This story is purely a lot of fun. I am NOT JK Rowling. Hahaha. Not at all. But I am pleased to work with her lovely characters and see what I can get them to do!

This is for blueartemis07. I hope you enjoy this little story. Many blessings, friend. :D

2. Hermione returns for her NEWTs, but not as a full student, she is doing an accelerated program along with a cast of regulars. To the surprise of Snape, who is mentoring this group, she befriends the Slytherins, breaking with Ron in the process. Added points if Molly decides to match-make for the two. (Good Molly, in this one, please, even if Ron is an ass).

Consequences

Chapter 1

It had been more than a year since Hermione had seen Hogwarts. Since any of them had. The repairs to the castle and the healing of the survivors had taken so much time. Of course there had been the celebrations. The Ministry had capitalized on the victory in typical overblown fashion. And witches and wizards had held their own private celebrations as well. Lovers were reunited without fear of one or the other dying. Parents were free of the concern for their children. It had all taken time to sort out, sift through, settle into…

Hermione, for her part, had gone to the burrow with Ron directly after the dust settled. There was grieving to be done, and as Ron and Hermione had finally declared for each other, albeit in the near heat of the battle, she felt her place was with him as he and his family dealt with the death of Fred. Privately she thought it absolutely amazing that only one of the Weasleys had died in the battle. There were so many of them it seemed incomprehensible. She had privately been very afraid Ron would be taken. Just the shear odds had weighed against her analytical brain and pressed on her tender heart. So she felt great relief that they had both made it and could have a life together after all.

Harry and Ginny had come gratefully together as well. He had needed recovery time after the battle, as they all had, but had insisted on being with her throughout all the proceedings from the family's private observances to the ministry's more public ones. Hermione had been proud of his obvious caring attitude toward the whole Weasley family.

There had been a lot to get through personally as well. Not the least of which had been the recovering of her parents. Hermione had waited a couple of months after the war to go back to get them. She had felt they were safer that way. There had been some backlash from those who had somehow managed to escape justice at first. Pathetic attempts of Lord Voldemort's followers to retaliate and regain some sort of ground. Muggles had suffered for the loss, too. And she did not want to risk having her parents caught up in it all. But when the time finally came, it was easy for her, Ron, Harry, and Ginny to find them and for her to set things right with her reverse Obliviate. There had of course been a little memory loss, but upon taking Mr and Mrs Granger to St. Mungos, the mediwitch in the spell damage department had assured them that this was not permanent.

And then it had been time to think about the future. Hermione knew she would one day marry Ron, but what to do about a career in the meantime? All veterans of the war had been offered the opportunity to continue at Hogwarts once the war-scarred castle was made inhabitable. And she saw that as the best way to go. There was to be an abbreviated N.E. class for those only lacking their 7th year education. Supposedly it would only be a six month intensive. Students feeling they needed more time, or younger students were given the option of picking up where they left off. She, Ron, and Harry chose the intensive N.E. class. Poor Ginny, at the insistence of her parents, had to begin out in her sixth year. This was devastating to her because she felt even this little separation from Harry keenly. But it would be a long time before they could begin their future together in earnest. Harry had not decided what he wanted to do after school. He didn't feel he wanted to be an Auror anymore. He felt he had had enough of fighting and such things. But he didn't know how else to proceed with his life and future. He had enough of his parent's money to take his time deciding, but he wanted to know he could support Ginny when the time came.

So, in the September following the year of recovery, those seventh years who chose to continue their education boarded the Hogwarts Express for one final return trip to the venerable old castle. Hermione was anxious to see how many of her former schoolmates would be there. She kept her eyes peeled and soon saw the likes of Luna Lovegood, looking as starry-eyed as usual, and Seamus Finnegan, who seemed a bit less lighthearted, and somehow 'darker', too. Dean Thomas was there, which surprised Hermione greatly. He had lost both his parents in the battle, and his haunted expression and quiet demeanour bespoke his continued grief. Then there was Neville. He had grown several inches in stature, both physically and in magical power since his death blow to Nagini, the last of Voldemort's Horcruxes. He exuded a confidence Hermione had never thought to see in him. She felt the shift in his consciousness and the KNOWING he had within himself that there was no challenge he could not overcome. And the other young witches seemed to have noticed this, too, if the number of them hanging on his every word and vying for the seats next to him were any indication.

Presently, Hermione sat with Ron, his warm, large hand enveloping hers. Harry and Ginny were across from them similarly ensconced. It was silent in their compartment, each one thinking his or her own thoughts, the golden sunlight warming their faces as it streamed from the window.

Then Hermione turned her head and caught a glimpse of someone passing by their compartment windows. And she felt a jolt of shock…

Draco Malfoy? What was he doing on the train? Somehow it had not occurred to Hermione that any of the Slytherins would return to Hogwarts. She had heard stories of Slytherin families having their houses burned and possessions taken, irregardless of any stance they had been known to take in the war, light or dark. There had been accounts of frozen assets, 'just until a full investigation of your loyalties can be assessed.' There had been fights between non-Slytherin children and Slytherin children in the streets. The Ministry had even fired several Slytherin employees with 'questionable' backgrounds. Mr Weasley had given the family and, of course, Hermione and Harry the truth behind all these aberrations. It was a thinly veiled purging, a vindictive reprisal. And it was totally unfair in many cases.

Hearing the stories had often made Hermione feel a little sick. She had never been a great friend of any Slytherin, but she did not wish any innocent person harm. So she had been more than slightly disturbed by Ron's reaction to the horror stories. He had seemed to relish in them, whether the intended victims seemed guilty of war crimes or not. Hermione had taken him to task on more than one occasion, but he had only replied, 'Look, Hermione… we can't really be sure that any of them are truly innocent! They are Slytherins for a reason, you know!' That had just plain made her angry. She had flounced up to the room she and Ginny shared and not come down for hours on several occasions…

And here was Draco Malfoy, in the flesh, on the train, headed to Hogwarts. His family HAD been openly on the wrong side. It had come out that he and his parents had done terrible, heinous deeds. But Harry had told Hermione that he felt Draco's heart was not in it at the last. He thought Draco seemed more scared than avid for his master's cause. Even Lucious seemed terrified. Hermione did not know what to make of it all, but she felt a pang of regret that Draco had been seemingly forced to deal with any of it. And now she wondered what would happen to him and any other Slytherins that were returning to Hogwarts.

Staring out the window of the compartment, she felt something rise up inside her. It felt a little like her indignation for the house-elves all those years ago. She smiled a small smile at that thought. She knew Slytherins were not servants, but it seemed they needed a little shielding and protection just the same. Hermione shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Ron looked at her and smiled, and she returned his smile with a distracted twitching of her lips.

iI cannot sit back if I see the Slytherins being mistreated./I She thought determinedly. iBut I wonder whether they would accept my help … me, the best friend of Harry Potter./i

Her eye fell on the spot that Draco had so briefly held outside the door. 'Well, I have to try,' she murmured. 'I can't just stand by if I see unfair treatment.'

'What was that, Hermione?' Ron asked, turning to her again.

She smiled at him to cover herself. 'Nothing, Ron,' she said laughingly. 'Just trying to remember if I brought all I needed. Mental checklist.' She tapped her head lightly.

Ron looked amused. 'Trust you to have any sort of check list.' He laughed again, as Hermione grinned up at him.

Her first order of business after settling in at the school would be to find out who the sponsoring teacher for Slytherin House was and make an appointment to talk to him or her about the plight of the Slytherin students. Her decision was made. She would do all she could.

The return feast had had the surreal quality of being a true celebration with undertones of wariness and melancholy. Pleasure and pain. Hope and regret. Hermione let her eye fall on the Slytherin table more than once. The students there seemed more sober than the rest as a general rule. Pansy Parkinson was there, seated next to Draco, who looked wan and gaunt, his eyes darting to and fro, as if he was constantly on guard. Marcus Flint was flanking his other side and Goyle was next to Marcus. And she sensed the rest of the table was leaning toward their fallen Slytherin Prince. They seemed to be in self-protection mode. And even though Draco was not viewed kindly by the rest of the Wizarding World, they were still clinging to him for protection.

At one point, she stared just a little too long at Malfoy and he caught her at it. He sneered at her predictably, but it held only half the bravado it used to hold. She looked away quickly, her heart pounding. Oh, yes… this was not going to be easy.

Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, began tapping her fork against her goblet, and Hermione turned her attention, along with the rest of the school, to her. 'Good evening, students, she said in her reedy, Scottish brogue. 'I am honoured to welcome you all to a new year at Hogwarts. It is a testament to the strength of the wizarding community that the doors of our beloved school have opened once again. Even with the great destruction of the last battle to free us all from the evil grip of Lord Voldemort, we have barely missed a step in continuing the education of the next generation of leaders in our world. It is with great satisfaction that I introduce you to our instructors for this year…'

Hermione had not even thought about the teachers. Some of them had been lost during the last battle and now she felt anticipation as she let her eyes wander down the teacher's table as Headmistress McGonagall set off on a litany of names and positions… So many new faces … and then her eye fell on an empty chair…

'And we have a new position at Hogwarts this year, designed to help us all integrate and develop post-war unity.' Just then the doors to the Great Hall slammed open and a great black figure swept in in a flurry of soot black robes. There was a collective gasp throughout the vast room, for striding purposefully down the center aisle was Severus Snape … a literal dead man walking … his eyes sweeping the room as if in challenge to anyone who would speak. The room fell silent, except for the clicking of his boots on the flagstone. Even Professor McGonagall watched in silence as Snape seated himself in the empty chair Hermione had just been contemplating.

All eyes shifted in unison from Snape to McGonagall as the Headmistress recovered herself and continued to speak. "Severus Snape will be heading up the Accelerated N.E. program this year, as well as filling the position of house integration and student relations. We welcome him and pledge our full support as he works to bring us all together as we face the coming challenges of creating a world where all are accepted and supported!' Professor McGonagall's stern eye seemed to catch the gaze of every student in the room, almost daring one of them to utter one word of dissent. Predictably, though there were many shocked faces, the applause came just the same. Snape only stared implacably into the crowd, as the Headmistress moved smoothly on to beginning of the year announcements.

Hermione felt as if she had been sucker punched. She sat staring at the impressive figure of Severus Snape for several seconds. She had heard rumours about his somehow having survived Nagini's attack, but she, Ron, and Harry had seen it all happen. Harry had collected Snape's dying memories. (Memories which would later keep Snape out of Azkaban for killing Dumbledore.) That damn snake had struck again and again! Her venom was known to be deadly enough, but all the wounds she had given Snape in her attack were enough to make him bleed out even if her venom had been harmless.

iHow?/i She thought over and over again, as she exchanged shocked glances with Harry and Ron. And what on earth was Snape doing back at Hogwarts?

Then she let her eyes wander over to the Slytherin table and she noticed that no one there seemed surprised. In fact, a few faces looked almost triumphant … gloating … She wondered what that could mean. But she did not say anything to Harry and Ron. She still planned to speak to the one who was in charge of easing the Slytherin's way. She had just had had no idea it would be Snape with whom she would be dealing… Maybe it was not such a good idea for her to get involved…

'No,' she murmured to herself, shaking her head a little. 'I WILL do this. I want to help.' She squared her shoulders and set her jaw as she forced her eyes up to look at Snape once again. Coincidentally, Snape's eyes fell to hers just in that moment. His face did not change, except for the tilt of one eyebrow … the classic Snape intimidating stare. Almost against her will, Hermione felt her own eyes fall to her lap. She did not see Snape chuckle derisively before turning his attention back to Professor McGonagall.

After the Headmistress dismissed the school for the night, Hermione stood abruptly and without looking at Ron or Harry marched from the room. She was determined to write an outline covering all her questions and concerns about the Slytherins. She wanted to be ready when it was time to speak to Snape. Hopefully, she would get her chance sometime tomorrow.

'Hey!' Ron and Harry were gaining on her, and it was Ron who was trying to get her attention. She did not hear him, and did not stop. She made it to the girl's dormitory and without even looking back went straight to her room and her desk. She pulled out at least two feet of parchment and began writing furiously. It would be a very late hour before she would blow out her candle and stumble to bed.

The next morning, Hermione awoke face down on her four-poster. Her head ached and her mouth felt like cotton. In her fervor she had even forgotten to brush her teeth for the night.

iBut I got it done!/i She exulted, and jumped up to get her outline from her desk. She then rushed through her toilette, pulling a comb through her tangled bushy mane and brushing her neglected teeth. She changed her uniform and put on a fresh robe in haste. The other girls in the room were already gone. Hermione was late for breakfast.

Her mind racing through her schedule, she decided she would attempt to see Snape in the afternoon. She just needed to find out where to find him. At facing Snape again, after so long and so much unpleasant history with him, Hermione felt her stomach tighten.

'Hermione!' Ron was beckoning her from his seat next to Harry at the Gryffindor table. His face was smiling but puzzled. Hermione rushed over to her beloved and her best friend.

'Hello!' she said with a smile for Harry and a quick kiss for Ron. She sat down and poured herself a cup of tea and attempted a bite of dry toast.

'Where did you run off to last night, Hermione?' Harry asked his eyes steadily observing her nervous attempt at eating. She smiled at him around a tiny bite of toast.

'I have kind of decided to do something…' Her words trailed off and she put her toast down, her eyes pleading. 'Ron … Harry,' she said, her voice a little shaky. 'I have decided that I want to help the Slytherins, and, I guess Snape, with the integration and unification process.' Harry's eyes widened and Ron openly gaped at Hermione. So she spoke a bit faster. 'I know I have enough to do and things were really bad during the war. I know a lot of the Slytherins WERE on Lord Voldemort's side, but I just think they were brainwashed, by their parents, by their upbringing, a lot of them. I think some of them, if not all, were downright scared. I just think everyone needs to give them a chance when the threat of the Dark Lord is gone to decide where they really stand. And let's face it, we Gryffindors have not been much help in the past. I mean, we never really gave them a chance, did we? I really think it's time for us, especially you two and me, to try to make a change in how we relate with Slytherin house. I think it's safe to say that sometimes Slytherins have felt they HAD to be on the defensive, because no one was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I think that has to change. And it has to start with us…' Her words which had become so fervent, now began to trail off.

Ron's face was nigh on purple. His eyes were narrowed. 'Oh, my… Ron…' she began, but Ron was standing up now and looked ready to bolt.

'Give them a chance?' he shot out through clenched teeth. 'Did they give Fred a chance, Hermione?' He pounded the table for emphasis, 'No!'

'Now, Ron,' Harry began. 'Augustus Rookwood killed Fred. No one here…'

'No, but it was a Slytherin. If it hadn't been Rookwood, it could have just as easily been one of our classmates. Could even have been someone sitting over at the Slyterin table right now!' Angry tears filled his eyes. 'And even if it wasn't Fred they killed, they could have killed a whole lot of other people. People we love. Friends, family… Bloody hell, Hermione! What are you thinking? You want to make things easier for the Slytherins? God! What are they, your replacement for house-elves … for S.P.E.W? And who owned the house-elves and treated them so badly? Who killed Dobby, Hermione?' Ron's breathing was coming fast and sharp. He was not yelling, but his voice was raised and several people from all the tables were now frankly watching the scene.

'Ron…' Harry began, his voice lowered. 'People are staring.' Ron glanced around him, but then fixed his gaze on Hermione again.

'I am not getting on your bandwagon, Hermione. Not this time! I don't trust the Slytherins! Not any of them! If you do this, you do it without me!' He continued to stare at her pointedly. It was apparent he required some sort of response.

Hermione's face was set. 'Fine, Ron,' she said evenly. 'You are free to do what you wish.'

Ron's face clouded even more. He had clearly been expecting a different answer. She cast a look over at Harry, who looked decidedly UN-decided.

'I'm sorry, Ron, this is something I feel I must do.' And she turned, leaving her meager breakfast on the table, and headed for the doors. As she went her eye fell on the teacher's table and specifically on Snape. He was watching her with a great deal of interest. And she had the feeling he had been watching her confrontation with Ron. His eyes held something unnamable in them. But she did not stop to analyse, but only continued out of the hall. She knew she would be seeing him later.

She knew she must avoid Ron at all costs and possibly Harry as well, at least until she had spoken to Snape. 'This day is just full of challenges!' she murmured under her breath.

She headed straight for the library, her haven, her refuge. It had been so many times in the past when Harry and/or Ron were mad at her. She loved its cool and musty confines. Its silence. She loved to barricade herself behind a stack of books at a table far in the back. She NEEDED this now. She wanted to go over her outline for the talk with Snape, and as she still had a good 45 minutes before her first class…

She slipped through the libraries imposing double doors almost soundlessly. Madam Pince didn't even look up at her, but Hermione knew the librarian was fully aware of her presence. Madam Pince was omniscient, Hermione was sure of it. She didn't even have to use her sharp eyes to catch rule breakers in HER library. She just KNEW! But Hermione had never run afoul of her, and she sensed a certain grudging respect from the bird-like, always on guard, witch.

Without further ado, Hermione headed quickly to the back of the library. She intended to catch her breath, study her outline, and get her head fully in the game. But just as she reached her favourite scarred up old table pushed nearly to the stone wall she heard what distinctly sounded like scuffling and heated whispering behind one of the 10 foot shelves simply loaded with musty, leather-bound tomes. She smiled a little … likely a couple of students making out none too quietly. But then…

'Shut up, Slytherin scum!' Hermione heard that very clearly. It was a Scottish accent, heavy and distinct. And unless the two supposed lovers were into some pretty kinky things…

'Yeah!' Another voice angrily spat in a raspy whisper. 'You get what you deserve!' Then Hermione heard a muffled 'smack!' and she was out of her seat as if jet-propelled and around the shelf in 3.5 seconds, her wand out and eyes blazing. Without even thinking she cast a Silencing charm around the perimeter of the scene.

'What is going on?' she rasped fiercely. And her eyes fell on 3 bigger boys in various positions of restraining a slightly smaller and thinner boy—all in the shadows. One of the tormentors had his wand raised and a gleam of something hateful in his eyes. The other boys were leering at the scene they were helping to create … until they saw Hermione.

'I repeat,' Hermione said clearly, drawing herself up to her full 5'4". 'What. Is. Going. On?' The boy in the hands of his tormentors gave her a wide-eyed stare, his mouth open a little with surprise. The other boys only tightened their grip on their prey, as they scuffled with him to pull him out of the shadows so Hermione could see them all better.

'Hello, Hermione,' said Seamus Finnegan, his eyes resting upon her evenly. 'Just teaching this Slytherin that it doesn't pay to come out on the wrong side of things, if you know what I'm saying!' The other two boys, Dean Thomas and a Ravenclaw that Hermione did not recognize, laughed quietly but no less raucously at the joke. The Slytherin boy was like a rag doll in their hands, as they shook him hard and shoved him up against the shelf.

'Stop this at once!' Hermione whispered/shrieked. 'Let him go. Now!'

Seamus looked puzzled. 'Hermione, don't you know who this is?' Hermione shook her head a little and pursed her lips. She raised her wand a fraction of an inch higher.

'Doesn't matter, Seamus,' she said firmly. 'I said let him go!'

Seamus looked over at Dean and the other boy, shrugged his shoulders and the three roughly shook the boy again before literally throwing him to the ground. The boy hit the flagstone with a 'thud', barely catching himself with his hands and hitting his knees, hard. He blinked up at his captors and then stared up at Hermione, who didn't take her eyes or her wand off the others.

'Go,' was all she said, and the boy was gathering his things, which were strewn all over the floor, and running off without looking back. Only then did Hermione lower her wand.

'Never let me see you acting so brutish again, Seamus!' she said through clenched teeth, her eyes narrowing. 'You either, Dean! What were you both thinking? I ought to turn you in for this! And I don't know who you are, she said gesturing wildly at the Ravenclaw boy, but I won't hesitate to find out and turn you in, too!' The boy only flipped his tie at her with a belligerently amused look, gathered his books off a nearby table and sauntered away.

'Hermione,' Seamus said derisively. 'I know you think you have to save the downtrodden, but you have to know that that boy is the oldest son of Augustus Rookwood. We know for a fact that he is every bit as bad as his father, and you know how bad HE was! He KILLED Fred Weasley! Bastard is dead now, thank Merlin, but he left behind his seed, and Dean, Martin, and I mean to deal with him!' Seamus looked determined and Dean nodded vigorously in agreement.

'Deal with him?' Hermione huffed. 'We won the damn war, Seamus. Now we are trying to REBUILD the Wizarding World. Perhaps the Rookwood boy is unsaveable, but we don't know that yet. If you run around roughing all the Slytherins up because of what their parents did, they will all go as bad as they can. Good god, Seamus! It's basic psychology!' Seamus rolled his eyes and Dean snickered. 'I'm telling you that if we don't make some effort to give the Slytherins a place, we will only perpetuate the age old cycle of oppressed and hated Slytherins looking for a way to strike back at the rest of their world … and especially at us Gryffindors, who have in my opinion been their biggest oppressors!'

Seamus looked dumbfounded. 'You are seriously going to blame the evil that has come out of Slytherin on Gryffindors?' he said incredulously. 'Cut the bleeding heart crap, Hermione. Slytherins are not oppressed house-elves. They are born dark wizards, most of them, and the only way to keep them from hurting people is to keep them down. Them,' he said, pointing at her and eyeing her harshly, 'you can't save!'

Hermione was shaking with rage. 'I'm warning you, Seamus … Dean. If I catch you doing something like this again, I'll turn you in and see to it you're stopped. I mean it!' She gripped her wand more tightly, preparing to have to deflect a curse, Seamus looked so angry.

'Fine!' he said in thick, dangerous tones. 'Then I guess we'll just have to make sure you DON'T see us!' And without further conversation, Seamus and Dean turned on their heals and stomped off. Much to Hermione's great relief.

She wobbled back over to her chair at the table and slid into it heavily. What the hell was wrong with Seamus and Dean? And for that matter, what was wrong with Ron? She had not foreseen having to fight her own house in defense of the Slytherins. But here she was. Two confrontations in the space of 20 minutes. It made her wonder how ugly this might really get before all was said and done.

The rest of the day, Hermione did her best to avoid any more confrontations. She stayed away from Harry and Ron by hiding in the library. She positively would NOT look at Seamus or Dean, though she did notice Ron doing quite a bit of talking with them in the corridors. Hermione rolled her eyes. She was sure they were filling Ron in on the earlier spat in the library. She sat with Ginny and Parvati Patil at lunchtime, studiously avoiding Ron's heated gaze much of the time. Harry did not approach her or attempt to speak to her, but the few times she hazarded a look at him, he seemed aggrieved. Good. He was wrestling with his conscience, she thought. Let him. Hopefully he would come to the right conclusion.

Then, in the afternoon, Hermione found her stomach in knots again. She had asked Professor Czarnecki, the new Charms teacher, where Snape's new offices could be found and when his next free period would be, and she had been informed that he was in his old quarters in the dungeons but would likely be in the staff room right about then.

She walked the path to the staff quarters as though she was going to the gallows. She knew the likely response she would be getting from Snape to her plans. But she had to try. She had to offer. The events of today had confirmed her in her course of action.

When she got to the staff room, she stood outside the door for a full 30 seconds, wringing her hands in the front of her robes. She tried to calm herself. The last time she had seen this man, he had been supposedly dying from Nagini's savage attack and Lord Voldemort's heinous 'betrayal'. She had done nothing to help him because she had thought that nothing could be done. She had not had time to wonder how he was saved, but she was wondering it now… Maybe Snape would volunteer that information.

Hahahahaha! She laughed internally. 'Yeah, right!' she whispered. But the thought had put a smile on her face and eased some of her tension. She knocked on the door with a firm hand.

'Enter', said a reedy voice in a distinct Scotish accent. Hermione felt her stomach plummet to her toes. It hadn't occurred to her that there would be other teachers in the staff room. She really did NOT want to have this conversation with Snape in front of anyone else, let alone the Headmistress. The humiliation factor had just upped to level 10…