Aside from breaking into Gringotts, Horcrux hunting was almost fun. Hermione could really go for a shower, but they were so close to the end now that she almost didn't care. With the Hufflepuff Horcrux destroyed, all that remained was Ravenclaw's diadem. If it really was that easy, then they needed to inform the Order it was almost time to fight. Of course, they'd been fighting this whole time, but they'd need a battle with the Dark Lord himself if they wanted a chance to kill Voldemort.

"We should all return to Hogwarts," Harry said as they sat around a fire. They'd taken a day or two to rest up after as Hermione's arm ached and she was still tired, but they needed to move quickly.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Hermione asked. They were well past the start of classes and if she and Draco returned now, they'd be arrested on sight for sure.

"Dumbledore said Rosmerta could help us," Harry said quietly. Hermione wanted to ask how he could be sure, but it was quite clear he didn't want to talk about it. Clearing his throat, Harry said, "Either way, getting into Hogsmeade will be dangerous. We should probably all go together instead of breaking apart."

"There are Death Eaters patrolling the village now," Draco told them, another new arrangement since the holiday. "And anti-apparation wards extending more than a kilometer each direction."

"We'll need to hide," Hermione said. Draco nodded. "I'm sure a disillusionment spell or Notice Me Not charm should do the trick."

"It should," Draco confirmed.

With them all in agreement, they changed the subject and talked until late into the night. Hermione didn't even realise she'd fallen asleep until she woke up in the middle of the night with Draco's arm around her and a dying fire. She sighed contentedly and curled closer to Draco before falling asleep again.

* * * * *

When they apparated outside of Hogsmeade, Hermione was bubbling with nervous energy. They had decided before apparating that Harry and Ron would go through Hogsmeade first and an hour later, Hermione and Draco would follow. It was difficult to wait the full hour before they could follow Harry and Ron, but Hermione and Draco managed to kill the time.

As soon as they had apparated to the spot outside of Hogsmeade, Draco grabbed Hermione's hand tightly and pulled her to his side. Hermione tucked herself snuggly under his arm as they began the long walk to Hogsmeade.

"He's planning something," Draco muttered. He clenched his fist and Hermione knew his mark was burning. "It burns more often."

"How often?" she asked. Draco shrugged and fisted his hand tightly until the burning disappeared.

"One or two times every day?" he guessed. Hermione sucked in a breath and his arm around her tightened. That was certainly more often than usual, but there was no way to find out what Voldemort was planning since Draco had stopped responding to the call after joining her, Harry, and Ron.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence. The closer they got to Hogsmeade, the tenser Draco was beside her. She knew he could hear and smell things further ahead that she could not and knew that would provide them with an advantage. While Harry and Ron had to rely on each other to sense any abnormalities, she could trust Draco to sense them before they were much of a threat.

As soon as they entered the village, Hermione couldn't relax. She'd thought walking there would be the most unnerving, but she was wrong. The streets were almost entirely empty aside from a homeless wizard here or there and a couple of Death Eaters. She could almost feel stares following them as they walked toward the Hog's Head. When Draco pulled open the door, she couldn't help but dart inside away from the discomfort of the street and into the safety of the Hog's Head.

Rosmerta was waiting for them on the stairway. She smiled tightly at them both then led them up the stairs to an empty room. Once the door had shut behind them, Ron and Harry tugged off the invisibility cloak and grinned at her. She jumped, but smiled back at the sight of them.

"Any trouble?" Harry asked. Both she and Draco shook their heads. "Same here."

"Are you sure this is safe?" Draco asked, glancing around the room. Rosmerta narrowed her eyes at him and nodded once.

"You'll be able to take the portrait all the way to the school," Rosmerta instructed. She nodded at a portrait behind Harry and a little girl smiled at them. "Ariana will take you there."

They all turned to look at the painting then at each other. As soon as they stepped out of the portrait and into the castle, they were trapped until the Order came and Voldemort set up his attack. They'd need a safe place to hide and only the Room of Requirement could ensure they'd be safe, but without knowing where they would be let out, it was impossible to know if now was the right time to go.

"Where will it let us out?" Draco asked, his hand drifting forward to grab hold of Hermione's.

"Wherever it's safest," Rosmerta answered. Draco narrowed his eyes at her but Hermione was tugging him away before he could argue.

"Draco and I should go first," Hermione told Ron and Harry. "If someone sees us, it won't be as suspicious as encountering either of you. If it's not safe, we'll let you know."

"I'll go through first," Draco told her. Hermione nodded and took a step away from the portrait so Draco could go through first.

The room fell silent as they all watched Draco climb into the portrait and glance around the frame. Hermione followed soon after and looked around in awe as she viewed Rosmerta's office from an entirely new perspective.

"Can we send you back if it's safe or not?" Hermione asked Ariana. She nodded and without sparing Rosmerta, Harry, or Ron a glance, she led Draco and Hermione down a bright corridor and away from the small office frame.

The corridor was long and while it was not dark, it was not brightly coloured either. Hermione almost expected to get lost and wondered how the paintings at Hogwarts didn't get lost when moving between frames. Before she could ask Ariana though, the corridor changed and resembled the halls of Hogwarts.

"We've reached Hogwarts," Ariana said briefly. She didn't look back at them.

The corridor changed from black and white to colour abruptly before returning to black and white, confusing Hermione slightly.

"We're not in a frame," Ariana explained, almost as if she could hear Hermione's thoughts. "When we pass a frame, the corridors become colourful."

"Avoid the frames," Draco grumbled, holding Hermione's hand tightly as the corridor became colourful for just a moment.

As they turned a corner, the entire corridor went blank and it felt like they were walking down a dark tunnel. Hermione didn't recognise anything around her and slowed her pace. Draco glanced down at her then back at Ariana who didn't seem to notice they were no longer as enthusiastic about following her.

"Here," she announced, stopping suddenly. Far down the corridor, Hermione could make out a colourful point of light and wondered what was ahead. "The rest of your friends await you here. I will return to bring the others."

"Thank you," Hermione said as Ariana turned and disappeared.

Warily, she and Draco walked towards the pinpoint of light. They were almost to the end of the portrait when Hermione recognised the Room of Requirement in front of her. She gasped, grabbing hold of Draco's arm and pulling him forward quickly. He followed her until they were within sight of the frame before stopping abruptly.

"I go first," he told her, his eyes turning silver for the briefest moment. Hermione nodded and let him lead the way out of the portrait.

He pushed open the portrait and they both stepped out into the Room of Requirement. A sea of students stood in front of them, whispering amongst themselves as they stared at Draco and then Hermione.

"Hermione?"

Both of them turned quickly to see Neville approaching from the right. His eyes were wide and when he realised it was her, he sighed in relief. The students around them looked wary and some had very obviously moved away from Draco, but no one pointed their wands.

"Neville! What's going on?" she asked, stepping towards him and away from Draco. "Why is everyone in the Room of Requirement?"

"You disappeared over holiday and we got worried," Neville told her. That didn't answer the question as to why almost the entire student body was in the Room of Requirement though, so Hermione asked again. "The Carrows seemed angrier after break. It got really bad, Hermione. Ginny, Luna, and I just gathered everyone in here to hide until something could be done. Are you here to get us out?"

Hermione shook her head but before she could say or ask anything else, the portrait door behind her opened. Draco pulled Hermione to his chest, but it was just Harry and Ron who clambered out. However, at the sight of the two boys, the students erupted into a frenzy of yells and it took several silencing spells to quiet them all. When they finally stopped shouting, Harry shifted awkwardly and glanced at Hermione. She just shrugged and motioned for him to say something.

"Uh, hello," he said awkwardly. The silencing spells stuck and not a word was heard even though Hermione watched many of the students try to say something. "I'm sure you've all been wondering where I've been, but I can't really tell you. Dumbledore sent me on a mission before he died. Something that could help kill You Know Who."

More students seemed to try to speak, but Hermione knew what they were all trying to ask. Apparently Harry did as well.

"He can't be killed yet," he answered. The diadem was somewhere in the castle and they still had to kill Nagini, Hermione was sure, but he didn't tell the students that. "We're almost done though. Any day now and this should all be over."

The students just looked at him and he turned to look at Hermione uncomfortably, clearly unsure what else to say.

"If you promise to raise your hands before talking, we'll lift the silencing spell," she said, certain they had questions that should be answered.

As the sea of students nodded hastily, Hermione removed the spells and a dozen hands popped up. She pointed at the student closest to her first.

"What's Draco Malfoy doing here?" the kid demanded, glaring at Draco. "He's a Death Eater! Like the Carrows!"

Several students shouted out in agreement but when Hermione raised her wand at them, they quieted.

"Malfoy helped me on my quest," Harry answered, glancing at Hermione and Draco as he spoke. "He's not a Death Eater. He's been forced by You Know Who and is in trouble just like the rest of us."

Harry pointed to another student. Before the girl had even put her hand down, she was speaking.

"How long do we have to stay here? When are you going to kill You Know Who?" she asked. Harry opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a shrill voice sounded over the castle grounds and they all froze.

"Send over Harry Potter," Voldemort's voice demanded. Hermione clutched Draco's hand and he pulled her tight against his chest. "You have one hour to send over Harry Potter."

The warning repeated again, but Hermione was already springing into action. She sent Harry and Ron to find McGonagall and while the students threw a thousand questions at him as he moved, Harry left the room without speaking a word. Next, Hermione instructed Neville and Luna to get all of the younger students out through the portrait.

"It leads to Rosmerta's and I'm sure she'll be okay with it if you explain what's going on," Hermione said. Neville nodded and immediately began sending the students through the portrait.

The Room of Requirement turned into a crazy mass exodus, but Hermione kept her hand firmly in Draco's and hurried outside. As soon as they were in the corridor, Hermione couldn't think straight.

"We need to find the diadem," she murmured. McGonagall could certainly handle Harry, but without destroying the diadem, the inevitable battle would be pointless. "I can't even think where it could be. Ravenclaw Tower? Someone should have seen it. Perhaps it's in—"

"Granger!" Draco snapped, yanking on her hand and pulling her back to his chest. She snapped out of her rambling and looked around the corridor, afraid someone had snuck up on them. "You need to breathe."

"I need the diadem!" she exclaimed, stepping back from him. Draco didn't let her go, though. "It hasn't been seen in centuries, it's likely lost and there's no—"

She stopped abruptly. The Hogwarts castle was ancient and had served as a school for centuries. Students lost things all the time and with magic involved, one could never be too careful. Now that she thought about it, she was certain she'd read somewhere that Hogwarts kept a room that held everything that had ever been lost in the castle since its creation.

"A room of lost things," she gasped, turning to look at Draco with wide eyes. "Hogwarts has a room where all the lost things go. If we could find it, we could find the diadem and then we could destroy it!"

Draco looked unenthused by her newfound knowledge and looked down at her uncertainly.

"A room of lost thing?" he asked. Hermione nodded quickly. "Where would you even find that? We've gone to school here for seven years, Hermione. We'd know where such a room was."

Hermione deflated a little as she realised he was right. The only room that would even sort of fit the description as a room of lost things was the Room of Requirement. As far as she knew, no other room in the castle was charmed like it and they really didn't have time to pace seven times up and down each floor.

As she stared back at the Room of Requirement, she got the strangest feeling that it may actually be the room for lost things. It could explain how the room was able to provide anything they needed and seeing as it could change form, it could easily become a room to hold lost things.

"Draco," she said slowly, still staring at the door. "I think we may have already found it."