Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's characters and locations. This story is purely for entertainment, and I promise to give back all of the characters in relatively good condition.

A/N: Now that that has been said- I'm sorry for messing with this story so much, it just never seemed to work out the way I wanted. It has now been edited -yes again, and for the last time- to combine the original story with the second, simply because it seemed better put together. The first three chapters are finished, and I'm going to try and post a new one every day, because I really want to get my WIP stories finished up.

Pamphlets littered the floor around the fire in the Gryffindor common room, piles slowly getting smaller as destinations were ruled out. It seemed as though there was something wrong with each location they looked at, even if it was only that the Order considered the area 'unsafe'.

"You know Harry, you aren't going to be 17 until the end of July, so we don't really need to figure this out now, we still have months."

"How many times have I told you, Ron? We need to have the plans approved by Dumbledore, if we don't your mother will kill us. Who knows how long it will take." Hermione snapped as she tossed the brochure for a promising looking resort into the flames. "No wards allowed," she said in explanation.

"Besides, if we don't book soon, there isn't going to be any availability anywhere, summer vacations are popular." Harry said, looking like he'd rather be doing anything else. "Not that it would necessarily be a bad thing…" Ron frowned as another pamphlet flew into the fire.

"You may be the boy-who-lived Harry, but you aren't the boy-with-no-life. If the world falls into darkness because you took a week off, I'll take all the blame. Actually, I'll just say Malfoy kidnapped you. That'd be believable even if he denied it."

"Oh, here's a good one." Hermione said, doing her best to ignore Ron. "It's in France, but it's in a safe area, and they allow wards to be placed on the rooms. Plus, it has a private beach so-".

"Hermione!" Ginny called, making her way across the room. "I just ran into Professor McGonagall, she told me to tell you that Dumbledore wants to see you in his office right away. The new password is Cauldron Cakes."

Hermione's eyes widened, Dumbledore only ever called Harry into his office. She didn't move, trying as hard as she could to come up with some rule that she had broken. There was nothing. Even Harry and Ron had been subdued lately in an attempt to convince the Order they could handle a vacation on their own.

"But I haven't done anything!" She protested as she stood up, "What would he want with me?"

"Relax Hermione," Ron laughed, "its Dumbledore not You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort, Ron, his name is Voldemort." Harry said as Hermione stood and stretched.

Ignoring Ron's mumbling behind her, Hermione headed out the portrait. The walk to the headmaster's office didn't take very long, but she wouldn't have noticed if it had. She was much too lost in thought. The only explanation she could come up with was that something had happened to her parents, causing her scream the password at the gargoyle and run up the steps faster than they could move. When she finally reached the top she burst through the door without knocking.

"Are my parents alright?" She asked, before the door had even closed behind her.

"Please, sit down Ms. Granger. Your parents are both doing just fine. Would you care for a Lemon Drop?" He asked, gesturing to a small bowl as she sat.

"No, thank you. Is there something the matter Professor? Usually you ask to speak with Harry." He smiled, and gently pinched his nose.

"Nothing is wrong, in the sense that you are asking."

"But there is a problem?" She asked.

"What were you considering as a career Ms. Granger?" Hermione sighed, knowing that it was almost always difficult to get information from the headmaster.

"Harry and Ron wanted me to go on to auror academy with them, though I told Professor McGonagall I'd much prefer curse breaking to being an auror. What's going on Professor?"

"I'm going to tell you a little story." He said, leaving Hermione with the impression that she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Quite a long time ago in Egypt, there was a sorceress named Ichstata. She was brilliant beyond her time, and was the creator of many spells and potions that were left unused due to circumstances beyond her control. It is even commonly believed that she is the key to certain lost ingredients."

"Lost ingredients?" She asked, wondering what any of this had to do with anything.

"There are a few ancient and obscure texts that reference plants no one can identify. The descriptions are similar to plants that were believed to be used by Ichstata. Agian, not much is known, so it has yet to be proven. Her greatest accomplishment, if it can be proven true, was the creation of a combination of spells and potions that would block the killing curse." Hermione gasped.

"You keep saying things like, 'believed to be' and 'if', and that 'not much is known'. Doesn't anyone know for sure? And if this sorceress was so great, accomplished so much, why isn't she in our texts? Why haven't we heard about her in class?"

She wasn't sure yet where this story was going, but he couldn't say things like that without explaining it better. Nothing could stop the killing curse! It was what they had always been taught.

"The wizarding world may not have been as bad as the muggle world, but prejudices still existed. Ichstata was young, and she was female. It is likely that the only reason she received any attention at all was because she was quite wealthy."

Hermione sat confused, watching the Headmaster look at her warily through his glasses, wondering if he would continue, or if she should ask more questions.

"She was young when she began her work and young when she finished with it. She died at age 20. Her palace was sealed off and warded, and believed to be unplotable. The only thing that is known about her work today is what little had been recorded in the journals of others."

The dramatic pauses were driving Hermione crazy, and she resorted to taking a Lemon Drop off of his desk.

"We know that she referenced spells, plants, and ingredients that cannot be identified by anyone today, and we know that she put certain restrictions on all of her notes and journals, although none have yet been found."

"Restrictions?" He looked at her sadly over the top of his spectacles.

"Ah, and so we being to reach the important part of the story. Ichstata's writings can only be read by a female under the age of 20. It was said that she didn't want men reading her writings since they so often tried to discredit her work."

"And this is known for certain?" She asked, wondering how they knew this when everything else was so uncertain.

"We have found the journal of one of her servants. While it did not detail any of her work or accomplishments, we found a passage regarding her journals. It appears she used her servants to test the spells placed on them. The results when either a male, or someone over 20 tried to open the journal were not pleasant."

"Why someone under 20 though?"

"It is not very clear about that, as I said, sources of reliable information are scarce. All we know is that it was her age when she died." Hermione frowned.

"Forgive me professor, I'm more than intrigued by all of this, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"We are in a time of war Ms. Granger, things happen in these times that would never happen otherwise. Everyone must make certain sacrifices. It's all for the benefit of the greater good you see."

"No, I don't see actually," Hermione answered rather snappishly, getting worried about where the conversation was going. "You doing your very best to be quite elusive, is what I see."

"You would not be incorrect in saying that, but I fear it is because I do not like what I have to say."

Hermione glared, a picture of where this was going forming in her mind. She still wasn't sure what it had to do with the Egyptian sorceress, but as soon as he mentioned sacrifice, her mind flew to their vacation.

"There is no one in The Order with the qualifications to see, open or read Ichstata's writings. The journals and notes that could be the key to this war would be left unopened, unless we could find an Order member who has the qualifications necessary to read them."

Hermione's eyes snapped open, the story suddenly becoming clear.

"You want me to…"

"I realize that you are still a student at Hogwarts, which usually restricts one from joining The Order, however you are 17, and an adult.

"Eighteen," She muttered, trying to piece things together in her mind.

"Ah, yes, you are referring to your use of the time turner?" Hermione didn't answer him, her mind busy elsewhere.

"What exactly…?"

"Ichstata's palace has been found, and The Order's best curse breaker is currently getting ready to head out there. It is my request, on behalf of The Order, that you join our ranks and accompany him to Egypt. You would be providing a great service both to The Order and this war, as well as gaining valuable experience in your chosen field."

Hermione sat dumbfounded, not knowing which question to ask first.

"Um, how long exactly would this take?"

"To be honest, we are entirely unsure. The job presented is complex to say the least."

"And, who exactly is the orders best curse breaker?" She didn't know the order more than one curse breakers, and she could think of more than one Order member she wouldn't want to spend an extended period of time with.

"Bill Weasley, of course, you knew that." Hermione could barely contain her groan, not knowing if that made it better or worse. Honestly, who didn't have a crush on their best friend's older brother at some point? Right?

"What about our vacation? What about school? You have to have some idea of how long it's going to take?" This wasn't right. She was torn between thrilled that she could help somehow, and scared to death. This was an important role, Harry always got assigned the important tasks. And what about her vacation? Not that it compared to winning the war, but she'd been looking forward to it.

"As I said Hermione, war is a time of sacrifice. I cannot make any promises as to when you would be finished. My opinion is that you would not be finished in time to return to school in the fall."

"My N.E.W.T's! My career?" She asked, all the while thinking that if they lost the war, none of those things would matter anyway.

They sat in silence as the old wizard looked at her sadly over the top of his spectacles. For a minute, Hermione thought he was going to offer her another lemon drop, but was greatly relieved when he started to speak.

"I understand that your education is important to you, but I know that your friends and family mean more to you. This is the key to the war Hermione. You're the most brilliant witch of your time. There is little more we could teach you in a year that you don't already know."

"I understand all that Professor and you know by know that I would do whatever I could for Harry. I'm just worried about my future should there be one. One of the first things Professor McGonagall explained was how important N.E.W.T's were."

"You will still be able to sit your N.E.W.T.'s. I've also arranged for this assignment to cover your Post-Educational training should you choose to pursue curse breaking as a career."

She tried to gather her thoughts, not wanting to seem difficult. It just seemed like an awful lot to spring on her like he did. Her thoughts drifted to Harry and Ron in the common room, and the vacation they were supposed to take this summer.

"Harry already thought the vacation was too good to be true, I think. That's why he was so reluctant to plan it," she added, not sure why.

"Perhaps, if everything is going well, and there is no danger," he said while making sure he caught her eye, "or risk in doing so, you would be able to stop for a short vacation." She could tell by the way he was looking at her, he already knew she had made up her mind. "You can tell me tomorrow, if you wish."

"I know you know better, professor. In fact, I have the impression that you were never actually asking me, because you knew all along that I would agree." He started to respond, but Hermione just smiled. "I think I need to get some rest Professor."

"Very well. Have breakfast with your classmates in the morning, after the train leaves we'll go to Headquarters, and I can tell you more."

The war had come to her. She wasn't just assisting Harry anymore, now there was a specific responsibility lying on her shoulders. And as she stood to walk out of his office, she grieved for Harry. She already felt like she couldn't breathe, and he'd been carrying a heavier weight on his shoulders for much longer.