I know I'm a little late with the update but here's a long chapter to make up for it!

Please comment and let me know what you think!

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Hermione was perplexed and confused by Malfoy's behavior towards her yesterday but she didn't have much time to think about it just now, Cassie had sent her an owl earlier that morning and now Hermione was rushing into the office at seven in the morning.

She had just cleared the lifts when she saw the blonde woman waiting for her. Cassie shoved a cup of coffee into Hermione's hands and started talking very excitedly and very fast. Hermione was barely able to keep up but followed her protege through the labyrinth that was the Department of Mysteries.

"Wait," Hermione interrupted as she was finally able to decipher something that Cassie had said, "you think you've found a place for us to test the Helerean charm?"

"Yes," Cassie breathed excitedly as she opened the door to Hermione's office.

"Well, what is it?" Hermione prompted, as she looked at her grinning companion.

Moments later Hermione and Cassie were racing to the Auror Office, both of them giddy at the prospect of progress. They got up there and found the entire office to be deserted with the exception of Blaise who seemed to be playing tic-tac-toe against himself at the reception desk, when Hermione remembered that she was at work nearly two hours early, and Harry and Ron were definitely not in yet.

The pair of them had startled Blaise who was now putting out the desk he had accidentally lit on fire. Cassie giggled under her breath while Hermione spoke to Blaise. By the time Harry and Ron showed up, Hermione, Cassie, and Blaise were seated in a conference room ready to go. Hermione had barely gotten a chance to greet her friends before Cassie launched into her theory. Hermione however, was slightly relieved, this was the first time she had seen Harry and Ron since she had started working with Malfoy and she knew that if they had asked her anything about how that was going she was going to tell them what had happened that first night. She pushed Malfoy from her mind once again as Cassie wrapped up her explanation.

"So, you're saying," Ron started slowly, that the room of requirement at Hogwarts would let us test the more dangerous things without getting hurt?"

"Yes," Cassie said excitedly, "I was in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts and I know that the room still exists, I know that a few people still use it, even after you lot- you know-sorta- lit it on fire."

"That wasn't us," Harry said indignantly, "That was Crabbe."

"Right, well," Cassie waved him off, not caring very much for the explanation, "I know that it still works and it survived the fiendfyre right? Which means that it could probably protect us from things too."

"Wait so how exactly do you know about the room? I thought it was secret?" Harry asked.

"I was in the DA with you lot!" Cassie said, slightly affronted, "I mean I was only a second year, and you had me doing stunning spells and levitation charms the whole time, but I was still there!"

"Oh yeah," Harry said hurriedly, as he tried to remember her, "yeah, of course, sorry, I forgot."

Ron frowned and then said, "But when we were in there, with Crabbe and them, the room didn't protect us from the fire-it just sort of let it happen."

"We never asked it to," Harry said, understanding dawning on his face. "That's brilliant, if you think it'll work...?" He trailed off with a questioning look at Hermione.

"I think it will, we could test it with something less dangerous when we get there, only thing is we need permission from McGonagall," Hermione said reassuringly.

"Ok, yes, alright!" Blaise said excitedly as the details of the plan were flushed out, he really wanted to get to the bottom of this, whoever had attacked them had managed to incapacitate Kingsley, a man he knew was no easy mark. And while his new wand was alright he still missed his old one, it felt much more comfortable. Ollivander had reminded him that no two wands were the same and therefore no two wands would produce the same magic for him. If getting to the bottom of this meant a chance to get his wand back, he was all in.

"And you're sure it survived the fire?" Ron asked quickly, his question directed at Cassie.

"Yeah," She replied, "I mean I've never been in there, but I know that some other students have, I know they've used it and it still works."

"That's brilliant!" Blaise exclaimed, "Is there any way we'll be able to learn anything that would help Kingsley and Stokes and the MLE officers?"

Hermione had been about to answer but Cassie got there first, "Well, if we could confirm what it is that caused them to be injured, the healers at St. Mungo's will be that much closer to finding a way to reverse the effects."

Ron and Blaise were nodding along excitedly, finally, there was a plan in place to do something.

"Hang on," Harry said quickly, "Do we even have a basilisk fang to test?"

Hermione smiled, reached into her beaded bag, and pulled out a large yellowing curved fang. "Honestly, Harry, did you think I just left them lying around Hogwarts? They are quite dangerous you know."

****

Minerva had been surprised to receive a letter that morning from one of her brightest students, but had invited the lot of them over and allowed them to conduct their experiment under the condition that they make student safety their top priority.

"Right then," Hermione said as they all faced the blank stretch of wall that they had become familiar with in their fifth year at Hogwarts, "What do you reckon we should ask it for?"

Harry, Ron, Cassie, and Blaise hesitated, none of them were familiar enough with the way the room worked to make a suggestion.

"Neville would know," Ron said suddenly, "He's the one who figured it all out that year remember?"

Both Harry and Hermione did remember and a moment later Harry's stag Patronus was racing out to the Herbology greenhouses where Neville was sure to be.

The three of them had just been regaling Blaise and Cassie with tales of starting Dumbledore's Army, leaving both shaking their heads, when Neville showed up. After a quick greeting and hugs all around Ron explained what they needed the room to do. Neville clearly had questions but when Harry assured him that they had McGonagall's permission and that it was confidential Auror business he agreed to help.

Neville appeared to have summoned the same room that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had walked into from the Hog's Head many years ago. Banners for the four Hogwarts houses hung from the walls, there were hammocks strung up across the space and hanging from the center of the ceiling was a large Hogwarts crest.

Neville grinned at the familiarity, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione had a chance to take the room in better than last time, they were all a bit rushed the first time around. "Why here, Neville?" Hermione asked curiously, walking over to repair a fallen hammock.

"Well that year I asked for a place to keep us safe, a place to protect us from the Carrows. Only this time I'm going to modify the 'Carrows' bit."

Hermione nodded, the logic seemed to make sense, even if their current surroundings were not where she imagined performing potentially life-threatening experiments.

****

"Damn it!" Hermione said about an hour later as Harry landed stunned on the beanbag for what must've been the twelfth time in a row.

"Sorry," Neville squeaked apologetically, "I'm asking the room to protect him but I don't know why it's not working."

Ron, who had revived Harry again asked, "Is there another phrase you want to try?"

"There's nothing else that I can think of," Neville said frowning, "see, when I was here for  seventh year, I was just extra specific when asking the room for things, you know?" He took a quick breath, "I just closed all the loopholes, but I can't see what I could be forgetting when I'm asking for Harry not to be stunned."

While Ron, Neville, and Cassie discussed the exact wording that Neville had used to make his requests, Hermione smiled sadly at Harry. It didn't seem like this was going to work out.

****

Hours later, when the group decided there was no point in hanging around Hogwarts any longer, Hermione found herself back in her office in the department of mysteries. She was frustrated, she had been sure that Cassie's theory would hold true and the room of requirement would provide the answers to the questions in the dementor situation.

Hermione Granger did not like losing even to metaphorical enemies and between the Auror investigation, helping Malfoy and retrieving her parent's memories she really needed a win. She settled back in her chair pulling her notes on blood magic, memories, and Lily Potter towards herself, determined to make progress with something today before she had to meet Malfoy later.

Hermione had to admit that her blood magic theory was shaky, its premise unstable. She was grasping at straws when she hoped that there was something that tied blood, memories, and love together. But these were her parents and she really wasn't ready to give up hope yet, she doubted she'd ever really be able to give up. They were her parents after all, and she supposed that subconsciously it was also why she had agreed to help Malfoy, because as much as she hated him, family was something she understood.

Something she knew that Harry and Ron understood too. Ron had made sure that both she and Harry had never felt like outsiders with his family, he had made sure that both of them were always welcome at the burrow, and for that she would be forever grateful. She was sure that Harry felt the same way as she did, she would never let anything happen to the Weasleys not after everything they had done for her. On some level none of the three of them wanted another family torn apart. She switched her focus back to the large book in front of her and started reading where she had left off last time.

Hermione must have gotten lost in her readings because the next time she checked the clock above her door it was six in the evening, making her thirty minutes late to meeting Malfoy.

Her fingers pushed distractedly through her hair as she waited for the lift. The law archives were on the bottom floor, she had been hoping to mentally prepare herself for seeing Malfoy again, after the last time had ended in a decidedly awkward manner, but it didn't seem as though she'd get the opportunity. She hated walking into a situation unprepared, without having had the opportunity to think through the possible outcomes, it made her vulnerable, and she never wanted to be vulnerable when it came to Draco Malfoy. He would take advantage of that vulnerability the moment he could.

She hadn't had a chance to think too much about it but she decided that he had only asked her to dinner because it was polite, when he had decided that she was worth being polite to she had no idea, perhaps he felt bad about making her cry before. But she quickly pushed the thought from her mind, she doubted Malfoy felt remorse for anything. The golden grilles finally slid open and she drifted slowly passed them into the interior of the elevator, lost in her Draco Malfoy induced thoughts.

Outside the doors to the archives Hermione slowed down and took a deep breath, her face was flushed, she had all but run here but she wouldn't give Malfoy a chance to poke fun at her appearance, she really didn't need that right now. Another breath, she forced her face into a quiet composed mask, which truly didn't reflect how she really felt and pushed the door open, making her way to the back table that she and Malfoy had taken to sitting at. Yet another reason she had no desire to let this thing get personal. If he found out about her parents she knew he would be cruel. And dinner was far too personal, dinner was where one discussed things like parents she told herself. Reaffirming that 'no' had been the right answer to yesterday's question.

Malfoy was already seated there, his back to her, leaving the seat she normally occupied open. She frowned to herself slightly, it would put her on edge to be seated where he was, to have her back to the one entrance to the little area. She shuddered involuntarily at the thought, thanking Merlin that he had chosen to sit on the same side of the little table as he always had.

She shook her head almost pityingly, they had 14 days. Just a fortnight to come up with something that a team of professional American lawyers had missed. 

To save a man's soul.