Author's Note: Here is the next chapter, a little earlier than I'd planned because I'm impatient! Many thanks to all those who read and reviewed the last chapter, please do the same for this one! :)


Hermione waited anxiously for Snape to reply, but was taken aback when he stood to his feet without saying a word. She watched as he walked over to the sink and began to fill an old whistling kettle; he then placed it on the hob of a rather dirty gas oven, before sitting across from her once more. Such a familiar and relaxed action made Hermione even more keenly aware of the intrusion into his home, but she chose to see it as a good sign. Surely if he were to throw her out of his house or even kill her, he would not hang around to make them both a cup of tea? After a few moments of silence, Snape tapped his lips three times with his index finger, before crossing his arms across his chest.

"How do you propose I help you, Miss Granger? This is by no means a firm offer of assistance; I shall decide for certain once you have provided the means of protecting you." Hermione gave a small smile.

"For the purpose of clarity, I have to tell you that this was all Professor Dumbledore's idea." Snape's eyes narrowed.

"And you trust the advice of a bit of canvas and some paint?"

"I would trust that 'bit of canvas' with my life." Hermione said confidently. "Professor Dumbledore believes I am best hidden in plain sight. He says you'd be capable of modifying Polyjuice, or devising some sort of potion of your own, that would enable me to create a new appearance completely – something stronger than a Glamour, less noticeably fake."

"Ah yes, for I have plenty of free time to spend creating a new potion, amongst the long list of other things the deceased Headmaster is commanding me to do..." Snape sighed. "What does he suggest I do with you once you have your new appearance?"

"Pass me off as a cousin or some other distant relative and have me stay with you at Hogwarts."

At that moment, the kettle began whistling loudly. Snape stood once more and removed it from the hob, before placing tea bags in two cups and filling it with water. Hermione was somewhat interested in the fact that he did all of this by hand – not once did he use a wand which, as someone who had one magical parent and was in the inner circle of Lord Voldemort, seemed very strange. He walked back over and handed the cup to Hermione; she cradled it in her hands for a moment, enjoying the warmth, before taking a small sip.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, the real reason why Albus sent you here."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Albus neither did nor, indeed, still does, anything without it benefiting his wider plan. Tell me what the supposed advantage of having you beneath my feet for the next year is." Hermione smiled again.

"According to Professor Dumbledore, I'll be a help to you if I come to Hogwarts and, in doing that, I will be more help to Harry than I could possibly ever have been otherwise." She shrugged. "He wouldn't exactly tell me why or how, but he insisted that I could trust you and that it would turn out for the best t his way." He seemed to think about it for a moment, finishing his tea in four large mouthfuls, despite the fact that Hermione's own cup was still piping hot.

"You are aware that this will be dangerous?"

"For Merlin's sake, Professor, no one is safe now. I'm in no less danger here than I would have been scarpering around the country with Harry and Ron or living in caves by myself. Why is everyone so doubtful of my ability to take care of myself?"

"I have no desire to hear your adolescent whining, Miss Granger."

"I'm not an adolescent!" She snapped indignantly. "Anyway, stop dancing around the question. Will you help me?"

"Yes." He stated plainly, to which Hermione gave a sigh of relief. She leant back in the chair and closed her eyes, a satisfied smile playing about her lips.

"I knew I could trust you...thank you."

"Do not thank me yet, Miss Granger. You may be able to trust me but that, by no means, means you are safe."

Much to Hermione's surprise, Snape informed her that he was to stay at Spinner's End for the duration of the holidays, and insisted that she stay there too. She found the house something more like a hovel than a home; how anyone could make a house so filthy, she had no idea. Snape found it somewhat bemusing that she spent her days cleaning, although he never voiced any objection to it. In fact, he did not speak to her at all. He woke in the morning before she did, left the house and spent all day doing goodness knows what, before returning in the middle of the night. Hermione preferred it that way, for she could not help but feel a stab of guilt for turning to him for help; everyone else she knew, after all, believed him to be a murderer and a traitor. Of the former he was certainly guilty, but of the latter...she did not believe it of him for a second.

About a week after she had first arrived on his doorstep, Hermione descended the rickety staircase one morning to find that Snape was still there. He was standing by the window in the kitchen, which looked out onto a small and dirty yard. In his hand was a newspaper and, blazoned on the front, was an article about how much of a threat Harry Potter was. It made Hermione sick, the lies they printed nowadays. Snape looked up when she entered and put the newspaper on top of the pile.

"You and I are going somewhere today."

"What if I don't want to?" Hermione asked, knowing that it would annoy him. She hated the way he seemed to think himself superior to her.

"You have no choice in the matter. Besides, it is for your benefit that we are taking this trip." Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"I'm intrigued...where are we going?"

"To see your parents."

"I don't...I don't understand." Snape gave a sigh.

"Miss Granger, when you disappear from the face of the earth, the Dark Lord and his followers will no doubt be curious as to where you have gone, and will stop at nothing to try and find you. When they try, the first people they will go to are – "

"My parents." She finished quietly. "I never thought of that before."

She hadn't seen her parents in a very long time. Roger and Audrey Granger – both dentists, drove a Volvo, lived in a three-bedroom detached house just on the outskirts of London. They were normal, unassuming, unimportant muggles, and it had never crossed her mind that Voldemort would even know about them, let alone use them to get to her. Hermione frowned.

"What are we going to do?"

"I believe it is best that we...that I obliviate them. I shall then give them new identities, perhaps send them somewhere abroad." Hermione let out a shuddering breath and closed her eyes.

"If...if you do that, they won't remember anything about me...will they?"

"No." He said, perhaps a little more harshly than Hermione would have liked. "But it is necessary if you wish for their survival."

"Of...of course." Hermione whispered. "You're right...it's necessary."

Hermione was surprised when, instead of travelling by magic, they took the train. It was a rather quick journey to her home town, but it felt like an age to Hermione as she sat alone, so as to avoid suspicion. She could not imagine a world in which her parents did not know her, in which she could not write to them or look forward to seeing them again in the summer. She didn't even know if the charm was reversible, if she could find them again when it was all over and make them remember her. It was a short walk from the station to her house which, once again, she did alone. Snape was already there when she arrived, and she presumed that he had chosen to apparate.

"What do I have to do?" She asked him quietly.

"Let yourself in and greet them. I shall give you five minutes or so to say goodbye, before I shall enter the house. I must stupefy them, and then I shall modify their memories." Hermione nodded slowly, before walking up the steps and letting herself into the house.

Her mother was in the sitting room, watching television with her feet propped up on the coffee table. She did a double-take when Hermione entered the room, before leaping to her feet and wrapping her arms around her.

"Hermione! What on earth are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, of course! Roger! Roger, Hermione's home!"

Hermione turned as her dad entered the room, his jeans and shirt covered in mud. He had obviously been gardening, but Hermione did not mind when he too pulled her into a warm embrace.

"It's wonderful to see you, love, but why have you come home?"

"I just..." Hermione could feel tears welling in her eyes, and she gave a sigh. "I miss you, and I wanted to...I wanted to tell you how much I love you both." Her mother was smiling, but frowned slightly too. She was suspicious, Hermione could tell; but then her mother had always been able to see when something was wrong, even if Hermione didn't say it aloud.

"Well we love you very much, darling." She said.

"That we do." Her dad added. At that moment, Snape strode into the sitting room. Her parents turned to look at him, fear instantly registering on their faces when they saw his wand. Hermione's mother looked as if she was about to say something, but Snape stopped her by pointing his wand and shouting 'stupefy!'. Her parents fell to the ground, and Hermione gasped in horror at the sight of them lying there unconscious. She began to shake as Snape stepped past her, and could not bear to be there any longer. Letting the tears run silently down her cheeks, she left the room and went out into the garden, where she sat under a large sun umbrella. She would never be able to go back to that house, not until everything was over, and she could not help but think of all of her things upstairs. The photographs, her books, the horse-riding trophies and rosettes from her childhood...they would probably all disappear with the memory charm. After all, why would two childless people have things that belonged to a child?

After five minutes of sitting alone, the door opened once more and Snape stepped out into the garden. It felt odd to see him there, in a place where she had played and sunbathed, laughed and talked with her parents and friends...she wanted him to leave, she felt like he was marring her memories with his very presence. Wiping away a tear with a silent swipe of her finger, Hermione stood and smoothed her skirt.

"Everything's done?" She asked.

"Yes...your p – Wendell and Monica Wilkins have tickets for a flight to Australia this evening."

"I see." She smiled sadly. "At least they're safe and...And have the possibility of being happy."

They stood in silence for a moment, as Hermione tried desperately to hold back tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Snape; she did not for one moment think he would be kind or even sympathetic, he would probably tell her to grow up. However, Hermione was surprised when, a moment later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Snape looking at her sadly.

"I am sorry Miss Granger."

"Thank you." She frowned in confusion as he held out his arm towards her.

"Take it, and we shall apparate back to Spinner's End." Hermione stood and did as he said. She felt sick, but whether it was caused by the travel or the thought of what they had just done, she could not tell.

She and Snape spent the rest of the summer living at Spinner's End. It was odd, for Hermione could not identify their relationship. They were not friends, nor were they even acquaintances. He had been her Professor, but now...what was he now? Her rescuer? She didn't know, and did not linger on it for long – being confused made her angry. Approximately a fortnight before they were due to return to Hogwarts, Snape once again broke the pattern and stayed at Spinner's End for an entire day. Hermione stayed in the small room that she called hers and read a book about the history of Wizarding Ireland, until there was a quiet knock on the door. Hermione hesitated before answering, so accustomed was she to being left alone all day. However, after another more forceful knock, she walked over and opened it. Snape was standing there rather stiffly, looking for all the world as if he wanted to be anywhere else.

"May I come in?"

"Of course, it's your house." Hermione stepped back, enabling him to enter the dark room. He looked around, as if expecting to find something for which to berate her. When he found nothing, he turned to her and held up a small vile of thick clear liquid. Hermione frowned. "What's that?"

"This is the potion I have devised for our purpose. It is a variant of the Polyjuice Potion. However, when you add the hair, it does not make you look like that person, but instead gives you a familial resemblance to them." Hermione took it, looking at him in awe.

"Did you make this yourself?"

"Indeed. I have been researching, brewing and amending since the day you arrived here. This potion works – I have tested it upon myself." Hermione removed the cork and held the vial beneath her nose. It smelled disgusting, and the very thought of ingesting it made her feel sick. Snape held out his palm, on which led a few strands of his black hair; Hermione tentatively picked them up, before dropping it into the vial. The liquid instantly turned to deep black and, when Hermione placed it beneath her nose again, it now smelled of liquorice.

"Shall I drink it now?" Hermione asked, to which Snape nodded.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth and tipped the liquid down her throat. She instantly felt the familiarly unpleasant sensation of Polyjuice Potion, as her body and face began to transform. She felt herself grow by at least four inches, and her body became thinner and lost any curves that she had previously had. Hermione waited until the transformation was fully over, before walking towards the full length mirror to inspect her reflection. Thankfully, she did not have Snape's nose, but her eyebrows were just as severe as his and her eyes just as deep and dark. Her hair was also completely different, for now it was black and poker straight, reaching down to her waist. There was no denying that they looked related, in fact it even unnerved Hermione a bit. She turned to face him, and he too looked somewhat surprised by the accuracy of his potion.

"That is...I am pleased that it is successful." He stepped backwards. "You cannot tell that anything is amiss. You look as if we are related by blood. No one will doubt it." Hermione smiled, and was surprised to see that on her new face it resembled a very Snape-like smirk.

"It feels so strange to look in the mirror and see someone that isn't me."

"I have devised a spell which, if you prefer, would mean that both you and I are able to see your true appearance."

"I think I would like that." Hermione frowned, aghast at how intimidating she looked. "I'm not entirely fond of my new appearance."

"At least, Miss Granger, you can live happy in the knowledge that it shall not be permanent."

"Or at least we hope so." She whispered, talking to herself more than anything. "Who knows what I'll do if Harry does not succeed..." She gave a sigh and turned around, Snape withdrew his wand and cast a spell. When Hermione looked back in the mirror, she could see her ordinary appearance.

"Is that satisfactory?"

"Yes, thank you." She turned to face him again. "What are we going to tell everyone? Who am I supposed to be?"

"Verity Prince, my 18 year old cousin." He answered somewhat stiffly. "My mother had a brother who very few people knew about, as they were estranged. He was forced into hiding by vicious muggles, providing you with a reason why you wish to be allied with me."

" And neither of those people are real? We won't cause havoc if a second Verity Prince suddenly turns up, or mysterious father?"

"No, they are both fictional, so there is nothing to fear on that account."

"Excellent."

"You shall have a room to yourself at Hogwarts, but you will share a sitting room and a bathroom with me. I shall give you a monthly allowance of 15 galleons a month, which I realise is meagre, but it is all I can afford. You should not want for much, for food is of course provided by the school, and I shall buy any clothing you should need."

"I...thank you." Hermione said quietly. "I wasn't expecting an allowance or clothes or...well anything really but a place to stay and a guarantee of protection."

"You are more naive than I suspected, Miss Granger, if you believe your safety to be guaranteed."

"When are we going to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked somewhat nervously. "I know term starts next week, but I presume..."

"We shall leave here tomorrow. There are a few things I need to arrange there, and I would like to introduce you to the staff, get any unpleasantness out of the way before the children return." He shifted uncomfortably. "I must tell you now that Hogwarts will not be the place we once knew it to be. It will not be...pleasant."

"I understand."

"Everything has changed, and we must change with it. I shall give you one piece of advice, Miss Granger and, if you must ignore everything else I say, try to follow it. There is only one thing to do in a situation as precarious as ours. Look after yourself, first and foremost, put your interests before those of anyone else, and you shall survive."