Neville arrived for breakfast with his face paler than usual that November morning a few days after the attack of the Dementor. Seating himself across from Hermione and Ginny, he spooned scrambled eggs onto his plate with a distant look.
"Nev, is everything alright? You look like you've just seen a Boggart," Ginny asked with a concerned frown.
"More or less… Bumped into Snape in the corridor on my way here."
"'Bumped' as in walked quietly by or…" Hermione implored for details.
"No, bumped as in ran smack into and fell over in front of, actually," he answered and took a bite. The food seemed to help calm his nerves slightly. Neville had been petrified of Snape ever since their first year and now, with his new rise to power and his obvious allegiances, his fear of the professor had only grown.
"Bloody hell… lucky he didn't give you a month's worth of detention," Ginny said wide-eyed.
"Nearly did… he said he would want me to have detention with him personally so he could make me suffer like I deserved, but he would be away from the school tonight and for the next week so he said to watch myself. And then he insulted me as usual…Merlin, I hate that stare he has – it feels like he's looking directly into your heart to see your fear." He shivered.
"Wait – what?" Slapping both hands on the table, Hermione's strong gaze locked onto an even more startled Neville.
"He's not going to be here for a week?!" Ginny asked, a wicked smile forming on her lips and fire lighting in her eyes.
"We could take the sword!" Luna cried excitedly, taking a seat beside Neville.
"Shhhhhhhhhhh!"
"I say we go tomorrow night," Ginny suggested in a low voice. "That way we know he'll be gone by then."
"Agreed," Hermione said while Neville and Luna nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow at midnight we take back the sword of Gryffindor and get it to Harry."
"Luna, quiet!" Ginny hissed to the humming blonde as the four of them snuck through the corridors in the dark. Too fearful to use wands to light their way through the corridors, they walked along using the stone walls as their guide, occasionally dipping behind a statue to check the Marauder's Map by wand light and then continuing on in the dark.
Reaching the Gargoyle, the four students paused; three of them had not thought of the password they would need to enter the headmaster's office. Luckily, however, Hermione was prepared.
"Bezoar," she whispered and the little stone man hopped aside to allow them entrance.
The three others turned and stared at the seventh year, but she could not see the looks of surprise and admiration on their faces in the darkness of the corridor.
"Professor McGonagall said it rather loudly when she escorted me to my meeting with Snape," she explained into the confused silence. She chuckled internally at the hmms and huhs of sudden understanding from her friends.
Now using wand light, they climbed the staircase quickly, taking the steps two at a time. This would be the worst place to be caught… Snape would gladly hand them over to the Carrows for detention, of that Hermione was positive. Lifting a hand for the others to stop, she pressed her ear against the keyhole of the grand oak doors, listening for any sign that Snape was still in his office. Hearing nothing, she went on to the next step of her plan. Thankfully, the door opened silently. Opening it a crack, Hermione was just able to peer inside. It appeared empty, but…
"Homonum Revelio," she whispered. The spell gave no indication of any human presence behind the door. "It's clear."
They entered the room as silent as shadows. Hermione lead the way over to the side of the grand circular room filled with odd contraptions. Over the fireplace, the sword of Gryffindor shone brightly in the wand-light.
"Almost," Neville whispered, eyes glued to Hermione's rising hand. Grinning madly at their success, Hermione grasped the hilt of the sword. The leather was soft beneath her hand; worn from years of being handled by countless Gryffindors. Lifting it from its place, the heavy sword swung down, nearly catching her in the leg, and then hitting the carpeted floor in front of the hearth with a soft thunk.
"We did it!" Luna whispered excitedly, hoping in place.
"You most certainly did."
Suddenly, a brilliant light shone through the room, blinding the four students. Covering her eyes, Hermione dropped the sword and stumbled back. Oh bugger…
"Now, what could four mature students such as yourselves be doing out of bed and in my office so late at night?" Snape drawled, stepping forward from the deepest shadows.
"How? Her spell…"
"You do not believe that I am capable enough to cloak myself from a simple Revealing Charm, Miss Weasley? I am insulted, truly." If Snape truly was hurt by the insinuation, his face betrayed no such emotion. The tall, dark wizard lowered his wand and stood imposingly before them. "I am so very disappointed in all of you. Did you really think that I would accidentally let slip to Longbottom that I would be absent from the school, therefore giving you the perfect opportunity to steal the sword from my office?" From behind him, two distinct laughs echoed from the darkness. The forms of the Carrows came forth into the light, both twins wearing identical grins filled with malice.
"What d'you reckon they want with that sword, Snape? Bit ambitious for a prank…" The light from Snape's wand shone onto Alecto's face. Her eyes remained in shadow, and Hermione had a sickening recollection of the empty eye-sockets of Dementors.
"Gryffindors, they always act and never think… 'cept for that Ravenclaw there – that Loony? Blimey, she would be the one to come along, eh?" Amycus laughed as he and his sister circled around Snape to surround the students from three sides and trapping them with the fireplace to their backs. "Potter's crew… say, could they be up to something more, maybe for him?"
"What do you say, Severus? Give 'em to us for a bit of detention tomorrow night? That'll teach 'em better than to sneak into the headmaster's office and steal his things." Alecto's smile held a sick joy and Hermione felt bile rise in her throat at the thought of detention with them.
"Calm your bloodthirst, Alecto, they are but children…" Snape spoke slowly and casually, as if his decision meant nothing to their safety. "I believe these rather unintelligent students were under the impression that a Slytherin Headmaster had no right holding the most precious sword of Gryffindor in his study. And so, they elected to steal it from me and return it to a more fitting place." Snape's smile was slick and serpentine. None of the students acknowledged his claim to their actions. Of course, it is a fairly convincing story, Hermione thought. Better than him knowing the truth…
"So they're going to get off easy then?"
"No, they each lose twenty house points for being out of bed and another fifty for being in my office. They will also have detention, but with neither of you. I am especially disappointed in you, Granger. As Head Girl I expected my trust to be earned, but you have proven yourself to be a bad influence on your peers. Longbottom, Weasley, Lovegood, you three will have detention in the forest; I will inform that oaf of a Gamekeeper. As for you, Miss Granger, I will find someone suitable for you to serve your detention with. Now leave and back to your beds before I forget how generous I am!"
Not waiting to be told another time, the four students ran from the office, the sound of the Carrows' laughter following them down the circular staircase.
"Bloody hell, bloody hell, bloody HELL!" Ginny cursed as they hurried back to the Gryffindor common room. Luna had separated from them earlier on to make her way to her own common room. "The bastard tricked us!"
"Ginny! Keep your voice down," Neville pleaded. All they needed now was to be caught out of bed after hours again and cursing their Headmaster to boot.
"Yes, he tricked us. But that means that he found out about our plans somehow!" Hermione told them.
"How? We were quiet; we talked about it outside…" Ginny argued.
"He tried teaching Harry Occlumency last year… he probably used Ligilimency to learn what we had been thinking about recently. We knew we had to be careful…" Hermione chastised herself for not thinking of that possibility sooner.
"But not even safe inside our own minds?" Neville asked. "He probably saw when I ran into him! I ruined it, I had been thinking about how to get the sword and then –"
"Neville, relax, it wasn't your fault, it could have been any of us!" Hermione reassured her poor friend. "We'll just have to work on keeping our minds occupied with meaningless thoughts while around the professors. And anyways, we got lucky tonight. He didn't look deep enough to see why we were stealing the sword, he had his own idea."
"Yeah, suppose we were lucky for that," Ginny agreed glumly.
We didn't get the sword. Snape caught us. I'm sorry, boys, we'll find something. Stay safe. My love –Hermione
Detention from Prof Snape tonight at 8. Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Don't be late. – Prof.B.
It had been three days since their attempt at stealing the sword and Hermione just now received her punishment. She stared at the note left by a house-elf on her bedside table. Bloody hell. I have detention with Professor Black while the others got to spend last night with Hagrid in the forest searching for the newest family of Thestrals. It's completely unfair!
Pouting like a kindergartener, Hermione dressed in her robes and grabbed her school bag already packed for the day's classes. She trudged from her room down to breakfast, her originally good humor completely evaporated.
"Hey, 'Mione, how's it… oh…" Neville's hand stilled mid-wave as he caught sight of the dark look on his friend's face. "W-what's up?"
"Well, since you asked, Neville." Hermione dropped her heavy bag on the table, earning curious looks from Seamus and Colin and a glare from Lavender as she spilled her juice. "I have my detention tonight. With Professor Black."
"Ohhhh…" Neville and Ginny looked away from the cross brunette, turning their attention to anything but her fuming eyes. Even Luna simply sipped a glass of juice quietly, her bright blue eyes expressing sympathy.
"Maybe she won't be so mean," Ginny said in a fake hopeful voice. Hermione's glare silenced her instantly and she turned back to her toast.
"This is the woman who had Fred and George clean the entire Trophy Room twice because Fred accidently sneezed. She had Ron feed her pet Grindillow – he had marks for ages. And she had Harry diving into the Black Lake for seashells in October!"
"Granger!"
Hermione flinched into her cup as the sound of heels travelled towards her from the professors' table.
"I trust you got my note," Professor Black said, looking down at the young witch.
"Yes, I did, Professor," Hermione responded, careful to keep any rising fear from her voice. It never ended well when Black knew you were afraid.
"Excellent. I expect you to not be tardy; it might result in extra detentions." The raven-haired witch examined her long nails casually.
"Yes, Professor."
"Well then, until tonight, Granger. I look forward to this; I do have so many things planned for you. And bring a warm cloak!" With a sly grin, the dark witch turned on her heels and returned to the professors' table, the last comment thrown over her shoulder.
Hermione slowly turned back to her friends, all of whom were giving her looks of deep sympathy. Black was excited. This meant nothing good.
"I'm buggered."
"The spell Crinus Muto shall be tested during your N.E. , both in practice and theory. Therefore I expect each and every one of you to be able to transfigure your hair blue by the end of class." Hermione's Transfiguration class proceeded normally. Everyone was particularly somber – the approaching winter cast everything in gray and the wind whipped around wildly, tearing the leftover leaves from their branches and shaking the window panes violently.
But Professor McGonagall was resolute in having her class stay as normal as possible. Around the room, her students began their practice, various heads turning various shades of blue, purple, and turquoise. The howling wind grew louder. Hermione could swear it sounded like a person wailing in the distance.
They all continued practicing and casually talking amongst themselves. And then everyone flinched. Down the hall, they could all hear the unmistakable screeching of the Carrow twins yelling at their newest victim. This not being out of the ordinary, they all attempted to ignore the sounds, until the yelling was drowned out by screams of pain.
"No, no, no, no no no no, absolutely not!" their professor muttered as she stormed out into the hall, the door banging off the wall in her haste. "This is not how we discipline here at Hogwarts, Professors!" They heard her shriek.
"These little pieces of shite deserved it!" Amycus yelled back. They could all imagine the look of hatred on his face as he spoke to McGonagall.
"I know for a fact that Professor Snape has disallowed you to perform this blatant form of torture in the halls!"
"We do not answer to him!" Alecto screamed.
"We answer only to the Dark Lord!" her brother added fiercely.
"And he has placed Severus in charge of you!"
"Well, what are you going to do, kitty-cat?" Alecto laughed.
Hermione choked. Not even Umbridge had dared to insult McGonagall so openly.
"If you dare to harm my students again, you shall find that this cat still has sharp claws." The hairs on the back of Hermione's neck rose and a shiver ran down her spine at the malice in her professor's voice. It was a threat. It was a promise. The words cut through the air like steel knives, each one laced with venom. Then there were the sounds of hushed whispers, quiet sobbing, and shuffling feet as McGonagall ushered the traumatized students into her class.
Three third-year Hufflepuffs entered with red-rimmed eyes. Without another word, McGonagall slammed her door shut and locked it. If they wanted to, the Carrows could get in easily, but the motion seemed to reassure the frazzled professor.
Hermione watched as her favourite professor quickly wiped a single tear from her cheek then turned to the rest of the class. She conjured a small couch for the new arrivals and a large plate of shortbread cookies appeared on her desk.
"I think that will be enough practice for the day," she said softly. She cleared her throat and with a wave of her wand, the cookies were distributed throughout the shocked classroom. "In times like these, we all need to be strong and, despite our fears, we need to have the courage to continue to fight for what is right."
