Chapter Text
I wonder what Minerva is doing…
It was still odd to call the older Omega by her first name and even odder to know that she was my soulmate…
That’s where my thoughts were at the moment though.
Minerva McGonagall…
I had been yearning to see the older Omega all day, the feeling settling somewhere deep in my chest like a quiet ache I couldn’t quite reason away. Ever since we had left the greenhouse, my Alpha hindbrain had been restless, softly stirring beneath my thoughts, drawn toward her with a gentle but persistent pull.
It wasn’t anything so crude as infatuation, rather, it felt like a kind of gravity.
Minerva possessed that rare, composed sort of beauty that made the room subtly seem altered when she entered it.
The sweep of the older Omega’s robes…
The calm certainty in Minerva’s Professor-like posture…
The sharp intelligence behind my- my soulmate's emerald-green eyes…
More than once I caught myself glancing down corridors or pausing at staircases, hoping - rather foolishly, perhaps - that I might glimpse the older Omega passing by. The thought of her presence brought with it a warmth that settled through my newly awakened senses, and I instinctively responded to it, like an unseen thread turning toward the sun.
I tried to tell myself it was merely instinct, a dynamic reacting to someone it admired, but…
Yet the truth lingered beneath the explanation.
I simply wanted to see Minerva again.
Ah…
Merlin, I’m doomed…
Doomed to Tartarus…
…or perhaps Elysium?
Luna, Longbottom, and I had gone back into Hogwarts after that titillating event. We woke Crabbe and Goyle up before we left, but didn’t stay so as to not get into another altercation. There was nothing more dangerous than two daft twits who used their strength instead of their minds.
I didn’t much care if they hurt me, but I knew the two bumbling idiots wouldn’t care if they hurt the Beta or Omega who walked beside my person.
Maybe I can go visit her chambers later?
It was late enough to where I could move furtively through Hogwarts halls to get to her chambers…
As of now though, the three of us were walking up the stone staircase, having just finished the last class for today, when it suddenly moved and jolted us to the side. Luna and I were fine because we had expected it.
But…
It seemed Longbottom forgot for a moment that they did indeed move because he squeaked.
Oh, Longbottom…
I internally and exasperatedly sighed at the Omega Gryffindor’s actions.
“I forgot they bloody moved…” Longottom muttered as he held onto the staircase for dear life.
“And you’re supposed to be a sixth-year?” I replied, my tone slightly teasing, my head looking back at him and raising an eyebrow in his direction.
“People can forget things!” Longbottom whined and the Beta Ravenclaw giggled.
While we were speaking, the staircase beside us softly groaned and pivoted away from the wall, its stone steps gliding through the air until they locked onto a different landing. It wasn’t the route we had intended to take, yet my attention drifted - pulled, almost unwillingly - toward a door set into the newly revealed corridor.
I was certain I had never seen it before.
The longer I looked at it, the more an unpleasant sensation curled in my stomach.
Something about the door felt…
…wrong.
Not obviously dangerous - not even particularly remarkable - and yet it exerted a quiet, insidious pull, like a distant melody just on the edge of hearing. My hindbrain reacted before my thoughts could properly form, every instinct in me stiffened, warning bells ringing somewhere deep and primal. The corridor seemed to slightly tilt, and a wave of nausea rolled through me as a faint vertigo set in, as though Hogwarts itself had shifted beneath my feet.
It reminded me, absurdly, of the descriptions I had once read of sailors hearing a siren’s song…
An irresistible lure wrapped around something deadly.
Like a snake that had coiled around its prey and…
SQUEEZED.
My skin prickled and my senses tightened with unending unease.
Whatever lay beyond that door, my instincts were very clear about one thing…
Ignoring the feeling would be a horrid mistake.
“We… should go this way…” I cryptically said to both of them.
“Before the staircase moves again?” Luna teased, bumping her shoulder against Longbottoms.
I didn’t see the Omega Gryffindor’s expression, but I was sure his cheeks had a pink hue to them.
I rolled my eyes and stepped onto the stone platform that the door was on.
The doors handle was cold to the touch, my spine tingling at the sensation, and I carefully opened the door to see what was on the other side. I didn’t have a death wish, I was a Slytherin after all, but this feeling deep in my chest coupled with what my instincts were loudly expressing was what made my body continue to limp forward into the unknown.
“Hermione?” Longbottom whispered, but I ignored him and his questioning tone.
The room was dark, no torches were lit to lead those who should walk here, and it was even colder than the handle I had touched.
A separate cooling charm?
Or something malicious?
The statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoore stood tall, webs draped over its stony form, and the two behind me finally stepped into the room.
“Does anyone feel like we shouldn’t be here?” Longbottom piped up again.
“The space does seem to be… darker in nature.” Luna added, her voice all but a whisper. “I suppose Heliopaths might like it here… Bring light to the darkness… Wouldn’t you agree, Hermione?”
“Perhaps… But we’re not supposed to be here.” I answered as we started to walk forward with cautious steps. “You both know this. This is the third floor. Headmaster Dumbledore told me it would be forbidden this year for all students to be here…”
“Then we really shouldn’t-” Longbottom started to say, but a fire beside us lit and illuminated the room.
It spooked Longbottom, but Luna and I remained unaffected.
“Hmmmm…” I hummed as I inspected the stone construct with my wand. “Curious… It seems to be charmed to light whenever someone enters.”
“Like the torches?” Luna asked as she leaned in to look.
“It would seem so.” I replied as I stopped back and looked around the space. “It doesn’t seem like anything of value is here so I say we delve deeper.”
“Deeper?” Longbottom repeated.
“Where is that Gryffindor courage, Longbottom?” I asked as I started to limp deeper despite his hesitance.
The Beta Ravenclaw was right behind me and I eventually heard the Omega Gryffindor’s own feet pitter-patter against the stone. I could smell his Omega pheromones wafting closer, the tell-tale sign that he was stressed, but he still followed us.
“I’m courageous!” Longbottom argued. “But… I just don’t like the unknown!”
I chuckled at Longbottom’s response.
“He does like to play with dangerous plants.” Luna added, her dreamy voice echoing through the empty space.
“Ah… I should’ve known.” I replied, my eyes spotting another door that was meters away from us.
“I just like Herbology…” Longottom muttered while awkwardly shuffling behind my person.
When the three of us went to the door, I noticed it was locked and branded my wand. I held it up to the rusted lock, cast Alohomora, and the lock opened. Luna seemed pleased and Longbottom congratulated me for the fluid spellwork.
“It’s a spell we learned in our first year.” I said with a roll of my eyes as we walked through the door. “It isn’t substantial compared to what we’ve learned.”
A warmth bloomed in my chest at the praise.
But…
A noise caught my attention as I closed the door and I stuck my ear to it so I could listen.
“Anyone here… Better not be any kids running in here…” A gruff voice mumbled and I recognized it as Filch’s.
Argus Filch was the Hogwart’s caretaker, a perpetually sour older man who was a Squib and whose duties seemed to primarily consist of prowling the corridors in search of students to reprimand. He was an odd fixture of the castle, made stranger still by the constant presence of his cat, Mrs Norris. The two shared such an unnervingly synchronized awareness of the castle that I had long suspected they communicated in ways that went far beyond the ordinary bond between wizard and animal. It was difficult to tell which of them was truly conducting the patrols. If the braziers that had lit were visible from the door, then Mr. Filch would have immediately noticed and come stomping along to investigate who had dared disturb the mandate of students not being able to be on this floor this year.
Acting quickly, I lifted my wand and, while still keeping one eye on the approaching corridor, cast a less potent disillusionment charm over the three of us. My broken magic core protested at once, a sharp burning pain blooming across my chest as though my magic itself resented being forced into shape, but the spell held. A faint shimmer passed over us before settling into invisibility so subtle it drew Luna’s attention at once, her head tilting slightly as she realized what I had done.
The Beta Ravenclaw and the Omega Gryffindor both tried to say something in response while I was focusing, so I shushed them and waited until I couldn’t hear the groundskeeper any longer.
“Is whatever you were listening for gone?” Longbottom whispered.
I turned to look at the both of them and sighed.
“Yes… It was just Mr. Filch.” I answered as we started to walk again. “I assumed that he had come in shortly after us and saw that there was light when there shouldn’t have been.”
“Ah… He was checking for intruders then?” Luna asked.
“Mhm.” I hummed in acknowledgement. “I’m sure he won’t follow because the door was locked. He is a squib after all and couldn’t unlock the door with magic… unless Headmaster Dumbledore gave him keys, but I highly doubt he would do that-”
What in Salazar's name?
All of us had stopped in our tracts, our eyes - my one good eye - adjusted to the stark darkness, and currently were looking at a three-headed cerberus that was soundly sleeping. It was snoring and then stopped when one of the heads sniffed the air.
I cursed knowing that Longbottom wasn't suppressing his pheromones and.
If it wafted over to my person, then this magical beast certainly could smell the panicked Omega.
“Longbottom…” I harshly whisper-hissed, teeth gritted, but it was too late.
“Oh dear…” Luna softly said, her pale-silver eyes a little wide at the sight of such a large beast centimeters away from us.
The three-headed Cerberus, now waking from its slumber, began to stir. One massive head shifted first, then another, their thick necks slowly rolling as the magical creature roused itself from the heavy sleep of something that knew it had nothing in the world to fear. Its enormous body followed, rising with a dreadful, languid inevitability from the stone floor where it had been sleeping. Even half-awake it was immense, but as it pushed itself fully upright the true scale of the beast became horrifyingly clear. Each paw was the size of a small table, claws scraping against the flagstones with a sound that seemed far too loud in the suffocating quiet of the chamber. Its shoulders brushed the shadowed ceiling, and the heat of its breath rolled across the room in damp, animal waves.
We stood perfectly still, stock-still, as though even the smallest movement might shatter the fragile illusion that we were not there at all. My heart pounded so violently I was certain the creature must hear it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I found myself praying - quite sincerely - to Merlin himself that the beast would simply settle back down and return to sleep.
But the moment stretched too long.
One of the Cerberus’s heads blinked, slowly, its heavy eyelids dragging open.
Then another pair of yellow eyes followed.
All six fully eyes opened, glinting with a dull, predatory intelligence as they adjusted to the dim light.
For one terrible second the enormous heads tilted in eerie unison, sniffing the air, and listening.
And then the beast’s gaze sharpened.
And they saw us.
Then…
…it growled.
But even though I was horridly terrified, my logical mind telling me to run, my Alpha hindbrain pushed to the front…
And…
I growled back.
My voice reverberated through the creature's hovel, his own sounds mixing with mine, but our eyes held each other's as we assessed who would win this battle of wills.
I could feel Luna and the Omega Gryffindor eyeing me like I was mad, but this Cerberus was challenging me.
Me.
Hermione Jean Granger.
Brightest Witch of her Age.
And Hermione Granger doesn’t back down from a challenge.
The creature lowered his head, his bright yellow eyes narrowing as he started to snarl, but I still didn’t relent. I kept the eye contact, snarled back, and even took a step towards it. I wasn’t going to let this Cerberus get the better of me even if I had to go toe-to-toe with it.
“Hermione…” Longbottom whispered, his voice quivering.
The creature also took a step forward and was now right in front of my face.
I could feel its breath on my skin, the huffs of air like pins and needles, but it hadn’t attacked me yet.
And eventually…
Gaia, it relented.
The Cerberus bowed its head to me, its intelligent eyes now carrying some form of respect for me, and backed away from my person. It laid back down and closed its six eyes like it hadn’t ever been awake in the first place.
I let out the breath I was holding and so did the others who were behind me.
The Beta Ravenclaw, Longbottom, and I were now no longer in danger, so we all slowly backed out of the creatures room until the door was fully closed shut once again.
“Merlin's bloody beard…” Longbottom muttered, his hands shaking, his chest quickly rising and falling as he took a moment to recompose himself, his Omega pheromones slowly receding.
Luna took the honours of re-locking the room and we all silently walked back to the door that led us here. It was a quick, brisk walk that had us back to where the moving stairs were. I was the last one to leave and I shut the door, but that feeling deep in my chest didn’t go away. I felt like there was more to this, to why the Cerberus was there in the dark, but I had enough excitement for one day.
“A Cerberus?” Luna questioned, her curious mind spinning away as she tapped a finger to her chin, her body emitting Beta pheromones to calm all of our nerves. “Why would they have such a creature locked away? Dad has only encountered one before on his travels and that was purely an accident because he stumbled into its den, while hunting for gromlings”
Why, indeed…
By that point, the three of us had resumed walking, putting as much distance as possible between ourselves and the chamber where the Cerberus had been guarding its mysterious charge. The corridors gradually became more familiar as we moved closer to the central passages of Hogwarts, where staircases branched in several directions and students normally dispersed toward their respective Houses.
Salazar’s snakes, I was almost dog food….
When we reached one of these junctions, we slowed and finally came to a stop, the silent understanding settling between us that this was where we would need to part ways. The castle had grown properly dark by then, the torches burning low along the stone walls, and the quiet carried the unmistakable tension of after-hours rule breaking. Prefects would almost certainly be making their patrols by now, prowling the corridors in search of unfortunate students foolish enough to be caught wandering the castle long after curfew, along with Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris who we had seen earlier.
“Hmmmm… Neither of you saw what it was laying on?” I asked, remembering what lay at its feet.
“I… No- I uh… I was too focused on its sharp teeth militimeters from your face, Hermione!” Longbottom harshly whispered.
“It was guarding something, right?” Luna guessed and I smirked at her.
“Indeed it was, Luna.” I replied, satisfied by the answer from the Ravenclaw. “A trap door to be precise. I was lost in thought, my mind whirling to think why a Cerberus was in Hogwarts, when I remembered a glinting handle beneath its large feet. I had seen such a handle before and it always led downwards.”
“Very curious!” Luna exclaimed. “We seem to have a mystery on our hands!”
“A mystery?” Longbottom repeated, sighing. “Wonderful… Gran will kill me if she finds out I encountered a Cerberus…”
“Augusta Longbottom?” I presumed, my head turning to look at him. “She is known to many to be very strict so I don’t doubt that sentiment at all.”
“A mystery?” Longbottom repeated, sighing. “Wonderful… Gran will kill me if she finds out I encountered a Cerberus…”
“Augusta Longbottom?” I presumed, my head turning to look at him. “She is known to many to be very strict so I don’t doubt that sentiment at all.”
From what little I had gathered through passing remarks from Headmaster Dumbledore and the occasional, surprisingly respectful aside from Professor Snape, Augusta Longbottom wasn’t merely strict but rather…
…formidable.
Mrs. Longbottom’s name seemed to carry with it the quiet weight of an older generation of witches who had endured far more turbulent years in the wizarding world. There was always the impression that she held her family’s legacy with an iron grip, shaping the the Omega Gryffindor beneath the steady pressure of expectation, whether he fully understood the history behind it or not.
“And I’ll be on the receiving end of it…” Longbottom grumbled, his hands rubbing up and down his face.
“Do you think we should all head to bed?” Luna asked, getting Longbottom and I’s attention. “It’s gotten quite late.”
“Wonderful idea, Luna.” I replied, her smile beaming at me. “We should all do just that because I fear we’ll need our energy.”
“Don’t say that!” Longbottom responded in a high-pitched voice.
“Don’t say what?” I responded, my good eyebrow raised in Longbottom’s direction. “I was just speaking of tomorrow’s classes… I didn’t peg you as the type of wizard to cling to Muggle superstitions.”
Luna giggled at my words, bid them goodbye, and left it at that.
I had somewhere to be and, after a long day, it was just the thing I needed…