Sorry for how long it has been since the last chapter, I was at a conference and preparing for a job interview. There will eventually be some scary situations containing children and this chapter will feature some stalking. Although if those two things bother you, I'm not sure if Harry Potter is the best series for you to read.

Also, Snape will be smoking tobacco in this chapter, if that is something that bothers you then please don't read it. His background and life story practically screams smoker to me. Oppressed people smoke to deal with stress, I don't think they should be demonized for it as an occasional smoker myself and I don't wish to have a debate with anyone on the internet about smoking. Although, I can't imagine a Snanger shipper posting an ugly comment about that, we are a very non-judgmental lot in my experience.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or asked for more of this story, it makes my day to know someone else out there is enjoying it along with me. I treasure the favorites and follows as well :)

Shoutout to my Beta, Jeannie! She is amazing and always points out places where the words don't reflect what I pictured.

"So what's a nice place like this

Doing 'round people like us?

So what's a nice place like this

Doing 'round people like us?

We know where you fucking live

We know where you fucking live

We'll burn it down, burn it down

They won't even recognize your corpse"

-Marilyn Manson, WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE

"Now then, enough of your juvenile arguments." Agent Snape said, sneering at Hermione.

They had arrived at the nondescript, heavy wooden door to the NU Files lab, Hermione crossed her arms over her chest in frustration. "Said the kettle to the cauldron." She muttered, glaring at her co-worker.

Snape raised an eyebrow before continuing, "I have already added you to the wards for this room, simply press your right thumb to the door knob and it should open for you."

He took a step back from the door and gestured for her to step forward and test it out. Still rather annoyed with him for accusing her of purposefully sniffing him, Hermione stepped up to the door and rather forcefully rammed her thumb at the brass door knob without regard for how painful that might be for her. The door clicked and swung open while she barely suppressed a wince from her overzealous thrust of her thumb. Snape, of course, noticed and smirked at her. "For future reference, merely pressing your thumb will do the job. No need to try using it like a key one has to jab into a lock."

With that, he strode past her into the room, she followed him, grumpily. The lights popped on automatically as they entered, bathing the entire room in fluorescent light. It was larger than their office and had black counter space running around the entire room. In the center of the room was a large floating chalkboard, chalk, and an eraser, sitting in the little bin at the bottom. To the left of the door was a tidy potions bench, complete with a supply cabinet beneath the counter and various implements on top. The rest of the room held many varied pieces of equipment, some she was familiar with and others she was not. To the right was an instrument she recognized, a light box and multiple magnifying glasses suspended above it all meant for viewing documents or other such pieces of evidence.

Snape sent the small wooden box to rest on an available expanse of countertop while he continued over towards the light box. He reached into his robes and extracted his dragon hide gloves, putting them on as he walked. Hermione eagerly followed him over, hoping he was finally going to let her see the letter from the crime scene. It had clearly been addressed to him.

They came to a stop in front of the light box and Snape reached into an interior pocket of his Unspeakables robes. He pulled the letter from inside his pocket, still in one of his plastic bags. Hermione marveled over the fact that something so simple seemed to block magic so effectively as she moved in on his right to watch him work. Carefully removing the parchment from the bag, Snape smoothed the letter out on the light box. It attempted to curl up briefly before he pulled out his wand and cast a weak sticking charm on each corner. To the left of the light box rested an open notebook as well as a quill and a stoppered bottle of ink. Snape reached over and removed the stopper from the ink. He then cast a nonverbal spell on the quill, it immediately sprang from the countertop and dipped itself in the ink. The quill then floated up to hover just over the parchment of the notebook, poised to begin taking notes. He cleared his throat and began to speak "This is Agent Snape completing the analysis for evidence found at the break-in of the Headmistress' office at Hogwarts, July 6th 2000."

As soon as he began speaking, the quill started scratching out what he said in the open notebook. He reached to the back of the light box and switched it on. Meanwhile, Hermione had been trying to angle herself around his body to see what the letter said. She wasn't tall enough to read over his shoulder. This damn, bulky book is in my bloody way, she thought, exasperated with trying to keep it's potentially cursed surface from touching her or Snape. She finally set down the magical births book on an empty space on the counter to ease her attempts to get close enough to see the words on the parchment properly. In desperation, she was about conjure a stool from which to read it and watch Snape work.

Reaching down to open a drawer beneath the countertop, he paused and looked up at Hermione as she was attempting to balance on her tip toes. "Before I begin magically interrogating the letter, I will read it aloud so there is documentation of what it states. There are charms and curses that could be embedded in this parchment to destroy it, set to be triggered by one of the forensic methods I am about to employ." Snape stated, then he added, "I can practically feel your eagerness to read it and your attempts to read it are very distracting. I am about to read it now, so there is no need to get your knickers in a twist to find out what it says."

Looking rather affronted, Hermione replied, "Whose knickers are in a twist?! Excuse me for wanting to be equipped with all information pertinent to our case."

Curling his lip into a sneer, he retaliated, "I'm sure you are the one with the knickers, unless the haste with which you dressed this morning caused you to neglect proper attire."

Hermione gaped at him, of all the things he could have said, implying she was not wearing underwear was quite possibly the last thing she had expected. She suspected what he had said was also a bit of a surprise to him as well since he looked away from her face with a touch of guilt on his features. "I will thank you to keep your speculation regarding the presence or absence of my undergarments to yourself, Agent Snape. Now let's get on with this investigation, every moment we waste bickering is to Dolohov's advantage." Hermione stated firmly, glaring at him.

Snape opened his mouth to deliver what was sure to be a scathing retort but stopped himself and gave his head a brief shake. "Fine, don't interrupt me and we can get on with this. If you have so much trouble seeing, use your wand and conjure a step ladder or a stool." He said, a bit reluctant to back down even when he knew his statements were out of line.

Glaring at him, she pulled out her wand and conjured a small step stool that allowed her a bird's eye view over his right shoulder of everything he was doing. Snape cleared his throat and began reading.

"Snape, If you are reading this, my Birds of Hell failed to kill you and that shite partner you were saddled with, I heard about the Mudblood Granger working in the Department of Mysteries now. I hope the curse got her at least. The Ministry really has gone to the dogs, hiring the two of you.

This will likely be the only piece of evidence you will have to work with in tracking me down. I intend to bring the world back to its proper order, resurrecting the old ways and ideologies. If you did survive my little trap, I do hope you make it all the way to the end. I can reacquaint you with an old friend, I think he will be very surprised to see you and anxious to hear all about what you have been up to in the last few years.

Please, do try and make this interesting for me, it's been ages since I did anything stimulating.

Sincerely,

Dolohov."

Snape finished reading the letter, the recording quill scratched furiously to catch up. It finally stilled, having transcribed everything he read. Hermione looked pensive for a moment before she turned, hopped off of her stool, and started over to the chalkboard. "Where are you going, Granger?" Snape asked, stopping her in her tracks.

"To the chalkboard, so I can write out what he said. We might be able to glean his intentions from his word choice." Hermione stated, mildly annoyed to have him questioning her.

"I can discern that with a spell, we are going to put this bit of parchment through the full arsenal of spells I know of for this." Snape said, "Many of the spells I am about to show you are exclusive to the NU Files or are my own invention. We will go through this carefully and thoroughly, you are a quick learner so I am hoping once we finish with the letter, you can assist with the book."

Hermione quickly resumed her position standing on her stool, her footsteps back to his side tapping rapidly in her eagerness to learn new, exclusive magic and move forward with the case. She filed away his statement about her being a fast learner, she would reflect on his compliment about her learning speed later.

Antonin Dolohov peered through the window of the dark, empty house he had been watching all day, his hands curled around his eyes to improve his view inside, illuminated by moonlight. His shaggy dark hair curled slightly around his face as he took a look inside. Sitting Disillusioned in a tree in the small patch of woods directly behind the house, he had watched the comings and goings of neighborhood. No one was home and it was late in the evening. He had watched the Aurors visit but not receive an answer at the door, their visit was actually informative as overhearing their conversation had confirmed his suspicions that it was a family of four. He backed away from the window, brushed off the front of his Egyptian blue robes then leaned over to glance around the corner of the house to ensure no one was watching before pulling out his wand and unlocking the back door. The complete lack of wards was a strong indicator that this was a non-magical residence. It opened on to a very clean kitchen, filled with stainless steel appliances and white marble countertops. He stepped carefully inside, resting his weight from heel-to-toe gradually with each step on the tile floors.

Gingerly closing the door behind him, Dolohov crept further into the house. He was pretty sure they were Muggles, their last name wasn't one of the pure blood names he had grown up with but that didn't mean their child couldn't be half-blood and the mother had been a pure blood. He needed evidence of their Muggle filth before he could continue with his plan.

There were a few things he could check to discern a Muggle household from a Wizarding household influenced by a Muggleborn. His cautious steps had brought him in front of the kitchen sink. Shafts of moonlight cut across the room from the window over the sink. The former Death Eater crouched down and opened the cabinet under the sink. He drew his wand and muttered quietly, "Lumos."

The tip of his wand lit up and he held it up inside the cabinet. The wand light shone down on a bin full of the harsh chemicals Muggles used to clean their home, this was not sufficient to conclude it was a Muggle home but it was definitely an additional point in favor of that conclusion. Dolohov withdrew his wand from the cabinet muttering "Nox," closed the cabinet door, and straightened back up to his full height.

Striding out of the kitchen and into the living room, he raked his eyes over the room. His loafers hit thick carpet once he entered this room. It was plain looking, three off white walls with one accent wall painted a burnt orange, several family photos were hanging on the walls. There were a few pieces of furniture scattered about the room, he did not care to spare more than a second's glance at that. His eyes snagged on the feature he was seeking out, the fireplace.

Slinking around the various tables and the large sofa aimed at the fireplace, he eased up to the mantle. It held various knick knacks but nothing that held Floo powder. He smirked, this house was definitely showing promise to fit his needs. There was one other place he wanted to check before he was certain it was a Muggle house.

Dolohov silently crept down the hallway off of the living room and into the master bedroom and the bathroom contained within. The dark wizard swung open the medicine cabinet and his face cracked into a wide smile. The cabinet was filled with Muggle medicines. No magical person, half-blood or even Muggleborn would use Muggle medicines. The magical medical community strongly advised against their use because of several mishaps involving witches and wizards not knowing the lethality of many Muggle medications when taken at the wrong dose. Potions generally worked by tossing back the entire contents of their container, not necessarily the best course of action when it came to Muggle pills. If a Healer found out their patient used Muggle medications, said patient received an ear-blistering lecture about the dangers.

Satisfied he had found a family that fit his needs, he returned to the kitchen where he set a ward of his own on the door as he left. Once the family returned home, Dolohov would feel it in his ward. He reached into his back pocket and checked the next name and address on his list but decided against heading there straight away. He would have to set up his watch of the next family in the morning, right now he needed to get some sleep. This family might meet most of his criteria but there was a further layer of selection that could only be ascertained in person.

Agents Granger and Snape painfully straightened their necks from leaning over the counters all afternoon and evening. Hermione pulled off her gloves and rubbed the back of her neck then rolled her head. They had finally finished going over the letter and the book, the box would have to wait until morning. However, they had discovered a rather disturbing bit of information.

"I just can't believe he thinks he can bring back Voldemort! We completely destroyed all chances of that happening!" Hermione exclaimed, for the fifth time in the past hour.

"I know that, Granger. Clearly Dolohov doesn't. The horcruxes were purposefully left out of the public's knowledge about Riddle. It wouldn't do to have any budding copycats feel inspired and try to emulate the bastard." Snape said, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion.

"Were his horcruxes common knowledge among the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked, looking at him with curiosity.

"No, he never told me about them but I wouldn't be surprised if he told Dolohov." Snape said, standing from the stool he had conjured to perch on and stretched his long body. "I was viewed as only half worth associating with, if you will recall, I am only a half-blood. Never mind that was the blood status of Riddle himself, he preferred the company of the purebloods over me. I think I reminded him of his own self-assigned inadequacies. There were a great many secrets kept from those of us who weren't pureblood and they bloody well cryptically referenced them in front of us like it was some great treat to know demented facts about our disfigured leader."

Hermione seemed to be brimming with more questions after that tidbit but Snape did not have it in him to endure the interrogation he saw brewing in her eyes. "It's been an extremely long day, let's call it quits and come at that box fresh in the morning. I expect we will have a report from the Aurors and our pictures of the office developed by then." Snape said, offering Hermione a hand to help her off of her stool.

Looking at him with slight disappointment, probably because he had denied her the chance to unleash the barrage of questions milling about in that bushy head of hers, she accepted his assistance and stepped down. "Fine, I'm bushed! We can continue our investigation better after some sleep, hopefully Dolohov hasn't had time to act on any plans he has for those families."

They both left the room as is since they would be returning to it first thing in the morning. They gathered up their belongings, said farewell to the Snoddy sisters, and waited for the elevator together in silence. Snape was deep in thought over just how Dolohov could be attempting to bring back Riddle, there were countless Dark spells for reanimating corpses but precious few that truly resurrected a person, none that he knew of required children.

"Why was the Chief Auror, that Ox man, so awful towards you?" Hermione asked as they waited.

Snape looked over at her and answered, "Chief Bulstrode was strongly opposed to letting any former Death Eaters walk free of Azkaban. The fact that I was hired to work in this department really pissed him off. I try to avoid interacting with him as much as possible, he is generally an arsehole."

"I gathered that he was an arsehole all on my own actually, but why keep some of our evidence hidden from him?" She asked, looking puzzled.

"Because that letter was clearly directed at me and we don't need Chief Bulstrode thinking that Dolohov is communicating with me about this in anyway. And the box is riddled with Dark magic, again something that will draw his focus on us unnecessarily. The less he knows about the case, the less he will interfere with our investigation." Snape said, turning his gaze straight ahead, returning the two of them to silent contemplation.

The elevator banged open, pulling him from his thoughts, he saw from the corner of his eye that Granger had been slightly startled from hers as well. He held out an arm for her to enter the elevator first, she stepped through with a muttered "Thanks."

Absentmindedly pressing the button for the main entrance, Hermione glanced at him briefly before staring resolutely at the lever arm that indicated their progress up the building. Snape glanced over as well, trying not to watch her in a noticeable fashion. She was certainly no longer an obnoxious child, her body had filled out a bit more than he had anticipated noticing. But the witch had looked fetching that morning in her dressing gown. She would not be winning prizes for her beauty but her face was pleasant to look at, her lips looked rather plump and inviting the longer he looked at them. Realizing he had been staring in a not so subtle manner, he quickly averted his gaze to join hers in marking their progress back to near ground level.

The doors of the elevator opened with a clang and they stepped out into the atrium of the building. Hermione started for the fireplaces that took employees to the street where they could Apparate home, she turned her head and wished him a good night. Snape raised a hand in return, walking over to the Floo fireplaces to return directly to his home.

A loud squawk greeted him when he stepped out of his fireplace, DB immediately flew over to perch on his mantle and glare at him. "Where have you been?" The bird asked, clearly annoyed as he clicked his beak at the end of his question.

Snape sneered at his pet as he immediately spelled away the soot that evitably clung to one's robes in the Floo system and began to remove his shoes. "I have been earning money and helping those buffoons at the Ministry, to supply you with the various fruits you demand. As you well know, you put up quite the fuss this morning when I got that Floo call."

Having removed his boots, Snape silently walked into his kitchen, trailed noisily by his feathered pet. "I didn't get any grapes today." DB exclaimed as he landed on a dark wooden perch adjacent to the kitchen counter.

Sighing, Snape opened the stainless steel refrigerator and pulled out a Tupperware of cleaned, cut grapes. He pulled out DB's bowl and threw in a sufficient number of grapes to quiet the flying menace before he set it on the bird's perch. "Here, although I gave you plenty of carrots this morning in addition to your pellets." The grumpy wizard said, "Now bugger off, it's been a long day and I don't need your cheek."

DB happily set to munching on his grapes in silence, leaving Snape to fix his dinner. He turned back to the refrigerator and pried open the freezer with a decided lack of enthusiasm. Perusing his options, he pulled out a frozen dinner of chana masala. In a short time, he had his dinner plated up, hot, and was eating it at the overly large dining table Narcissa had insisted on. The dining room was open to the kitchen and was also filled with dark wooden tones comparable to the living room but with a more modern feel.

Mentally, he was berating himself for how he had been talking to Granger today, he knew he was oscillating between a grumpy arsehole and nearly flirting with her, the Snoddy sisters had rubbed off on him a bit. He snorted at the field day those two would have over his choice of words, "rubbed off on him a bit."

He needed to get it together around his partner though. Every time he found himself feeling any sort of positive emotion towards her, he lashed out with some horrid insult to protect himself from getting too close to her. It was a defense mechanism he knew he desperately needed to break, it had caused him to lash out at Lily all those years ago and call her a mud blood. Perhaps it was something he could subtly ask his yoga instructor about...as a hypothetical situation not involving him at all.

Curse the witch for growing into an intelligent, attractive woman who he had to endure in close proximity so frequently! Curse him for that matter, thinking about her as even a remote possibility was foolish in the extreme. His jibe earlier about her smelling him had been an exaggeration in his mind, it was more telling of how closely he was paying attention to her every move than anything else. He felt lucky she had not called him out on watching her every little move, perhaps she was too flustered. But Merlin's beard she had invaded his personal space on multiple occasions today, how could he not notice that?!

He mentally cringed when he remembered his questioning the presence of her undergarments, that was sexual harassment really. He paused with a forkful of his dinner en route to his mouth, the dark haired wizard cursed silently, he was going to have to apologize for his behavior today. Discussing her undergarments was definitely inappropriate, that was not something she should have had to endure. He resumed eating but shifted uncomfortably, he had never thought of himself as the type of wizard to do such a thing. His jokes with the Snoddy sisters were one thing but this was something else entirely, the Snoddy sisters were willing participants in those jokes. He had not been joking amicably with Granger when he said that to her. That was a situation he would have to address and hope she would accept his apology and offer of friendship.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if he was friends with her, the gods knew he had precious few of those these days. That was the solution old man, just be friends with her, nothing more. Men were friends with women they found attractive all the time, right? Except he knew how well that went for him last time he found a female friend attractive, he had somehow found himself a bloody spy and a double agent in a war that led to him teaching dunderheaded nit wits and murdering his boss.

Okay, he thought, so I'll just be professional and friendly, casual, nothing can come of that, right?

"More grapes!" Clipped out DB.

Ripped from his thoughts regarding his troublesome co-worker, Snape looked up with a scowl at his demanding pet. "Absolutely not, you will get fat and then your veterinarian will skin me alive. If you want something more to eat, have some more pellets."

"They're shite."

"They are not shite, they are the best bloody bird pellets I could find. Now quit complaining before I decide I would prefer your company as a feather throw pillow in my armchair." Snape said, sending his dishes to the sink where they began cleaning themselves.

"Grumpy git." Answered DB.

Sneering in reply, Snape reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his slightly battered pack of cigarettes. He had avoided smoking them all day since he couldn't get a moment's peace away from Granger. He walked over to his back door, opened it with a slight creak, and stepped out onto the porch. Clink. This was followed by a rasping sound and the whoosh of a flame as he lit a cigarette he had pulled from the pack with a black zippo from his pocket. Clink, as he shut the lighter again. He drew in a sharp breath, the first full puff off of his cigarette.

The back porch was screened in and painted dark grey with several hanging plants and a porch swing. A slight breeze blew through the screens, cooling the night air all around him. He walked over to the wooden swing and lowered himself down to sit in it, sighing as he fully rested his weight in it.

The dark-haired wizard gently swung to and fro, puffing his cigarette and feeling rather proud that he had been able to limit himself to that one all day. He had smoked nearly a pack a day during the height of the second war, he had slowly backed off his habit to needing only two or three cigarettes a day. As a child, he had sworn he would never pick up the habit he had watched kill his father but stress had driven him to it. There are healthy ways to deal with stress but a wizard in his position from his background had turned to one of the only means he had seen and knew best. Therapy wasn't exactly an option for him during the war, who could he possibly trust enough to reveal to them that he was a double agent?! Smoke rose from his hand and curled around the ceiling overhead as he brought it to his lips, he inhaled deeply then leaned his head back to look up at the light overhead. He blew the smoke out, watching it drift and dance in the light. Perhaps he was close to finally being able to quit, although this new development with Granger may throw a wrench in that.

His yoga instructor had helped him immensely, the small older man had not known exactly why Snape needed him to sign off weekly stating he had been there but he did it without fail. Mediation and yoga were like guided occlumency except instead of suppressing his feelings, he was releasing them from his body through the exercises. He would ask the man about dealing with Granger in a way that did not jeopardize their working relationship or compromise the investigation they clearly needed to focus on. Surely there was a way to deal with his newfound attraction to her that would not interfere with his work or ruin things between them.

Having reached the end of his cigarette, he pulled out his wand and vanished it. Sighing, Snape went back inside to get ready for bed and a new day of work with Agent Granger. He reached out and stroked DB's head as he passed the dozing bird on his way to the stairs, the little bugger was annoying but Snape secretly loved the bloody bird. DB perked up and squawked out a sleepy "G'night!"

Snape smirked and said, "Goodnight, DB."

Hermione stepped through her front door clutching several bags to her person, she turned, shut the door with her hip and tossed her keys on the table just inside the door. She kicked off her shoes and sighed with relief at being in only her socks again. Crookshanks rushed forward, tangling himself around her legs and voicing his need for dinner.

"Hello Crooks! Sorry I'm so late, such a busy day at work today!" Hermione said, smiling down at her pet, "I'll feed you in just a moment."

Setting her purchases down on the kitchen table, she pulled out her wand and flicked it at the cat food dispenser, causing a portion to spill down into the bowl. Crookshanks clumsily scrambled over to wolf down his dinner.

Turning back to her bags, she pulled out the salad she had haphazardly selected for her dinner from the grocer and swept her wand at the remaining groceries which flew to the opening cabinets and refrigerator. She normally put things away by hand but she was exhausted from the early start of her day. With the groceries put away, Hermione wearily trudged into her living room, salad and a bottle of water in hand.

She flopped down on her couch and turned on the television. The screen was a blur of colors snapping in and out as she flipped through the channels until she got to a rerun of Friends. Perfect, after today she could do with a laugh. Satisfied with her viewing selection, Hermione turned back to prying the plastic off of her dinner. After a minute of struggling, she still had not gained access to her dinner.

"Merlin's saggy left testicle and Circe's drooping tits!" She exclaimed.

Furious, she pulled out her wand and jabbed it at the plastic vault her dinner seemed to be locked in. The lid blew off, straight up in the air and along with it went the majority of the greenery in the bowl. Hastily, she summoned it all back into her bowl with a nonverbal Accio. Taking a deep breath to calm her frustration, she opened her dressing and began covering the various vegetables in it.

She was under the impression that she had gotten her temper under better control than this, although her day had been a bit tiring and spending the day with an unpredictable Agent Snape had not helped matters. That man could test the patience of a saint and she was a far cry from that. What had been his problem today anyhow? One minute he is acting companionable and talking to her like an equal, even complimenting her ability to learn quickly, and the next minute he is speculating on the presence of her knickers. Not to mention calling her out for sniffing him, like she had done that on purpose anyway. It was purely an accident. It also wasn't her fault that her former professor smelled so good, being sniffed is really just a hazard of smelling nice. He was just being his usual unpleasant self, insulting and belittling her for no apparent reason. Perhaps he was having a hard time with their day as well, not that it excused his behavior but it was a rather confusing situation. What the hell was Dolohov going to do with that list of names and those addresses?

Worry had taken up residence as a tight knot in the middle of her stomach over what the former Death Eater may be planning for those children or their families. Why on earth did he think he could bring back Voldemort? And why would he want to? It had come out during the trials that many of the Death Eaters were relieved to see the wizard dead in the end, he had turned vicious towards his followers in the last few years. The abuses had been rapidly escalating, he had murdered several in cold blood when his ire was raised. Snape was lucky he hadn't died of that snake bite, although she didn't know how he had survived. He had refused to share that information with anyone, he was not about to share it with her. So, why was Dolohov so keen to bring that chaos back into the world? The man must be a few biscuits short of a full tea service. That was more worrisome than anything else, a potentially mad man running about the country with a list of addresses to the homes of multiple magical children. That nausea-inducing worry was why she had settled for such a light dinner, she wasn't sure she could stomach much more than that.

With a sigh, she stabbed her fork through a baby carrot and popped it into her mouth, crunching on it as she returned her thoughts to her partner and his behavior. Was he uncomfortable with the idea of working alongside his former student as equals? Well, he would have to bloody well get over that, she would have to make more of an effort to make him see her as his equal. Although how to do that was currently escaping her, maybe she would owl Ginny or Luna for advice. She imagined her friends would probably suggest making her appearance a bit more mature. Some light makeup perhaps, or maybe something different with her hair. Both would require a little effort on her part, although the difference in hair felt better to her than trying to alter her face. Snape might think she was wearing makeup to entice him somehow, he had already picked up on her minuscule sniff of his person. She would hate to have him over analyze any changes like that to her person.

She speared another forkful of lettuce and was pulled from her thoughts by the antics of Phoebe on her television screen. Phoebe always reminded her of Luna, both were airy, free-spirited blondes who were far more intelligent than most people initially thought. Hermione smiled at the screen as Phoebe screamed at her friends over something she hadn't been paying close enough attention to catch. That was where the similarity ended, Luna never raised her voice unless it was absolutely necessary. Well, Hermione would write to both of her friends before bed, asking for advice on dealing with her new co-worker, they were bound to have loads of input.

Finished with her dinner, the young woman tiredly walked into the kitchen and disposed of her garbage. She walked over to the table again and pulled her other purchase from the bag it came in. This one was for Snape, he had better use it when she gave it to him. Setting it on top of her purse to ensure she didn't forget it in the morning, she yawned and headed to her bedroom. She wanted to quickly send off her letters to her friends and get in bed to make up for the sleep she had missed out on in the early hours of morning.

The sun had not quite made its morning appearance over the farmland enveloped in a light fog but Antonin Dolohov was already awake and sitting Disillusioned on the roof of a shed. He was watching the farmhouse in front of him intently, waiting for its occupants to wake up. The Aurors had clearly already gotten to this house as he had encountered a set of wards he recognized as Ministry-exclusive. It had been child's play to dismantle them in a manner undetectable by the fools who set them and set himself up on this rooftop. Based on the wards, he was fairly certain this was a Muggle family and that was why the Aurors had put up their wards. All he needed to know now is if they had a younger child, one that wouldn't have been recorded in the book pages he had stolen and had not manifested any powers yet.