The Dark Lord is advised about Hermione being the granddaughter of Grindelwald and Crouch witnesses something strange about her when classes resume.

Hermione feels uncomfortable with Crouch and runs to the only person at school she feels that can comfort her. How does Severus react?

The tiny village of Little Hangleton lay quiet, shrouded in snow. It appeared peaceful and serene until it was shattered by a crack of Apparition. A lone figure limped through the garden of a once stately home. As they approached the door the limp fell away, and the figure stood up straight. Light auburn hair changed to brown, and the scarred and wrinkled face morphed into a slightly haggard younger face.

Barty Crouch Jr was glad to be shed of the persona he'd adopted for the year while doing his master's work. He'd been given the assignment to 'assist' Potter in winning the Triwizard Tournament. He'd been told to stay close and observe, but he'd just found out something that his Lord might be interested in.

He knocked on the door outside of the kitchens to the Riddle Manor and waited. It was bloody cold out and he hoped Pettigrew would hurry his arse up and let him inside. Barty heard the scurrying of footsteps. Even in his human form, Pettigrew was too rat-like for Barty's taste. Finally, after what felt like forever the door creaked open and there stood the twitchy form of Peter Pettigrew.

"Took you long enough to get to the door, ratfink." Barty hissed and pushed his way into the warmer, but not by much, kitchen. He stomped his feet to get the snow and ice off.

"W-what are y-you doing here?" Peter stammered his nose twitching as if trying to scent danger.

"I need to see our Lord. Why else would I be here, you moron?"

"Y-you're supposed to b-be watching t-the boy."

"Yes, well I've found some information that our Lord may find interesting," Barty sneered as he turned to make his way up to the upper floors of the dilapidated manor house. "Not that it's any of your business."

"I-it is my business, I t-take care of our L-lord," Peter whined and scurried after Barty, trying to get in front of him so that he wouldn't be shut out of the meeting. But Barty was too quick and made it up the stairs and stood before the door leading to his lord and master. He knocked and waited to be allowed in.

The door creaked open slowly and Barty was hit with a blast of heat. The fire in the hearth was roaring and there were several braziers around the room adding to the ambient temperature. He felt sweat begin to gather on his back under the heavy leather cloak he was wearing and shrugged it off. The room looked much more richly appointed than it had during the summer. Thick rugs lined the floor and heavy drapes were on the windows.

There was a lone chair in the centre of the room, pulled close to the fireplace. Inside the chair wrapped in what appeared to be black velvet was the shrunken and skeletal form of his master, Lord Voldemort.

"Come close and close the door," Barty did as told and shut the door in Peter's face with a smirk. "Tell me, my loyal servant, why have you left your post?" hissed the form in the chair.

"Forgive me, My Lord. I have found out something that I thought you should know. It might be to your advantage," Barty said and dug into the deep pockets of his robe, pulling out a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet dated ten days prior. When he'd first read the article, he'd wanted to go directly to his lord and inform him. But he had to wait until the Yule Holiday had begun and the students sent home. He just hoped he wasn't too late in informing his master of this momentous event.

"You think so? I'll be the judge of that," was hissed at him.

"Of course, My Lord. I would never presume to-"

"Stop and just tell me what you wanted to tell me!"

Barty swallowed at the ire he saw in the red eyes of his master and opened the newspaper to the article about Miss Hermione Grindelwald, formally Granger. "There appears to be a recently discovered member of a prominent pure-blood family. Gellert Grindelwald has a granddaughter. You'll never believe who it is, My Lord."

Voldemort stirred in his chair, his body too weak to actually sit up, but his interest was piqued. "Who?"

"Potter's little Mudblood friend, Hermione Granger."

Voldemort scoffed. How could a Mudblood become a Pure-blood overnight?

"It's true, My Lord. Dumbledore confirmed it in a staff meeting after the article was released. She isn't only Grindelwald's granddaughter, but that of Vinda Rosier as well. It seems that the Mudblood's parents were both Pure-bloods that severed their magic. It's not clear why. But Dumbledore also hinted that she may also be an elemental." Barty could feel his heart pound in his chest as he told his master the news. He was sure he would receive an award. Maybe he would even be awarded the delectable Miss Grindelwald herself? He could only hope.

"Read to me the article and then let me see the memory of the staff meeting," Voldemort murmured, his red eyes gleamed in the firelight. It was indeed fortuitous information to have.

Barty shook out the paper, about to read the article aloud when there was a disturbance in the back corner of the room where Nagini liked to coil up. A loud hiss sounded, and a series of squeaks followed by a muffled wheezing scream.

"What is it?" Voldemort growled, he hated when he was interrupted. "Nagini! Come to me."

Barty's eyes widened as he watched Nagini make her way slowly to her master's side. Wrapped in her coils was the body of Peter Pettigrew, his face purple from the giant snake's powerful muscles.

"Wormtail! What in Merlin's pants are you doing?!" Voldemort shrieked. "Skulking around as a rat again I see. Nagini, release him. If you eat him, he'll probably give you indigestion. We can't have that my dear one."

Peter gasped and wheezed as Nagini unwound her coils from his body. He grovelled, "T-thank you, milord. T-thank you!" and shuffled close to kiss his lord's shrivelled hand. Barty was quick to hide the look of disgust on his face, he didn't want to share in the punishment that Pettigrew was about to endure.

"Enough grovelling, Pettigrew! You know better than to snoop where you aren't supposed to. This meeting was private, and you just had to try and find out what was going on. How much did you hear?" Voldemort rasped angrily. "Never mind, I'll find out myself! Legilimens!" and he was in the mind of the cowering man before him.

Voldemort witnessed how Barty had slammed the door on Pettigrew's face and saw him revert to his rat form, squeeze through a hole in the wall, and into the room. He saw Peter hear Barty tell him of Potter's Mudblood friend not being so muddy after all. He then saw Nagini slither up behind the rat, poised to strike. Peter saw her out of the corner of his eyes and squeaked, trying to scurry away, but he wasn't fast enough. Nagini had him surrounded by her coils, he tried to scramble over her, and she tightened her grip. He saw Peter begin to shift back, then he withdrew from the mind of the rodent-like man before him.

"It seems you're having a difficult time keeping your whiskers to yourself, Peter. What shall be the best punishment?" Voldemort wheezed.

"P-please, milord have mercy. I-I only t-thought that I m-might be of a-assistance to you."

"If I had wanted your assistance, I would have commanded it, Wormtail! If I didn't need you to milk Nagini, you would have been nothing but bones to be nibbled and gnawed on by your ratty cohorts. You're not meant to think! You're to do as told!" the emaciated form of Voldemort was trembling, and his breath rattled in his chest.

"Crouch fetch my wand from the mantle. I'm too weak to administer Wormtail's punishment, I pass that honour onto you."

"A pleasure, My Lord," Barty said with a shallow bow, his eye gleamed maniacally. He turned toward the fireplace and picked up the bone-white wand from the stand it was resting in. He could feel the magic run through the core and along his nerve endings. He grew hard and aching as if he were just on the cusp of orgasm. His master's wand was an immensely powerful instrument. He caressed it and received another small jolt. His cock pulsed with blood. He may need to find a convenient hole somewhere once all was said and done before returning to the school.

"At your command, Master," Barty said and levelled the wand on the quivering form of Wormtail.

Voldemort inclined his head and Barty intoned, "Crucio!"

Wormtail squealed, his back arched painfully and his heels drummed on the floor the longer the curse was held. Barty released the curse after forty-five seconds give or take. Wormtail lay convulsing on the floor, there was a stench of urine in the air and a spreading wet stain on his trousers.

"Another," Voldemort hissed.

"Crucio!"

This time Wormtail was flopping from his back to front, blood began to foam out of his mouth where he had bitten his tongue. His muscles had seized so tightly he couldn't scream. Barty released the spell after a minute and the foul odour of excrement accompanied the smell of urine. Wormtail had been lying on his back, rolled over, and vomited. Barty sneered in disgust.

"Have you learned your lesson, Peter?" Voldemort asked in a slightly chiding tone as if he were scolding a child nicking a few sweets.

"Y-y-yes, m-m-milord. Y-y-you are e-ever m-merciful." Pettigrew sobbed.

"Good. Go clean yourself up and milk Nagini before feeding her."

"A-as y-y-you w-wish, M-master." Wormtail stammered, still sobbing. Slowly he picked himself up and stumbled out of the room, leaving a trail of filth in his wake. Nagini followed after him being careful not to touch any filth Peter left behind.

All was silent after Peter left the room except for the crackle of the fire. Barty could feel his eyes begin to water at the horrid stench that lingered in the room, not to mention the mess Wormtail had left behind.

"Crouch clean up that mess. It stinks in here."

"Of course, My Lord."

Barty made sure to replace his master's wand on the mantle. He didn't want to end up being punished for using it for anything other than what he was told. He took out his wand and with a quick, 'Scourgify' everything Peter had left behind was cleaned up and the air smelled of the lemon cleanser his mother used.

"Much better. Now, tell me more about Potter's not so muddy little friend. You said that Dumbledore indicated she was an elemental? Do you have an idea of what kind?" Voldemort wheezed and Barty swallowed painfully at what could only be lust shining in the eyes of his master. But was it lust for the power the girl might have or something else? Barty didn't know.

Students shuffled into the DADA classroom, none too anxious to start schoolwork again after the holiday. The imposing figure of a man stood silently at the head of the classroom watching, his swirling magical eye missing nothing. Once everyone was in their seats the man began to speak, his voice like gravel being ground down.

"I'm sure the holiday has turned your brains to mush, so to those of you who have forgotten, my name is Professor Moody. Ex Auror, and Ministry malcontent. We are going to jump right into the thick of it and you will learn even if I have to beat it into your thick skulls," Moody said and spun around to begin writing on the blackboard. His magical eye zeroed in on Hermione Grindelwald, she was the only one that appeared to be trying to listen to him.

He was then distracted by the Finnigan boy placing a chewed-up wad of gum under his desk and called him out on if. Moody whirled around and threw the chalk he was writing with while screaming at the boy, causing everyone to duck so as not to be hit with the chalk.

"Now that I have your attention, what I'm about to teach you, the Ministry doesn't want you to know. But I say different! When it comes to the dark arts I believe in a practical approach. First, who can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

"Three, sir," Hermione said, not bothering to raise her hand as she knew it was best to answer promptly in Moody's class.

"And they are so named?" Moody asked after writing a large number "3" on the board.

"Because they are unforgivable," Hermione answered. "The use of any one of them would-"

"Give you a one-way ticket to Azkaban," Moody interrupted. "The Ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different! You need to know what you're up against, prepared, you need constant vigilance!" He was pacing around the classroom, his eye constantly moving as if assessing everyone at a glance. His gaze settled on one student and he boomed, "Weasley!"

Ron squeaked, "Yes?"

"Give us a curse."

"Well, m'dad did tell us of one, the Imperius curse."

"Oh, you're dad'll know all about the one. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a bit ago, perhaps this will show you why," Moody growled and made his way over to his desk. In a glass jar, he opened was a rather nasty looking creature, it looked like a cross between a scorpion and a spider. He enlarged it and then intoned, "Imperio!" It seemed to freeze and then just sway a bit on its feet.

"What shall I have this little beauty do first? Drown herself?" He gestured to a bucket full of water and the insect made its way over to it, climbed onto the rim, and was about to jump in when Moody said, "Stop." the insect froze and waited patiently.

"What about throwing herself out of the window?" The insect then scuttled over to the window and scrambled around to find an opening. It found a little chink in the glass and tried to push its way through, not caring that it was injuring itself in the process.

The classroom sat in silence as they watched. Moody gestured with his wand and moved the insect away from the window, but as soon as he let go it made its back once again trying to get out. "Stop," Moody said, "Come here." Once again, the insect did as told.

"Scores of witches and wizards claim they only did You-Know-Who's bidding while under the influence of the Imperius curse. But here's the rub… How do we sort out the liars? What's another curse?"

Several people raised their hands, but Moody ignored them all and said, "Longbottom, is it?" He placed the insect down on the desk in front of Neville, "Give us a curse."

Stammering slightly, Neville said, "There's the, um, Cruciatus Curse."

"Correct! Correct!" Moody exclaimed and pointed his wand at the insect, "Crucio!"

The insect let out a high piercing scream and began to writhe on the desk. Everyone in the classroom flinched and covered their ears to deafen the horrendous noise. Neville sat frozen as he watched the insect be tortured. Hermione saw his hands begin to shake and his jaw clench. It almost appeared as if he could feel everything the insect was going through and finally, she couldn't stand it any longer and screamed, "Stop it! Can't you see it bothering him? Stop it!"

As if coming out of a trance, Moody released the curse and looked around the room. Neville remained where he was still shaking. Moody then picked up the insect and cleared his throat before placing it on the desk before Hermione.

"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Grindelwald?" Hermione was fighting back tears and mutely shook her head.

"No? Very well. Avada Kedavra!" a green light shot from his wand and hit the insect. Instantly it flopped onto its back and was still. The class was silent for several moments afterwards when the bell sounded indicating the end of the lesson. Everyone except Hermione, Neville and Professor Moody gathered their things and beat a hasty retreat out of the door.

Moody had backed up to the head of the classroom and was speaking quietly to Neville, but he was still watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye. She sat stunned, her eyes filling with tears as she stared at the corpse still on her desk. She leaned forward and one single tear escaped, skated down her nose, and landed on the insect. The tear went mostly unnoticed, but there was a subtle sheen of magic in it, it shone like liquid silver.

Hermione didn't notice at first, but then something caught her attention. The insect was twitching and before her eyes, it flipped back over with a shudder and scampered off her desk to parts unknown. She heard a shuffling sound and looked up and saw that Professor Moody was looking at her intently. Neville it seemed was no longer in the classroom.

Hermione gulped as she watched her professor approach her. Hastily, she stood up and gathered her book bag to leave the classroom. There was something in his look that Hermione didn't like. An almost maniacal gleam to his eye, even his prosthetic eye was laser-focused on her.

"Stop right where you are, Miss Grindelwald," Moody growled, and Hermione froze at the intimidating man's command. "It appears you're full of hidden talents."

Hermione tried not to cringe away as she felt her professor circle around behind her. She could feel him at her back and a shiver ran up her spine as she felt his breath on her neck. It was warm and she felt him step closer and could feel him up against her back. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, before flicking it with his tongue.

"Yes, you are a powerful little witch, one that will turn our world upside down, I'm sure." Moody leaned even closer and inhaled, taking in the scent of her hair. She smelled of wood smoke, freshly turned earth, cold mountain air, and just the slightest hint of sea salt. It was an odd combination, but one that fit her. He wanted to taste the source of that scent. He could feel himself begin to harden and fought not to press up against the curvaceous little witch before him.

His lord had bidden him to watch her, to see if he could figure out what type of elemental she was. However, it was still a mystery, one he would solve. After seeing the insect be resurrected, he had a good idea just what kind she was, and it only made her more desirable. He could see the pulse pounding in her neck and he wanted to nibble on it. His lord had said that she wasn't to be touched, but how he longed to touch her, feel her power, and be consumed by it.

Finally, he stepped back before he disobeyed his lord's orders and claimed her as his own. "You may go now, Miss Grindelwald. I will be keeping my eye on you."

Hermione gasped, her heart pounding. This man, there was something dark about him and she didn't think it had to do with his time as an Auror. She gathered her things and ran out of the classroom, not noticing the green eyes of her closest friend watching from the shadows in the back of the room.

Hermione ran down the corridors, not caring if she were reprimanded. She needed to find sanctuary, she needed to talk to someone, she needed Professor Snape. What she'd just seen and how Professor Moody had acted toward her scared her. She knew that the insect had been dead, seeing the curse be cast right in front of her. And then one single tear had fallen, and it came back to life. What did this mean?

She continued to run deeper and deeper into the castle and it was like Hogwarts sensed her need making all the staircases easy to navigate, the corridors almost empty of students and teachers. She vaguely heard someone call her name as she sped by but didn't acknowledge them.

Finally, she reached the Slytherin corridor leading to both the common room and potions classroom. She knew she would find Professor Snape in his office at this time of day, she just hoped he wasn't speaking to any other student when she arrived.

The door was closed as she approached, and she knocked rapidly on it to gain an audience. She paused to try and catch her breath from her headlong run through the school. The door clicked open and Hermione pushed it open before slamming it behind her.

Severus was sitting at his desk, another pile of ungraded essays before him and his quill dripping with red ink. Not taking into any consideration of how it might appear, Hermione raced across the room and burrowed herself into the surprised arms of Severus.

"W-what? Miss Gra-Grindelwald? What is the meaning of this? Release me at once," Severus sputtered suddenly having his arms and lap full of a trembling curvaceous young woman. One he'd been having increasingly improper thoughts of since Samhain. He knew it was wrong to desire his student. He was her mentor and educator; the desires of the flesh had no reason to be involved.

Hermione just shook her head and burrowed further into his neck, still trembling. He could feel her hot breath there and mentally groaned. This was not good; he could feel heat begin to pool in his groin. He needed to get her out of his lap post-haste.

"Miss Grindelwald," Severus squirmed a bit trying to release the girl's hold on him, but she was like Devil's Snare and only tightened her grip. He finally resorted to calling her by her given name, "Hermione! You need to release me this instant! This is entirely inappropriate, what if another student or teacher were to walk in? Let go and go sit in the chair on the other side of the desk. NOW!" he yelled the last word.

Hermione jumped out of his lap and scuttled around the desk and sat down. She felt her cheeks redden and heat up. She had behaved inappropriately. Her grandmother would be appalled. She looked down into her lap and twisted her fingers together, her lower lip caught in her teeth.

Severus, in the meantime, stood and straightened the wrinkles that Hermione's hasty embrace had caused. He eyed her and she refused to meet his eyes. He suspected something must have happened to make her behave this way, he just had to find out what. But first, he needed to re-establish boundaries.

"Now, Miss Grindelwald, what was the meaning of you barging in here and accosting me?"

Hermione refused to look up, she didn't want to see the anger she knew would be in his eyes. To be honest she hadn't given it a thought as to how her running and jumping into her professor's arms would appear. She just needed to feel safe again. There was something about him that just drew her, and it wasn't about him being a teacher. He felt like a safe harbour, maybe it had to do with him being an earth elemental she wasn't sure. But she did know that being in his presence was what she needed.

"Come now, Miss Grindelwald. You may have the scales of a snake now, but once you were a lioness. Don't tell me all that courage was just false bravado?" Severus mocked lightly.

Hermione's head shot up and she glared at him. Normally Severus wouldn't put up with such disrespect, but he'd deliberately provoked her. He felt a warmth in his gut at seeing her fire, however, he stamped it down; she was his student. He couldn't afford to let anyone see just how much she affected him.

"Now, Miss Grindelwald are you going to tell me what it was that caused you to burst into my office? You're a pure-blood and now a Slytherin, you must maintain decorum at all times."

Hermione snorted mentally. Decorum? She would like to see what Snape's definition of decorum was. If he wanted to see decorum, she would show him decorum. She sighed and sat up straight, crossed her feet at the ankle, and placed her hands in her lap.

"Yes, sir," Hermione sat there in her chair not saying another word.

"Well? Get on with it girl!" Severus huffed after several minutes of silence. "Why did you burst in here and assault me?"

Hermione thought back to the incident that caused her to panic and she felt her eyes begin to sting. Quietly, she began to tell him what had happened.

"Professor Moody was teaching us about the unforgivable today. But it wasn't theoretical at all. He cast them all in front of the entire class."

Severus sat forward in his chair at what Hermione said. That was a gross breach of conduct. What was Moody thinking? To cast the unforgivable curses in a classroom full of students. Albus should be notified. The thing was, would he do anything about it? Severus didn't think so.

"But there was something else that happened, Professor. The insect Professor Moody used was on my desk, dead at the end of class. I-I don't know w-what happened, but it suddenly came back to life. I know it was dead, he cast the spell not more than a foot away from me." Hermione sniffled the shock and fear she'd felt before sat like a lump of lead in her belly.

"And this is what caused you to run down here from the DADA classroom?" Severus asked intrigued by her story. Her powers were growing, and she would need to have training on how to harness them. His attention was brought back to Hermione when she shook her head.

"No, sir. What caused me to run down here was what happened afterwards. I know Professor Moody saw the insect come back and he approached me. I thought he might ask me questions, but he didn't. He pressed himself up against me and licked my ear. I was so scared, no one has ever made me feel that way before like my skin was crawling, I just needed to get away from him." Hermione looked down into her lap and missed the look of absolute fury on Severus' face.

There was something fishy about Moody and Severus wanted to figure out what it was. But first, he needed to make sure that Hermione was protected. His very being demanded it. He drew in a deep breath and brought up his Occlumency shields, it wouldn't help for Hermione to see him so angry.

"Miss Grindelwald, you did right by coming to me with this. As your head of house, it's my duty to make sure you're protected. What Professor Moody did to you was uncalled for and will be addressed by me and the Headmaster." He stood up and came around his desk, leaned against the front, and continued, "What you saw with the insect was a manifestation of your elemental power."

Hermione gasped and looked up at him. She would be able to bring things back to life. How was that possible? There had to be more to it than just her elemental powers.

"What? How?" she asked.

"I'm not sure how exactly, but it's clear that you must have felt something, empathy, perhaps that caused your powers to manifest. They seem to be tied to your emotions. I should have seen this before, as mine too can be triggered in the same manner," Severus said looking into Hermione's unique eyes. He felt that he could just fall into them.

"But if my powers are triggered by my emotions, how come they didn't manifest during the attack at the Quidditch World Cup? I tried so hard to do something, anything to get them away from me…" Hermione's eyes filled with tears at remembering her trauma, she hated that she seemed to break down whenever she thought about it.

Severus looked at the young woman before him and wanted to gather her into his arms, soothe her. He knew he would need to relax his address of her for just a moment, "Miss… Hermione, have you ever heard the phrase, 'frozen in fear'?"

Hermione nodded.

"That is what happened to you at the QWC, you were so desperate to bring your powers forth to defend yourself that you froze up. What you need to learn is to control your emotions, use them to bring your powers forth. You're a Life Elemental, you're strengths are in your empathy and care for all. I'm not saying that you can't use other emotions to access your powers, but it's in your nature to nurture."

Hermione thought back to all the times her powers had come forth and she could see that it was almost always during times of high emotion. But how would she be able to access her powers without being in the middle of a meltdown?

Severus had at this time sat back down at his desk, he was going to propose something that he knew would help Hermione, but he was hesitant because of how she made him feel. Though it was a risk he knew he would have to take. She had a destiny that must come to pass and he as another elemental was duty-bound to see her complete it. Though what that task was exactly, was as yet unknown.

"What you need is to study how your powers work. You need to practice manifesting them. But you need to do it where no one else will be able to find or disturb you. I don't know how much reading you've done on your affinity, but I'm sure you have read what you can find at least here in Hogwarts," he looked up and she nodded.

"Tell me what do you know of a Life Elemental?"

"Not much, Professor. Really just what I learned during my Rite, I tried to search the library but couldn't find anything."

"That's because only one Life Elemental is born every millennium. The last one to be born was right around the time of the founders. It was rumoured that they helped the founders with building Hogwarts, but it's unsubstantiated. We know about the four founders, but whether there was a fifth is unknown and a sadly forgotten piece of history. Who knows what Hogwarts would be like today, if there were a fifth house, one where all of the students who showed traits of all the other houses would find a place to belong? The very idea would be mind-blowing and rock the very foundations of our school," Severus cleared his throat when he looked over at Hermione and could almost see literal stars in her eyes at what he said.

"What is known about a Life elemental is that they are born to fulfil a task. One that changes the course of human history. They call the other four elements together to complete this task. How or why is again unknown."

Hermione sat back feeling deflated. Well, that wouldn't help her at all, dreaming of the non-existent fifth house. To think that it could have been possible to learn from the words of another Life Elemental. Astounding. Sadly, the problem remained, how was she to learn to control her powers and complete this unknown task if there was nothing known about them?

"But Professor, how can I learn if there is nothing to learn from? No books, written records, nothing."

Severus sighed, as much as he was drawn to her, he still felt the desire to strangle her for her stubborn clinging to the written word. She should know by now that not everything can be found in a book.

"Miss Grin-Hermione, this will be difficult. But you must stop relying on what is written and bound in leather. Books will give you the foundations of what you need to know, but in order to really learn you must take what is written and expand on it."

Hermione looked at Severus in the eye and tried to think about what he could be conveying. How was she to expand on so very little? There wasn't enough written on Life elementals to fill a pamphlet. Then it hit her, oh how could she be so stupid? Being an elemental was individual to each person, of course, she couldn't rely on what others have done, because what the ones previous to her had a completely different task set before them.

Severus smirked as he saw Hermione make the connection, she was the one born to these powers and she would need to learn to control them herself. He felt pride well in his gut and then a pang of remorse that she could never be his. His was meant to be a life of solitude, yes, he felt her call. But surely it wasn't meant for him, it was more than likely that because of Draco and Theo, the other's destined to join with her would be in the same age group.

"Now, Miss Grindelwald, you need to find a place within these castle walls to harness your powers. Discretion is key. Do you know of such a place?"

"No sir, I don't. How would I be able to find such a place?" Hermione asked.

Severus sat back in his chair and ran his index finger along his bottom lip. Hermione stared fascinated at the motion; she'd never before noticed just how full her professor's lips were. It probably had to do because most of the time they were compressed into a hard unforgiving line. But now, all she wanted to know was how they would feel on hers. Hermione wrenched her attention back to him when he began to speak, "Let me ask you something, Miss Grindelwald, when your powers first manifested, do you remember anything unusual?" Hermione shook her head." I'm not surprised, as things were a bit… Chaotic.

"However, what you failed to notice is that you called forth the ley lines that this very castle was built on. My belief is that you made a connection to Hogwarts herself and all you have to do is ask. And if it is within the castle's power it may very well grant you your request."

Hermione gasped, was it possible? Could she have tapped into the very power at the core of Hogwarts? It seemed too fantastical to believe, but she'd seen so much that seemed impossible before...

"You don't believe me, do you, Miss Grindelwald?"

"It's not that, sir. It's too much to take in. Up until just a few months ago, I was the studious muggleborn friend of Harry Potter. Now? I'm a pureblood witch and a supposed all-powerful being that's supposed to change the course of human history? And on top of that, you're telling me that all I have to do is ask a castle that is over a thousand years old to find me a place to be able to harness my powers? You can't tell me that no one else would be just as disbelieving?"

Severus had to chuckle quietly to himself, yes, he could see what she was saying. If he were in her place at her age, he would probably be asking the very same questions. But he wasn't and he knew what he saw that day, the day that changed his life once again.

"Well, Miss Grindelwald there is only one way to find out, isn't there? Why don't you try it?"

"What just say, 'Hogwarts, I need a place to practice and harness my powers'?"

Severus shrugged, "It couldn't hurt. That's what's so magical about magic. It makes what we think is impossible, possible."

"How do you propose I go about this, sir?"

"I think you need to touch a part of the castle, a wall or perhaps sitting on the floor. The more contact you make may make your request heard clearer," Severus said. He felt a frisson of excitement. If it were true that Hermione could ask the castle to grant her requests, it would allow for her to be more protected from the ever-scrutinizing eye of one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

He watched as Hermione stood up and toed off her shoes and socks. He snickered when he saw that she had painted her toes green and silver. She was embracing her new house and he was glad to see it. She then sat down upon the cold stone floor of his office. She shivered and Severus saw her nipples become hard from the chill. He had to stamp down on the desire to see what colour they were. He berated himself for his inappropriate thoughts.

Hermione stretched out her legs and then placed her hands on the floor next to her hips, palms flat. She closed her eyes, she didn't know what in Merlin's name she was doing, but Professor Snape seemed to think this would work, so she would give it a try.

At first, she just sat there not feeling anything except for the cold stone slowly making her legs go numb. But then she felt a little tingle, almost like when she would rub her stockinged covered feet along the carpet as a child and take great delight in shocking herself and her parents when she touched them.

The tingle began to grow, and a picture formed in her mind of Hogwarts in the early light of dawn. She then saw blue and purple sparks and arcs of power around the great stone edifice. She got the impression that the castle was waiting for her to ask a question, so she did. 'Um, sorry to bother you,' she began, and Hermione felt a distinct sense of amusement at her apology for bothering the castle. 'Could you help me find a place within the walls so that I may hone my elemental powers? A place that can't be detected unless specifically asked for?'

Hermione felt a whoosh as it seemed her consciousness merged with Hogwarts herself. She zoomed all the way up from the dungeons, through the main hall up to the seventh floor, and stopped in front of the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy teaching trolls to ballet dance. The wall was blank, and she watched as magic shimmered and a door appeared. Next, she was pushed forward and into the room and Hermione knew Hogwarts had given her a gift. She was in the Room of Requirement. She knew she would be able to find anything she needed in that room. And just as soon as she came to that realization, she found herself back in her own body and the tingling feeling slowly ebbing.

She opened her eyes to see Professor Snape looking at her with a knowing gleam in his eye. She suspected he knew exactly what Hogwarts had shown her. She watched, still sitting on the floor as his eyebrow inched up his forehead and he inquired, "Well? Did you find a place?"

"Yes, sir. I believe I have."

"Good. Now you can get up off of my office floor and leave me to my grading. You also have assignments that need to be completed, do you not?"

Hermione blushed and scrambled up off the floor. "Um, yes sir." She didn't bother putting her socks back on and just stuffed them into her bag while jamming her feet back into her shoes. She slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave the office, but for some odd reason, she felt the need to turn back and thank him.

Severus had bent his head back down and was busy scribbling a scathing remark on the parchment before him. She quietly moved around his desk and bent at the waist. Severus for his part tensed as he felt warmth on his left side. He looked up and saw Hermione standing close to him. Too close as he once again felt heat suffuse his body at her nearness.

"I wanted to thank you, Professor. You've been such a tremendous help to me this year," Hermione said as she bent close to him about to place a kiss on his cheek.

"What, Miss Grindle-" Severus began to ask but was cut off as he turned his head, and instead of Hermione's lips brushing his cheek, they landed on his lips. Both of them froze and felt electricity zoom through their veins. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut. She hadn't felt this when Viktor had kissed her, and she hoped that it would last.

Her eyes opened and she looked into the black pools of her professor. She gasped and hastily backed away. She just kissed her Professor and she liked it. Heat suffused her cheeks and she turned on her heel, rushing out of his office with a muttered, "I-I'm sorry Professor!"

Severus for his part sat stunned until the bang of his office door slamming shut startled him. His lips still tingling, he sat back in his chair and shut his eyes. He licked his lips and could still taste the remnants of her lip balm. That kiss had just changed things for him. He now knew that he was one of the elementals she was calling to. It seemed that magic had made his choice for him and there was nothing he could do about it, no matter how morally wrong he felt it was.

His eyes blazed with power as he finally acknowledged the call and beginnings of the bond between them and it cemented itself within his magical core. He would no longer fight the call, but he also wouldn't risk putting Hermione in more danger by letting anyone else know that they were now connected. Especially one meddling Headmaster of Hogwarts school.