Plans Ahead
There was no doubt about it; Granger was up to something. Severus couldn't imagine any other reason for her to approach him. She should be terrified of him. He had made sure of it! Recalling what happened several minutes ago, it was obvious that she was more than terrified. For a very brief moment, he couldn't help but savor the bit of amusement; those moments were few and far between these days. Maybe that was why he had heard her out. Then he snapped back to the pesky issue.
There was something strange about her. He had rarely given her much thought outside of the classroom in the last five years. Well, except for times when Potter leaped into trouble. Granger and Weasley were usually nearby and deeply involved, which meant she was a trouble magnet as well.
It was impossible to ignore her during lessons, with her incessant hand-waving and blatantly sneaking instructions to Longbottom, but otherwise he barely knew her; in his profession as a spy, relying on preconceived stereotypes was often dangerous.
From what he had seen and heard of Granger, she was nothing spectacular other than her spectacularly bad taste in friends and ridiculously long essays he always dreaded to grade. Usually after about a month into the year, he would get sick of reading her essays; he had created a grading system just for her, where he skimmed for key words, checked the length of the paper, took off points for exceeding requirements and being annoying in general, and wrote some nasty generic comment at the end. Not very fair, but it worked.
Looking back, Granger's name had popped up quite often in the staffroom. Minerva and the others constantly sang her praises, but he tended to tune out such drivel. What had him confused was that the girl he had spoken with today didn't seem like someone who'd consistently cause trouble, especially not one who attacked a troll in her first year. He seemed to recall a much more outspoken, stubborn girl. Either being injured at the Department of Mysteries had taught her a lesson, or she was up to something.
Severus decided one evening in the staffroom should inform him enough about her. There was no need to waste any more effort into this.
With a scrape of the chair, he stood and walked across the classroom to the orange, oozing puddles in the back. Now harmless but disgusting. That idiot Fifth Year spilled an entire bag of scurvy-grass into his Befuddlement Draught. The explosion had caught seven other students around him, who all had to be sent to the hospital wing (but probably ended up somewhere else in their confusion). They were Poppy's problem now.
As he vanished the mess, he couldn't help but wonder what classes would be like if there was a Granger in each.
No, that would just cause more headaches. She would no doubt get up to something, even without Potter and his sidekick.
After a quick glance around the room, he stalked out of the dungeons to see about replacing his lost stock.
Several hours later, Severus slumped back in the only comfortable armchair within his bare quarters. Nothing seemed to happen in his favor today. The explosion, Granger, a fight in the corridors which resulted in singed robes, the greenhouses were out of scurvy-grass, and this just had to be the day Granger wasn't mentioned in the staffroom.
He hoped the list ended with these incidents, but there were still several hours remaining in the day; luck had never been on his side.
He tilted his head back and slipped his eyes shut with a sigh. He direly needed to rest his mind. Occlumency only went so far, and he had been Occluding his exhaustion and pain for days now. He was busier now than ever, complying with the Dark Lord's demands which had become more frequent and dangerous and devising ways for the Order to promptly react against those demands took up all his time. This quiet moment of peace was a luxury he rarely had the chance to enjoy. He now just needed to manage one to two hours of undisturbed sleep to regain his balance for tomorrow.
Just as he began to calm, he hissed and clutched his forearm in pain.
"This is what I had forgotten to add to the list. A Friday night gossip party with the Dark Lord," Severus thought bitterly. There would be no sleep tonight; nightmares of blood always followed each meeting.
Stumbling over to the fireplace with a pinch of floo powder, he called out. "Albus, I am going out for a nighttime stroll…"
Hermione, on the other hand, felt elated and couldn't wait to celebrate.
And celebrate she did – in the library.
She sat at her self-proclaimed desk in the library and cheerfully sorted through her plans. The first step was done. She had braved the monster that is Snape and was granted a chance to prove her case. She wondered, in good humor, what it was that had worked.
Had he acknowledged her potential growth in potions? Probably not.
Had he remembered that her know-it-all reputation meant she had a somewhat functioning brain between her ears? Maybe.
Was it her courage to request what no other Griffindor had in the past, which was to study under the dreadful man? Mmm…definitely not.
Then was it pity and amusement for her timidity? That would be a laugh.
Or it could be a combination of all four with a touch of curiosity. She would never find out, but that wasn't important; what was important was that she achieved her goal. It had been rather embarrassing to act harmless and frightened, but that was necessary. She needed to be viewed as a diligent, rule-abiding Hermione Granger.
The next step was what she was most worried about: writing the proposal. She may have acquired a hearing, but she now had to win his cooperation. Hermione was quite confident about the contents of her study, but what troubled her was how to express it on parchment. She mustn't be too specific since that would constrain her, but she needed a sufficient bait to catch his eye. Furthermore, she couldn't fathom what Snape considered a worthy piece of writing. In the past, she had written lengthy essays, detailed essays, messily written essays, essays measuring the exact length requirement, and even essays that resembled Harry and Ron's! He seemed to hate them all.
For the next hour, Hermione mused and scribbled. She already had piles of notes merely developing her project. Now a new pile was accumulating entirely for this infuriating proposal.
Earlier, she had also scoured research archives and journals for samples of professional proposals. She found too many different templates which only served to increase her confusion.
Suddenly, a shadow fell across the table. "Oi, Hermione, you missed dinner again."
Ron stood in front of her, looking uncomfortable as he always did in the library. He obviously wasn't fond of books, and maybe he could tell that the books weren't fond of him either. The last one he tried to read, 'Transfiguration for the Tranquil Mind', had refused to open for him.
"Already...?"
"We picked up some food for you. Harry's already in the common room, probably fending off Seamus and Dean. I've been sent to lure you out of the library."
Hermione's eyes dropped back down absently. "Yes yes...give me a moment. I've just thought of a new idea. I'll leave after I write it down. You should head up first..."
Ron grinned and tugged on the parchment. "We knew you'd say that, and we all know you'll just get lost in your thoughts again. I've got orders not to leave without you."
"Ron..."
"Come on, before books start attacking me."
"That was one book, Ron..." she mumbled, not looking up.
"I'm sure it's representing all books. I picked the most innocent-looking one, and even it rejected me. How am I supposed to get along with the rest of them if they don't want to get along with me?" He continued, as if trying to distract himself from his surroundings. However, the only thing it accomplished was to distract Hermione.
"Ron, hush! Let me write this down first and we can get you out of here," Hermione said in exasperation. "The more you distract me, the longer this is going to take."
He frowned but decided it was more prudent to keep quiet and sat down to wait. After several minutes, he started to fidget.
"Hermione...?"
"Earth to Hermone..."
"Please...?"
"Oh fine. I'm done," She rolled her eyes and stretched her arms as she stood. "Help me clean up."
"Thank Merlin, I was starting to feel claustrophobic."
Hermione let out a snort.
After a bit of shuffling and stuffing, she shoved several books over to Ron. "Take these. You're the one who wanted me to leave early so you get to carry what I haven't finished."
Ron grabbed them gladly and they left the library with a glare from Madam Pince.
"I swear she hates me even more since she found out about that bloody book," He whispered as they walked to the tower.
"I know you're disappointed, but there are plenty of other books in the library that will take to you," Hermione said with a straight face. "I'll help you find a few tomorrow."
Before she could continue, Ron sped up his pace. "That's alright. You've got enough to worry about with whatever it is you're doing. Don't mind me," Ron replied in horror.
Hermione snickered. "Next week then?"
"Really, Hermione, we should hurry if you want more than crumbs for dinner. We can talk about this never," He answered hastily. "Next time, Harry's picking you up."
She trotted behind him, smirking, "You're going to have to learn transfiguration somehow."
"That's what I've got you for."
The next afternoon, Harry and Ron found Hermione in the library again.
"Hermione," Harry said impatiently, "It's Hogsmeade weekend. Are you free?"
"Mmm"
"Hermione? Are you listening?" Ron repeated, glancing at Harry with a raised eyebrow. She seemed more lost in thought than usual. Typically, she would give a more eloquent reply.
"Mmm…?"
"You were in here all afternoon yesterday," He reminded her firmly.
"In a moment," She mumbled and crossed out several lines on the parchment and jotted down another few lines.
"You really should take a break. You need to get some sun once in a while."
Another rapid scribble, and she finally looked up. "What is it with you two dragging me out of the library?" Hermione huffed, "It's been twice in two days."
"We need your help with something important," Harry whispered with a glint in his eyes. "You see, we've thought of something but it has a glitch that we can't solve without you."
"And what is that 'something'?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"We can't talk about it until we're out of the castle. It's too risky to be overheard," Hermione now knew it wasn't just about school and felt herself tense. From past experiences, she knew it was better to be involved than to let the boys run free since the plans were usually dangerous.
"Alright, Arithmancy can wait. And just to let you know, I get plenty of sunlight during Herbology!"
The boys grinned triumphantly.
Strolling down the path, Hermione asked, "So what are you two up to?"
"We need to come up with a way to get information on the Order. They don't say anything but something's going on. I've seen Remus visiting the castle. We're certain he's giving Dumbledore updates from the Order, but we're stuck in this stupid castle again with nobody telling us anything. We have to find a way to collect information," Harry explained quietly, looking around inconspicuously to check for anyone within hearing distance.
"I haven't seen anyone else from the Order, so he has to be the one passing the information. We think the best way would be to get it straight from him," He lowered his voice even more.
"If either of us brings it up, they'll think we're planning something. You, on the other hand, you come off as being serious, and trustworthy, and always getting us out of trouble, so if you talk to him he might let something slip," Ron continued. They shuffled closer with Hermione in the middle as if to hide in their own secret world.
"I'm certain this is a bad idea. Not 'I think' but 'I'm certain'," Hermione said carefully. She could imagine so many things going wrong if they continued down this line of thought. "You know they deal with sensitive information. If they don't want us to know, it's probably because we can't do anything about it or it's too dangerous.
"But if it's dangerous, we need to know about it to avoid it!" Harry cried in frustration.
"Did you also consider that he could be visiting for something completely unrelated? They might be using the floo to travel between for Order business. Wouldn't that be much more secure for the bearer and the information?"
Harry's face became pinched. He hadn't considered the use of the floo network at all until she pointed it out. He admitted they had been too caught up on Remus's appearances to put in any further thought besides attacking the problem directly. They had been so sure of their assumption.
However, it now bothered him that they had told Hermione. He knew they needed her, they always did, but she could potentially be an obstacle to their plan if she decided not to take part.
He finally continued darkly, "We still need to know what's happening and Remus is the only chance we've got right now. Dumbledore's not going to say anything. He'll just give us cryptic riddles and run rings around us. We can't have things turning out like last year," His eyes looked haunted, obviously thinking about Sirius. "It's better if we have all the information available so we don't make those mistakes again."
"Harry, even if that were the case, I don't think Professor Lupin would slip like that. There's a reason he is a trusted member in the Order."
"He might not at first, but you can find something else to talk about first. Maybe a new book you found or something else you both find interesting. Make him feel comfortable enough to let his guard down. Then you can shift the topic onto what's going on with the war. You can sound worried and nervous about us. He might tell you something then."
"Don't you realise how wrong this is? It's not right to abuse their trust. We have little as it is. And I certainly don't want to lose their trust in me," Hermione retorted with a cringe.
Her stomach clenched to this. She could imagine the consequences of this plan; it would risk her own plans. If she carried this out for them, it would make her seem too curious and inquisitive. The Order members at Hogwarts would start keeping a closer watch on her, especially Snape. And she was certain her plans were much more useful to the Order in the long run. She couldn't let them ruin everything now. She needed to buy at least a few weeks' time, enough to get her research up and running.
"If it's important, they'll tell us," Hermione repeated firmly. "If they find out about this, they'll keep us out even more."
"But you know what happened last year!" His voice rose in volume. "What's more important than making informed decisions?"
"Then you should approach Professor Lupin and ask him openly and honestly whether he can tell us anything. If you sneak around, we'll just prove them right about being immature children. You don't want them to ban us from permanently being involved just because we were curious!"
Hermione prayed fervently her warnings were getting through to him or at least giving him something that would take time to think over carefully, "There are more people involved than just the three of us!"
Ron, who had stayed silent throughout the exchange, finally spoke up, "Harry, I think Hermione might be right. If we push them too much, they'll just shove us out. We should wait a bit and see what happens."
Hermione couldn't have been more grateful for his intervention. While Ron tended to be the first to lose control to his emotions, he was also the strategist among them. He could be a persuasive voice of reason to Harry.
Harry backed off but growled. "Think about it, Hermione. We'll work out the details later," He dropped the subject as they arrived at Hogsmeade.
Ron shrugged helplessly at her with a silent promise to watch out for him.
They headed first to Honeydukes. As always, it was packed with students. While Harry and Ron attacked the most sugary of sweets, Hermione squeezed through the crowd to an unpopular jar of Whitening Worms. She wondered with a snicker whether Snape would appreciate some for his teeth, as well as for his vast collection of pickled animal parts.
Next, they separated with a promise to meet at the Three Broomsticks in an hour.
Hermione paused at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop to replace her dwindling supply of Speed-Scribe Quills and Smudgeless Ink. Then she practically bounced to Dervish & Bangs, her favorite. She shut her eyes and relaxed as the smell of old parchment washed over her. It was her ritual every time she visited the shop.
She never looked for anything in particular but always stumbled upon something she subconsciously wanted or needed. She found that she was most successful in this store if she came with an open mind.
Hermione started to meander along the aisles, heading toward the bookshelves in the back. Thoroughly browsing the selection would take time; the books were shelved randomly, but she had three-quarters of an hour to spare.
There were books of all shapes and sizes. Some were falling apart and others were brand new. There were knitting books to advanced course books, and even some on the Dark Arts. She walked down the first aisle, occasionally stroking the spine of any interesting book which caught her eye, but none called out to her. Along the third aisle though, she felt a gentle pull. Hermione followed the pull and closed in on a particular shelf. There! A battered encyclopedia of potions ingredients stood loosely among the books. As she reached for it, the book slid itself toward her hand as if wanting to be in her grasp. It was aged and stained, but more comprehensive than any such book in the Hogwarts library. Clutching the book tightly but carefully, she finished looking through the remaining shelves without further luck. Quickly checking the time, she found her time was up.
After completing her purchase, she made a mental note to thank the boys for dragging her out. Maybe she'd treat them to a round of butterbeer.
Hermione hurried to The Three Broomsticks, only to find Harry and Ron in a standoff with Draco Malfoy. Her bright mood evaporated at the sight.
"Move aside Potty, you're stinking up the place," She heard Malfoy say.
"Hah! The only thing stinking is your ferret hide," Harry shot back with shadowed eyes.
"You must have mistaken me for the Weasel. He's too poor to buy clean clothes."
Ron turned red with a growl and made to rush forward.
"Ron, no!" Hermione hissed, trying to pull him back in time.
"Oh, and here comes little Mudblood to wipe your arses," Malfoy mocked lazily.
"Is there a point to all of this? How many times have we done this?" Hermione gestured with an angry sigh. Mudblood jokes were getting repetitive, but those seemed to be his specialty. "Can't we all just ignore each other?"
"No, we can't let this go, Hermione," Harry replied stonily.
"No nothing. Don't make it any worse, Harry."
"If you don't care, then go away," Ron shouted angrily as he freed himself with a shove. "We're not going to let him step all over us."
Hermione stumbled back in surprise. Her eyes narrowed. "Is that so? Well then, I'll leave you three idiots to it," She replied acidly and stormed back to the library. They were all so infuriating, she fumed. As soon as she thought they had grown up, something always happend to show her otherwise. They needed to start acting responsibly if they wanted to be trusted with anything. She hoped working on the proposal would drive away the anger.
Sunday was also spent in the library, where she had a stroke of brilliance to look for Snape's own proposals. He had a Potions Mastery which meant he must have achieved some success in his own research. Most of her time was spent hunting for his work among hundreds of papers from the beginning of time. As there were very few students in Hogwarts used the research archives, new material tended to be tossed in little regard for organization.
She would have to see Madam Pince about this later.
In the end, she only managed to gather four of Snape's reports dating many years back, but those were enough to formulate a general understanding of his writing style. Not only did she now have a template to follow, but she now had a guide to writing class essays on which he would find no reason to take points off, she thought gleefully.
The proposal was finalized barely in time for curfew. She hurried through the dark corridors, hoping to avoid anyone, especially Snape. He would have a holiday if he got to punish her for completing work assigned by him.
As soon as she climbed through the portrait, Harry and Ron were on her.
"Hermione, we're so sorry!"
"I didn't mean what I said. I know that doesn't make it right but…"
"Malfoy kept attacking us. We couldn't let him get away with it. Or he'd think he won. We can't let that happen."
"You know us, acting before thinking."
"It's a guy thing…"
Hermione laughed as they trailed off with guilty looks. It was obvious they had been watching the entrance like hawks for quite a while now. They had the air of finally grasping their prize after a long, anxious wait.
"Here, have some Sugar Quills...so, sorry?" They offered as a truce. They both knew they were about to be flayed for what they had said. They had hurt her in similar ways many times in their five years of friendship. And each time, she had looked at them with hurt and resignation which made their guts twist in guilt. And each time, she had forgiven them, but not until they had weathered through a scolding.
However, this time she merely shook her head in amusement. She had already taken a day to calm down and relax her angry shoulders. She had just finished her proposal, to perfection if she may say, and there was nothing that could ruin her mood at this moment.
"You two sound like you're channeling the twins," She let out another chuckle. "It's alright. I know he initiates the fights, and I know your pride is bigger than your brains. I've been friends with you two for years now. But he'll keep taunting if we keep reacting in anger. That's just what he wants; I've told you many times before. If you just ignore him, he'll bet bored and back off," Hermione sighed heavily, "But I know it's going to happen again. Am I right? Just make sure you don't get hurt or in trouble with the professors. You don't want to get banned from Hogsmeade weekends or get detention. Just keep that in mind the next time you see red. Now, you two are forgiven."
"Really?" Harry asked incredulously. "You forgive us, just like that?" That was the shortest scolding they had ever received. They usually lasted around five minutes of venting with lots of pacing, and then she would give them a hard glare, asking them to repeat her lessons in not making trouble. They always just rolled their eyes and recited the words without any thought to their meaning. They had already had five year to ponder the meaning of those words.
But now that she had broken the ritual, they felt something lacking. Crazy.
"But like you said a moment ago, you guys tend to act without thinking. Remember that when you're trying to infiltrate the Order. Think about all the consequences while you are calm. You will see that your plan has more negatives than positives," She hoped that would deter them, at least for a few more weeks. She was relieved that they had asked for her opinion before plunging into trouble. It was much easier to stop them than to save them.
"Now, I need to head up and get some work done. Good night," With that, she left two dumbfounded but thoughtful boys in the middle of the common room.
Didn't she already do an entire day of work? they both thought.
Up in the girls' dorm, Hermione spread the papers across her desk and lounged back in her chair.
She frowned and pondered her next courses of action. All the studying she was planning wasn't purely for an innocent school project. It had a much bigger purpose, one which could, no, would affect the war. Hermione, Harry and Ron had not been allowed to join the Order, and probably would not until they graduated. They had been outraged, though she for a different reason than the two boys. The boys were angry about being left out and treated like children (which they all were), but she was frustrated about not doing anything at all. It was a waste of resources! The three of them had most contact with Voldemort in the past several years, Snape aside, and it was ridiculous to sweep them under the rug because they were underage.
The Order should at least train them since they seemed to place quite high on Voldemort's hate list. She understood their unwillingness to involve them; their plans to get information from Professor Lupin proved that they were rash. But, they'd had trouble with Voldemort every year, and she was not foolish to assume this year to be any different. Passing the N.E.W.T.s would not mean anything if one was dead.
Her thoughts had run wild from there, forming and rejecting ideas. Hermione had finally decided to contribute her most useful and developed skill: research. There was no one better or more dedicated to research than her, and no one could detain her from such an innocuous activity, especially while in school. It also wasn't out of character for her to jump on a chance at extra credit. As long as the subject matter stayed secret, she could do something worthwhile. She had two years left at Hogwarts, and she was going use that time wisely.
She had constructed a plan and schedule over the summer. Of course, it was still vague and depended on the results of each step, but if successful, the findings would most certainly give the Order an upper hand.
Potions would be its basis. She was still uncertain whether the research would bear fruit, but what was that quote? "You will never know if you don't try." So, she was working furiously to organize her thoughts and gain permission to use Snape's classroom. She wanted to succeed. She needed to succeed. Lives were on the line.
With renewed determination, Hermione began to devise precautions and develop the details. She couldn't have Snape finding out about this; that would create a possibility for the plan to leak to Dumbledore, which then would most likely be revealed to the Order. Mrs. Weasley would be the most vocal and adamant member against Hermione's involvement, with many others behind her.
Utter hypocrisy.
First and foremost was protection of her notes. Advanced wards, protection charms, and repelling charms. It wouldn't do for them to fall into the wrong hands, and this time the hands were those of her allies stationed very close to her, she thought with much amusement.
Next, she would study the potions encyclopedia she had procured. The advancement of her research depended on her familiarity with ingredients she would be handling. Her school level knowledge, while more than typical 7th Years', would not be enough, which was a small blow to her pride. This was going to be a university, if not Mastery, level potions study, with a little twist.
And lastly, for now, she needed to gather the materials and books she would require to start off.
This was going to be a long and difficult endeavor with uncertain results, but war was a greater endeavor, growing more dangerous by the minute with their entire world at stake. Her project was minuscule in comparison.
A/N: Any feedback would be helpful and appreciated!
