It was nearing mid-July when Hermione happened to pass by her professors room as he was packing. He had forgotten to close his door, as he did on occasion, and was now completely absorbed in his work. Curious, Hermione walked closer to the open door and simply watched her professor.

Though she knew it was rude and would likely result in him yelling at her, she couldn't help it. It was rare to see any wizard of legal age packing the muggle way. And on top of that, she found it even more strange to see her professor, the terrifying one, doing something so mundane.

So caught up in her musings, she didn't notice her professor pause in his packing. He stood tall and looked to the woman standing in his doorway, staring blankly at him. He waited for a few moments before giving up with a sigh, knowing that she was to far in her thoughts. So, with another sigh, he stepped forward and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

Hermione leaped back from the sound and looked around her wildly for a moment before she realized her professor standing in front of her, fighting off a smirk. She straightened her back and tilted her head back only slightly, trying to be taller and look down her nose at him. Though, seeing how tall he was, this was impossible for a person of her short stature.

"Miss Granger, would you like to explain why you're watching me?" If it were at school, Hermione was sure this conversation would result in a lecture, detention, and hefty point loss. Though she couldn't tell if she would get a lecture or not, she knew that she would definitely not get a detention, nor would she loose any points.

"I was just wondering why you were packing." He rose an eyebrow.

"And wouldn't asking me be the more effective route?" She smiled slightly and relaxed, knowing that he wasn't angry. She was surprised by how comfortable she was now in his presence, but she figured spending every morning and meal with him would make them more relaxed with each other.

"It looked like you were thinking about something."

"I'm always thinking, you haven't had any issue interrupting my thoughts before." At the small frown she gave, he was once more tempted to smirk. But, deciding that he needed to leave soon, he answered. "I must return to London as soon as possible. Order business." Though the last part was a slight lie, it did have to do with the Order.

Hermione, oblivious to his lie, nodded quickly. She understood that, as a senior member, he had many things he had to do. His intelligence and expertise were probably unmatched. So, with a smile, she turned away and continued down stairs towards the ocean.

Severus watched the curly haired young woman leave down the hallway. As she disappeared from sight, he turned back into his room with a sigh and thought about the letter he had received earlier that morning from Narcissa, telling him that she would be at his home in a few days.

=^.^=

Albus looked down to the boy with sad eyes. He loved him so much, like a grandfather loved his grandson. He felt bad about lying to the boy about his godfather, but it was necessary. He knew that the boys mind was connected, through his scar, to Tom. And Tom could never know that someone could be brought back to life, it would be met with disastrous results.

And so, looking down to Harry, Albus ignored all the things he was hiding from the boy, including the reason for his injury, and thought to himself that it was all for the best.

=^.^=

It was the last week that they would be with Adelais when he called them to the main sitting room. Waiting for him to speak, Hermione looked out the wall of windows. The ocean was deep blue with the sun glinting off it in a warm glow. The ocean moved back and forth lazily, a few white tipped waves breaking against the golden sands of the beaches. As a couch squeaked slightly, Hermione turned back around, noticing that Rose had just sat down. She gave a quick smile to the woman before focusing on Adelais.

"After extensive research, which I will not go into now," He gave a pointed look to the now sheepish Hermione. "I have discovered how Mister Black was able to survive." Sirius sat up, scooting to the edge of his seat and looking intently at the man in front of him. Adelais scowled and glared at him. "Boy, believe me when I say that moving closer and looking like an over eager pup will not help you in hearing. Now, resume sitting normally so that I may continue." Sirius glared at him, yet, nonetheless, he did as he was instructed.

"Can we hear it now?" Adelais closed his eyes for a moment, muttering about how he wished that Sirius was one of his students in school. Sirius gulped and added a faint 'Please' to the end of his statement. Adelais gave a glare and instead focused on Hermione.

"Mister Black died the moment he was hit with the killing curse." A noise came from Sirius before Rose pinched his arm, effectively making him quiet. "Now, the properties of the Veil have always been a mystery, hence the reason it is in the Department of Mystery. Many believe that those whom pass through will die. But this is not true." He paused here, building anticipation, and Hermione briefly wondered if this was where her potions professor had picked up the habit. "The Veil actually reverses the state of the one passing through." The occupants in the room blinked at him, all wondering what the man meant. It was Rose that spoke up.

"Adelais, if you don't stop with these dramatics…"She let the end of her sentence trail off, letting her friend know without words what would happen. Adelais smiled and relaxed into his seat, taking a sip of his tea, allowing the curiosity to boil within those in the room.

"Fine, what I mean is, those who pass through switch states." He held up a hand. "All of those that had previously gone through the Veil had been alive when they went through. Their life span would equal the minutes it would take for them to come out the other side. They all came out dead." Sirius scrunched his eyes in confusion, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Look, don't bite my head off, but what do you mean?" Adelais, whom had taken his teaching attitude, looked at Sirius and answered his question.

"Let us take you for example, Mister Black. You are, what, thirty six, yes?" At Sirius's nod, Adelais continued. "As I said, you died when the killing curse hit you. That happened directly before you fell through the Veil. Since no one else knew of the Veil's properties, they thought you dead and moved on. But thirty six minutes after you fell through the Veil, you came out the other side, alive. You were then found by Albus, whom was waiting for you. Do you understand now?" The two men stared at each other for a few moments before Sirius nodded. The room was quiet for only a moment.

"If that is all?" The men and teen turned to Rose as she stood. Adelais gave a small nod. "Then I suggest we continue with our work. After all, we only have a week left." Hermione stood quickly and, with a nod from Adelais, ran out to the ocean to begin caring for the underwater garden. When the women were gone from the room, Adelais turned back to Sirius.

"You already know that I will not let you stay here, yes?" Sirius sighed and gave a nod as he sat back in his seat. He closed his eyes and the room was once more silent for a long time before Adelais spoke up again. "I have an idea." Opening his grey eyes, he looked over to the piercing eyes of the tall man across from him.

=^.^=

Hermione shifted uncomfortably on the train, nervously petting the head of the crane standing next to her. They were lucky that Hogwarts school rules did not restrict the older students familiars. She sighed as Ron once more gave the large bird an odd look, something between fear and annoyance. Suddenly, the door to their compartment opened.

Standing their was Ginny and Neville-whom was fairly winded. Ginny glanced briefly to her brother and his crush before moving on to Harry, locking her brown eyes with his green ones. Her breath caught briefly in her throat, though she was careful to not show this, before she could speak.

"Harry, you're suppose to come with me and Neville to Professor Slughorn's compartment." Harry blinked slightly in shock before giving a slow nod and standing up. With a glance back to his friends, he followed Ginny and Neville down the train.

Once Harry had moved onto the next train car, Ron closed the compartment door and sat down. The room was silent as the two avoided each others gaze. Ron, now more nervous than ever to be alone with his crush, couldn't bare to look at her without blushing. And Hermione couldn't look at Ron due to the fact that she was afraid he would see something he shouldn't. And so the two stayed silent for the rest of their trip, staying silent even as they got off the train and wondered where the missing third of their trio was.

=^.^=

Hermione huffed angrily as she glanced over to Harry's perfect potion. Though hers was also perfect, his was much farther along, and he was doing it effortlessly. And on the other hand, for the first time in her magical life, she was behind while working hard. Taking a deep breath, she tried to force herself to continue working, to not pay attention to Harry. But that was forgotten the moment Slughorn's large figure waddled up to their table.

"My, my, this is one of the best potions I've ever seen! Good job, my boy." He smiled down to the messy haired boy proudly before moving on after telling Hermione a quick 'Good Job.' She huffed again as she stared pointedly at her potion, ignoring Ron telling Harry good job.

She couldn't believe it, she was, for the first time, not the best. She had always been the best, especially in Potions. This was the one place she thought no one would be able to out shine her. This was her place. She had one of the greatest potion masters as her personal teacher! So how was Harry, this boy who never really understood potions, doing better than her?

So with another glare to Harry's nearly completed, perfect Potion, she turned back to her own simmering potion.

=^.^=

Hermione looked around her once more, searching the Great Hall for Harry before giving up. He was, once more, skipping dinner. She looked down to the warm soup set in front of her and half heartedly stuck her spoon in. Her eyes remained fixed onto the table as Ron spoke on and on about Quidditch. The soup set heavily in her mouth and she had to swallow hard to get it down.

Realizing that eating was going to be pointless while she was this upset she stood quickly from her seat, surprising Ron into silence, and made an excuse about needing to go to the library and she quickly left. She walked silently around the castle, attempting to dispel some of her frustration.

The long corridors were dark and silent, all of the students happily tucked into their meals. That is, of course, not including herself and Harry. She sighed once more and sped up in her walking, her bag hitting the back of her knee with every step.

The longer she walked, the larger her frustration grew. She growled to herself and pulled slightly at her hair as the thoughts swirled darkly in her head and the air around her became charged. 'Why did Harry suddenly have to become so good at potions? How is he able to follow the Prince's instructions but no one else's? and why does he keep the book? It's obviously no good!' her thoughts continued to whirl around in circles as the air became thicker with magic.

Deep in her, she knew that really she was only worried: worried that her friends would no longer need her if they got smarter. She knew she wasn't a likeable person. She knew it. When she thought she was just a muggle, the others kids had always teased her, made fun of her for her looks and her attitude and where she lived. Whenever there was a new kid that didn't really know her, they would dislike her because she bossy. But that all changed when she came here and met Harry and Ron. They hung out with her, included her in things, laughed with her - not at her. But it was all because she was smart.

She never would have really met them if she hadn't been smart, and they wouldn't have kept her with them if she hadn't been smart. She knew that, to an extent, the boys liked her as a person. But she also knew that they were teenage boys, and that if they became smarter than her they would leave her, since she certainly didn't have the looks on her side.

Hermione sighed again and finally paused in her walking. Glancing around her at the dark corridor, she fingered her wand before quickly grabbing it and summoning her flames. She smiled at the slowly moving, deep blue flames as they quivered around her. She reached up with one hand and let a flame dance around her arm before she turned around and left to go outside, never realizing that she had stopped in front of the Headmasters office.

=^.^=

Albus looked over to the painting of Jonathan, the auburn haired man looking sober as he waited for Albus to speak. With a quick glance to Harry, whom had his head plunged in the Pensieve, Albus walked away and stood closer to the painting.

"What is it, Jonathan?" The man gave a small sigh as he, too, looked at the boy bent over. He focused back in on the Headmaster of the school.

"Miss Granger is wandering the halls, she looks quite upset." He paused for a moment. "I think your lessons with Mister Potter are disrupting the balance of our dear Golden Trio." He stared intensely at the old blue eyes man as he rubbed a hand over his wrinkled face. He sighed and slumped against the wall by the painting, staring at Harry whom was still watching the memories of young Tom Riddle. Jonathan focused in on the boy as he awaited for the man to speak.

"You of all people should know that I don't have a choice. Harry needs to know all that he can before the war hits us. I won't be around long enough to help him find all of the Horcruxes. One of them will need to know how to find them." His voice had risen slightly near the end, as if he were trying to convince himself more than the painting of the man. The silence stretched between them before Jonathan spoke in a soft, solemn voice that few rarely heard from him.

"Then why not teach Miss Granger and Mister Weasley too? Miss Granger is far better at figuring people out, she would know how to go about finding where the Horcruxes and what they are. Plus, she happens to also be able feel Tom's magic. She could feel out the Horcruxes if need be. And Mister Weasley is much better at figuring out how to use his resources to the best of their abilities. Mister Potter is strong, and powerful. But he is most definitely not the best option for these lessons. Why him?" Albus glanced sharply to the painting, though he could not clearly see it's contents due to the angle. He returned his gaze to Harry with a sigh before once more speaking up.

"Like you said, Mister Weasley is better at figuring how to go about obtaining the Horcrux, not figuring out what or where it is. And Miss Granger…she can't be trusted. She has Tom's magic, she is dark. And she spends her summers with only Adelais and Rose. And, although I know they don't support Tom, I do know they don't support the war at all. If Hermione were to tell them what she is learning with me, then they would pull her from England and keep her away from the war." Jonathan frowned.

"Alright, I understand Mister Weasley, but why not Miss Granger? You say you don't trust her, but yet you are going to let her run around the country with Mister Potter to find the Horcruxes? And you know she isn't dark. Mr. Ollivander could tell you that. You know she can be trusted. So what's the real reason, Albus." Albus ground his teeth and looked away from Harry as he thought over a way to get out of this.

He knew exactly why he didn't want to give her private lessons. It was because she was to strong minded. She wasn't easy to mold like Harry and Mister Weasley. She actually thought things out, she considered everything. And usually, her final answer differed from what he wanted. He knew that, truly, Adelais and Rose would still let her fight in the war, it was why they were training her. But he resented her because of her connection with Adelais. The man that had been his own rival in school. Adelais had been the one student that had ever challenged him, both academically and radically. And, although Severus was better for it, he couldn't control him. And now he couldn't control Miss Granger.

He stopped his thoughts immediately at that and focused back into on Jonathan as he realized that the silence had gone on for a very long time. He glanced over to Harry and realized that the memory would soon be ending. Finally he spoke.

"You don't have to send anyone after her, I'm sure she is able to fend for herself." And on that note, he stepped from the wall to quickly stand by the boy that was straightening himself out. Jonathan stood in the painting for a few moments, watching the two, before he left the painting to others in the corridor. Speaking to the other paintings, he found out where Miss Granger had run off to. Quickly, he moved frame to frame in the direction of the girl.

It was high time he finally introduced himself to the girl.

=^.^=

A/N: Ok, first of all, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in forever. I just haven't had any inspiration. But I hope this chapter made up for it. I'm sorry if the style of writing randomly shifts, I wrote half of this a month ago and the rest these past few days. And don't worry, I'll explain the crane in the next chapter.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed!

DISCLAMIER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.