Hi, it's me, Jenn, back again with another story! This is going to be a very long (hopefully) work in progress for me as I slowly get through 2020 with the rest of the world and try and keep myself sane. I've had this stuck in my head for a while but never had much idea of how to write it. Now that the world is stuck, I've been researching like crazy for this story and I've finally found my way in. If there's much interest in it, I'll try post weekly, but we'll see how this goes, shall we!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable, I just play with the world and the characters. No profits made. Everything is JK's.

Chapter One: The Unspeakable

Hermione Granger was a successful 21-year-old witch with a flourishing career and a stable relationship. She was in her prime, working hard within the Department of Mysteries deep within the belly of the Ministry of Magic. Every day had a routine for her, regardless of what tasks she would be completing in the department – after her morning pot of tea and perusal of the papers she would floo to Grimmauld Place, where Harry and Ron were living together, hurry the two Aurors along and shuffle together with them to the Ministry of Magic foyer where Hermione would give Ron a quick kiss and they would go their separate ways. Hermione would then carry out her daily tasks and apparate back to Grimmauld Place to spend time with her boyfriend and best friend, eat dinner and discuss the day's events before returning home – occasionally with Ron in tow.

This particular Monday was no different. Hermione even packed some crumpets for herself and the boys before she dressed in her dark-wash skinny jeans, fitted burgundy t-shirt and black court shoes under her Unspeakable robes and flooed to Grimmauld Place. Ron greeted her as normal with a peck on the cheek, snagging a crumpet from her fingers with one hand as he towelled off his hair with the other. Harry swooped in not long after, hugging Hermione as she fussed over his unruly hair. The trio soon arrived in the Ministry and Ron bent to kiss Hermione as she stepped into the elevator taking her down to the ninth floor – the Department of Mysteries. The long and dimly lit corridor which once danced through Hermione's nightmares had now become an unusual home to the girl. Her heels echoed off the polished stone as she traversed to the far end where the only door stood. Opening the door, she was confronted with the Entrance Chamber, surrounding her with twelve new doors – a trick which took her a few months to have a 100% success rate of opening the correct one – now two years into the position she could pinpoint the exact door that would lead her to the offices. Stepping into the offices, one would not be able to tell that this was such a mysterious department, where the entrance had been shrouded in flickering blue flames, the offices were welcoming, basking in warmth from a fireplace and illuminated by regular orange-flamed candles. This common area was where all Unspeakables convened daily before heading into their own divisions, each with their own small office space, a shared kitchen area, and dining area. A door lead from this shared space to another cryptically designed room, where immediately it felt as though one was floating in an abyss with only twinkling lights to break the blackness, as everything else in the room was floating as well – doors leading to each of the divisions as well as a thoroughly stocked library which was larger than all of the divisions combined, chairs, lanterns which gave light that was immediately swallowed by its surrounds, and memos in transit.

Hermione currently was not working for a specific division and had most recently been assigned to the Thought division, studying the encephala in the Brain room. Today she would be assigned her newest division and consequently her new mentor. Hermione smiled at her colleagues and greeted them with pleasantries and small-talk as she made her way to her desk, setting down a black, leather handbag which she had placed an undetectable extension charm on – identical to that on her beaded bag. The Unspeakables were like a family – only those within the Department of Mysteries could speak to each other of what they were working on, and the small group of them would grow closer with every new discovery or near-death experience each of them would have. Hermione was one of only twelve department employees and she felt grateful every day that she had been accepted into the Department of Mysteries straight after finishing her "eighth" year of schooling at Hogwarts. She was the youngest member of her department by decades and she had respect for every single one of her colleagues, as they had for her. Her "golden girl" status held no weight within this department as they did not climb ranks – every one of them was treated as equals and mentors were only assigned as those with more experience within the department, rather than superiors, something they would only have to do once in a while as they inducted new members. The department itself answered to no one within the Ministry and would function separately, however extremely vague and cryptic reports would have to be made to the Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, every month, and for this they had Saul Croaker – the oldest member of the Unspeakables – their unofficial leader and the face of their small team.

Hermione met with Saul, who let her know that she would be working in the Death division alongside Domenico Hellash, who appeared beside her as he was mentioned. The two talked amicably as they headed to the room of doors and Hermione followed Domenico through the furthest door and into the Death chamber. She had been into this room before but never to research in this division, thus never staying for very long. The room was as it had been all those years ago as she remembered Sirius' body falling through the veil, never to be seen again. It was a relatively musty room, with amphitheatre-like large stairs on all four of the rectangular room's walls, and a raised dais in the centre, where stood the arch veil. In contrast to the cold, still room, Domenico was lively – a middle-aged, tall, Italian man who looked like he should have been a model, with bulging muscles, a kind face and a deep tan which surely had to be unnatural considering all of the time the Unspeakables spent underground.

"The death division has not had a new member since I first joined this department." Domenico began, "I hope that you find your place here. It seems to me that this is the most confronting division and I have yet to find someone willing to work alongside me for an extended period."

Hermione smiled at the older man, "I've found every division I have worked in extremely interesting so far, however I have been itching to delve into this topic for quite some time. My past… experiences," Hermione paused and looked pointedly at the man, "have left me with millions of unanswered questions I would love to research while I'm here, and hopefully I will be working alongside you for years to come."

"In that case, allow me to show you what I have been researching recently." Domenico spread his arms, indicating a desk overflowing with papers in a far corner that Hermione had not noticed before.

As they approached the desk, Domenico began excitedly talking about his research, explaining that he was attempting to create a way to contact those who had passed on – not in a "Resurrection Stone" kind of way, more in a way to converse with the dead but leave each party in their own realm. He had been thinking about it because of the whispers of those loved ones who could be heard within the veil, as well as the idea of potentially questioning murder victims after their death on matters surrounding their own death. He did not know if it were possible and there were risks, of course, to dabbling with the kind of magic and powers that they were attempting to, however he was almost ready to start the experimentation and having an extra set of hands in Hermione, would speed the research up immensely. Throughout the explanation, Hermione was excitedly perusing the notes spread out on the desk before her, bending to follow a long piece of parchment that flowed onto the floor as her eyes travelled over equations and formulae interspersed with translations of runes and ancient languages. Hermione had encountered many of the things she was reading before, however she had not seen these used in the way that was laid out in the notes and her interest piqued when she read over the way that Domenico was planning on carrying out the experiments.

"You can't test this yourself?" Hermione asked, as she read through lines of notes where Domenico had scrawled in the margins.

"No, I do not have a strong enough connection with anyone from the beyond. I barely hear the whispers from the veil." He motioned towards the arch in the centre, "All of the people in my life have died peacefully and have no need to stay behind."

Hermione frowned slightly but nodded her head. Anyone who had been close to her and passed away had all been during the darkest times of the wizarding world, none of these deaths had been peaceful.

"I can hear many voices calling beyond the veil." Hermione stated sadly, "Even from here, they're quite strong."

Domenico placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting fashion, "Would it be terrible of me to ask if you are willing to be the test subject for our experiments?"

"Honestly, I see no other reliable option." Hermione said pragmatically, "Besides, I can see in your notes that you have been very thorough, I'm sure if we finish up with the research, we'll have no doubts about the safety of the experiments."

Domenico grinned widely, "You'll fit in well here, and it'll be nice to have some company for once."

The rest of the day, Hermione spent reading over as many of the notes and texts that Domenico had procured or produced himself, jotting down her own ideas as she read and crossing them out if she came across the same conclusions in Domenico's notes. The two would speak rarely, but it was an amicable silence of colleagues, where Domenico understood that she would need to catch up to where he was before she could input anything particularly useful. Hermione, for her part, was entirely engrossed in the works, but occasionally would hear a loud cry from the veil that would break her concentration and snap her head to the offending arch.

After the fourth time this happened and Hermione's mutterings, Domenico approached the girl, "Are you hearing voices from the beyond?"

"I am, quite loudly there will be a voice that just cries out. I hear a lot of voices, they're all chattering constantly, but this one is louder and yells only occasionally." Hermione nodded.

"Can you tell who it is?" He probed further.

"Not yet. I can only tell that it is male. The voice will only say 'help' and then disappear." Hermione frowned and tried to pinpoint the voice in her memories but found it difficult with only that word.

"It sounds as if you have a very strong connection with this person. Most voices are only whispers but a yell that only you can hear must be a powerful bond. Perhaps a family member, or a past boyfriend?" Domenico suggested.

Hermione shook her head, "No, I haven't had anyone in my family die, and definitely no past boyfriends." She shrugged, "If everything that I'm reading about goes to plan, I'm sure I'll find out who it is soon enough anyway."

Domenico nodded and said nothing further, retreating to his side of the desk to continue with his work.

Hermione was perplexed by the strength of the voice she kept hearing, but pushed it aside as she forged ahead with her reading. There was plenty for her to get through and she wanted to be able to have some input into this project sooner rather than later, not dragging it out for Domenico any longer than she had to. This led to the very first night that she had spent late at the office by losing track of time. Domenico had long since left and she had stayed within the Death chamber's walls for hours as she pored over the dusty tomes and scrawled notes. Her own notes were beginning to take shape and many ideas were forming in her head, especially after hearing the loud cry from beyond the veil. She began to note safety measures and backup plans, ancient runes and druidic rituals. Finally, she shifted in her position and felt an ache in her back and checked the time. She had been researching for well over two hours and hadn't let either of the boys know she'd be late tonight. She abandoned her notes and left the room, hearing a final "please, help!" from the arch as she slipped back into the room of doors, the haunting voice echoing through her brain as she gathered her belongings and left work for the day.

As Hermione left the Ministry, she took her mobile phone from her purse and called Ron. Twice he didn't answer and allowed the call to go through to voicemail. Next she tried Harry, who immediately picked up, worrying through the phone about where she'd been for the last few hours.

"Sorry Harry, I started on a new project today and got caught up in my research. I'll be over in 10. Is Ron there with you?" Hermione responded. The trio had been cautious since the finale of the war, with dwindling numbers of dark wizards still on the loose. As Hermione had never let the boys know, Harry was understandably worried about the missing girl in question.

"Yeah, he's here." Harry's tone changed slightly, where Hermione could tell that Ron was in a bad mood.

Hermione sighed, "I'll be over shortly." She reiterated and hung up.

Ron was quite clingy when it came to Hermione, and occasionally could have small outbursts when things didn't go his way – reminiscent of the time he left the trio in the forest during the horcrux hunt. When the trio first graduated from eighth year, Ron had immediately assumed that Hermione would live alongside the two Aurors in training at Grimmauld Place. Hermione, however, had her own plans to purchase her own small house in muggle London, near Diagon Alley. Her reasonings were sound, where she could keep her classified work secured. Hermione also didn't want her relationship with Ron to move too fast, and moving in together seemed like a very big step to her. Ron was furious and spent days refusing to speak to her and yet never letting her out of his sight. It was infuriating. However, once Ron realised that they would spend just as much time together, he went back to normal, as if nothing had even happened between them. Years of this happening wore Hermione down, but it became such commonplace that she didn't seem to really notice it anymore.

Hermione stopped at a bakery on the way home to pick up some pastries for the boys and apparated to the doorstep of Grimmauld Place. She made her way inside, avoiding the screaming painting, and calling out to the two as she walked down the stairs into the kitchen. She greeted Kreacher and served herself a bowl of soup, which she warmed with her wand, before taking her place at the table.

Harry bounded in first, crushing her in a hug that showed how scared he truly had been, "Hermione, I was so worried about you. You've never been late without letting us know and my mind just went to the worst. Especially with the people we've been tracking down lately, I just thought you could've been…" He trailed off but she understood what he was trying to say.

Hermione hugged her best friend back fiercely, understanding completely the deep worry that he had for her, just as she had for him, "I'm so sorry Harry, I honestly just lost track of time. This new project is something that is going to be very personal and I was just trying to research as much as I could."

He nodded in understanding before stepping back and making some tea. Ron was standing in the doorway, looking towards Hermione as though he were suspicious of her words.

"What're you working on that could have you there so late?" Ron asked coldly.

Hermione sighed, "You know I can't tell you that, Ron."

"What were you even doing?" He continued.

"I was just researching. Taking some notes and reading up on what my partner had been working on before I joined the project." She replied, trying to be as descriptive yet as vague as possible.

"Your partner? A very personal project? Hermione, are you cheating on me?" Ron thundered.

"What!?" Hermione retorted incredulously.

"I said-" Ron began.

"I heard what you said, Ronald Weasley. It sounded like you were accusing me of stepping out on you. We have been together for three years and not once have I shown any signs of being unfaithful. I lose track of time once and suddenly I'm cheating on you!? This is ludicrous." Hermione threw down her spoon, kissed Harry on the cheek and turned on the spot as she apparated to her house, locking her floo and placing extra wards as soon as she got in.

Hermione removed her robe, hanging it by the fireplace, and replaced her heels for fluffy slippers. She untucked her shirt and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, dragging her fingers through her tresses a few times as she meandered her way to the kitchen. Her stomach growled unappreciatively as she paused to massage her temples and she flung open her fridge to see what food she had lying around. She found some cheese and cured meats and sliced herself some crusty bread, placing the kettle on the stove before she plated up her makeshift meal. Her appetite was diminished since the argument, but she knew she needed to eat. Once her tea was brewed, she took her food on a tray into the lounge, where she flipped on the telly to watch a movie and hopefully rid her mind of Ron for a few hours.

Ron, for his part, was being chewed out by Harry, instantly knowing what he had said to Hermione was wrong. He was insecure and always felt inadequate for Hermione, and when she had been so engrossed in her work that she hadn't even spared him a second thought, he assumed the worst. It wasn't fair on Hermione and he certainly didn't mean it, but he couldn't help the words tumbling out of his mouth. Deep down he knew that she would never cheat on him, but the surface insecurities niggled at his brain and made him worry. It would take a few days for her to calm down and him to pluck up the courage to apologise, but they always made it out the other side and he was sure it would be the same again this time. He apologised to Harry, knowing how he hated being in the middle of their arguments, although Harry seemed to think he'd crossed a line tonight. The two drank their tea in a tense silence afterward and, although knowing they were still friends, went to bed without another word.

Harry sent Hermione a quick text when he went to bed to let her know that he was there for her if she needed him, however Hermione didn't want to bring Harry into another argument and bade him goodnight. She felt as though these arguments were becoming more frequent recently, that they fought and made up and everything went back to normal until they fought again. Even her everyday was becoming monotonous and sometimes it felt like they were both just going through the motions. Ron had never accused her of cheating before, however, and Hermione was hurt that his mind immediately went there. She thought that the two had a mutual strength in their trust for one another, however she was obviously mistaken. Her mind swirled with these thoughts and a deep sadness overtook her once the anger had dissipated. She drew herself a bath and lay back, drifting in and out of a relaxed state as she let her mind wander through her day. Once she towelled dry, she turned in for the night, reading a few chapters of a fantasy book before she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take her.

Hermione awoke suddenly in the night, with a nightmare she'd never had before swimming before her eyes. She blinked a few times to clear away images of the swirling mist inside the veil but the strong voice crying "help, please, help!" over and over continued to ring inside her ears. She slept fitfully for the rest of the night, the voice ebbing its way into all of her dreams, forcing itself to consume her subconscious thoughts until all she could think of as she woke the next morning was:

Who are you?

As always, please review and let me know your thoughts!

Love to you all xxx