help but imagine how small he must have been at twelve, when he killed it.

"We get the fangs, and then I guess we try poking the Horcruxes with them," Ron said, confidence returned now that the snake actually looked dead.

Hermione walked over to Harry, and together – she supporting the giant skull with magic while he put his hands directly into its terrifying mouth – they managed to get hold of a fang.

It was huge.

Hermione no longer had any problems understanding what Harry meant five years ago when he said he was bitten through the arm.

Ron had put the two Horcruxes on the ground.

They looked oddly peaceful, the locket and the goblet, sitting side by side on the ground. But Hermione could feel the magic in them as she and the boys advanced towards them armed with something that could kill them.

"It feels as if they know," Ron said, shuddering.

"I think they do," Harry said, eyes dark. "Let's do this quick!"

He tightened his grip on the fang, and strode purposefully towards the locket. He kneeled in front of it, arm raised to strike.

And stopped.

Hermione and Ron exchanged worried glances as Harry remained kneeling, arm frozen in the air, staring intently at the locket.

"Something's wrong," Ron said. "I bet it's talking to him, or something."

"Parseltounge," Hermione said.

The two of them moved closer to Harry, one on either side. Hermione knelt down by Harry, and reached up to wrap her hand around his, tightening both their grips around the fang.

"Harry," she said softly. "We have to kill it."

Ron, on Harry's other side, reached around him, his long reach allowing him to place his hand over Hermione's. She rested her head on Harry's shoulder as Ron hugged them both close, and together the two of them quickly forced the fang down and plunged it into the front of the locket, piercing it. A shriek sounded from the broken piece, and the three of them where pushed a few feet back as something like a wind blew from the dying object. And then everything was quiet.

Harry was shivering slightly, leaning into his two best friends.

"Thanks," he said.

Ron helped Harry up, as Hermione wrenched the fang free from the locket.

"I'm doing it this time," Hermione said, looking at Harry's pale face.

She stepped over to the goblet, with Ron on one side and Harry on the other. She kneeled down, clasped the fang tightly in both hands and lifted it, ready to strike.

Staring intently at the goblet, she could barely feel the two others by her side. The golden metal seemed to be whispering to her, glimmering softly although there shouldn't be much light to glimmer in. The badger on its front seemed to be moving, the intricate details swimming in and out if focus. This is a priceless heirloom, a relic from the past. And she was going to destroy it? Hermione knew she was kneeling, and had a weapon raised ready to plunge into the cup in front of her. But she couldn't remember why or, looking at it, seem to figure it out. Who would ever want to destroy something so beautiful, something so valuable?

Suddenly strong hands closed around her own, forceful arms encircled her shoulders and waist. What was happening? She looked at the cup. Someone was trying to make her destroy it. Shefelt anger bubbling as this malevolent outside force plunged her armed hands down upon the golden cup. No!

As a strong pulse of air and a shrill scream sounded from the cup, Hermione found herself almost waking up several feet away from it, wrapped in Ron's and Harry's arms.

"What happened?" she asked, feeling puzzled.

"We did it," Ron said, standing up, "we killed them."

Hermione rose, feeling her feet trembling slightly under her.

"Are we sure?"

"I'm pretty sure," Harry said, picking up the two now broken objects. "But we'll bring them back up to Dumbledore and Ginny to be certain. His hands, now clasping the two silent objects, were trembling.

"Here," Ron said, peeling of his sweater, "put them in this." He tied the sweater into a pouch of sorts, allowing Harry to safely place the former Horcruxes inside. Hermione released a shaky breath as the objects disappeared out of sight.

"You killed the diary, Dumbledore killed the ring and now we've killed the goblet and the locket." Ron said confidently. "We're getting there."

Not having Fawkes with them this time to get out of the Chamber, they walked back to the opening up to Myrtles bathroom. Summoning ropes from their wands and with a little struggle, the three of them made it out feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. It felt like it took them an hour to reach Dumbledore's chambers.

"Did you do it?" Ginny asked anxiously as soon as they entered the room.

"I think so," Harry said, giving a weak smile.

Ron emptied his makeshift bag onto a table. Both Dumbledore and Ginny moved closer to investigate. Their approaches seemed very different. Ginny kept most of her body at a respectable distance, only offering the tips of her fingers to touch the two objects. Dumbledore however bent close to the table, inspecting the mangled cup and locket carefully – close but never actually touching. But they both came to the same conclusion.

"Dead, gone, broken," Ginny said rapidly as soon as she had touched both, and stepped away from the table.

"Miss Weasley is correct," Dumbledore said. "There is nothing left in these former Horcruxes." He picked them up, and put them away in a drawer in a desk.