Sodalis

Chapter 5

Hermione had been numb when she found out about her parents. It was in a letter from the Australian Ministry. They had made a deal to have her muggle parents checked on occasionally while she solved some major arithmancy projects they had. (It was a long convoluted story but Hermione's skills in Arithmancy far surpassed any NEWTs with the almost 3 years she had added to her studying in 3rd and 4th year.) The Australian Ministry found out about her parents hours after they had passed. Hermione had had to receive that missive at a large Order dinner and keep a straight face all while she was broken inside.

But the weeks had passed, months now, and the guilt and hopelessness grew. That night at the Astronomy tower she had been overcome with heartache when, after the feast, she got to the Head Girl dorm room and had thought about how excited she was to tell her mother about it. The reality of the war had hit her like a train. So many people had already been lost. The attacks were more frequent, there were more people not returning to school, and the Ministry was teetering dangerously between the dark and light.

The Head Girl and resident know-it-all had wept for hours by herself in her empty rooms. Rooms that felt too big and too lonely. She was spiraling. A mental breakdown that she tried to mitigate with occlusion. But it just resulted in her at the tower contemplating what was worth living for. Completely disassociated from logic and reason. She felt like she was watching herself from nearby as she stripped off her robes and tie. Dropping her wand next to them was far easier than it should have been.

The view had been so heartrendingly beautiful. The sky was clear with a sliver of moon surrounded by stars. The cool breeze around her had dried her tears. It was a beautiful night to die.

She had thought a thestrel had hit her mid air when the dark form had enveloped her. But his scent, spices and santal and something green, had flooded her senses. This man couldn't die, not because of her. Her magic had flared out in desperation and had slowed their descent.

Professor Snape's empathy and care that night had surprised her. But it had also cemented in her heart that he was on their side. That's when she continued her work on the ritual. It would be her contribution to the war effort. Save the great Severus Snape from the Dark Lord's clutches so he could fight openly on the side of the light. To do that she needed to get rid of his Dark Mark.

The book of Ancient magic had been heavily warded and kept behind one of the book cases in the Black Family library. The only person who had seen it aside from her was Harry, for good reason. There were many involved rituals in it that would be considered dark in modern times. But Un Anima Duo had been more than promising.

It had taken her several months to come up with the amended ritual. With the assurance that she didn't care for her survival, it made it easier to consider the bonds and make sure they died with the caster. There was a second blood ritual that would purify the recipient of any dark magic and that had been enmeshed with the original ritual with a focus on curses that left physical evidence.

Finding out Professor Snape's magical production had taken a few tries and well timed traps set with the help of some 3rd years who had Hermione do their homework for a month for the detentions they would accrue with the Potions Master. Ultimately his power sat at the same level of Dumbledore and Voldemort. It meant that her likelihood of survival would be incredibly unlikely.

Hermione had triple checked the ritual. Had performed a smaller version of the ritual with Crookshanks and allowed for her core to fully recover before she chose a day to execute her plan. She had been meticulous leading up to it. Greeting her friends and giving more convincing excuses. If she hugged them harder or held them longer they didn't notice. She had spoiled Crookshanks with his favorite foods and toys. Hermione had let herself spend a bit more time with her friends now that she felt she would be contributing to the greater good.