Two

Harry and Ron, of course, already knew her plan completely well. And although Hermione had not exactly asked them to make it known, she had never actually said to keep it a secret… so Hermione was not entirely surprised when she awoke to a commotion in the common room.

Ron was standing on a table waving a large bag of galleons in his hands. "Five two one against! Bets in by dinner!"

A first year levitated a galleon to Ron, who directed the boy to Harry. He signed his name to a long list of students.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, when he saw that she was awake. "Hey, wanna place a bet?"

"Bet on what?"

"Will you be the first to prove Snape wrong? Five to one against. Come on, Hermione, join the fun."

A grin crossed her faced and she fished five galleons from her pocket. "Sign me up for…" The betting Gryffindors looked at her expectantly. "I will prove him wrong."

The commotion suddenly became an outright wrestling match to get to Ron and Harry.

"Five to one against! Six sickles, Harry. From Finnigan. A galleon for. Two against. Harry, ten galleons for! Ten more against…" A red feathered owl, clearly dyed, swooped down through an open window and dropped a bag of gold on Ron's head. It had a little white tag on it that read "For." "Harry! Harry! One hundred galleons! One hundred galleons! From Fred and George!"

Hermione laughed and walked toward the portrait hole to go get breakfast. Right before she disappeared into the corridor, Ron shouted, "Hermione, its thirty to one for!", making Hermione laugh.

Hermione arrived in the Great Hall five minutes before dinner, but the food was already out. She piled her plate high and ate slowly. She had finished half of her meal by the time the hall was filled with students. Harry and Ron took their places beside her. She watched them eat for a while, and drifted into a daydream. Suddenly she looked at the clock and jumped up. "Gotta go, guys." "Good luck, Hermione," they patted her on the back, and Ron slipped a lucky sickle into her pocket. She grinned and left the hall.

She walked down the corridors and arrived at the door to Snape's office. Dark, heavy wood with an engraved Slytherin snake just above eye level. She took a breath in and knocked.

"Enter." The room was pitch black, which made her heart leap. Not out of fear of the dark itself; no, she had taken photography classes in her muggle school and had worked comfortably in a dark room, but then she had not been in the dark room without a soul but Snape. Not that she believed Snape had a soul.

"Follow my voice Miss Granger," his voice seemed like silk- she had never really paid attention to it, but now there were no other sounds in the room, and she couldn't very well have been distracted by the scenery.

She took a few tentative steps forward, her feet sliding along the floor as not to trip over anything. She stretched her arms out in front of her and slid toward where she thought he should be. Her hand hit something soft and she felt to see what it was. She gasped slightly and dropped her hand when she realized that she was touching Snape's hand.

"Have a seat." She did. Why the bloody hell are all the lights off, she wondered. "Because I prefer to practice occlumency in the dark." Hermione was confused as to what he was talking about for a moment, but she realized with fear that he had just used his occlumency on her. Dammit. She let go of her fear just long enough to completely close her mind… there. Now let Snape try his tricks.

"Very good Miss Granger." He said in his silky voice. An unwelcome shiver crept up her spine and she realized that she was completely at the mercy of her cold blooded potions professor. "Here I have prepared occlumency bane. Drink it." She heard liquid sloshing around in front of her and grabbed at where the vial must be. Her fingers brushed against Snape's and she blushed into the darkness as she gulped down the vile liquid.

She felt him pushing his way into her mind and concentrated on nothing. She was determined to prove him wrong, and that would be the only thought he would get out of her. Suddenly a hand landed softly on the back of her neck. A colder shiver ran through her as she realized Snape must have gotten up from his seat and walked behind her. He ran his knuckles up and down her neck as he continued to pry into her mind, still finding nothing. He clasped his hands around her neck and pulled up ever so gently. Hermione had never felt anything like it. It was like the weight of her head was gone, it was wonderful and scary- she felt free and knew that this was what Snape wanted. She concentrated harder on nothing, but weakened instantly when his hands fell on her shoulders and he began to massage her.