Author's Note: I might be starting a full-time job soon on top of being a mother. Sorry guys, but that means my updates will probably come every two weeks instead of every week, though realistically I generally type an entire chapter in roughly three to four hours once my child goes to bed. It will just take me several nights instead of one night, because uh, I'll be more tired. The job will be paying roughly 800 every two weeks, which is a lot to me, since I've only ever made 300-400 a month before. One job gave me 800 a month, but it was a seasonal job and worked me like hell. Never want to go back. Anyway - I'm excited. My best friend helps with the hiring, so I'm really hopeful I will get it. I'll be able to splurge my first ever pay check on stupid shit to celebrate of course, but then I'll have money to budget for a car, a laptop, a family computer, furniture for when I move into my own place with my fiancé. Ha, you don't need to read my whole life story.

Thanks for reading, alerting, favoriting! Please, please, review, even if it's just to say "I like your story so far!" Us authors need reassurance! I welcome constructive criticism, too. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to see more of. I am planning on adding more interaction with the rest of the school, classes, and stuff. Would you like to see a long story or an insanely long story, just so I know how much detail to go into? Remember, this story is going to be over at least two years, and we're only on day two of their fifth year at Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: I am not making money off this. I do not own, J.K. Rowling and the various other companies do.


Chapter Three: Legilimency and Secrets


Hermione gasped at Harry's request. He had to be joking! Her attention riveted on him, she didn't see Snape looking almost thoughtful as he considered the startling demand. She was so certain that Harry was doing it out of revenge to her, but she could see the benefits to him. The gears in her head turned as she recovered from the shock his suggestion gave her. It would make him work harder, to have someone he actually trusted helping him with his studies. It was always that way – without Hermione around to push them to do their work and to practice, Harry and Ron would flounder in the sea of coursework assigned to them. She worried her thumbs together, chancing a glance at Snape's now blank face. "Sir, if I may be so bold?" She kept her voice low and meek, but did not look away.

He raised an eyebrow and his frown deepened as his attention diverted from Harry to her.

If that was all the response she was going to get, she thought he was an insufferable git. Actually, she thought him that already, but it did not hurt to think it even more so now. Her eyes narrowed, and she challenged him. "It is a good idea. Harry and you...well, you don't exactly get along, do you? It'd be good for him to have a study partner," she suggested. She had to point out the actual flaw in Dumbledore's plan. Snape and Harry hated each other. When his brows knit together, she almost cringed. To be under Severus Snape's glare was to wither away and slowly shrink into the floor to most students, but Hermione tried to hold her ground. He had to know she was right!

The potions master finally sneered and looked down his nose at her. Even though his hair was greasy and his skin sallow, he managed to look more aristocratic and snobby than a Malfoy. Hermione had a strange thought that the look almost suited him. "Certainly," he hissed. "I don't suppose Weasley would like to join? No? I rather hoped not." If he had refused, she supposed that she could have had Dumbledore make him teach her. After all, the headmaster did desperately want Harry to learn Occlumency. She knew Ron would have absolutely no patience for learning the discipline, especially since he wasn't being forced to. Hermione was rather curious about it, and Ron would call her mad for wanting to learn even more. Strictly speaking, she mused, he would call her mad simply for putting herself willingly under extra tutelage from the dungeon bad. She grinned.

Scowling at her, he spun on his feet to face Harry. His robes billowed behind him and Hermione cringed again. This was a terrible idea. Why couldn't Dumbledore teach Harry himself? Did he not know Occlumency, or was he just busy with the ministry? If Hermione did not understand, she knew that Harry did not. He already harboured hurt feelings over Dumbledore's distance from him over the summer. She wouldn't be surprised if he viewed it as an insult to him, to pair him with Professor Snape. "It appears there is a connection between the Dark Lord's mind and your own. Whether he is, as yet, aware of this connection is for the moment unclear," their new Occlumency teacher drawled. This was definitely more for Harry's benefit than hers, but she could not fight the excitement growing in her chest at learning. Hermione recognized she should be alarmed that Harry's mind was directly connected to Voldemort's, but she had rather guessed that over the summer. It was why she had come to Dumbledore that day.

It was still rather ominous to hear confirmation of such in person, and she watched as Harry's eyes widened and his lips parted. She held back a snicker; the boy always had such trouble hiding his emotions. Wait, would that hinder him in Occlumency? She was still not sure how it worked. Perhaps it was more dreadful that he wore his emotions for all to see. If they were that obvious outside his thoughts, she could only imagine what his mind was like. No wonder he always had problems concentrating, if all that was going on. Hermione tried to keep her mind organised; it helped her remember things better.

Harry's jaw worked as he tried to respond, "You mean...You mean if he knows about it then he'll be able to read my mind?" he asked, his voice full of fear. Hermione's heart went out to him, and despite the glare that she knew she would get, she stood up and walked over to him to put her hand on his shoulder. Yes, there it was. Severus Snape's dark eyes shot to her and narrowed before he addressed Harry again.

"Read it, control it, unhinge it...Used properly, the power of Occlumency will help shield you from access or influence. In these lessons, I will attempt to penetrate your mind." He paused, and Hermione saw the tell-tale twitch of his hand to grasp his wand. Before she could warn Harry, he spoke again. "Prepare yourself. Legilimens." The self-satisfied smirk on his face was enough to tell her that he had succeeded in entering Harry's mind. Hermione tensed.

Suddenly, Harry reeled backwards from where he was, and averted his eyes from their teacher. She squeezed his hand in sympathy, and looked up at the Potions Master. Her expression was stormy as she confronted him. Oh, yes, there was the possibility of detention and points taken from Gryffindor, but she had to take a stand. Harry had not been prepared, had not been ready! It was entirely improper of Snape to do that. Hermione's mouth got ahead of her, and she found herself berating her professor. "That wasn't fair! You haven't told him how to properly block his mind, and you -"

"Legilimens."

His wand had unexpectedly (to her, at least) turned on her and cut her tirade short. She was unaware of Harry's hand clenching hers tightly, unaware at the fury that lit up his green eyes. No, all she was aware of were the dark eyes that bore into hers. She felt him enter her mind. It was a forceful shove into her thoughts and memories, and her eyes widened as she realized the power that he could wield over both her and Harry if he discovered some of the things they had done. She tried to hide that thought from him, but he saw it and followed it, much to her dismay. Hermione had little time to react as she felt him filter through the thoughts in her mind, and tried in vain to fill his path up with mundane thoughts.

It was pleasant in the room.

His presence was a little terrifying.

Harry's hand was comfortable in hers.

She hoped there was steak at supper that night.

It was tiresome and eventually she gave up and tried a new tactic. She thought about him, about his presence in the Potions classroom. She brought to the forefront the overpowering feeling of respect and awe she had in her first year when he had stormed to the front of his classroom.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic," he had drawled, scowling down at all the first years. She did not notice, she was busy looking at him with rapt attention. She had read poetry, and he made Potions sound positively poetic. "I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper on death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Until the last lines, she thought he might have been her favorite teacher, but he ruined it by his blunt ending. Still, she supposed he would do. He asked the boy next to her – Harry Potter – a question, wrapping it up with an insult. Oh, she knew this one! Her hand raised, she waved it around. Hermione so wanted to impress this man who spoke so eloquently of his subject. It sounded more like magic than any of the subjects she had learned about thus far, and it was simply by the way he put it to them.

She cut that thought short and brought another memory to the surface of her mind, one from when she was young and trying to ride a bike and it levitated off the ground. She had fallen. Then she lost control over what she showed him and what she did not; that memory and the fear it held brought forth her first flying lesson. Suddenly, she found herself remembering Buckbeak and knew intrinsically that she had to force him out. Not knowing how to properly do so, she remembered how afraid she was that night. Sirius Black, Remus's transformation, and Peter Pettigrew all in one night was a lot to take, even for a girl who had nearly reached the Philosopher's stone when she was eleven and faced a basilisk when she was twelve. Hermione imagined herself shoving that fear and those strong feelings of betrayal at him as if they were solid.

As suddenly as he entered, he was gone from her mind. The world came rushing back to her in bright colours and her skin felt over-sensitive. The brush of her hair at the nape of her neck and the sticky, sweaty feeling of Harry's hand in hers – it was no longer comfortable. The sensory overload of such a stark contrast of existing in the comfort of her own mind to physical existence almost overwhelmed her. She let go of Harry's hand and swayed where she stood. Almost too late to catch the look on Snape's face, she glanced at him. He nearly looked surprised. His eyes were wide and both eyebrows were raised slightly.

It disappeared as soon as she saw it. His lips returned to a thin line and his eyes narrowed again. "Well, Miss Granger, you certainly show more aptitude than your friend," he growled at her. "Or perhaps Potter simply wasn't trying hard enough." The man's upper lip lifted in a sneer. "Get out of my sight, both of you." She nodded to him and turned to leave. Harry stood still and clenched his fists. Hermione grabbed one of them and pulled him along with her. Both knew full well that if he said anything, it would get both of them - "Detention for your cheek, Miss Granger. Potter, detention for making demands when a service is offered to you. You are just as arrogant as your father, and if you don't learn to humble yourself you will make mistakes. Six am, Saturday. My office. Do try to stay out of trouble until then, though with you, Potter, I doubt that."

"Yes sir," she acknowledged, pulling an irate Harry behind her out the door before he had the chance to make their situation any worse. As soon as they were beyond the stairs and the gargoyles that marked the entrance to the headmaster's office, she let go of Harry. Hopefully, Snape would be using the Floo to return to the dungeons and that would give the pair of students time to talk. In the past fifteen minutes so much had happened that she wouldn't know where to start. In retrospect, she probably should have started with an apology for going to Dumbledore, but Harry cut her off before she could even speak.

"I can't believe you went to a teacher!" he exclaimed, turning on her with much the same look she had seen him use on Snape. Although Hermione knew that Harry was always quick to forgive those that he loved, she still felt bad for betraying him to the headmaster. "You knew I did not want to bother Dumbledore but you went to him anyway! I can't believe you, Hermione! I trusted you, and now we have to endure lessons with that – that – snake!"

"I -"

"No, Hermione. Do you know what he saw? Do you? He saw all that I failed to do. He saw my childhood. The Dursleys. He rifled through my thoughts and I could do nothing! And it's your fault." She was reminded of Ron's tantrums. His propensity of blaming everyone but himself for his problems had rather rubbed off on Harry over the years they had known each other. Although, Harry had rather had sort of the tendency to when she met him. Perhaps it was the other way around, and Ron just threw more temper tantrums than Harry. She didn't know. She couldn't spend too much thought on it now.

She felt her own temper flare up. "I did it for you! Your scar has been hurting you lately and I know you've been having nightmares! You can't deny that you don't feel him there, in your dreams. You've said it yourself on occasion!" After getting her frustration at him out, she sighed. He did have a right to be angry at her, after all. "You know I am sorry for telling them. You also know that I probably am right – you need this, otherwise Voldemort will turn your own mind against you. If Snape could do that to you...what do you think Voldemort would do?"

He stopped in his tracks, aghast at the reminder. Smugness rose in her, but she repressed the feeling. It would do no good for him to think that she gloating. "You're right," she knew she was, "I should do this. It seems so hard, though. I think I'm more angry at him for ripping through my mind without telling me what to do than with you for telling them in the first place." Having Snape go through one's thoughts and emotions certainly was not pleasant, but Hermione felt a little bit of a thrill at being able to thwart him. He could not have been trying very hard, though, if he was to teach them how to eject someone as powerful as Voldemort and she managed it without training.

Hermione cocked her head to the side. "He was testing us, I think. I was able to direct him by bringing strong emotions and memories to my mind, and when he got past that and was travelling my memories, I forced him out with fear and anger. He almost found out about third year. I know he knows now, but somehow I don't think it would be a good idea to confirm it was us."

Harry nodded. He seemed surprised that she was able to force him out, but recovered almost as quickly as Snape. "Will you help me, like you said?"

"Yes." She smiled; even with the threat of Voldemort and the separate threat of the Ministry looming over them, it seemed like the year would be a very good one. They walked back to the Gryffindor tower in comfortable silence, ready to turn in for the night. Despite it being early, Hermione at least was tired from her efforts at blocking Snape from her mind, even though she had not succeeded at first. Tomorrow afternoon she swore she would use to research Occlumency in the library.

-break-

After the two students left the headmaster's office, Albus Dumbledore removed the Disillusion Charm from his person. "Well, my boy, that turned out just as I expected it," he told Severus, grinning broadly. "Miss Granger will be a good influence on Harry."

Severus simply scowled even deeper. He had been staring at the door since the two children left. Yes, they were teenagers, but they acted like petulant toddlers in his educated opinion. He was taken aback by Miss Granger's natural aptitude for the art of Occlumency. It was a rudimentary skill at best, raw, unformed talent, but he had no doubt that with training, she would be formidable enough to resist himself, the most potent Veritaserum, and Lord Voldemort. In all honesty, he had not been putting all his power and skill into it when he invaded their minds.

Potter had not blocked him at all, but Miss Granger had. She had thought mundane thoughts at first. It had impeded him, but he had broken through that. That alone had surprised him. When she showed him memories of himself at the front of his classroom, he had been astonished both at her mental control and of her emotions during that first class. After the next memory she directed him to, everything derailed.

She had used emotion to force him out of her mind. Although she could not block her mind effectively yet, the basics were there. "She is an insufferable chit," Severus spat. He hated the idea that the girl was actually naturally good at something. Up until now it seemed that she had been all book smarts and memorized paragraphs. Her methodology and meticulousness in papers had backed up his impression that she was covering for a lack of natural talent. All the impressions had been neatly blown out of the water though, with his foray into her mind.

He had not only seen her thoughts and memories, he had picked up on her determination to fit in, to learn, to know. Inadvertently, when she showed him that glimpse of powerful accidental magic (quite possibly her first instance, he mused, since she seemed all of three in the memory), she had also shown him her magical core, her very self. "If the Dark Lord ever finds out what I know of her now, she will be in more danger than Potter, Albus." The power and talent she held in her would have been enough for Voldemort to wish to sway her to her side. "One of Potter's recent memories is of her telling him about a very complex potion that will shield and heal the drinker at the same time. Albus, if the Dark Lord finds out..." Severus trailed off.

Albus' twinkle diminished. "I take it Harry did not do well? You will have to prepare him better, especially in lieu of this discovery," he said, "Do you think Miss Granger will be able to complete her potion?" The merry old man sounded more serious than usual, but Severus saw that he was trying to be light-hearted about the situation. Otherwise he would have been more grave when he realized Harry was no natural talent at Occlumency. Severus wondered why he did not tell him of Granger's power. In all instances, he knew he should tell Albus of it. It was better if only he knew of it, he assured himself. It was unfair of the meddling old man to force the children of Hogwarts to grow up faster than they deserved. It was necessary, but he did not what the headmaster using Granger as a weapon.

"I think so," he found himself saying. "The flashes of her notes Potter's memory provided me – she is very bright. The work she has done so far is beyond her years. Potter has no idea just how important she has become to the war. It was obvious the arrogant brat doesn't understand the implications of such a potion." It was tough for him to admit, but he doubted he would have been able to do anything like that when he was her age. He was in awe, almost, of her accomplishments. In part, that had been why he had turned his wand on her so severely. He did not dislike her as much as he acted like he did. He had to, in public, but in private she did impress him with her knowledge at least. Now, though, she was more than just a photographic memory in his mind – she was an asset, she was a creative spark, she had muse that he had lost ages ago.

"Gain her confidence, Severus. Get her to tell you about her potion. Help her devise it," the headmaster commanded, that maddening twinkle back in his blue eyes. Severus guessed that the old man was plotting more than he made evident. He always did. Meddling old fool. Still, Severus loved his mentor. Albus was the only man he could be himself around without fear of outing himself as disloyal to Voldemort. He knew he was still far from pleasant, but Dumbledore enjoyed his company just the same.

"Are you sure that is wise?"

"No, but Hermione Granger's potion may be our only hope."

With a growing sense of dread every day that the Dark Lord had been back, Severus could not help but agree with him. The problem now was how to gain the Granger girl's confidence. Certainly she hated him now, despite her feelings during that first lesson. He had degraded her and insulted her every chance he had, unless Potter was more at hand. Severus doubted it would be easy to gain her trust enough; he doubted that she would come to him for help with the potion otherwise.

After what he knew of her, Severus had every confidence that she could finish it alone. With help, though, it would not take her nearly as long. It would save lives. It could save their world from being overrun by darkness.

For even if Voldemort was lying low now, eventually he would show himself.