She shuts the boys dormitory door behind her, and switches the lock. Her mind flies to Harry and Ron, who were keeping careful watch on the stairs to make sure that no one was coming up- the last thing she needed was to have to explain that Harry owns something called the Marauder's Map. And what on earth she was doing in the seventh year boys dormitory. She looks at the beds, and based on the things around them, she can tell that Harry's bed is the fourth one in, and Ron's is the fifth. She makes her way to his bed and bends over, pulling his trunk out from underneath his bed.
She heaves and sets it down onto his blue comforter- and due to the hot weather, the comforter, which was jinxed to change in it's thickness depending on the weather, thicker for cold nights and thinner for warm nights, was thin and breezy- and undoes the top, popping it open.
She starts to shift through clothes, Quidditch robes, boxers, socks and the like, searching for a folded piece of parchment. When she can't find it, she decides to check the pockets lining the side. Her fingertips brush three small items, and she grasps them, pulling them out into the air.
The first of the items is the model dragon that Harry had received in the first task of his fourth year. She smiled down at the deeply detailed dragon, which walked up and down her arm, nuzzling her here and there and sending out affectionate bursts of fire that singe her arm hairs. Honestly, it delighted her that Harry had kept this little guy.
She sets it down on Harry's pillow, where it proceeds to make a black mark on the pristine white case, Hermione rolling her eyes as the dragon beamed in delight at the burn mark it had made. She moves her attention to the next object.
She can't help but stare at this one. It was a picture of Harry and Hermione laughing- taken by Colin Creevey in their second year- and it was them in front of the lake, talking about something funny that Hermione couldn't recall. On the bottom of the picture, Colin had scrawled 'Some things that are meant to be don't become apparent until it's too late- don't let this be one of them'. Hermione, who is already shocked at how deep this caption was for an eleven year old, can't help but think about how she had personally watched Harry throw away all of the pictures Colin sent him- Harry got at least three every hour.
But he had kept this one.
She turns the picture over to see Harry's handwriting, and it said '...maybe you're right Colin.'.
She terribly wants to take the picture and keep it with her forever, for they both looked so happy and carefree- and they were still innocent. Unlike how they all were now, with so many deaths on their sleeves. But Harry had kept this picture for a reason- he had wanted it. She had no right to come in and take it from his trunk when she was supposed to be trying to save Dennis.
Hermione's brain immediately snaps back to what she was supposed to be doing and she sets the photograph down to examine the final thing she had pulled out from Harry's trunk. And sure enough, it was a folded piece of parchment- the very one that would show her where Dennis was.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She says, tapping the parchment with her wand. Immediately a full map of the Hogwarts grounds appears, and she searches for Dennis's name- only to find that it isn't there.
Hermione frowns. "What?"
She searches again, and again. It is in the middle of her search that the door opens and Hermione jumps with a start, dropping her wand and map. The map flutters to her feet and her wand rolls under Harry's bed.
Hermione groans when she sees that it's only Harry and Ron who had come in. "What do you two want? I nearly found him."
"No, you didn't." Harry says, snatching her wand out from under his bed and handing it to her, as well as taking the map to look at himself. "You've been up here for a half hour, and it takes two minutes tops to find someone on the map. Either he's not here or you aren't looking hard enough-we'll find him for you."
The pair peer at the map together, Hermione rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, watching hotly as their faces grow confused when they can't find Dennis on the map.
There's a moment of silence before Ron speaks. "How do we find him if he isn't on the bloody map?"
Hermione snatches it from them, scanning one last time. "I don't even understand how he isn't on there- Bellatrix couldn't leave Hogwarts, because this is where she is placed to haunt. Unless she cursed him somewhere, but she would have had to do it before I captured her. Or maybe she...killed him. Oh dear- what if she hurt him? Naturally she can't do that now that I have her locked up, but... Merlin. What could she have done with Dennis?"
Harry sits down on the bed, Hermione placing herself next to him, and Ron on the other side of her. "Maybe... maybe she locked him up somewhere else? Or... I don't know, honestly. Not a clue."
Hermione frowns. "Well then there is only one thing for us to do- we have to call upon Bellatrix."
Ron stares at her. "Call Bellatrix? As in summon her? Hermione, no offense, but that is a terrible idea."
Harry nods. "Bloody bonkers."
She shakes her head. "No. No it isn't. I need to summon her, for she is under my control, and then I can get her to tell me where she has Dennis and if he's okay."
She clambers to her feet- well, she attempts to. Harry and Ron pull her back down onto the bed before she can even get two steps away from them. "No way are you doing another 'adventure' alone. We've always done these things together, and here you are doing things alone all of the time." Ron says.
"Yeah, Hermione, we love you and we want to help." Harry says.
Hermione pinches her lips together. "If I remember correctly, the first time I did something on my own this year you both said it was a bad idea and refused to go-"
"-actually you left before we could fully refuse-"
"-so don't act like it's my fault. Secondly- I merrily said I had to be the one to summon her. I didn't say I was doing it alone." She says, earning a well deserved grin from Harry and Ron.
"Let's kick some ghost butt." Ron says, clapping his hands. "It'll be just like old times."
She raises an eyebrow. "Oh? Did we do a lot of ghost catching when we were younger?"
Ron shrugs. "No, but we did do a lot of stupid and dangerous stuff."
"Touche." Hermione replies.
~~~~~
Harry claps his hands. "Alright. Who's the boss?"
"Obviously me." Ron says, puffing his chest.
Harry raises an eyebrow. "And why you? We need a leader to help us to make the right decisions and keep a cool head- no offense mate, but I don't think you're the right suitor for that job."
Ron frowns. "I'm the perfect suitor-"
"Maybe it should be me." Harry suggests. "I mean, I have lead people on missions and things like this before-"
Ron scowls now. "No way, it should be me-"
"No-"
Out of nowhere, a large paperback book whacks both of them over the top of the head. The person holding it, Hermione, grins at them. "Obviously I'm the leader. Now, Ron, go lock the door."
Ron nods. "Alright- but if you two start a snog-session while I'm gone, I swear to Merlin-"
Hermione grabs the front of Harry's shirt and pulls him forward, giving him a quick kiss on the mouth. She then releases him, leaving Harry dazed and grinning stupidly. "And you'll do what? Go on and lock the doors, Ronald."
Ron huffs and stalks towards the door, and Harry turns back to Hermione, who was now furiously flipping through the pages of her book, titles The Art of Ghosts and the Undead. "Well? What do I do?"
"For now? Stay put."
Harry shoves his hands in his pockets and looks at the floor. "Hey Hermione."
She doesn't look up from her book. "Hmm?"
"So... what kind of house do you think we should buy when we graduate?"
Hermione looks up now, trying to conceal a smile. "Are you honestly trying to make small talk with me at a time like this?"
Harry shrugs. "Why not? We're going to move in together and become the parents of Teddy Lupin, and we haven't even talked about what color his bedroom is going to be."
Hermione halts. "Parents?" She murmurs quietly.
Harry is instantly afraid that he went too far. "Well, I mean, Andromeda already filled out the paperwork for us, and you said you would move in with me and help me take care of him- but I totally understand if you don't want to help me with him anymore-"
Hermione stares at his face, which was burning crimson. "No way- I'm still moving in with you, and I'm still helping you with Teddy."
"Then what's the-?"
"Problem?" Hermione finishes. "No it's not a problem- I just hadn't thought much about it, and the idea of being a parent so young is kind of scary."
Harry shrugs. "Well we'll be more of his guardian for now, and it'll be up to him whether we're his true 'parents' or not."
Just then, Ron enters, swinging the key chain around his finger and tossing his wand into the air, catching it in his palm each time. He was even whistling, as if he had no idea what he had barged in on.
Hermione rolls her eyes. "Does it take that long to lock a door?"
Ron defends himself. "You told me to lock it manually and with three spells! It would have taken anyone-"
"-thirty seconds. It would have taken anyone thirty seconds." Hermione says, shutting her book and looking him in the eye. Harry was grinning as he watched Ron squirm under Hermione's stare- he could tell Hermione was only playing with him.
Ron bursts out. "Alright so I heard part of you're conversation it sounded important, I mean- you were talking about this kid that you two are going to take in as your own- so I figured I should give you some time to talk about it before I barged into the picture." He snorts. "Excuse me for being polite."
Hermione snorts as well. "Alright, Ron, don't get your drawers in a knot- I was only playing. But thank you." She sets the book down onto the floor beside her feet. "Right, so the spell I have to cast isn't really a spell, it's more like a chant. And I have the whole thing memorized-"
"-obviously-" Ron and Harry both say, receiving a glare from Hermione, who continues on.
"-so I'm not going to have to be staring at the book the entire time. This spell requires a lot of magic, and I'll be exhausted for a minute, so the second that Bellatrix appears, I'm going to take a strength replenishing potion. It'll only take me a second to drink the potion- but as soon as you both see Bellatrix appear, I want you to bind her with your wands." She points to two places in the room- one for Ron on the left side and one for Harry on the right. "You two will stand there, which will be on either side of her."
Ron raises his hand. "Why do we have to bind her? I thought you already had control of her without binding her up."
Hermione grins. "You know me. Over-achiever. Now go on."
Harry and Ron run to take their places, wands ready, as Hermione begins to chant, her wand sending out a foggy and harsh burst of white light.
"From the deepest parts of the afterlife you reside,
Far into the center of the earth you hide,
Only thoughts of you remain,
Your spirit alive in one's memory lane,
But I command you back to the surface now,
And it is for me in which you bow,
For I control you, I command you,
For it was I, the one to banish you,
I command you here today,
So rise up before me Bellatrix Lestrange."
-This chant is property of Magisky, who made it up on her own and deserves a pat on the back. Just kidding- but seriously, don't take it. Make your own.
The earth begins to rumble, but Harry has the feeling that the three of them were the only ones that could feel it. Hermione lets her hand drop, and her knees immediately bend and nearly buckle, but she holds herself up as she pulls out a vial with shaking hands. She downs it just as Harry turns to see a dark figure emerging from the black smoke that had started to swirl in the center of the room.
Both Harry and Ron shout "Incarcerous!" at the same time.
Shining black ropes snake out of their wands, binding the ghost, which doesn't really make sense to Harry since she's a ghost, but he supposes it is magical ropes- but all of that washes from his mind when he sees Bellatrix.
Hermione had done a good job describing her- she was just as terrifying in real life, the only difference being that the scariest parts of her were more prominent- the crazed look in her eye and the ferocious scowl on her lips. "WHO DARES CALL UPON BELLATRIX LESTRANGE?"
Hermione voice is heard, but with all of the black smoke that had conjured when Bellatrix appeared, Harry can't see her. "Who else would have called you?" And then, much to Harry and Ron's delight, Hermione doesn't say something like "It is I, Hermione Granger.". Instead she says, "It's Hermione, you great buffoon, and you would know that if you would have ever bothered to pick up a book and learn something. Honestly, that's the first rule in the summonings of a ghost- only the person who trapped you in the afterlife may summon you."
Ron's voice is heard too. "Alright, Professor, let's not do a lesson right this moment. Tell her what we want."
Bellatrix's eyes gleam. "I suppose you're hear to speak about the Dennis boy?"
Hermione responds hotly. "You are correct."
Bellatrix's shrill laugh echoes through the room. "Oh my dears- Dennis is gone."