A/N: OH MY WIZARD GOD, IT'S ANOTHER CHAPTER! I am so ashamed of how long it took me to update this, I'm ironing my hands as we speak. Legal recap: I own nothing, and this is soooo not DH compliant.

Chapter 13

"Not a bad piece of work, actually, if I do say so."

Holding it out to him, Hermione finally noticed that he was just staring at her.

"What?"

It took him a few tries to form the words. "Hermione, what in the bloody hell are you talking about?"

She eyed him, taking in his reaction. "Severus, what was your training like, when you were learning to duel?" Hermione asked.

He was somewhat thrown off by her question, but thought back. "Admittedly different than what you described," he said. "I had three-hour lessons four days per week for one year. The training was rigorous, yes, but I don't think I ever felt my instructor was actually trying to kill me."

She chuckled. "That was part of the fun! Although I think I'll be forever paranoid."

"Two decades of spying will do that as well," he said wryly.

"What about your wand?"

He was puzzled. "What about it?"

"Did you have a formal dueling wand, from your training?"

His eyebrows rose in surprise; it was easy to forget this easygoing witch had gone through the same sort of experiences he had. "Actually, I did," Snape replied. "I so rarely use it anymore I'd nearly forgotten."

Hermione nodded. "Accio Severus Snape's dueling wand!"

In just a few moments, it had whizzed down to the lab and was resting in her hands.

"It must have been in your rooms," she said, turning the wand to examine it thoroughly. "Holly, with a wyvern scale core. Interesting," she mused. "Your instructor was English, I take it?"

Snape nodded, and Hermione passed him both wands.

"Outside of England, the Masters keep a similar practice, with a new wand being a part of the training process. What everyone neglects to mention is that instead of just giving you a finished wand at the beginning of your training, you actually have to make your own wand before your training begins. You have to find just the right piece of wood, that agrees to be made into a wand, and then you have to find the creature that possesses its magical core. Either the core is freely given, or you must conquer the creature and take what you need. You're given 21 days to get the necessary materials, and if you return alive, you have another 21 days to design and craft your wand by hand…using any type of magic would taint it. If you fail, the Masters feel you aren't worthy of the training to begin with. Completing the training means you've earned the right to carry the wand you've crafted."

Snape was astonished. "So you mean you have…"

"A total of fourteen wands, yes. My original one I got before my arrival at Hogwarts, from Ollivander's, twelve I had to create with my dueling masters, and one from my potions study in South America; I wouldn't have expected him to have me make a wand, but he did."

"So when you first came before Voldemort, and surrendered your wand…"

"I was carrying thirteen others." She snickered. "Only someone truly insane would surrender her only wand to the Dark Lord. And despite the face I put on at the meetings and the additional twenty-some years, I'm still the same boringly rational Hermione Granger underneath."

From various hidden places, she began to pull out wand after wand, laying them on the bench as she identified each one.

"Kunugi, with a Ningyo scale core. Cypress, with a core of heliotrope fairy tears. Suar, with an Indian gryphon feather core. Quince, with a tortoise handle and a core containing the essence of phoenix flame; I used up almost the entire time allotted figuring out how to contain that. Camel thorn, with a Kishi hair core; they were crafty little buggers. Olive, with a core of ground chimera horn. Mountain ash, with a Tupilak flesh core; that was a hideous beast. Palm, with an Axex crest core. Maple, with a kraken tooth core. Bloody beast spent a week trying to drown me and another ignoring me altogether…it actually came around when I mentioned the giant squid, from school; turned out to be a cousin or something. Larch, with a firebird feather core. Holm oak, with a core of Mairu blood. And finally, ginkgo, with a powdered cockatrice shell core.

"These," she said as she pulled two similar-looking wands out, "are the ones from my Potions Master. He knew of you, and had me craft one for you as well." Hermione passed him the slightly darker one of the pair, also holding her own up for him to examine.

"Mine is elder, polished with geranium oil. Yours is cedar, finished with vetivert oil. He said the oils would enhance their power. He also made me brew a very complex potion to treat the wood with before I began assembling them…he knew I planned to help you, and was more or less aware of what we'd be facing. No matter where we are, these wands will always be able to find one another. The magical core in each is the heartstring of a Mapinguari. Yes, they do exist, and no, you do not want to meet one." She shuddered. "Trust me. Anyhow, as you can see, I've had quite a bit of experience crafting wands, so putting yours together while you were recovering was a straightforward enough task. And with three, you're at least one-up on most Wizards," she said with a grin.

"You know," he said, still trying to process everything she'd told him, "you have yet to say who you studied with for your Potions work."

Hermione shot him a sly look. "I assume you're familiar with Dominik Schreiber?"

Snape looked incredulous. "The Potions Master who was found guilty of poisoning two of his Apprentices, stripped of his title and banished from Europe? Who disappeared more than thirty years ago?"

"The same," she replied.

"But he's dead! Everyone has thought so…there's been no word from him for over a decade!"

"Well, 'everyone' was wrong. He's alive, I can assure you, and as wily and cantankerous as he ever was."

"You actually Apprenticed with him?"

"He's not too bad, really, once you get used to his quirks. And to answer the question you wanted to ask, he poisoned his former Apprentices for ineptitude and carelessness." She shrugged. "Early on, he tried to tell me that Abrus precatorius was edible when it was actually quite deadly, but I think that was more of a test than anything else. I never gave him any reason to find fault, and caught him out the few times he tried to poison me.

"Dominik was the only person who knew about my Time-Turner; he was unexpectedly familiar with the goings-on here, so was surprised I had one. He agreed to move through time with me…we'd train for a year, move to a different area, go back and regain that year, and repeat the cycle." She smiled. "I think the old buzzard was actually sorry to see me go…I promised to visit him after this is all over."

Snape smirked. "Only you would befriend an insane recluse and win him over."

"Oh, I don't know, Severus," she teased. "After six years with you, Dominik was practically a pushover."

"Impertinent wench," he growled.

"Have I ever claimed to be anything else?" she tossed back.

Later, he'd admit that he'd set himself up for it, though he would claim it was because he hadn't the opportunity to verbally spar with someone capable in too long.