See! I told you I would post sooner this time! If you've made it this far, thank you SO much for reading my story! And a special thanks to Lana, bluefirefly5, Nesska, Doctor12Holmes, articcat621, Angelwells, Belle2611, Hannoie, lunarose87, Luna de Papel, rivruskende, RhodaBush, JM2010, severus-rickman-lover, hnwhitlock2000, .Snape, Claudilla, TeaCoffeeBooks, PetiteMule, FatalStarshine, Folkvangr, flowerypetal, Levans, just an anon reader, ReDish, and a few 'guests' for reviewing! You guys are awesome and I love you!
Now, here's Chapter 44! I hope you enjoy it! And if you do, Please Review!
…*~*J*~*…
"This is quite a predicament," the Headmaster understated. "I am hesitant to rely on the Malfoy family in any capacity, but their assistance would be useful."
"The Malfoy family is not on our side. Only Narcissa has expressed any interest in our Cause. I do not believe she has confided in Lucius, or he would have come to me, himself. But Narcissa has good reason to wish for our success. It seems she is unhappy with the effect the dark lord's reign has had on her family. And I know Narcissa well enough to know that Lucius and Draco will always be her first priority."
"You trust her word?"
"I do not trust the word of anyone." Except, perhaps, that of a particular bushy-haired know-it-all. "But I believe she is telling the truth."
"In any case, we may use her maternal devotion as leverage against her. As long as she fears for her son's life, she will not risk jeopardizing it. Perhaps you should let slip the fact that I know of Draco's transgression, and will be more than happy to inform Tom should anything happen to my spy."
"You forget, Albus, that Narcissa Malfoy is a Slytherin. As am I. Such an obvious threat will not merely put her on her guard, but will be viewed as antagonism. She has already surmised that I am your informant and that Potter would have come to you for confirmation following Draco's mishap. I am certain that she is already aware of your knowledge of these events."
"Very well, Severus, but I do not like it. This is a completely unforeseen complication and I do not want you any more vulnerable than you already are. It seems that everything has gone steadily downhill since Miss Granger's abduction and I am not happy with this new turn of events."
A surge of inexplicable anger swelled inside of Severus at the old man's words. "This 'new turn of events' might very well have given us an advantage we never would have secured without the complications of the past few months. Have you forgotten the prophecy? Perhaps Narcissa is the key for which we have been searching. After all, if she is to be trusted, that gives us not only another informant but a wand inside of Malfoy Manor; sleeping under the same roof as the dark lord, himself."
"I hope you are right, Severus. For the sake of the Cause, I truly hope you are. If only there was some way to know for sure…"
"Well there isn't."
"No matter," the old man shrugged with deceptive nonchalance, "for now we must pay careful attention. She is not to be given any more information than she already has. We will play it by ear, but we must proceed with caution."
"Naturally," Severus drawled ironically. "Well, if that is all, I had better return to my lab. A certain werewolf friend of yours needs his fix."
"Yes, yes, off you go," Albus replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. The dark professor bowed his head and turned to leave. "Oh, and Severus," the old man called, "when is your next Occlumency lesson?"
"Saturday evening. After the Hogsmeade trip."
"Good. That will be a convenient opportunity to glean information from the Malfoy boy. It may be he has some insight into his mother's true intentions."
…*~*J*~*…
"Are you certain that we can trust her?"
"No."
Hermione bit her lip anxiously, but caught the reassuring glint in Severus's eye when he glanced up at her over the cauldron he was stirring. Lupin was due for another dose, but tonight's brewing did not require as much concentration.
"Well, what about Malfoy? I mean… Draco? Do you think he can be trusted?"
Severus snorted softly and mumbled something about Gryffindors always wanting to trust everybody. "As anxious as I am sure you are to have Mister Malfoy spend the holidays at Grimmauld Place, it may be advisable to wait a little bit longer before giving him the secret password. There is still that remote possibility that he is actually loyal to the dark lord."
Hermione smirked at him, but resisted the urge to punch his arm, as that would interfere with his brewing. "Alright… so… we may or may not have contacts within Malfoy Manor. I'd say that counts as progress." It warmed her heart to see his lips quirk up in amusement at her words. Then she remembered something and chewed her lip. "Severus?"
"Hmm?"
"I suppose I'll have to spend Christmas at Grimmauld, won't I? I mean, I won't be able to visit my parents?"
Severus's brow furrowed and he hesitated. "Actually, I have been thinking about your family lately, and I have come to the conclusion that it may not be safe for them to remain in Britain for the duration of the War. I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of sending them into hiding elsewhere; just until the War is over. Of course, there is no guarantee that that will be any time soon."
Hermione considered this thoughtfully. It was terribly frightening to consider that her parents might be in danger, but she had to admit that he had a point. It would be safest for them if they slipped away for a little while, especially considering her increased involvement in the War to come.
"In any case, unfortunately, I believe you will have to spend Christmas with Potter in that hellhole."
Hermione nodded absently. With everything that had been going on in her life, not to mention following the new appointments of witches and wizards to key Ministry positions (so far, it was estimated that about 60% of the new officials were loyal to Voldemort), the winter holidays had crept up unnoticed. Thankfully there was a Hogsmeade trip this weekend, because she hadn't had time to find presents for anyone.
And that brought to mind an entirely different concern. What on earth was she going to get for Severus?
…*~*J*~*…
Saturday dawned with a dry chill that crept through the castle and sank into the very bones of her inhabitants. It seemed the very last sort of day that a large group of students would want to venture outside and make the long trek to Hogmeade through the snow. And yet, as they all lined up to show their permission slips to Filch, the crowd was just as large and cheery as always.
"So here's the plan," Harry was saying. "We'll all split off for a bit of Christmas shopping at first, and meet in an hour at the Three Broomsticks."
"I may need a bit more than an hour," Hermione confessed. It always took her the longest to find her presents (and a good deal more thought went into them, thank you very much), but this year would be even worse.
"Really?" Ron was incredulous. "I'll be done in ten minutes, and then what am I to do?"
"Well Fred and George said they might pop in for a bit," suggested Ginny.
Hermione frowned. "They aren't thinking of bringing more Firewhiskey, are they?" At the others' guilty expressions, she had to roll her eyes. Well, that was one celebration she would not be joining.
Just then, Draco Malfoy pushed past them to hand his slip to Filch, knocking Ginny into Harry in the process. "Watch it, Weasley!"
Ron wouldn't stand for that. "You'll be sorry, Malfoy!" He made as if to grab the blond as Harry restrained an angry Ginny and withdrew his wand.
"No!" Hermione shouted. "You'll just make it worse!" Merlin, didn't they understand that Draco wanted them to respond to his provocations?
But before she could grab onto Ron's arm, an imposing figure stepped between the two quarrelling boys. "Starting fights, Mr. Weasley? Ten points from Gryffindor. And Potter; threatening an unarmed student with your wand. Fifteen points from Gryffindor. Let us see if we can survive this little excursion without incident, shall we?"
Hermione stared up into the derisive sneer of Professor Snape and her heart lurched at his expression of disapproval. She had to actively tell herself that it was all just an act; that he didn't mean any of it. Then he swept past their little group and made his way off toward the little village. What on earth is he doing here? He told me he didn't have to chaperone.
Malfoy sent a wicked smirk back in her direction as he followed his Head of House, and his laughter made her blush guiltily. I really need to get better at hiding my feelings.
"Come on, then," Ron grumbled," and soon they were through the gates and tromping through the snow on their way to Hogsmeade. "Snotty, arrogant prick. Who does he think he is?"
Hermione blew out a breath. "He was just trying to make you angry. And it worked, didn't it?"
"Of course it bloody worked! He shoved my sister! That's no way to treat a girl!"
"Hey!" Ginny was offended by his assertion that she was somehow weaker than he was. After all, they all knew she could teach his scrawny arse a lesson or two, and no one was a match for her jinxes.
"Alright, alright," Harry cut in sounding far more exhausted and unhappy than he had ten minutes prior, "let's just split up and I'll see you in an hour."
And so, grumbling and moody, they went their separate ways. And Hermione's feet, of course, took her straight to Tomes and Scrolls. She may have been the only one in their group to truly appreciate a good read, but she was still of the opinion that there was a book for everyone.
Ronald. Ronald. Wizarding Sports? Ah, they have an extensive Quidditch collection. Ha. The sport has even infiltrated the publishing industry. Hmm, let's see… Hermione scanned the titles. But as she glanced over them, she suddenly realized that she had not read a single word. Her mind was focused uncontrollably on the prospect of bumping into Severus here. He was here the last time I came. But the place was a maze. She would have to actively search for him to see if he were here.
It wasn't that she was looking for him, per say. It was just that her friends were all very different and the sections she wanted to search for books for them in were in very different parts of the shop. So what if her heart sank every time she passed a shelf and didn't find him? That still didn't mean she was actually searching for him.
Alright. She was searching for him. And he wasn't here. Unless he had somehow managed to elude her… perhaps by stepping past a shelf at the exact same moment she did, but on the other side and going the opposite direction…
Oh, come on, Hermione! You are being completely pathetic!
Finding a book for each friend was turning out to be harder than she had expected. So far, she had Quidditch: A History for Ron and An Auror's Anecdotes for Harry. Ginny had been particularly hard, as Hermione realized that she still didn't know very much about the other girl. That bothered her. She had thought that they were making progress.
But if Ginny was difficult, Severus was impossible. First of all, she knew that he had an extensive book collection, and had no idea what books he already had. Second of all, she didn't want to give him something he read all the time, nor something he had no interest in reading. Needless to say, nothing so far seemed to suit.
Eventually, she gave up and made her way to the cashier. Maybe the other shops would have something appropriate.
Luna was up at the front when she got there. "Hello, Hermione."
"Hello, Luna." Displays had been set up by the door and catalogues advertising 'Presents by Post' caught Hermione's eye. She reached for one with pictures of jewelry on the cover. Maybe Ginny would like some pretty earrings?
"It's pretty remarkable, isn't it?" Luna asked her in that dreamy voice. "You write down your order and send the right amount of money. Then, when your owl comes back, it has a present."
Hermione mumbled her agreement as she flipped through the pages. There were plenty of pretty earrings, but nothing that really caught her eye. She was just about to give up on the catalogue when one image jumped out at her and she had to flip back to get a better look. It was a locket in the form of a Golden Snitch. Perfect!
"Do you think Draco would enjoy a model dragon?"
It took Hermione a moment to switch from excitement over her find to processing Luna's question. And then it took another moment of stunned silence for that question to sink in. "Draco?" she heard herself repeating in an incredulous voice.
"Yes. It means 'dragon', you know. I always thought they were neat."
"Er, I don't know, Luna. I… I don't really know him very well."
"No one does, really. Not even his parents." Luna continued her scrutiny of the model in question with a curious expression.
"You know…" Hermione began, feeling uncomfortable, "I don't know that Malfoy… or… er… Draco, that is, really likes presents." And he'd probably react horribly to receiving one from you.
"It depends on the present," came Luna's dreamy matter-of-fact response. "Have you found anything for Professor Snape?"
Hermione was, once again, completely taken aback. "I—uh…" For a long moment, she couldn't come up with an appropriate answer. But finally she conceded defeat and decided that she could be frank with Luna. What harm could it do? "Not yet," she confessed in a slump. Then her eyes jumped to Luna's face, considering. "Do you have any ideas?"
To her astonishment, Luna laughed. "He doesn't want a present from me, silly. He wants it to come from you."
…*~*J*~*…
Ginny and the boys had already secured a table when Luna and Hermione entered The Three Broomsticks a short while later. Soon, they each had a hot Butterbeer in hand and were sipping happily, enjoying the warmth of the cozy pub.
"Guess we don't have that many Hogsmeade trips left," Ron realized. "Pretty soon, we won't be students anymore."
"If we're lucky," murmured Harry.
"Well I still have another whole year after this," Ginny teased, poking her tongue out playfully at her older brother.
"Oh, bugger that!" cried George.
"The real world's much more fun!" agreed Fred.
"Albeit a bit more dangerous," George admitted.
"Unless you count that Basilisk."
"Yeah. And the werewolf."
"Nah, we've still got that one."
"The spiders, then, we haven't got them."
"Don't forget about Peeves."
"Ah, yes, good ol' Peeves."
"Wonder what he's doin' these days."
"We had our share of dragons, too."
"And Umbridge. Can we count Umbridge?"
"Nah. That's a joke."
"What about the three-headed dog, then? What was its name?"
"Fluffy."
"Now, that's a joke."
"Are you feeling well, Harry?" Luna startled them all from the sudden bout of happy laughter.
With those words, everyone's eyes turned to the Chosen One, in time to see his grimace of pain. He jerked his hand from his forehead, but it was too late. "I'm fine," he told Luna, but none of them believed him.
"It's alright," Luna replied, "you don't have to tell me what's wrong. I just hope you get better soon."
"Thanks, Luna."
The table was suddenly quiet and the cheery mood was tainted by an air of concern and confusion. Hermione met Ron's eye, and they seemed to silently agree that there would be a discussion later. Then she glanced over at Ginny and caught her biting her lip with worry. The tenderness in her expression went much deeper than Ginny ever allowed anyone to see.
"Well anyway, the real world's loads worse," Fred continued in an effort to sweep that little exchange under the rug.
"Yeah, you got bills and taxes."
"Customers."
"Scary thing, those."
"And all sorts of laws you gotta watch out for."
"And Voldemort," Luna added helpfully. "You can't forget about him." Once again, the table fell into an uncomfortable silence, which the pretty blonde didn't seem to notice.
Just then, the door to the pub opened, and Severus Snape stepped through. Hermione's heart gave a jolt and she must have flushed because Ginny met her eye with a smirk. Suddenly she didn't know how to act; if she should pretend she hadn't seen him, or glance casually in his direction, or acknowledge his arrival. She watched him approach the bar and began to fidget, unconsciously shifting her position in the chair and drawing more than one curious eye.
"You alright there, Hermione?" George asked her, sounding amused.
Luna was the first to speak up. "She's just nervous because Professor Snape is here."
The twins' expressions were identically incredulous. But before they could think too much about it, Ginny cut in. "She skipped his class today." Then she blushed—apparently realizing that it was Saturday—and hurried to correct herself. "Our Occlumency lesson."
The knot in Hermione's chest seemed to collapse in relief at the other girl's words.
But that didn't stop Ron from almost ruining his sister's quick thinking. "But that's not… Ow!" Good thing Ginny's feet were pretty quick, too.
Unfortunately, the twins were shrewd. "Hermione Granger, skipping class?" Fred marveled.
"Are we missing something?" asked George.
"Occlumency is a very useful science," Luna told them. "People think it keeps you safe from mind-readers. But they're wrong. It's supposed to repel the Wrackspurts, really."
The others just smiled and nodded at Luna, meanwhile meeting each other's eyes across the table and conveying their true opinions. The awkwardness in the group finally seemed to dissipate just as Professor Snape swept over to their table.
"Miss Granger," he growled in that lovely deep voice that sent a spiral of fire to her core, "foolish as it may be to remove the only thinking member of your party, I have need of you… elsewhere."
Hermione's lips parted and then she slammed her jaw shut as a table of Slytherin boys nearby began to snicker. Her face began to heat as she turned hesitantly toward her friends. Ron already looked angry enough to start a fight with the Slytherins, but Harry's scowl was directed at his professor. "Don't do anything stupid," she murmured before meeting Ginny's gaze. The other girl lifted a teasing eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing. Fred and George looked even more suspicious than before.
"Hello, Professor," Luna sang.
"Good afternoon," Severus replied in a patronizing voice to which Luna was apparently immune.
"I'll see you later," Hermione told her friends. At the lesson, she almost added.
Then the professor led his student from the pub and through a little alley to the back where the bins were kept. "We cannot speak here," he told her, grabbing her wrist.
And they Disapparated.
…*~*J*~*…
Sorry to leave you with such a cliffhanger!
(Actually, sorry I'm not sorry… mwahaha!)
Don't forget, Fanfic writers are artists starving for reviews!
Feed the hungry writer!
It'll give her energy to write the next chapter!
I love you!
:}
llorolalluvia
