Hermione and Ginny walked from Gryffindor tower to Professor McGonagall's office, hiding butterflies the whole way. They were sure that the headmaster was on their side but couldn't have any of the new faculty catching them out and questioning their motives. They had agreed that moving with their head of house in tow would provide a much better cover than being caught walking the corridors alone after dinner.
They arrived at Professor McGonagall's office without incident and went from there to the headmaster's office only passing a couple of Hufflepuff second years in the corridor. Standing in front of the gargoyle, McGonagall gave the password 'Aconite' and the trio of Gryffindor witches ascended the staircase to the headmaster's office door.
The door stood shut in front of them. Seeming to grow only larger and more imposing as they walked towards it. Hermione felt her palms begin to grow clammy. Glancing at the other two women she could see her nervousness reflected in their faces. Ginny was clenching and unclenching her hands at her sides, taking the occasional deep breath to try and calm herself down as she moved from foot to foot, the breathing exercise clearly not working. McGonagall looked only slightly more severe than usual, her tension held entirely in her mouth which had formed a thin line. She raised her hand to knock.
'Enter'
Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and stepped inside, the two students following behind her.
Professor Snape stood behind the desk, his hands placed wide on the table top, his face impassive. Hermione had never seen someone look so intimidating with just a stance.
The tension within the room was so thick Hermione barely dared to breathe.
"I see you got my note," ventured Professor McGonagall, her voice tight.
"I see you got mine," replied Professor Snape.
Professor McGonagall nodded her head in response, then something entirely unexpected happened. The older witch started to cry.
She crossed the room to the headmaster's desk and he walked around it to meet her in the embrace that she was offering.
"Severus" was all she said, her slightly teary voice quiet in the moment.
He returned her embrace silently, his eyes flickering shut for a second as he held the older witch against his chest.
She pulled away a moment later, wiping at her eyes with a tartan handkerchief.
Taking his hand, she said "Forgive an old woman her tears, Severus. I'm just so relieved that you know we're on your side. It's been utterly wretched to have to hide it from you for so long."
"I assure you, no-one is more relieved that I. Take a seat," he gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.
Hermione and Ginny took seats either side of Professor McGonagall, much less nervous but still with the subdued demeanour of school children sat with their teachers.
"So why have you called this meeting?" the headmaster asked.
Minerva started the meeting, filling Severus in on all that had occurred while he had been away from the Order: Moody's de-facto leadership, a new policy of information sharing, and the galleons they were using to communicate. At this last, she gave the speaking role to Hermione, who handed him the fake galleon and showed him how to add dates and send them to the other Order members.
"This is impressive spell-work. Yours I presume?" he said, directing the question at Minerva
"A collaborative effort. Hermione had already made something similar to talk to other members of the club she was running with Potter when Umbridge was here. I extended the scope a little, that's all," she replied, smiling at Hermione.
Snape inclined his head towards Hermione in deference to her work.
Hermione blushed in response, from Professor Snape, that was practically a glowing recommendation.
"Our main plan for Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall continued, "is to remove as many vulnerable students from here as possible. Muggleborns in particular, high target families, those who have been very vocal in their support of Dumbledore, et cetera. Having Death Eaters on the grounds in such high profile roles makes me think it's not safe here."
"You would be correct. The Dark Lord wants Hogwarts. He's always idolised the founders and wants to write over any trace of Dumbledore," Severus replied, "but where would you have us send them?"
"Well, Hermione had the idea of using what the muggles call an underground railroad. It's a series of secret safe-houses to take vulnerable people out of the dangerous area to safety. We've secured contacts in France and Russia to smuggle muggleborns and their families out of the country," replied Minerva.
"I applaud the effort, but the solution is temporary at best, what of the Dark Lord?"
"Potter and Remus are working on that one. What do you know of horcruxes, Severus?" asked Minerva.
"Absolutely nothing, which by itself is worrying"
"It's a process where a person can hide a part of their soul away in an object, it's how he survived the killing curse and how he was able to come back. The two of them are following up on leads from Dumbledore about potential objects from Riddle's past, they're all over the country to evade Death Eaters, checking in occasionally with Order members. Our knowledge of horcruxes is extremely limited, Hermione has been reading through some of the dark texts in the Black family library for any mention of them"
Snape frowned and turned his head sharply towards Hermione, "Miss Granger, I do hope that you've been taking precautions"
"Yes sir, Auror Tonks showed me some of the techniques she knew about working with dark texts," she replied, using Tonk's official title to emphasise that she wasn't just some stupid little girl as his last remark had implied.
He gave her a curt nod, signalling his acceptance of her explanation.
"And how are we getting the students out of Hogwarts?" Snape asked
"Hermione has a way with the younger students, we're hoping she can befriend some of them and pass them the information that they can leave Hogwarts for somewhere safe," Minerva replied
"Well, it seems that Miss Granger is heading this chapter of the Order, between reading up on horcruxes, befriending muggleborn students, and coming up with every idea, it's a wonder that she'll have time to fit any school work in," he said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow towards Hermione. He continued before anyone had a chance to respond, "How are you planning on utilising Miss Weasley's talents?"
All eyes turned to Ginny who looked up guiltily at the sound of her name. It was clear she hadn't been invested in the conversation until then.
"Err, well, Miss Weasley is underage so we thought she wouldn't be able to do as much without being noticed. I mean with the trace…"
Snape cut across McGonagall's stumbling. It seemed Ginny had been forgotten in all the planning.
"There has long been a link between physical strength and magical ability. Increased stamina in spellcasting has long been linked to endurance running, not that any pureblood wizard would ever notice the link. Miss Weasley, I want you to put your Quidditch skills to use and get your fellow students exercising. The older students will be more useful in a fight if they wish to join with the Order, and the younger students will be able to defend themselves more effectively, or better yet, run away."
"Yes sir," Ginny said, her voice quiet but confident, "I could use Quidditch to get the other houses to train more too. Friendly competitions, that sort of thing. If we're competing more then everyone will train harder. Maybe encourage the students who didn't make their house teams to get involved?"
"An excellent idea, Miss Weasley," Snape said, sounding genuinely impressed, "just ensure that anything you do, you do discretely, anything the Carrows see they are likely to shut down."
"Yes sir," Ginny replied, smiling slightly at having been given a job to do. Not only that, but a job that Hermione wouldn't have had a chance at completing half as well as her.
"Well then, if there's nothing else, I'd suggest we try and move students out at strategic times. I can easily remove names from registers before the Carrows know all the students if we can get them out in the next two weeks. After that we would do best to have them leave at the school holidays and simply not return. If the castle starts emptying too quickly it'll raise suspicion and we should be ready to evacuate the school if it comes to the possibility of attack," added Snape.
"Except Slytherin," came the murmur from under Ginny's breath.
Snape rounded on her, his eyes furious.
"Especially Slytherin." His voice came out in a harsh whisper, "May I remind you, Miss Weasley, that the entire house of Slytherin is not devoted to the dark arts? Just because you have had the privilege of being born into a family who support the same light ideals as you do, does not mean everyone else was so fortunate. The children of Death Eaters are especially vulnerable, to stand against the dark for them is to risk losing everything and everyone they've ever known. I want a promise from both of you that if a Slytherin student comes to you, you will treat them as you would any other student."
"Yes Sir," Ginny replied, chastised.
"Yes Sir," Hermione nodded, frightened by his outburst.
"Sir," Hermione ventured, flinching only slightly as his head swivelled towards her and his intense gaze fell upon her, "How do we help the students in Slytherin? I mean, if they are from families that expect them to be dark, they can't just be seen hanging out with us."
"Leave it to me. For now, just be discrete. The younger students will have leeway to make 'mistakes' in spending time with the wrong people," Severus concluded, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
At that last, the meeting concluded and Hermione and Ginny were escorted back to their rooms by Professor McGonagall.
Now the hard work would really begin.