Hermione ran her hands along the cool stone outer wall of the Labyrinth. It wasn't wet like she had thought, it was covered in a vague glittery dust, why she had no idea. It wasn't petty, if anything it added a level of creepiness and gloom the dark, dusty landscape didn't really need. And it didn't come off on her hand like normal glitter, instead it was rather uncharacteristically sticky.

She wouldn't have wanted to touch it under normal circumstances but she hadn't found any kind of door to get in and running her hand along the walls seemed like the best course of action. She remembered in the book there had been subtle openings in the walls hidden from prying eyes. And she knew thirteen hours would pass quickly so she had no time to waste, as it were all the time in the world wouldn't do her any good though if she couldn't even get into the Labyrinth.

"I hate this place." She groaned as she stopped to wipe the sticky feeling on her palm off on her pants.

"Feeling is mutual," a voice told her from her left. She started and glanced around until her gaze fell down to an ugly little creature that only came up to her knees.

"Oh! Who are you?" She was rather pleased she was finally seeing something, even if it was the small, rough looking creature currently glaring up at her.

She swore she heard the ugly thing mutter 'filthy humans' as it pulled it's long ears down and scrunched it's eyes up irritably. "Kreacher has been sent to show mistress the way into the Labyrinth." He spat the words out, making her acutely aware he was not fond of the task he had been given.

She gazed at him for a moment in silent expectation but when he made no intent to get a move on she bent down to get eye level with him. He hissed and swatted at her. She stood back up and took a quick step back, returning his glare. "Well?" She asked shortly. She really had no time to deal with irate little elves, or goblins or whatever the hideous little thing was and her patience was already running out with his attitude.

"Well what?" Kreacher drawled out.

"Are you going to show me how to get in or not?" Hermione asked in annoyance.

"Yes…." Still he made no move. She made an annoyed noise and reached down to tug at one of his long floppy ears.

"Well where is it?" He bit at her fingers making her draw back.

"What?"

"The entrance!?" She sucked in a deep breath to calm herself and rubbed at her fingers.

"To what?" He grinned impishly up at her. He knew he had to show her the way in, his Queen had been quite clear, but she didn't say he had to be quick about it. The Labyrinth was full of riddles, if he dallied by making his task into one he knew he wasn't likely to incur her wrath.

"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" He sighed in exasperation. Of course she had to get to the point in a hurry and ruin his fun.

"The right question." He huffed before pointing toward the wall she had only recently had her hand on. Only now there was a large heavy metal door. Hermione's mouth dropped in shock before she grumbled about the unfairness of it all. How was she supposed to have gotten in at all if the door was somehow magical? She wasn't really being given a chance to run the Labyrinth at all, she was sure she had already wasted at least half an hour of her precious time.

Kreacher chuckled happily at her annoyance as he jingled his keys importantly and headed toward the door. He had taken his sweet time in getting her to notice him, he had intentionally wasted some of her time. He knew the Queen didn't want her to succeed. She never wanted any of them to, but strangely enough it didn't mean she wanted them to fail either. The damn fae was a conundrum. He did know that if he didn't do his job in a seemingly timely manner he would be thrown from the castle tower as punishment. Over the years he had discovered half an hour was about the longest he could go without facing her wrath.

Hermione watched as patient as she could as the little goblin-elf like creature finally found the right key to unlock the door. He shot her a grimace as the doors swung wide and moved reluctantly aside for her to enter.

She eyes the keys on his waist curiously. "Are there more doors in there I cant open without your keys?"

He puffed his chest out importantly. "My keys open all the doors to the Labyrinth. I'm the key master." Hermione made a grab for them but he was too quick. "Not for filthy human hands!" He swatted at her again and brandished the large one he had used to open the door like a sword. She sighed.

"How can I get around without being able to open doors?"

"Not my problem!" He glared at her before lowering his 'weapon' and huffing at her ignorance. "Is a Labyrinth. Many ways through, not all have locked doors. Now got, before-" He trailed off. "Better get moving before time runs out." He cackled happily as he moved around her on the outside of the wall. "Door might close soon too. I only have to open it once."

True to his word the door started sliding forward the second he walked off. Without sparing him another glance the brunette rushed through the doors, jumping as they slammed shut behind her.

She took a moment to glance around. She needed to stop expecting things to be how they had been in the book. In the book there was long seemingly endless hall right after the gate. It ran from the right to left for as far as the eyes could see. But there had been no goblin creature to open the gate for the runner in the book and there was no long hall for her to run now.

Instead it was little cobble stone paths. And they forked in five directions. There were walls ahead and one path barely had enough space for her to get on it before it turned sharply to the left.

Hermione shuffled back and forth, glancing around the corner of one of the paths before she decided to choose. One of the paths looked well used and another looked a little over grown. She decided she would chose one of the two, the over grown looked as if it stretched on forever but the well used one had a turn to the right a few steps ahead. She wondered what exactly had walked the path enough to make it's stones look so worn and if she wanted to meet it in the maze of the Labyrinth. But if she chose the other she would be forced to battle with fallen limbs and vines for what seemed like miles.

She signed and gave the other paths one last quick glance. She reached down and grabbed a large sturdy stick from the ground before heading down the easier path. "If I'm going to be eaten I should at least like to defend myself."

The path had many turns, she chose to stay on the part of it that was well traveled rather than branch off. Part of her wondered if it was some trick, knew she should change her direction, but another part was just grateful she hadn't ran into a dead end yet and wanted to keep making progress. Even though she would hazard a guess she was making one huge circle.

She glanced down at her watch and grimaced. The hands were spinning, there was no way for her to tell how much time she had left. She groaned and hit the wall with the stick. It snapped.

"Damn." She tossed the stick behind her and kept walking, it wouldn't do her any good now, granted if it had snapped that easily it wouldn't have been any kind of protection to begin with.

"Ish not bery nice to trow tings."

Hermione spun around and nearly fell backwards as she jumped back with a little scream. She hadn't registered she hadn't heard the stick hit the ground but she could not miss the huge feline like creature in front of her with the pieces in it's mouth, long sharp teeth jutting around them.

"You- You're a-"

"A Sphynx." It's human head dropped the sticks to the ground and easily vaulted over Hermione. She spun around wearily and backed up. She contemplated reaching back for the stick but she seriously doubted it would do her any good now.

The Sphynx yawned and stretched out it's wings before folding them up and laying down, resting it's head on it's paws and staring at her curiously.

"A human? It's been such a long time since I last saw a human." Cat like eyes blinked prettily at Hermione.

"I…I've come to run the Labyrinth, for my sister."

"Oh….." It smiled wide, showing the girl all it's teeth happily. Hermione gulped and took another step back. "You chose my path….doesn't happen very often. It's obvious that it's a trap after all. Easiest path….." it seemed to contemplate something for a moment before sighed and standing up to it's full height.

"I don't really have a choice you know, I don't even like the taste of humans, you're just too….stringy. And you're hardly a mouthful at all if we're are being honest. Don't you know how to eat?" It's eyes sized up Hermione as it licked it's lips.

"You can't eat me!" She wanted to run, honestly there was nothing Hermione wanted to do more than run, but something told her not to. Some little voice in her head reminded her of myths from some book she had read once upon a time. "Don't you have riddles or something to let me pass?"

The cat like being stopped. Blinked. "You think you can answer my riddle?" It smiled again. "Most mortals who walk this path are too stupid to ask let alone answer my riddle."

"I….I want to try, I'm not just going to let you eat me."

The Sphynx fidgeted excitedly, shifting from side to side giddily as it sat back on it's haunches and thought for a moment.

"Very well, answer my riddle correctly and you may ask me one. We will go back and forth like this until one of us gets it wrong. Then we may eat the loser."

Hermione grimaced. "If I win I don't really want to eat you."

The Sphynx huffed in annoyance. "There must be a reward, tis the way of things."

"Could you fly me to the castle?"

It made a disgusted head shake. "Not going anywhere near those ridiculous goblins."

Hermione sighed, she wondered what it ate if not goblins but she didn't try and think on it too much, she honestly wasn't sure she wanted to know what else the Labyrinth held. If she ran into a Minotaur she was sure she would be screwed. "Can you at least take me closer to it?"

"I…will take you to the end of my hunting grounds. No farther."

Hermione peered around her suspiciously. "I'm not nearly out already am I?"

"I assure you it is a fair reward, if you can even best me." The creature told her testily. "I will start." Hermione nodded needlessly.

"I have many tongues yet cannot tastse by me most things are turned to waste

I crack and snap, yet I stay whole

I may take the largest toll

I assisted all of the first men

And I will pay them back again

Around me people snuggle and sleep

Yet run when I am released from my keep

I run around, and leap and bound

The cold man wishes I he had found.

Hermione blew out an easy breath. "Fire."

The female like head leaned toward her with interest lighting it's strange eyes. For a moment she feared she had gotten it wrong. But it was so easy she knew there was no way. Hermione was smart, she may have chosen the wrong path, but if a battle of wits she knew she at least had a fighting chance.

"Hmmm. Perhaps you are not as simple minded as others who have walked my stones. You may proceed with your riddle."

She did her best to think of one the creature couldn't answer. Honestly she didn't know too many, she was tempted to do a Bilbo question but the sly creature in front of her was not as gullible as Gollum. She doubted it would let her ask a question instead of a true riddle.

"Two bodies have I,

Though both joined as one

The more still I stand

The quicker I run."

She crossed her fingers.

"Hourglass." The creature said lazily. "My turn."

I begin eternity,

End space

I am at the end of time and in every place

Last in life, second in death

Found in your breath

Contained in Earth, water or flame,

My grandeur so awesome

Wind dare not tame

I am not in your mind

I am in your dreams

Vacant to Kings, but held within Queens"

Hermione's mind stumbled. She could remember every word but the answer seemed to elude her. She closed her eyes so as not to see the calculating stare in the cat's and rubbed the bridge of her nose as she carefully thought about the words. It didn't help that she knew if she guessed wrong she wouldn't have another chance to try again. And she had no idea how long she could stand there thinking, never mind all the time she was wasting playing the game.

"Last in life second in death…..Queens….." It hit her like a breath of fresh air. So simple yet it had almost escaped her. "E….the letter E." She breathed out a relieved sigh as the cat grinned but did not lunge.

"Your turn, my lovely." It purred.

Hermione tried to think up a more modern one, something a Sphynx living in some made up fairy tale place wouldn't know.

She scuffed her shoes on the ground and thought back to the book. There was no Sphynx in it to ask riddles of the runner but….she remembered a passage clear as day. If she was lucky perhaps the creature had never left the Labyrinth and wouldn't get the hints in her next riddle.

"I have rivers, yet no water

Forests without trees

Mountains but no rocks

Towns without houses

Oceans without the breeze."

She cringed at the simplicity of it and watched the being carefully. It seemed confident at first. Opened it's mouth right away to speak, but then stopped. Thought, it's forehead crinkled as it did.

"The Queen's crystals?" It hazard.

"No." Hermione said in genuine surprise. "A map…you've never seen one?"

"No." The Sphynx huffed. "But I know what they are." It added quickly, less she think it dimwitted.

Hermione had read that the Labyrinth couldn't be mapped. It's walls moved as easily as the wind blew so there would have been no point. The runner in her story had tried to draw himself a map but backtracking had proven the paths were not where they had been when he first walked them. She had only hazarded a guess that the Labyrinth's creatures wouldn't know what maps were, or rather what they could contain.

She couldn't believe she had won.

The creature huffed and stretched it's body towards her, lowering its back down towards her. "You have won. A rare occurrence I must say, and right embarrassing too. Climb aboard. I will allow you to ride so you may make up lost time."

Hermione made her way wearily over toward the great beast. She hadn't read a lot about the creature and wondered if it would keep it's word or eat her just for the insult of her winning. But the ride to make up lost time was too tempting to pass up and she didn't want to run the risk of insulting it by turning it down.

She sucked in a breath and drew on all the courage she could muster and pulled herself up behind the human head, being extra careful of the folded wings.

"Please don't fly." She muttered as she leaned into it's neck, trying not to pull on the curly locks. "I'm afraid of heights."

A rumbled laugh escaped it's chest. "I will not, for that would be cheating on your part little human. The Queen leaves me be most of the time, were I to give you a view from above I do not believe she would be happy. No….we must run. Hold on tight." Hermione barely had time to grasp her hair and squeal before the creature took off down the paths, twisting and weaving through the bends with more grace than she could have imagined given its size.

~B~

Bellatrix had watched the whole ordeal from a crystal, safe in her castle. She had been sitting on the edge of her throne the minute the girl had chosen that path. She had silently begged anything and everything for a miracle when the girl encountered one of the most dangerous creatures in her Labyrinth.

It wasn't often people outwitted a Royal Sphynx. And you couldn't outrun or hide from them.

Bellatrix knew if things had gone sour for the human she would have interfered. She could only imagine what kind of repercussions that would have caused. The Sphynx would have had a fit and Hermione would have realized she held more power over Bella than the Queen truly wanted her to know about.

It wasn't against the rules per say for her to act in her Labyrinth. It was her domain and she had formed laws a very long time ago. Laws she had to abide by or chaos would run rampant until she would be forced to destroy the world and start afresh. It wasn't something she had to do very often.

None of her laws forbade her from tampering with a runners run, however. She could hinder or help as she saw fit. In fact a very long time ago she allowed a eight year old boy to run the Labyrinth for his baby sister, who he had so carelessly wished away to her. His run had involved her running beside him disguised as an 'elf' friend, guiding him but also deterring any creature from harming him and making sure he arrived safely and on time to her castle.

She would not be doing the same for Hermione. She wanted Hermione to be safe, and would ensure her safety, but she wouldn't help her win. Instead she was busy figuring out how to bend the rules in the event the girl lost. Make it be so that Hermione stayed and perhaps the little girl went home. Hermione had already made the tempting offer she need only find a way to make it happen.

Granted if Hermione made it through to the end she had no idea what she was going to do. Running the Labyrinth was just a temporary way to keep the girl safe from her enemies. If she won…if she left with her sister….Bella was probably going to be forced into war. She wasn't going to allow anyone or anything harm what was hers.

A/N; I can totally see Bella singing that song. Sadly not going to put any singing in the fic. Still working on just a brand for anyone curious….I'm on the last chapter so it's taking a while to get perfect. Wrote a short epilogue for it already though.