Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling; therefore these characters are not mine. Of course, you'll see them doing things they definitely didn't do in her novels, so… well, those ideas are mine!

Chapter 21: Trust

On Saturday mornings, the Gryffindors were generally a lazy bunch. They needed time to unwind from the school week before they got serious about homework, Quidditch practice, or other pursuits. This particular Saturday morning found Hermione in the common room, writing her mum about what a hit the banana bread had been. Ron, who had just beaten Harry soundly (again) at chess, draped himself on the arm of her chair, reading over her shoulder. She frowned at him, and returned to her letter.

"Hey, Hermione," he finally said, unwilling to be ignored.

"Did you need something, Ron?"

"Just wondering how your detention with Snape went the other night. You haven't said anything about it. What horrible thing did he make you do this time?"

"If you must know, first he insulted my heritage. Then he said since I was raised as a muggle, I could work like one. He made me scrub his floors clean – the muggle way."

"That slimeball," griped Ron. "Mum made me do our kitchen that way once when I was ten, for putting bulbadox powder into Percy's sheets. It was Fred and George's idea, but I was the one who got caught. I spent hours on my hands and knees, scrubbing with a stiff brush until my hands were raw."

Seamus, who had been dozing on the couch, perked up, asking hopefully, "Did I hear the words 'hands and knees,' 'stiff,' and 'raw' in the same sentence?"

"You did, mate," said George, helpfully. He and Fred had sauntered over when they heard their names.

"We were talking about Hermione's latest detention with Snape," explained Ron.

Hermione glared at him. "It's not what it sounds like, Seamus. Snape had me clean the dungeon floor the muggle way."

"But you were on your hands and knees? Was Snape in front of you, or behind you? I can make either way work, in my fantasies."

"Sorry, Seamus. I used a mop and bucket."

Though Seamus flopped down again, looking disappointed, Fred's face took on a faraway, happy expression. "I love mop buckets," he sighed.

George fell over, laughing hysterically. Again, this was fairly normal behavior for him and Fred. The Gryffindors looked at one another and shrugged, and then went back to their leisure activities. Luckily, George's outburst took everyone's attention away from Hermione, who had blushed bright crimson – but couldn't suppress a grin.

"Detention, Miss Granger!"

He didn't wait nearly so long this time, she thought. Perhaps he's gotten over his sadistic streak.

"I'm beginning to think you like coming here in the evenings and getting dirty," Snape continued. "And since you cannot seem to stop yourself talking in my class, you will come back here tonight to perform a long overdue service for me. I'll have you on your knees, Miss Granger" – he paused dramatically, and Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief – "cleaning a year's worth of Drooble's Best from the bottoms of these work tables."

Nope. Sadistic streak still intact. Snape's eyes met Hermione's, and twinkled with mischief. She buried her head in her arms on the table and groaned. On her knees, getting dirty and performing a service for Snape: she'd get teased about this for weeks, no doubt.

At the next table, Dean was helping Seamus up off the floor. "You all right, mate?"

"Yeah, man, thanks," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "I must've blacked out for a second. He didn't say what I thought he said, did he?"

"He did, mate."

"I love this class, Dean."

"I know you do, Seamus."

"Have a great time, Hermione," sang Lavender Brown, as Hermione came down the stairs from the dormitory.

"Got your knee pads," Seamus asked loudly, "and maybe a breath mint?"

A chorus of laughs followed her as she pushed through the portrait hole. Hermione didn't mind – she was too excited to see Remus and Sirius to let a little teasing bother her. The photos were tucked securely into her coat pocket, and she caressed them lovingly. She jogged down the stairs toward the dungeon, and arrived at Snape's office short of breath. He answered her knock at once.

"Good evening, Miss Granger. Come in for a moment." He pulled on his traveling cloak. "I will need to disillusion us both so that we are not seen leaving the castle tonight. I will not be able to see you, nor will you be able to see me. I will remove the charm once we reach the cover of the tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow. Until that time, you will need to hold on to me, so that we do not lose each other."

Hermione did as he instructed, and took his arm. It felt strange to have this kind of contact with him. Stranger still was the feeling of being disillusioned: a tapping on her head, followed by a rush of cold down her body. She saw Snape tuck their two bottles of potion into his robe pockets, tap his own head with his wand, and disappear. Could this night get any stranger? Though she could feel Snape's arm in hers, it was entirely invisible. She felt a tug as the arm moved, and she moved with it. Out the dungeon door, up the stairs, and through the Great Hall, she followed the pull of his invisible arm. The sensation was utterly bizarre. Hermione had grown used to moving about the castle invisibly with Harry and Ron under Harry's cloak, but at least then she could see her companions. The huge oaken front doors of Hogwarts opened just enough for the two of them to slip out. She was pulled across the lawn to the tree. When Snape stopped just out of range of the willow's branches, Hermione walked right into him.

"Sorry, Professor," she whispered, without knowing why she was whispering. It seemed the thing to do when one was invisible. She noticed a heavy rock levitating toward the special knot on the willow's trunk. It knocked hard against the spot, and the tree became still. Again she was pulled forward, and into the tight passageway concealed by the tree's roots. Another tap on the head was followed by a warm trickling sensation. A moment later, Severus Snape rematerialized. She was still holding his arm.

"Shall we?" He gestured down the long, dark tunnel. She nodded in reply. "Wands out, then," he said. "Lumos!"

"Lumos," she echoed, having released his arm, and retrieved her wand from her pocket.

They walked in silence for several minutes. "I trust you've had an entertaining afternoon," he called back to her after a while.

"Yes," she answered, a few steps behind him, "thanks to you. I've been teased mercilessly. They're really having a grand time of it."

"I couldn't resist, after what you told me last week. Might as well give the little perverts a thrill."

"Oh, they're thrilled all right," she said dryly. "I may have lost any authority I once held as a Prefect. Anything I might say will be twisted into the next dirty joke."

"Are you angry with me, Miss Granger?"

She felt sure he was goading her, but couldn't figure out why. Was this another part of his tough-love curriculum? "Not particularly, Sir. In all honesty, it has been rather amusing. And if a bookish girl with frizzy hair and big teeth doesn't learn to handle a bit of teasing, I don't know who will."

They fell silent again. She heard nothing but the sound of their feet on the tunnel floor. Then, his voice, low and rumbling, almost as if he were speaking more to himself than to her: "Children can be so cruel."

Amen to that, she thought.

Finally, the path began to head uphill, and they emerged into the Shagging – no, no: Shrieking – Shack. The place definitely had a different feel to her, now that it was a frequent setting for her sexual fantasies. The last time she had been here was the first time she had seen Sirius and Remus together – the night they were reunited after a dozen years apart. Who among them could have imagined then that their relationship would develop into friendship – and eventually, so much more?

"The last time I was here," said Snape, remembering that same fateful night, "you stunned me."

"So I did, Professor. A lot happened that night that I'd just as soon forget." Nearly getting eaten by my Defense professor, for example. Oh, never mind, bad example.

"Are you ready to apparate to Grimmauld Place? Just take my arm again, Miss Granger, and hold on tight."

She did, and then gasped at the sensation of pressure from all around her as he apparated them both to the grassy area in front of the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. He checked that the coast was clear, and then pulled her across the street to the door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and rapped on the door.

Remus opened the door quickly. Of course – he must have been expecting Snape's arrival with his potion. He saw Hermione, looking slightly dazed from the discomfort and shock of her first apparating experience, and still clinging to Snape's arm. His face broke into a wide smile, and he cried, "Hermione! You're here!" Relief flooded through her. She felt like she was home again as she and Snape stepped inside.

Hermione could hear Sirius in the background pulling the curtains back over his mother's portrait, and then calling excitedly, "What did you say, Moony? Is Hermione here?" He came bounding into the foyer, all smiles too, until he saw Snape. His hands clenched automatically into fists, and his eyes narrowed menacingly. "Snivellus! What in Merlin's name are you doing with Hermione? You keep your filthy hands off her!"

Snape remained outwardly cool, but Hermione could feel his muscles tense as he shook with suppressed rage. "Now, if that's not a case of the cauldron calling the kettle… well, Black… then I don't know what is. I'm not the one who took advantage of her. Besides, you'll notice my hands are not on her. Her hands are on me."

Hermione was surprised to find that he was right – she was still holding onto him. She released his arm immediately, but Sirius had already looked at her with hurt in his gray eyes.

"Gentlemen," she said, attempting to soothe their tempers, "no one has been taking advantage of me."

Sirius's eyes begged her for an explanation. "What does he know, Hermione?"

"He knows enough, Sirius. He knows how we three feel about each other, and has probably made some good guesses from there."

Sirius turned on Snape, pointing his wand directly into the Slytherin's face. "You used legilimency on her! You've been prying where you don't belong!"

"No, Sirius, lower your wand. He didn't need to use legilimency on me. He could read your feelings for me in your eyes when you and he almost dueled over winter holidays and Harry stopped you. And he could tell when he saw you last month, Remus, and you spoke of me fondly. Actually, Professor Snape has been quite respectful toward me during all the time we've spent together lately."

"Time you've spent… Have you been alone with him?" Sirius roared with anger, his wand still pointed at Snape.

This time it was Remus who stepped between them. "Calm down, Sirius. I would ask you not to insult or injure the man who brews my potion for me every month. Or have you forgotten how much I owe to Severus for his dedication and help?"

Sirius lowered his wand, but looked mutinous.

"Why don't we retire to the drawing room, and have a drink," suggested Remus, playing the host. He led the way, and the others followed, Sirius and Severus still shooting daggers at each other with their eyes. Sirius guided Hermione toward a love seat, and sat protectively next to her, as Remus poured and distributed four glasses of brandy. She looked to Snape for permission, but his eyes were still trained on Sirius. She met Remus's eyes, and they both shrugged. She took a sip.

Remus continued in a conversational tone, as if two of his guests were not exchanging murderous glares. "It was I who suggested to Severus that he work privately with Hermione, Sirius. You recall, of course, that she had expressed an interest in learning to brew the Wolfsbane Potion."

"You trusted him alone with her?"

"I have trusted him every month for over two years, Sirius, and he's never let me down."

Snape smirked. He loved having Remus defend him against Sirius. Hermione saw that he enjoyed causing friction between the two lovers.

"That's different, Moony," Sirius protested. "You're not a vulnerable little girl!"

Hermione turned to face him, eyes blazing, and her tone dangerous. "Little girl! Sirius Orion Black, you had better take that back. You were happy enough to call me a young woman not too long ago. If you believe I am a vulnerable little girl, then you did take advantage of me. But if you trusted me as a young woman capable of making good decisions and taking care of myself then, then you should trust me just the same now."

Sirius flinched at the anger in her voice. "Of course I trust you, Hermione. It's him I don't trust!"

"So you don't trust me, even though I've been brewing the Wolfsbane Potion for your… friend… all this time. You say you trust Miss Granger. I find this issue of trust very interesting. Shall we explore it?"

Hermione heard the calculating tone of the Slytherin, and smelled danger.

"Miss Granger and I have each brewed a bottle of Wolfsbane Potion. She says she feels confident that her potion is as good as mine. Remus, do you trust her enough to take her potion instead of mine?"

Unfair, she thought. Pitting Remus's need for a reliable potion against his feelings for me.

Remus hesitated slightly, but then said confidently, "Yes, I would trust Hermione with my life."

"Excellent, Remus," Snape almost hissed. "And you, Black, do you trust her enough to let Remus take her potion instead of mine?"

"Of course I do! There's no question! I trust Hermione way more than I trust you!"

"Ah, but do you trust the potion-making skills of a fifth-year student as much as you trust mine, when I have been potions master at Hogwarts for a decade and half?"

Sirius looked at Remus for support, but the werewolf's face was unreadable. He turned back to Snape. "Yes, I do. I trust her completely."

Snape's lip curled into a sneer. "How touching. It's a love-fest. Let's take this little experiment a step further, though."

The scent of danger grew stronger. Where was Snape going with this? Hermione had learned that Snape was nothing if not unpredictable. She could not fathom his baffling behavior.

"Remus, you said you would trust Miss Granger with your life. Would you trust yourself with HER life? Still willing to bet on her potion?"

"What are you suggesting, Severus?" Remus sounded nervous, and that, more than anything, frightened Hermione.

"If you agree to take Miss Granger's potion instead of mine, I'll bring her back here a week from tonight, and lock all three of you into a room for the full moon. I'll come around next morning to see who's still alive. Or, you could just admit that you don't trust her potion, and take mine, and no one need face any unnecessary risk."

"Severus, even you wouldn't risk the life of a student," said Remus. "You must be quite confident that she did it right, or you wouldn't even suggest such a plan."

"What's one loud-mouthed, know-it-all student more or less?"

Sirius wrapped his arms protectively around Hermione, and growled, "She's the best damned student in that school, Snivellus, and you know it!"

"He's teasing, Sirius," she said, patting his arm. But her eyes searched Snape's face. He was teasing after all, wasn't he?

Sirius held her tighter. "Why, Snape? Why even make this suggestion? What do you gain from it, other than sadistic pleasure?"

"Why? Because it amuses me, Black. You say you trust her, she says she trusts you, and I want to see proof of it. What do I gain from it? I win, either way. If you refuse to take her potion, Remus, I've proven you both wrong: you do not trust her as completely as you say. And I would love to make you eat your words, Black. If you do take her potion, and it works, of course, I shall be relieved of brewing your potion until I die, or you die, whichever happens first. Unless, that is, Miss Granger dies first, and I am forced to take up the job once more myself. Then again, if you do take her potion, and it doesn't work, I shall be relieved of grading Miss Granger's interminable sophomoric potions essays from here on out. Really, I can't lose."

Sirius sputtered angrily, and Hermione recognized that Snape was trying to provoke him – and succeeding. She was certain now that Snape believed her potion was every bit as good as his: his crack about her potions essays confirmed it. As she wrapped her brain around the dare Snape was offering, she saw an opportunity, and she took it.

"Sirius and Professor Snape," she said gently, "there's a lot of history between the two of you. I'm sure I don't know it all, but I heard enough that night in the Sha-… Shrieking Shack to get the general idea. I know that Sirius played a joke on you, Professor, that could have been deadly. And I know you have been holding a grudge for a very long time." Snape turned his daggers on Hermione.

"Sirius," she continued, turning to face him on the love seat, "I know you've grown up a lot since you were a schoolboy." Snape snorted loudly, but she ignored him. "And I know you regret what you did to Professor Snape. I believe a large part of your mistrust of him comes from your feelings of guilt, because you know if you were in his place you'd want retribution. You're waiting for him to try to seek revenge, so you can't trust anything he says or does, in case it turns out to be the counter-attack." Snape and Sirius eyed each other, warily. "But Remus had almost as much reason to be angry with you about that night, and you and he have obviously managed to get past it… It's been twenty years. Is there any chance, Sirius, and Professor Snape, that you could put that night behind you? You're on the same side now, for Merlin's sake."

Remus smiled at her encouragingly, but Sirius growled low in his throat. Hermione saw Snape's arm muscles tense, and knew his wand was at the ready in his pocket. Time to play dirty: she would use their egos against them.

"I will agree to your experiment, Professor Snape, on one condition. You and Sirius need to make your best efforts to get over what happened twenty years ago. You need to forgive each other, and forgive yourselves. You will put more effort into getting along: no drawing wands on each other, no insults, and no making decisions based on mistrust of each other. Are you both big enough men to agree to those terms?"

Snape's black eyes flashed angrily. "Why should I trust him? What if I hadn't been stopped in time? I would have been killed!"

"But you weren't, Professor. Both Sirius and Remus have admitted to being young and foolish. They have both matured in the past two decades. Yes, Sirius's joke could have been deadly, but it wasn't. Thank Merlin you were stopped in time, and you were all spared an awful fate: you weren't killed, and Remus didn't become a killer, and Sirius didn't have your blood on his hands. And now it's over. It's been over for twenty years. None of you need play that 'what if' scenario any more. You can let it rest. What happened back then is in the past, and what is happening now is what is important. You are on the same side. No good can come of this festering grudge. The Order needs you to be united. So I ask you again: are you both big enough men to agree to those terms?"

The two men watched each other's faces for signs, but what signs they sought, Hermione could only guess. Snape finally broke eye contact with Sirius, and nodded to her. He accepted the terms. Sirius, of course, could not let Snape make him look bad, and nodded to her as well.

Remus cleared his throat to break the silence. "Hermione, even though Severus and Sirius agree to your proposal, what if I don't agree? I could never forgive myself if I were to hurt you. I'm willing to take your potion if it's just me and Sirius here next week. If anything were to go wrong, he would just change into Padfoot and he'd be safe. But I can't risk hurting you."

She smiled at him tenderly. "Remus, I'm not afraid. I am confident in my work." Snape would have beamed at her, if beaming were something he ever did. But he did look at her with unmistakable pride. "And the potential benefit of a more united Order could be the difference between victory and defeat. Professor Dumbledore always says we are stronger together. Let's do this and see if those two can honor their commitment."

For a long moment, Remus's amber eyes were thoughtful. Then he sighed. "Okay, Hermione, you win."

"Shall we drink to seal the pact? Remus, you will take the potion I prepared. Professor, you will bring me back next week and lock the three of us into a room together all night, returning to collect me in the morning. And hereafter, you two," she looked meaningfully at Snape and Sirius, "will be at least civil to each other. Agreed?"

They all raised their glasses, and took a sip.

"Excellent," she sighed. "In that case, gentlemen, I think Professor Snape and I had best be going. But I will see you next week!" She dug in her coat pocket, and produced the photographs, which she had wrapped carefully in parchment, and sealed. She handed the package to Sirius, wanting to make a conciliatory effort, after putting him so much on the spot. "This is for you and Remus," she said. "Open it after Professor Snape and I leave."

Snape left just one bottle of potion for the werewolf – the one she had labeled herself as being her own work.

Hermione and Severus Snape left Headquarters silently. He offered his arm, and she took it, as she waved one last time at the window where she knew her men would be watching. They apparated back to the Shrieking Shack, and began the long trek through the dark tunnel. The only word either of them uttered was "Lumos." At the Hogwarts end of the tunnel, he again silently offered his arm, and reapplied the disillusionment charm, first to her, then to himself. Once more, she felt the eerie sensation of being pulled along by an invisible force as they walked across the grounds.

"I'm proud of you, Miss Granger." The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. It was almost as if the night itself were speaking to her. "You stood up for your work and you stood up for what you believed." High praise from the potions master who had frequently made her life so difficult in the past. She longed to see his expression, but knew that it was only under cover of invisibility that he would ever have shared such a sentiment.

"I'm proud of you, too, Professor."

A/N: I'm thrilled that so many of you liked Chapter 20 – it was by far the most-reviewed chapter I've written yet. Thanks to all of you who wrote in with your support – I love you all! Many of you liked the way I wrote Snape, so I hope I've managed to do him justice in this chapter. It was a very hard one to write. Special thanks to Hazel Love who suggested Sirius being all protective when Hermione showed up with his archenemy.

A little Fred & George, a little Seamus, a little Remus & Sirius, and a whole lotta Snape in this chapter. Next chapter will be a respite from the kind of tension Snape creates, and will instead contain tension of a different sort. ; P

Keep those reviews coming, please! I am so enjoying tossing ideas around with you all. Love, -IJDTW