The Guardians and their doors.

Chapter I got Fanart!!!!!! Oh my gods!!!!!

"Hermione?"

The teen in question looked up to see Harry, the real one, hovering at the entrance of her room.

"Harry! Come in. How are you?"

He smiled as she scanned his profile for injury, finding none. In fact, the bags that had sat so heavy under his eyes seemed to have faded. The imposter, Percy, had been true to his word.

When the stranger had leaned in and whispered, she had expected him either to vanish into thin air or grab her wand and kill her where she stood.

He had done neither of these things, leaning back with a glint of amusement in his eye. "But you're clever girl. I'm sure you could have figured that out, " he'd said. " I'm from the land between the raindrops, Ms. Granger. I'd like to make a deal. As you know, we fae always keep our word."

Hermione had, of course, read the stories of mortals who made deals with otherworldly beings. Some such stories were told in history class as fact. The unfortunate mortals never came out on top. Those who broke even were considered lucky. Or lawyers.

But the fae had smiled at her with his sea green eyes that glowed ever so slightly in the darkness, and had ruffled her hair like one would a child. "How about you keep me informed about any danger you feel the need to throw yourself into. Tell me if you plan on storming the enemy, okay? I could always provide some backup."

He had looked at her like he knew something she didn't, and Hermione tried not to feel embrassed for something she hadnt done yet.

Unfogging The Future had said that fae, like centaurs, had their own methods of seeing the future. Did he already know exactly what this year would entail?

"And what of Harry?" she asked.

"He'll wake up tomorrow in his bed, thinking he's slept better than usual. He won't worry about it, really. In fact, I image he'll be grateful."

"I don't imagine anyone is grateful for someone taking their place."

"Well, that's why he won't know about it, will he? I'll be seeing you soon, Ms. Granger. I made a promise to protect all current students, and I plan to keep it."

He had then vanished in a shower of gold that had coated her hair and clothes and made her sneeze.

"Fine, " said Harry, " just seeing if you were up. Breakfast is ready."

The boy who lived vanished downstairs, something light in his step.

After a moment Hermione got changed and followed. The residents of the house were already digging into their food.

"Oh, you look like you didn't sleep at all, dear." Molly said, both motherly and disaproving."You didn't stay up all night, did you?"

"Sorry, Mrs.Weasley. I couldn't sleep."

That was the truth. She had spent most of the night after her impromptu meeting with the fae reading everything she had on them.

Twice.

"Well, you weren't alone," Sirius said. "You won't believe who showed up at Hogwarts last night."

"Who?" one of the twins asked, mouth full of eggs.

"A trope of fae showed up on the grounds last night. Dumbledore had to go and meet with them."

Hermione felt her blood run cold.

"Fae?" Ron asked, oblivious to her internal panic.

"Fair folk, hidden one's, little people. They have a lot of names. They're nature spirits who are extremely powerful and mischievous. They can travel the paths between their world and ours to travel anywhere, warded or not," Hermione said, reciting the words she had burned into her brain.