Through Her Eyes

Chapter 28: Transformation

The Summer days seemed to pass by lazily. Hermione laid out on the grass just beyond the Burrow, staring at the pristine blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds,

'Deceptive weather for the way I feel,' Hermione thought, heaving onto her side to look down the hill towards the Burrow. There, a Stag and a Grimm were relishing in the shade the house provided, while Remus was sprawled out on his back reading a book. Inside, Hermione could hear Molly and Lily preparing lunch in the kitchen, while the noises of tinkering came from inside Arthur's shed. If Hermione had looked upon any other Summer day of her life, this one wouldn't look much different then the others,
'How did I get so lucky?'

Hermione frowned and rolled back onto her shoulder blades, unconsciously feeling the leaf under her tongue as she knitted her brows. Things could have been much worse for her. She could have been stuck in Slytherin house, and would have probably had to become a Death Eater out of pressure. Frowning, Hermione closed her eyes and imagined Regulus,
'He died doing the right thing,'

It was true. He had helped Hermione find the locket. Without him, they would'of had to find a different way to get into Black Manor,
'That could have gotten messy,' Hermione thought with a smirk, turning her attentions back to the last two pieces of Voldemort's soul. She knew that, at least in her time, Bellatrix Lestrange had come across the cup. It was gifted to her by the dark lord, and she put it in her vault at Gringott's. But Quitz had popped into the vault to check during the school year, and said there was no cup to be found there,
'Tom must still have it then,' Hermione pondered, 'and then there's the issue with Nigini,'

The oversized viper had been trouble the first time around as well. It was only by pure luck that Neville happened to behead it with the sword of Gryffindor. She and Ron were both almost killed by it,

'How can we get close to the snake without being noticed?'

Hermione sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes, glancing up when a dog barked from somewhere down the hill. Turning  that way, Hermione could see Sirius running around the hooves of James, who was playfully butting at him.
As if a lightbulb had flicked on in her mind, Hermione sat bolt straight. Scrambling to her feet, the young Witch headed down the hill towards the boys, ignoring their play fight as she shook Remus's shoulder,

"What is it, love?"

"I have an idea on how to get the last two Horcruxes,"

The play fight stopped nearby as the Stag and Dog turned back into men, blinking at Hermione as she sat down in the grass and pulled her knees to her chest. Hurrying over, the boys sat down as well, closing the circle. Casting a few privacy charms on them, Hermione began to speak,
"Ok, so. We know right now that the cup of Hufflepuff is a Horcrux, but not where it is. I know for a fact that Tom will eventually entrust Bellatrix with it, and she'll put it in her vault at Gringotts. Once that happens, we'd have to use a house elf to get inside-"

"But we don't have that kind of time," Sirius grumbled, making Hermione nod,

"Exactly. We also know that Voldemort keeps a snake with him, and it is his latest Horcrux. If we can infiltrate wherever Tom is hiding, all without being spotted, we can take out both of them at the same time,"

"How? That place is probably crawling with Death Eaters. We'd get caught the minute we got there,"

"Not necessarily. I have a feeling that a certain blonde haired ferret will be playing host to the Dark Lord soon, as he prepares his first major attack on the Ministry-"

"Malfoy?" James questioned, lifting a brow. Hermione nodded,

"I know that mansion inside and out from... experiences...and I think we could probably get inside without being noticed-"