If I owned the characters, do you think I would share them? Ok, well maybe I would if I was feeling benevolent. Good thing JKR is a better sharer than I am!

Chapter 6:

Hermione Granger was his case study.

Snape had been acting oddly all day, his actions based on a decision he had come to after his discussion with Albus the night before and after witnessing Granger's treatment of him in the lab, then library, then at dinner the day before. Yesterday he had been almost vulnerable before her, which made him feel anxious. He didn't like looking weak at all; it was an unacceptable option for a Death Eater. Weakness would get you killed. He had been unfailingly polite last night at dinner for two reasons: to test the waters with her and see how she would react; and to fuck with Potter and Weasley's heads.

But in all seriousness, Severus had long thought that with the return of Voldemort a few years ago, there was absolutely no way in which he would survive the war. He had never expected to, and in all honesty, still accepted that his chances for freedom were a bit slim.

However, even with the Death Eaters gaining advantage over the past few months, something inside of him had woken up. It was a feeling that he hadn't felt in years. It was a grain of hope. Oh, he could never admit it to his mentor, but Albus' response to Voldemort's actions and threats had been the stuff of legend. There was a reason that the Dark Lord feared Dumbledore, and very few people saw the headmaster for the man that he really was: a decisive, vigilant leader who took the safety of his students, friends, and fellow countrymen into a whole new level of seriousness. His bumbling façade and eye twinkling belied the steely resolve that was the true Albus Dumbledore. As one of the man's two confidants (Minerva being the other, naturally), Severus had the opportunity of late to personally witness that which Tom Riddle had known since he first met the headmaster: Dumbledore was not a man you wanted to fuck with.

Severus Snape had responded to his mentor's attitude slowly, realizing after decades of working as a colleague, spy, and friend, and somehow started to believe that while things may not work out for him personally so that he would go on living and breathing; there was no way that Dumbledore would let Voldemort become victorious. The headmaster would never step aside, and would likely overcome death to keep Riddle from power. Snape found himself in a conundrum once he realized that he would be on the eventual winning side…

If he lived, and could be a free man, what would happen to him?

A huge part of Snape's life revolved around the spinning of lies. He had always been a loner, always been intelligent and ok, had always been snarky. But he wasn't inherently evil, not even remotely. The cold, harsh man that he had become in order to be both a Death Eater and a disciplinarian…that man had been a cover. Two decades of acting, of not doing what he wanted to do, but what he had to do was now placing Snape in a position where he had to decide what was real, and what was fake. Who was he really: the role, or someone entirely different?

He had a dry, sarcastic sense of humour that was probably one of his more appreciated personality traits. His fellow teachers and Order members could relax around him to a point. Up to the point where the role of Spy Severus (a.k.a. the Git) took over.

If he could be who he wanted to be…what would that be like, and how would people perceive him? He hadn't cared to really consider this in decades, after setting up the cold 'Professor Snape' façade. There was only one thing for a logical man to do.

Research.

Enter Granger.

She was probably going to fit in at one end of a spectrum. She respected all of her teachers, including him, and already knew something of his double life. Ergo, she would provide a respectable data set for his 'best case scenario'. If he could let the image of 'Professor Snape, Death Eater' go, and show her a glimpse of who he felt he really was (ahem: brilliant, and somewhat funny…perhaps slightly favouring of Slytherin, but not as unfairly as a Death Eater lapdog would have to be…) he could get an idea of how the more open-minded British Wizarding community would treat him after the war. Now, if he wanted a sample of what the close-minded population would think of him, he'd have to hang out with Potter.

Because that was so likely!

So looking again at the Granger scenario…

He had been thinking for awhile about what he would do when the war was over. Albus had scolded him near the end of the last term when Severus had had a bit too much firewhiskey after a meeting, and revealed that he didn't think he would live to see a peaceful Britain. Dumbledore had told him that a will to live could make all the difference. Oddly enough for this cynical man, he had found himself pondering such an optimistic idea. Could his own intent change his fate? If he wanted to live to see a new age, would that help him survive the inevitable confrontation?

He had thought long and hard these last few weeks. Brewing for the infirmary and conducting trials could be tedious, if one didn't have anything to do but stir cauldrons. Frankly, he did some of his best thinking as he stirred. He asked himself what he would want to do professionally after the war. Hogwarts had been his home since he was eleven years old. He was now in his late thirties. If he could leave, would he?

His honest answer was that he wouldn't. At least not right away. In spite of his struggle to obtain the Defence position, he did truly love potions. And he enjoyed teaching it for the most part (minus the Longbottoms of the world, naturally). If he only had teaching on his plate, and not the Death Eaters, the Order, spying, and the exhaustion of playing "Professor Snape, Git Extraordinaire", he would have the time and energy to conduct a significant amount of research as well. He loved being a staff member at Hogwarts, and he loved researching. Unless he received some seriously tempting offers from the private sector (unlikely, since he had a skull branded on his forearm), then he would stay at Hogwarts. Maybe even take on some apprentices over time, take more time to present at conferences, and maybe even write his own potions text one day.

Profession, aside, he had also thought of what he would want from his personal life. With the exception of Poppy, Minerva and Albus, he had no real close friends. They were his surrogate family. If he could be the man he wanted to be, he'd let a few more people in. He had learned that while being a Death Eater, everyone he could care for could be used as a tool against him. His three pseudo-family members were already wearing targets on their chests, and were on the Death Eater hit list, so his relationship with them had changed nothing. The best plan of action was to simply not have other close acquaintances. But, if he was free to change that, he most certainly would. There was a difference between having lonerish tendencies, and being utterly alone. He craved solitude sometimes, but he loathed the true isolation that came with his façade.

That aside, he could not bring himself to ever hope to have a family of his own.

When Albus had spoken to him about having hope for the future, and then only days later about moving his research to Grimmauld Place, followed by Granger's activities of late, Snape had decided to give the "True Severus" a run. It wasn't to say that he wasn't snarky, petty or mean. He was all those things. But the real Severus wasn't truly a cruel or depraved man. He was loyal, occasionally funny, cultured and clever. Those were some of his real characteristics that he wanted to try out, and see if there could ever be a place for a man like him if the good side won.

It also appealed to his warped sense of humour to know instinctively that this glimpse into the Inner Git would definitely throw Granger for a loop. And since she was so rarely wrong about anything, and so set in her Know-It-All nature, he really was enjoying himself on one level by going with her to Hogsmeade today.

That wasn't to say that he intended to be this nice and lenient all summer. Hell no! For one thing, the girl needed to learn to be on her toes. For another, he needed to practice dropping the character he had so meticulously developed, and work on integrating his real personality with his cover. He wouldn't lie and say that he wasn't like his professor image. What he did want to accomplish in this little study was to see what he would do if he was free.

Hermione had been in the library for two hours locating the books that Professor Snape had listed. A lot of them were in the Restricted Section, as she had expected. Yet all in all, the majority were shelved amongst the stacks. It was a keen and imaginative mind that would take these titles and make a new weapon with them. Sometimes, a handful of simple elements combined together could easily vanquish a more complex form.

She was trying to keep her mind on her task, but kept finding it returning to her professor's behaviour of late. Something was up with him. She had never seen him so…human? That may not even be the appropriate word for it, but nothing else seemed to suffice. He was still snarky, argumentative and sneering, but without that cruelty that sent you to the girl's loo for a quick cry between classes. Bark without bite, if you would.

Again and again, she wondered about Snape's behaviour and motivation. There was no way on earth that he would ever tell her why he was letting his guard down around her. If that was even what he was doing? The sneaky Slytherin bastard. Who knew what he was doing with his venomous attitude…saving it for a rainy day?

Today's outing had revealed an unknown facet of his character. He could be thoughtful (by taking her to Hogsmeade without being ordered to do so), and he could be funny (as shown by the constant barrage of snarky, yet humorous comments). Yesterday she had seen him physically weakened from his spying duties. When pressed, he had revealed that they had disturbed him psychologically as well. And who wouldn't be sickened at the thought of Bellatrix and Rodolphus torturing muggles?

If there was one thing Severus Snape was known for, it was his consistency. As much as one could count on the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening, they could also count on Snape being sarcastic and unfair. The new and improved Severus Snape was throwing a wrench in her preconceived notions. There just had to be a simple explanation to this conundrum. Maybe he had caught the tail end of a Cheering Charm? That was logical. Or maybe someone slipped him something in his coffee. Wait, he had coffee with Molly. She wouldn't have done that, although the twins would have if they could get within ten feet of something Snape would ingest. What was the likelihood of a potions master detecting something in his drink? Hermione assumed it to be incredibly high. Ya, the Cheering Charm really was the easiest explanation. If Occam's Razor was good enough for all the anthropologists that her parents loved so much, it was good enough for Hermione. Still, she couldn't shake her thought from yesterday: Severus Snape is not the man he seems to be…

As she was perusing the Charms section for a book on Locator Spells, Hermione's eyes glimpsed a slim black book with peeling bronze lettering: Manipulating the Memorable by Olivier Oublier. Her interest piqued. Memory charms? That might be something to look into…

She slid the thin volume into her bag. She'd return it before anyone would know it was missing.

Snape entered the library moments later to see Hermione double checking the list that he had made for her.

"Miss Granger, I take it that you were successful in appropriating the required texts?"

"I'm just finishing my double-check to see if I have missed anything sir. I just need a few seconds to finish," she replied, as her eyes skimmed over the lists and stacks of books. "Done."

"Excellent. I meant to be here sooner, but wound up having a rather unfortunate run in with Sybil Trelawney." He shuddered, clearly not amused.

Hermione on the other hand, was. "I feel for you sir. I'm not one to disrespect teachers, but Professor Trelawney and I have had our differences, to say the least," she said with a grin in his direction.

"Well, with Minerva and I also believing her to be a complete fraud, perhaps we'll be able to start a new club for you to promote. I hear your house elf group didn't really take off. I'm sure you'd find a group centered around ridding that irritating crone from our school to be much more popular with both students and staff."

She couldn't tell if he was jesting.

"Might I suggest Get Rid Of A Nuisance?"

G.R.O.A.N.? He had to be joking! Her bark of laughter turned into a hacking fit.

"Groan?" she groaned.

"Like spew was any better?"

"It wasn't spew; it was S-P-E-W--"

"Oh, like I care. I just can't stand our current divination professor. I personally welcomed Umbridge's intervention on this occasion. That Dumbledore rehired her has always irked me," Snape said, his eyes flashing with irritation at the thought. He was placing the books Hermione had found into a mint jar in his pocket after he shrank them down to size for easy transit.

"At least she is your colleague and not your professor. The woman has one prediction: 'I see death!' It's absurd. Divination is much too woolly of a subject in my opinion," Hermione added.

"The fact that she is my colleague is the issue. Dumbledore sicks her on me if I don't want to come to staff meetings or events. The man is sadistic, I tell you. And just how many times do you think she has told me about my eminent demise? It's been constantly looming for the better part of two decades, according to our so-called 'seer'." Snape shook his head with a grimace at the thought of his brief encounter with her today. It had been thoroughly unpleasant. She told him that his aura would brighten if he stopped wearing so much black. His dour attire was apparently affecting even his spirit. She had gone as far as suggesting jewel tones before he could escape her sherry-induced fashion advice. He suspected that Dumbledore was behind the exchange.

"It looks like we are finished here. Dumbledore will be arranging things so that you will have access to the library this summer. For now, let's get our bags from my office, and a few things I left down there, then we can head back to headquarters."

She nodded her approval. She really wanted to finish her potions so she could start her research. In her off hours, she was now thinking about how to manipulate memory charms to work for the Order. Oh, she'd research alright!

They left the library together in a silence that was not uncomfortable.

Back in Snape's office, the pair was shrinking what supplies they could as they prepared to return to Grimmauld Place. A knock was heard on the open door. Severus and Hermione looked up to see the headmaster smiling at them

"Good afternoon Severus, Miss Granger. How good to see the potions team working together so well! I thought that I would come down to the dungeons and see if the two of you had a moment to spare before returning to London. An impromptu meeting, so to speak?" His eyes were twinkling, never a good sign.

Hermione looked to the potions master, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Of course we do, headmaster," Snape replied. He ushered his guests toward his desk, where two chairs sat opposite. Hermione and Dumbledore politely took the 'guest' chairs, leaving Snape to be seated in regular place.

"Well, to begin with, I'd like to ask something of Miss Granger. Professor Snape and I have previously discussed which methods might suit best to cover your research for him without looking too suspicious. He suggested that you would soon finish brewing for Madam Pomfrey, and may have more time on your hands then. I thought that perhaps you may care to assist us in another area, allowing a cover for your presence here, at the Ministry and so forth. Are you interested?"

"Of course headmaster. I'd be happy to help however you see fit," she replied immediately.

"Why do Gryffindors always agree to things without knowing what they entail?" Snape muttered to himself.

Hermione heard him. "Didn't you just say to me a few days ago that helping the Order in whatever capacity is 'paramount in order to aid the greater good'?"

"Did you Severus? How noble and well said of you, my boy! Perhaps you have some Gryffindor leanings after all?" Dumbledore chuckled, catching Hermione's eye and giving her a conspiring grin.

"Unlikely!" Snape scoffed.

Hermione snorted softly. Snape a Gryffindor? Hilarious!

"Well Miss Granger, next week Madam Pince returns from visiting her sister. If you agree, I will arrange for you to be a summer assistant to her. I'm sure we can palm it off as you trying to beefen up your CV somewhat for future employment purposes or some such thing. It will permit you to Hogwarts and its library, the Ministry of Magic and its archives, as well as an opportunity to go to both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools near the end of the summer."

"I'd LOVE to!" Hermione exclaimed. Visit the major European schools of magic? What an opportunity! Hermione was giddy at the very thought.

"Should I fetch a Calming draught?" Snape asked snidely.

"I don't believe that is necessary, Severus," the headmaster answered for Hermione, before continuing the discussion. "For my part, I done some background reading on some of the new tactics that Tom has been using. He appears to have his hands on some very ancient and rare Dark Potions grimoires. I am looking into counter-measures that the Order would be able to carry on their persons and utilize when they come into contact with Death Eaters. I'll keep you informed of my findings."

"I suspected as much about the Dark texts. I'll keep my eyes and ears out in meetings and let you know if anything turns up, especially about what texts he may be utilizing," Snape replied.

"Continue on with Poppy's potions and the portgate research. When you have some results to show, or come up with some new ideas, let me know." The headmaster stood up from his seat and looked at his young student. He had noticed a quick look in her eye, but an expression of hesitation on her face.

"Something to add, my dear? A new idea perhaps?" he queried.

Again she hesitated. "Not yet sir. It's too soon. I need to read up on the subject before I can formulate a plan of action."

"Well I look forward to hearing it. Enjoy your afternoon Severus, Hermione." the headmaster nodded to both in turn and took his leave.

Severus rounded and looked at his student. "What are you plotting in that Gryffindor brain of yours?"

"Must it always come back to house affiliation?" she countered, trying to stall.

"You're stalling, Miss Granger…"

Damn, busted!

"…and I can't recall you ever holding back from answering a question. Your character usually begs for the chance to make a display of your knowledge and ideas." He smirked at her, hoping he had riled her into divulging her plan. He didn't have to wait long.

"The idea only came to me this afternoon in the library. I'm not really planning anything…more along the lines of brainstorming," she hedged.

"On what subject?" he countered.

She sighed before answering, "Since you just have to know…memory modification."

Whatever he had been expecting, it surely wasn't this answer. "To what end? You can't expect the Dark Lord to forget his hatred of Potter or muggleborns, or his love of sadism and power."

"Of course not! Those things are too deeply rooted to his character to allow for him to truly forget them…I was thinking more along the lines of temporary, short-term memory loss, manipulation memories, that sort of thing. It's less about true memory obliviation, more about distraction techniques."

That gave him pause. "In one manner, you are correct. I was thinking of complex charms intended to cause complicated effects. Simpler charms could provide distraction which could lead to the enemy making critical errors. It is worth looking into."

Coming from Snape, he had just given her a metaphorical head-pat and hearty congratulation for fine thinking. She smiled at him from across the desk. "I'm so glad you approve. It's much harder sneaking behind your back. First, second, third and fifth year were all really difficult with you being so suspicious. You're a tricky sort, you know."

He gave her an evil grin (his grins were fairly frightening of their own accord). "There's a reason I was sorted Slytherin you know."

She laughed.

"Indeed." She was making light conversation with him, and he didn't do that very often with anyone other than Albus, Minerva and Poppy. Her smile had also gone up in wattage over the conversation. He did not smile back at her. He really wasn't ready to start beaming at people, best case scenario experiment or not. And the occasional evil grin or sneer didn't count as a friendly or humorous facial expression anyway.

"Shall we return to headquarters then?" she asked him politely, sensing that the light mood was about to shift.

"Indeed. If you could carry the bag with the shrunken equipment, as well as the purchases from this morning, than I shall be able to carry these boxes of ingredients," he indicated toward the floor where several bags lay, ready for her to claim and transport to Grimmauld Place. He proceeded to pick up a stack of boxes filled with potions ingredients; whose nature was in fact too fickle to shrink for the mere convenience of easy transportation. Ingredients were too costly to waste due to expedience or impatience.

Snape took one quick glance around his office, giving it a mental good bye until the summer ended and he returned to the castle. He ushered Hermione out into the hallway. The office door clicked shut behind them. He did not turn around to check the door or the wards, but lead Hermione out of Hogwarts and back to London, without pause.

When they arrived back at Number 12, Hermione was set upon by two figures as she walked into the entrance hall.

"There you are! Finally! Where have you been all day? We've been waiting for you to come home all afternoon!" Ron asked impatiently as he hugged her.

"Potions errands," she replied, shuffling the bag from Dervish and Bangs out of view under her cloak.

"If you menaces wouldn't mind terribly, perhaps you would allow us to enter the house?" Snape asked in his silky, sarcastic tones, directly behind Hermione and only half in the house. They had apparated from Hogsmeade to the park across from Headquarters. Hermione disliked Floo transportation for the odd feeling, and the way soot always managed to cling to her robes. Apparating was so much more efficient.

Harry rolled his eyes at Snape, but backed further into the hallway. There was no point in arguing with Snape right now. Not only did he not care to have an unpleasant row with him, but it was nearing dinner time.

"I'll just put these things away with Professor Snape, and we can talk at dinner, ok boys?" she asked, looking at the other members of the Trio.

"Mione we waited all day!" Ron whinged.

"Potions ingredients can be harmed if they aren't stored properly and quickly, which you should both know well enough. I'll see you at dinner!" she countered. She looked at Snape, who had watched the interaction between Hermione and her friends. She raised an eyebrow at him in question, and he nodded in response. They moved together to the lab without looking back at Ron and Harry.

Snape was a bit surprised at Hermione's brisk attitude with her friends. But she was correct; they did need to store everything quickly. He took the bags from her, and handed over the boxes of library books. "If you could shelve these, I would appreciate it." She nodded her consent, and headed toward the glass cabinet along the far wall. The glass was charmed so that potions, their fumes and any potential hazards wouldn't affect the books held inside. She sorted the books one by one, as Snape placed ingredients in their cupboards. They moved around the lab quietly, putting everything in its place.

When Hermione made to go through the bag of supplies, Snape smoothly tugged it from her hand, grasping her left wrist in the process. "I'll deal with this bag, Miss Granger."

She had noticed it held most of the equipment for the room, as well as the less delicate materials that could be shrunk. "There's quite a bit to go through sir. Don't you want my assistance?"

"As this bag also contains my personal items for the summer, quite frankly, I don't."

She blushed. "Sorry sir." She looked at the floor, waiting for his response.

"I'll finish up. Why don't you go and wrap up the Foe-Pane? I'll see you at dinner, and we shall continue brewing tomorrow." He needed a night off after spending the day with a student.

"Certainly. Until dinner then." Hermione had moved toward the door, but stopped and turned around. "I really appreciated that you took me to Hogsmeade today. You really helped me out of a bind, and were willing to offer suggestions for the gift. I appreciate that. And I also thank you for suggesting the library assistant position to Professor Dumbledore. There's nothing I would rather do, quite honestly, than spend my summer reading and researching on behalf of the Order." Hermione gave him a slow and quiet smile. He had done both things voluntarily, and that made them all the more special.

His throat tightened as he replied quietly, "You're welcome."

She turned and left the lab, leaving him alone for the first time all day. He exhaled. There was a difference between her leaving him in his Hogwarts office, and being cornered by Trelawney to her thanking him and taking her leave.

Spending so much time in a day with another person was difficult. Trying to reign in his temper and maintain some semblance of manners and humour was beyond trying. His experiment was proving to be challenging indeed. He was glad she left him here, because he needed to analyze his day and figure out if the real Severus had been initially successful. Most of all, he needed to think about whether or not the real Severus could have a future in the British wizarding world.

Author's Notes:

I tried soooo hard to keep writing this chapter, and make it longer as per my reviewers' requests. There just seems to be times when chapter breaks become natural, and that is where I tend to quit. I ask you all, would you rather have shorter chapters, updated every few days, or would you like longer chapters every week or so?

On the topic of the last chapter, I have several notes for you all. I know it was OOC, which was both easy and hard for me to write. Easy, because I got to say the lines about hair-braiding and friendship bracelets that I thought a sarcastic yet funny Snape would have been dying to use on Hermione, If he ever decided to joke with a student, I think he would have been the sarcastically quippy type. I think if Hermione could get to a place where she wasn't as intimidated by him, she would be one of those people who would truly enjoy his dry humour. That was part of what the last chapter was about. This chapter explains why Snape decided to give her a test run with his personality. Now some of you may ask me why Hermione went along with it, instead of being too intimidated by him, etc etc. The simple answer is that I had her already questioning his façade in the last chapter. She clearly states that she is coming to realize that he is not the cold professor that he has been portraying all along.

So let's hope any flames you were thinking of sending me about my characters from Ch 5 will be carefully extinguished now:P

Also in regards to the last chapter; I apologize for some very obvious errors that I made. I'm still working with no beta, and while I try to proofread, I do get distracted. Last weekend I wasn't focusing as well on the proofing due to my pint-sized nieces and nephews who are all under the age of 5. There are three of them and one of me, so cut me a break ok?

Two biggies I realized I had made after reading the chapter view 'live view' were these:

1) Clearly, when Snape said, "If you would care to do your shopping in Hogsmeade instead of Hogwarts, I could accompany you. I have some supplies to pick up from the apothecary and the post office in town" during the discussion about present-shopping, I meant for him to say 'Diagon Alley' instead of Hogwarts. Sure, there's some cool stuff to be found at the school that I would like to own, like the tiara and jewellery found in the cache in the Room of Requirement wherein Harry hides his textbook…but it would be frowned upon to take things from the school, wouldn't you say? Definitely in poor taste.

2) I opened with the disclaimer JKRGod, which somehow turned into JKRGOD during the uploading. I don't know why some symbols get dropped from the editing page to the actual final version…that's just the freaky way the web works. But I do admit that JKR rules my world, and I am indebted to her amazing talent and imagination for creating such wonderful characters!

Also, I am so sorry to all of you who are more detail-oriented in your narration than I am. I tend to focus on dialogue as opposed to adding in detail about clothes, facial expressions and settings. Mybad. If you notice me doing that excessively, say something. It is accidental you know!

My reviewers…I thank you. This being my first story, I get sooo excited to get a notice from to check the reviews. And to all those who have added my story to your favourite or alert lists, I thank you as well. It means so much to me to know that you are all waiting to see what can come next for our dear characters.

While waiting for updates, may I recommend The Twenty by Leyna Roundtree, In Annulo by ladyofthemask, Before the Dawn by snarkyroxy, Looking for Magic (WIP!) by Hypnobarb, and absolutely anything by duj. I can't tell you how much these stories have made me want to write HGSS. I hope that I can do even a fraction of as well with this story as they have with theirs. If you can't see them here, check out Ashwinder or the Petulant Poetess, both wonderful SSHG sites.

Until the next bout of inspiration strikes, I hope to watch my stats column to see you reading and reviewing.

Cheers guys!