Notes:

Disclaimer: Neither the world or the characters are mine, I merely borrowed them to have a bit of fun. When I am finished, I will return them slightly used.

The world is AU.
In Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gets severely wounded, but he lives. I do understand that Rowling had to remove Harry's father figure to force him to grow up, but I wanted to give Harry a break and the two of them a chance. All other cannon events are followed.

In Half-Blood Prince:
- I refuse to believe that the greatest wizard of the 20th century and the greatest manipulator of wizarding history, who put a plan in place that came to fruition in nearly two decades, would be impulsive and careless enough to put on a ring with a very obvious horrible curse on it. Never happened.
- I refuse to believe that the cunning Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore could not find a way out of an unbreakable wow in a full year. If nothing else, bring him to a clinically dead state and bring him back with muggle means. Draco's task was to kill him, and not "kill him and make sure he stays dead, and do not resuscitate him". So the headmaster lives.
Without the death of the headmaster the takeover of the Dark Lord is a lot slower in the Ministry too.
- At the end of the year Snape is forced to give up his DADA position, because Slughorn quit, and no one else is willing to take the potions position. Snape keeps his position as double agent.
- Draco will return to Hogwarts for a final year for his own protection.
- While I do not think that Snape and only Snape would make a good match for Hermione, I do think that she and Ron are a terrible match. I accept from the cannon that they tried to date and they were jealous of each other, but when I pick up the story I take that they have already agreed that they are better off as friends only, as their needs, goals and personalities are too different. There will be no Ron bashing.
- Rest of the cannon is accepted and followed.

The deathly Hallows:
I would love to be able to forget this book exist. I think Rowling created a wonderful world with awesome charters, and the culmination of the the great story is poorly executed, both plot-wise and writing-style-wise.

I do not labor under the delusion that I am as good of a writer as Rowling, but I will attempt to borrow her characters and world and write an ending I like better. Yes, I know, a HG/SS pairing is very unlikely as canon, but hey, they are my favorite ship, so there you go.

Warning:

- The focus of the story is a romance between Hermione Granger and Severus Snape.
If you do not like the pairing, please do not read. Please do not complain about their age difference. Even in the real, muggle world, there are plenty of relationships with large age gaps that work perfectly fine. It does not depend on the age, it all depends on the personality and maturity of the couple.
- Hermione is of age in the muggle and wizarding world too by the time anything happens between them. (Actually, she is already 19 because of the extra time she aged using her time turner regularly, sometimes to attend three classes at one.) Absolutely no underage romance.
- Their relationship blossoms while she is finishing her last year in school and they are still student/teacher.
If this bothers you, please do not read.
In real life, a student/teacher romance is not acceptable under any circumstances. This, however, is just fiction, and no one is hurt. Again, if you do not like it, please do not read.
- There will probably be a bit of Albus bashing, but not too much.

Looking for a beta reader

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Comments and constructive criticism is always appreciated!

Hermione glanced down at a list of tasks in front of them, and had a nagging suspicion that whomever came up with the ideas on it was trying to discourage them from joining the Order instead of trying to give them something actually useful to do. She had a feeling it may have had something to do with how they have ganged up on Mrs Weasley a day ago.

"Now, Harry dear" Mrs Weasley said admonishingly. "I know you want to help, but you are still too young to join the Order. Harry folded his arms, looking mutinous.

"There must be something we can do, even without joining the Order. It's just… others are out there, risking their lives for us, and I am sitting here, twiddling my thumbs. At least last year we could help clean out the house, not that it was fun, it was not much, but it was something."

"We are going completely mental, just sitting in here, kept it the dark, mum" Ron agreed.

"Just mental" Fred agreed.

"Completely bonkers" Gorge loftily, trying to channel Percy.

"Absolutely crazy."

"Out of our minds."

"Beside ourselves."

"Totally unhinged"

"Absolutely lunatic."

"Downright demented!"

"That is enough" Molly cast a sideways glance at the twins.

"Besides" Harry continued. "Professor Dumbledore has been giving me private lessons and tasks. I am already involved, even if not officially. And it is no secret that You-know-Who already wants us dead. It is not like we are getting into any more danger." Hermione was impressed how much Harry has changed since last year. He sounded calm, and even refrained from using the name of the dark wizard to keep the Weasleys more comfortable. "Please Mrs Weasley, there must be something we can do." Molly kept looking from one determined face to the other , then sighed with defeat.

"All right. I will talk with the rest of the Order, and we will try to come up with some tasks you can help with."

And true to her word, she supplied them with a list of chores, which unsurprisingly did not make any of them any happier.

"De-weeding, digging up the garden of the headquarters, building a greenhouse and planting potion ingredients" Ron red out disdainfully. "Pass."

"Helping to clean the new safe house of the order" Harry muttered. "It kinda makes me feel like I was back at the Dursleys again. Pass."

"Helping Hagrid to muck the thestral stables" Fred grimaced. "Why would he need help with that? Also, hard pass."

"It is obvious, isn't it?" Hermione asked. When the boys looked back at her with confused expressions, she continued. "Professor Dumbledore has been sending him out on missions regularly, hoping to contact other sentient magical creatures, like giants, centaurs, mermaids. He must feel that Hagrid being a half giant would give him a leg up with it. Thus, he probably does not have that much time to care for all the beasts at Hogwarts."

"Makes sense, I guess" Ron shrugged, returning to the list. "Sorting a 16th century dark library on cursed artifacts, confiscated from Malfoy manor" Ron shuddered. "This makes scooping up poop sound like fun, at least in Hogwarts we can use magic."

"Actually, that library sounds absolutely fascinating! Just imagine all we could learn from it" Hermione piqued up, pulling the list in front of her.

"Not to be a downer, Hermione, but you really should not touch any of those book" Ron said gently. "In the 16th century witches did not have many rights, it is more likely than not that there are wards, charms and curses on the books preventing a witch from reading it. Also if it comes from Malfoy, it probably has other spells, well, against..."

"Muggleborns" Hermione finished with a dejected sigh.

"I hate to say it, but Ronnikins is right" Fred added.

"Yeah Won-Won has a point" George piled on it. "I think only a wizard from a long standing magical family should touch those" the twins exchanged a glance, considering their small group. "Not it" they cried out together.

"No… what? No!" Ron looked desperate. "I don't want to be stuck in a library in the summer…" The twins exchanged a high-five.

"Oh, the horror of being surrounded by books" Hermione said flatly. Harry sniggered.

"Easy for you to laugh" Ron retorted. What is the last option?"

"Can't be any worse than these" Harry remarked with a grin.

"Helping Professor Snape to brew…" she could not even finish reading 'potions', when there was a choir of "Not it" from Fred and George. They exchanged a high five, Harry looked downright ashen.

"Bet you envy me and my books now, Harry" Ron chortled with glee.

"I do not want to be stuck with Snape in the dungeons" he said petulantly.

"Professor Snape" Hermione corrected him automatically. "And neither do I." She had no problem with having to brew potions, but she did not feel like putting up with the constant and obvious disdain of the potions Master either.

"There is only one way to decide this" Fred said solemnly. "Forge, are you thinking what I am thinking?"

"I think so Gred."

"Butterbeer-pong!" They shouted in union. Harry grinned. They all knew she was rubbish in any kind of ball game.

"No fair" Hermione protested. "We should do something that gives us an equal chance."

"We could draw straws" George suggested with a shrug. "Whomever draws the short one will help the overgrown bat of the dungeons."

"Then we play butterbeer-pong for the fun of it" agreed Fred.

"I can agree to that" said Harry.

"You do not need my opinion" Ron said with a grin. "I will be safely sorting through horrible books."

"Actually, sorting through a library suddenly sounds like a lot of fun" Gorge remarked.

"Who knows, we could use some new ideas for the joke shop" Fred added. "I think everyone needs a chance to be included in the fun of extra Snape time, even Won-Won."

"Professor Snape" Hermione corrected him automatically.

"I get the straws, you get the butterbeer?" George addressed Fred.

Hermione was looking at the short straw in her hand none too happily, though she was not the only one disappointed in the distribution of the tasks.

"Come on, I really wanted to muck out those stables" Ron begged. "Switch with me?" Then again, brewing potions did not sound quite as bad as helping Hagrid.

"No can't do, Ronniekins" Fred grinned. "It is an opportunity to collect all kinds of ingredients for the joke shop. You enjoy your books." The twins exchanged a high five. Harry seemed downright happy with his gardening duties. "So, did someone promise us butterbeer-pong?" he asked.

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon immersed in a book she found in the Black library (The most effective combinations of curses and potion), while the boys kept playing butterbeer-pong. Even though the book was rather dark, she was amazed at the possibilities of potion-triggered curses and charms-triggered potions. She marked one of the pages she thought could be useful for the order: a potion that could be used for disguise, and activated later with a wand. Polyjuice potion was great, of course, but it had a tight time limit and it was suspicious to drink from a little flask or potions vial in public.

When the Order meeting started, they attempted to eavesdrop on what was being said, but someone has set up some really effective wards against extendable ears – she suspected Professor Dumbledore. Hermione had found a nifty little charm that would analyse wards and make them visible. It was a complex piece of work- she was itching to learn more about how to layer them together. She had a strong suspicion that some of them were linked together, and one would trigger another.

Ron has found an eavesdropping charm somewhere, which he was eager to try, but Hermione talked him out of it. She was no expert on wards, but from what she understood one of the triggered charms would make leak grow from his ear.

"Wow, this must have been a big event" Fred whispered as they watched the order members file out from the kitchen. "Nearly everyone is here."

"Moody, Tonks, Lupin… even Snape" Ron added. "They look rather… haggard. It must have been some bad news."

"Hermione, try to distract Snape" Harry said grabbing her shoulder, ignoring her correction of 'Professor Snape'. "I will try to get Sirius buttered up with some firewhiskey and see what I can get out of him. Last time Snape caught me out on it, and put an end to it."

"But what could I say?" it was the summer holiday, they had no homework to write and no projects to work on.

"Well, you will be brewing potions with him. Try to keep him talking as long as you can." He grinned, stomping down the stairs. He headed straight for Sirius, trusting she would do her own part. With a heavy feeling settling in her stomach, she headed towards professor Snape. She was a Gryffindor after all.

"Excuse me, Professor Snape, sir." He turned towards her, looking down his long nose.

"What do you want, Miss Granger" he asked impatiently.

"Well, we asked Mrs Weasley if there was anything we could do for the Order to help" she started to explain, wringing her hands.

"I am sure she will be able to provide you all with a task that fits your capabilities, like dusting shelves" he interrupted. Hermione blushed with anger.

"Mrs Weasley let us know that you needed assistance in brewing some potions for the Order, sir. I am more than capable. I wanted to offer my help, professor."

"You sound very sure of yourself, Miss Granger. What makes you think you are up to the task?" he asked lifting an eyebrow at her. She has always found the gesture impressive, and made herself a mental note to try to learn how to do that.

"According to the Hogwarts archives, I have the highest OWL scores in potions in the last eighteen years" she pulled herself to her full length. That would have been probably more impressive if she had been taller, or if she had that nifty eyebrow trick. She conveniently forgot to mention that Snape had a much higher score, and currently held the record for the last fifty-two years. Still.

"Miss Granger, I am working on complex potions and projects" he said condescendingly. "Not simple little brews a third-year student could make. You have yet to show any special aptitude for potion-making in my class. " Hermione would have loved to shoot back that the standard of her potions education was really not her own fault, but even when Snape could not take points or assign detentions this did not seem like a smart move. She would not let her temper get the better of her. "What was the most complex potion you have successfully brewed?" he asked.

The answer was, polyjuice potion, in her second year. It was way beyond NEWT level, but for obvious reasons she could not name that one. She chewed on her lips, thinking. She could not name something made in class, it would not impress her professor much. "Well, I did make wolfsbane potion for professor Lupin last month" she said eventually. "He said it did help him a great deal, even if it was not quite as effective what you brewed for him while he was teaching at Hogwarts."

"Naturally, if you just followed a recipe from a book" he drawled. "Potions that are affected by the changes in the moon cycle, such as wolfsbane, need the simmering time and stirring adjusted using an astronomy calculation" Hermione wished she had parchment and quill with her with her to take notes. "Care to guess why?" The question felt like a test. She creased her brow in concentration, eager to puzzle out the answer herself.

"If the moon has an effect on the potion, the effect would change with the position and distance" she mused. "And the relative position of the moon would be influenced by the other planets, their gravitation having a larger or smaller effect. I would guess the position of the sun would be of the most importance, but the closer planets could pull the moon slightly in one way or another. This would mean a longer or shorter shimmering time to balance out the effect of the sun?"

"Correct in essence, if overly simplified" he drawled. That sounded like a high praise coming from the potions master.

"And the stirring would… counter the effects of the other planets?"

"In essence, yes." Hermione's heart leapt with joy at her sudden understanding. She always loved the intoxication feeling of discovery, when pieces of knowledge fell into their places like pieces of a puzzle. "This would also explain why fertilizer potion recipes contain such a wide range of different shimmering times and stirring requirements. Or the seaweed potion, which is tied to the sea, which in turn is…"

"Indeed" he cut into her musing. Excited, Hermione continued.

"Please, sir, would you show me how to do the adjustment calculation?" she asked eagerly. She wanted to try wolfsbane again, hoping to get it right this time.

"Are you this eager to spend your days locked up with me in a dungeon?" he took a step closer to her, trying to intimidate her by looming over her smaller form. She did grew an inch in the last year, but the potions professor was still more than a head taller than her, and she had to strain her neck to look up at him. She did not give him the satisfaction of backing up though.

"I know you do not particularly enjoy my company, sir" she answered trying to sound more self-assured and calmer than she was. "However, if I can make your work faster or more efficient, even if only by cutting ingredients, it does help the order." From this close up, she could see dark circles forming under his eyes. She realised that he must have been under a lot of pressure, with teaching, spying, brewing for the order and the hospital wing. He must have been exhausted. If she could give him a bit more sleeping time with her help, it would already help his chances of survival as a spy. "I would be happy to help however I can, sir." When he did not react, she added softly "Please, sir."

"Very well, Miss Granger" he relented with a sigh. Hermione was not quite sure how she went from offering to help to practically begging to be allowed to peel roots for him. He was such a master Slytherin. "You can assist me. Be in front of the potions lab here in the dungeons, tomorrow morning, eight o'clock, sharp." His eyes travelled over her form from head to toe, and Hermione fought the urge not to blush under his critical gaze. "And do something with that rats nest you call hair, we do not want to add accidental ingredients." She did redden at the mention of her unmanageable hair. "Wear something with tight sleeves to prevent your clothes from dipping into potions and ingredients, and closed shoes. Open sandals like those are an invitation to an accident."

"Yes, sir" he nodded and turned, storming away with his robes billowing after him before she could say so much as 'Good night'.

Hermione was rooting around her trunk, trying to decide what to wear to the potions lab. Ron was laying on her bed, playing with a Chudley cannons yo-yo absentmindedly. Harry was sitting on the edge of the bed, excited.

"Professor Dumbledore will be taking me on a trip" Harry explained with a grin, dangling his feet. "We are searching for the next horcrux. He will pick me up tomorrow at nine, and drop Ron off at the library to sort books." Hermione folded a pair of jeans and set it next to her trunk.

"Yeah… that is all I am good for. Sorting dusty books" Ron answered bitterly, his fingers scratching the paint off his yo-yo.

"Actually" Harry said turning towards his friend with a serious face. "Dumbledore hopes to find a few rare books on horcruxes in the collection. Something about tracking them down, which would be a pretty huge help." He shot an apologetic look at Hermione. "He did say that it was rather unfortunate that you could not help, Hermione. Not safely, anyway, and if we had break all the wards before you could take a look, it would take a decade to go through them." He turned back to Ron. "So what you will be doing won't be 'just' or 'only', it will be essential."

"It is still research" he whined, but without the previous bitterness in his voice. Hermione rolled her eyes while folding a couple of tank tops putting them on the ever-growing 'no' pile.

"Research is essential, Ronald" she chided him. "Without research, there is no innovation, no moving forward. No new, fast broomsticks. No new quidditch manoeuvres. No new magical jokes. No novel sweets. No…"

"Ok, ok, I get it" he said cutting her tirade. "But doing research is still boring."

"I will never understand how you can sit over a chessboard for hours, trying to come up with a strategy, and find research boring" she shook her head. "Research is like… the game strategy of life. The key to unlock a mystery. The answer to question you never dreamed to ask, you never thought you needed to know. Each book is filled with possibilities, and looking over them can fill you with anticipation, maybe this will be the one. And when you find a reference to what you are looking for, a clue, the excited jump of your heart that fills you with adrenaline, makes your hand tremble and sends your mind spinning towards the solution. When pieces fall into their places and you suddenly see the whole picture, both filled with nervousness and hope and…"

"Wow, Hermione, you sound like Snape" Ron sat up, looking at her with a grimace.

"The delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses" Harry quoted, suppressing a laugh. "If he is in love with his cauldron, Hermione is love with her books."

"But, you can't legally marry a book" Ron said with fake worry on his face. "You might have to look for a wizard with a publishing company instead" he teased. Hermione threw a pair of rolled-up socks at his head.

"Stop acting like you were allergic to books" she laughed. "You will not get cooties from spending a few days in a library."

"No but I may die of boredom" he grimaced.

"I don't think it will be that bad" Harry offered. "You will be working with Lupin, he is pretty cool and relaxed. He even allowed me to have some firewhiskey last time we had a chat."

"Now that would be cool."

"Also, it could be worse" Harry continued. "You could be stuck in a room with Snape instead, disemboweling horned frogs or something."

"I did not think I would ever say this Harry, but you can make research sound positively delightful" Ron grinned.

"I really do not think it would be that bad" Hermione threw a long sleeved, tight pullover on the bed. "At least he cannot dock points and give out detentions outside of the school."

"That does not really make the greasy git any less scary."

"I am with Ron on this one, Hermione. He only needs to look at you that way to destroy you. I sure as hell am glad he is our side in this war."

"Professor Snape isn't a git, he is just…" she was not quite sure how to defend the potions professor, and shrugged. "Besides, this is a great opportunity for us to learn."

"Well, better you than me" Harry grinned. "I would rather face Voldemort again than take extra potion classes."

"I think sooner or later you are going to get your wish, pal" Ron clapped him on the shoulder.

"Did you manage to get anything out of Sirius?" Hermione asked choosing a long sleeved shirt for the brewing, and started to fold her clothes back into the trunk.

"Not as much as I would have liked" Harry sighed. "There was an accident in the Ministry of Magic, at the department of Mysteries. It was a big hush-hush. They claim it was just a magical explosion, but Sirius thinks Death eaters have stolen something, and destroyed the room in their wake to make it look like as if whatever they took was also annihilated."

"Does he know what it was?" Ron asked, throwing the rolled up socks back at Hermione.

"If he does, he is not telling, but to be honest, I do not think he does. "I think only professor Dumbledore and one or two Order member are in on it."

"You do not think it might be another Prophecy, do you?" Ron asked.

"Unlikely" Harry said shaking his head. "For one, we have destroyed thousands of them. As another, when I told professor Dumbledore about the prophecy Trelawney made at the end of our third year" Hermione snorted at the mention of the divination teacher. "he said it was her second real prophecy. Unless there are other seers around, they took something else. But what?"

"I do not think even Rufus Scrimgeour knows what the unspeakables are doing" remarked Ron.

"Either way, I am not going to take off to the Ministry again like last year" Harry shuddered. Hermione traced the scar Mulciber has given her absentmindedly. "I will just have to trust professor Dumbledore that he does know what is going on, and that he will let me know what and when I need to know."

Hermione did not say it out loud, but she hoped the headmaster has also learned from his mistakes.