A/N: Sorry about the massive gap in updating, new writer, PhD, Pandemic, general 2020 malaise, story not abandoned but it's going to be quite the marathon to get it out. Feel free to just jump back in whenever it's complete if the slow updates bother you (I know that's what I do with most stories!)
Life at Hogwarts settled into a routine of quiet rebellion and subversive acts. A thrill ran through Hermione every time she did something for the Order of the Phoenix, her contributions to the war effort doing something to assuage her anxiety around the powerful enemy they were facing.
Some of Hermione's efforts came easily to her. Being friendly to the younger students and getting them to trust her was an exercise in creativity. The Gryffindors were easy to make contact with. All she needed to do was sit with them in the common room, share a table while they did their homework. Her reputation preceded her as an intellectual above on top of simply being an older student, and her willingness to explain concepts made her popular with the younger students.
The other houses were harder to approach, though her frequent visits to the library allowed her to apply much the same methods there. She would encourage groups of students into study rooms together, encourage them to support each other, sit with them and help when they asked her. This had the added benefit of encouraging some inter-house unity.
It had been one of Hermione's high points to watch a shy Slytherin first year sit outside the study room and peer in. Hermione had gone outside and her heart melted at the be-speckled girl in front of her. Carrying a book that was almost as large as her torso (Hermione was sure she had never been that small!), her clothes seemed to be wearing her as she looked up at the older girl and asked what was going on. She quietly entered the room at Hermione's invitation and held herself almost silently as she read and made notes from the large tome. A few weeks of quiet friendship from the study group that had set up in the corner of the library found her coming swiftly and completely out of her shell and seeming to grow at least 5 inches taller overnight.
Some of the other tasks she had to do? Not so easy. It had been simple enough to summon the existing members of Dumbledore's Army to the Room of Requirement via charmed Galleon, and almost everybody had responded to the call, all eager to start training and get involved again. They all looked at Hermione expectantly in that first meeting and her palms sweated profusely as she addressed the group.
Every student walked out of the room after that first meeting feeling deflated (with the exception of Luna who seemed to float out unfazed by anything as usual). They had all expected her to pick up Harry's gauntlet and have it be like the old days, fighting against Umbridge and faceless Death Eaters with their childlike rebellion. But Hermione wasn't the fighter that Harry was, she didn't have his skills with curses, or his confidence to run headlong into danger without proper planning and a well-managed escape route. Not to mention the lack of figurehead that they now had to contend with. What was Dumbledore's Army without Dumbledore? Not even Potter's army as he was nowhere to be found and Hermione and Ginny would only ever report that he was "in hiding".
Hermione dreaded their next meeting. She had troops but no idea how to rally them against the Death Eaters that stalked the halls and their classrooms. Not to mention the morale of seeing Headmaster Snape in charge. Fred and George style pranks wouldn't work against staff who wouldn't hesitate to hurt them. Detention meant something rather different these days.
Alongside these side projects, her homework, and her existing prefect duties, she kept up with studying the darkest volumes in the restricted section as late at night as she could get away with. Being a prefect gave her some modicum of protection for the later curfews, and Professor McGonagall's permission slip got her past Madame Pince each evening, but it was still dangerous and taxing work. She could explain herself satisfactorily to all but the Carrows, even Filch if she needed to, but if anyone found out what she was searching for, she would risk exposing the whole operation, not just the Hogwarts contingent but possibly the whole war. Still, it was methodical work, books and reading were her comfort zone, even if she did have to employ every method she had learned over the summer to keep herself safe.
One month in, only the rest of the school year to go.