Hermione double-checked her copy of the colour-coded checklist she had created. Each member of their covert little group had one, and a change on one propagated to all the others.

-Recruit at least 5 trustworthy Aurors or trainees to monitor Umbridge's residence (Harry). Done.

-Meet with the Auror Department and figure out how much they know, what they may suspect, and what they expect Severus to accomplish (Severus). Done.

-Set up wards to inform us of all instances of transfiguration, dark magic and Parseltongue in all three cities. (Harry). Done. Then undone as everything the local garden snakes blathered on to each other about appeared on the parchment, and redone specifying human speakers only.

-Find out what issues Umbridge has been interested in, and any laws she has had any input in. (Hermione). In progress.

-Monitor results from the wards, and inform the others at any hint of genuine activity (Ginny). In progress.

-Meet at Grimmauld Place, 6pm Thursday to compare notes and discuss options.

She sighed, and followed her two fellow Magical Law Apprentices into the conference room, walking respectfully over to the head of the Rules and Regulations department. "Mr. Hickinbotham. Lovely to see you again. I am working on an extra-credit project regarding the correspondence between the length of delay in the ratification of new laws and average NEWT scores and was wondering if I could have a quick peek at the records for the past six months. For my research." Hermione extemporized.

"Of course, dear." The old man patted her on the head, and led her into his office. "Better be quick; the meeting is supposed to begin in five minutes. He pulled out a desk drawer and handed her a large tome. Hermione pretended to peruse it, then silently transfigured the doorstop into a Niffler, which proceeded to climb up the man's leg and reach for his gold cufflinks. As Mr. Hickinbotham let out a shout of alarm and vanished the creature, Hermione spelled a quick geminio and stuffed the duplicate into her tiny beaded bag. She then pretended to jot a few numbers down in a notebook, and put the tome down. "All done, sir. Thank you very much!"


Hermione decided to floo straight to Severus' quarters rather than risk facing the other members of staff. "It's me. May I come through, please?"

Severus flicked his wand to remove the ward, and Hermione tumbled out.

"I got it!" She beamed at him

He took the large tome from her and started opening it, but she placed her and atop his own to stop him. "Wait. I think we have a few things to sort out first."

"Indeed." He replied silkily, reaching out and pushing a stray curl behind her ear. "I was rather..." He paused deliberately, "dissatisfied when our dinner engagement was rudely interrupted."

Hermione's heart raced, and she could feel her cheeks warm. "I must admit," she stated in true Gryffindor fashion, "...that the Amatorium Claritas fiasco was only a pale imitation of what I am feeling right now. And if you don't kiss me I think I may go mad."

"Well, I do believe the Brains Behind the Golden Trio in a state of insanity would be a great blow to the entire Magical community. I suppose I must do my duty to ensure that does not come to pass." His voice was pitched seductively as he drew closer.

Hermione reached her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. She giggled as it took a few tries to achieve the correct angle. Their noses bumped. He huffed, then tried again.

This time, the world again shrunk to include only them. While her soul sang in euphoria, her body dumped a parcel of hormones into her bloodstream, and before she had registered the fact she found herself on the couch entwined with him – his hand up her shirt and hers circling the buttons of his trousers.

Hermione, if we persist, I doubt I will be able to stop. And there is work to be done."

"There's always work to be done", she complained, panting, but stepped away from him. "But I truly hope this is only a temporary postponement."

"Most assuredly." He purred, reaching over for one last kiss, this time calculating the correct angle on the first try. He was a quick study. "You have sunk your claws into me, woman, and I will not willingly let you go."

She smiled and led him by the hand to the table. "Here." She handed him the book, as she pulled another from her bag. "They are basic geminio copies; they won't last more than a few hours."

They got to work.


Some time later, an alarm dinged, and the two made their way through the passage from his private quarters to the potions classroom. Ginny was already peeking in the door. "I'm here for my detention, sir." She winked. Severus cringed, hoping there were no witnesses to her abysmal attempt at subterfuge.

"Miss Weasley. You are early. No matter, there are plenty of toads for you to disembowel." Severus channelled his Death Eater persona as he slammed the door behind her, then led them back to his quarters where they could Floo to Grimmauld Place.


After bringing out the tea and snacks, Harry jumped straight in. "The wards went off without a hitch. Well, after I figured out how to exclude actual snakes from the Parseltongue monitor." He reddened a bit. "There are two Aurors and four trainees who are more loyal to me than the ministry, and have been doing surveillance on Umbridge. Cornelius Fudge and Asta Rowle have both visited her residence multiple times. George Weasley also wanted to, er, lend an ear. Literally." Harry pulled out a battered Extendable Ear, and tapped it with his wand. "Audi iterum", he incanted, as new voices filled the air.

"Dolores, the Wizengamot is never going to agree unless we step up the attacks. You know this."

"Fine. I already have the next one planned. Just keep hassling them. Asta, how many of those wand crystals have you been able to get me?"

An unfamiliar female voice replied. "I have 63 so far. I am almost done miniaturizing them for you."

"I need more!" Umbridge snarled. "I need a total of 300 by the end of the week or you won't get your cut of the power."

The voices grew muffled and Harry terminated the charm. "From what I can tell, Fudge is entirely under her thumb . I'm not sure if she's blackmailing or bribing him. This is the first I have ever heard of Asta Rowle..."

Severus interrupted. "Asta was Thorfinn's sister. Her magical ability was very weak. Their parents performed a number of dark rituals on her in order to increase her magic, but I doubt they were effective. She was not a Death Eater, but is very close to her brother, and he was incapacitated during the battle of Hogwarts and is now in Azkaban for life."

"What did you find in the records books?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Well, two days after the first Inferi incident, Umbridge called for a law to put a trace on all adult wands to monitor all spells cast. This has been suggested before and was always shot down, but this time it was put to a vote. It was voted down, but not by much."

Hermione paused, rifling through her notes.

"The day after the second incident, Fudge proposed a 'Dark Net' to be placed over all Wizarding communities. This would render all spells powered by strong emotion ineffective within the net. Of course, that does include most dark spells, but would also affect defensive spells such as the Patronus charm."

The room was silent for a few minutes as everyone considered the information. Finally, Ginny broke the silence.

"Well, I have nothing useful to report, except that pretending to study for NEWTs is an excellent cover. I have ten bloody pages of snakes talking about where the best warm spots are, three pages of day-to-day transfigurations, and one disgruntled witch who uses the imperius curse on her husband every evening. Pobably to get him to stay home and clean up after himself instead of drinking in the pub."

Hermione frowned. "What stops the Ministry from casting these same wards, and arresting the witch?"

It was Harry who responded. "The wards only keep count of the spells; they can't pinpoint the caster. "

Hermione sighed. "So, we have three major suspects but no real proof of wrongdoing. They are doing something with wand crystals, the Trace, and a dark Spell-Net. Rowle is almost a squib and may want to avenge her brother or break him out of prison. Fudge is just a boot-licker. Umbridge? She always did like to be in control of everything, and didn't care who she hurt to get there. "

"Umbridge mentioned Rowle's 'cut of the power'. So they're doing this for some sort of power..." Ginny remarked.

Severus sneered. "Yes, but what kind of power? Magical power? Political? Mechanical? Electrical? Charismatic? We still know nothing."

"I'm guessing magical" Hermione ignored the sarcasm and started pacing. "What other kind of power would a near-squib be willing to ally with Umbridge for? The real question is how the Trace, Dark Net and wand crystals could be used to provide them with this power."

Nobody had any answers.

"Look, I am exhausted and have early classes tomorrow. Let's all find out what we can, when we can, and meet up here on Saturday morning."

"Wait." Harry stopped her. "What did the Ministry want with you, Severus?"

"They know nothing. The imbeciles wanted me to teach the Aurors how to control Fiendfyre. "

"What did you say?"

I told them that if the perpetrators hadn't been caught within the next week, I would teach them a milder equivalent."

"And would you, really?" Harry looked curious, likely looking forward to such a lesson.

"Gods no. Saturday, then."

Severus took Hermione's hand, speaking softly into her ear. "And Saturday evening is mine, witch." She blushed, smiled, and flooed back to her dorm.


Ginny was just sitting down to dinner in the Great Hall the next day when she heard a bell chime from the pocket of her robes. Sighing, she extricated the parchment partway and gave it a quick glance. Suddenly she jumped, spilling pumpkin juice all over herself.

"Merlin's bloody hemmorhoids!" she burst out, jumping up from the table. She barely heard Professor McGonnagall's "That will be five points for language, Miss Weasley!" as she exited the room.

Ginny ducked into the first empty classroom she could find, and sent off her Patronus to the others. "Upper Marshpuddle. Parseltongue. Now." Then she activated her Portkey.


Severus apparated to the designated meeting point and found pandemonium. Ginny was holding a shield around them while Hermione cast a wide flame-throwing spell. He was just about to pitch in with Fiendfyre when Harry appeared, took a look around, and yelled "Finite!"

"That was English, you dunderhead!" Severus shouted at him.

"Quick, find me a snake. I need a snake." Harry panicked. Severus groaned, then rolled up his sleeve displaying the faded Dark Mark. Harry stared for a moment then started hissing, and the Inferi disappeared.

"Well, at least one theory has been confirmed." Hermione shuddered as she stepped over piles of incinerated insect corpses. Do you know if they entered the village? Were any people..."

She felt a stunner hit her back, and the world went black.


Hermione regained consciousness in a dimly lit, very pink room with her mouth gagged and her hands and feet tied securely to a bed post. Looking around, she saw Severus similarly restrained on the opposite side. She hoped Harry and Ginny had managed to escape.

Severus was looking at her intently, and she felt a gentle knocking at her Occlumency shields, which had become second nature during the war. She granted him entry.

"Are you injured?"

She shook her head, tuning out the petulant mewing of the insipid kittens decorating the walls.

"Good. They gave us an overdose of dreamless sleep; I think we were both out for eighteen hours."

Her eyes widened. No wonder she ached all over.

"Can you reply using Legilimency?"

Hermione shrugged. She knew the theory, but had never been given the opportunity to practise it.

"Just calm your mind and reach out to mine. I have opened a link to you but you need to bridge the gap from your end."

She nodded, and closed her eyes. Calm. She could handle this; she had faced far worse. "Severus?" She reached out. No answer. She imagined shouting to him. "Can you hear me?" Still nothing.

After her tenth attempt failed, she tried a different strategy and focused on Severus himself. On what he meant to her. On the way his mouth would curl up in that half-smile when he made his snarky remarks. On the way his lips felt on hers. How much she liked...

Oh, who was she kidding. She loved this man. Suddenly she felt a... presence... and reached out to it.

"Severus?"

Their minds pressed together. Hermione felt as if she were participating in a mental hug.

"I will give that an Exceeds Expectations." Hermione arched an eyebrow at him, but could feel his affection for her.

"How many of them are there? Did they sneak up on you as well? I can't imagine them being able to take you out otherwise..."

"Rowle was behind an invisibility cloak. She cast the Stunner and absconded with you via Portkey before I was able to react. " She felt his guilt at his lack of vigilance. "I told Potter and Weasley to apparate away, and I let myself get captured. This might actually work to our favour - we have a better chance of bringing this entire scheme down if we are together on the inside."

Hermione sent a blast of affection towards him, and his pupils dilated. "Hermione... it may be best not to do that... at least not here in Umbridge's bedroom"

"Sorry. Did that hurt?" Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit rejected.

Severus raised an eyebrow, then sent his own affection back at her.

Her body reacted with another dump or hormones. She blushed. "Okay. Understood." Then said more lightly, "The decor is enough to quash anyone's libido." A kitten hissed in the background.

"Indeed. If I weren't gagged I might vomit. How is your wandless magic?"

"I can do basic spells. But the only spell I can manage both silently and wandlessly is aperibus."

"Why in Merlin's name would you want to open doors wordlessly and wandlessly? Surely there are more useful spells you could have concentrated your energy on."

Hermione's embarrassment penetrated the link. It had actually been a mixture of utter boredom and a need to accomplish something during those excruciating months in a tent with very little hope. Harry and Hermione were attempting to explain Star Wars to Ron, and tried to come up with magical ways to imitate the Jedi powers. All three of them perfected the door-opening trick. Harry was strong enough to apply wingardium leviosa to imitate Force Levitation, and Hermione could manage it one time in ten. Ron wanted to learn the mind trick but that would have likely required a nonverbal imperio.

She felt his amusement at that thought. "At least the Dark Lord never attacked me with Force Lightning."

Hermione's gag muffled her laugh. "Baubillious Maxima produces a white version of it. We were unable to turn it blue, and it took too much power to attempt without focussing it through a wand. Harry liked to use it to light fires, purely for dramatic effect."

Severus snorted at the image. "I can perform accio and levicorpus. So if our wands are nearby, you can open the door and I can summon them. However, we have no way of holding them...

"How accurate is your accio? I had a knife down the back of my left boot and I don't think they found it. Could you summon it to cut your bindings without cutting yourself?"

He concentrated for a moment, and her knife flew out of her boot to stab one of the copious kittens in the eye. It let out a yowl, causing the others to join in.

"Not at all accurate, I surmise." She teased. "Or was that deliberate?"

"Obviously. I didn't want to stab myself as I determined my accuracy."

He concentrated again, and the knife flew towards him and stabbed the bedpost - right on top of the pink bindings holding his wrists.

At that moment, the door flew open, and Severus sent the knife out of sight as Dolores Umbridge walked in. The kittens suddenly went silent.

"Well well, who do we have here?" Her high pitched giggle sent an unpleasant shiver down Hermione's spine. "The traitor spy, and the mudblood bitch who sent me to the filthy Centaurs. What luck! Now tell me, why were you interfering with my Inferi? And where is the Potter brat? I know he was involved." She ripped off Hermione's gag.

"Harry is safe. You won't get to him." Hermione spat.

"Crucio!" Umbridge did not have the hatred nor the power of Bellatrix Lestrange, but Hermione still could not stop herself from screaming in agony. The noise attracted Rowle, who entered the room angrily. "Dolores, we don't have time for this. Just kill them. Fudge managed to convince the Wizengamot. The Trace is going into effect tonight, and the Nets tomorrow. I have the crystals here, but we need to link them as the Trace goes up. Tonight, we will be powerful, and tomorrow, unstoppable!"

"I need to know where their little friends are hiding. We don't know how much they know. And I want Potter. No one shall touch him but me, and his death will be... satisfying."

If the voice had not been so irritatingly high pitched, Severus could have sworn that last sentence had been uttered by Lord Voldemort himself.

"Fine. Leave them here. I'll send the idiot Fudge back to guard them, but we need to go, now.

Umbridge glared at them, then waddled out of the room behind her evil cohort.


"If Rowle weren't a pureblood I would accuse her of watching too many movies. That speech made her sound like a Bond villain."

"Will you be alright?" Severus ignored her levity and concentrated on her pain. "I have a potion back at Hogwarts that can help with Cruciatus aftershocks, but that doesn't help you now. We have to get out of here before they return."

"And then what? We need to stop them before they get too powerful."

Severus deliberated. "I assume they are linking wand crystals to each wand trace as it goes up, so that all spells cast with the wand divert any extra power to the crystal. But how do the Nets fit in?"

Hermione thought it over."Spell Nets don't prohibit the casting of spells, they just dampen the effects, right?"

Severus nodded.

"Well, normally, where does the magic go?"

"I assume it gets absorbed back into the atmosphere. But if it is cast by a wand linked to a remote wand crystal..."

"...then all the power that would normally go through the spell is absorbed by whomever is holding the crystals!" Hermione finished. "Is there any way we can sabotage this? Perhaps reverse the magic flow?"

"It's not precisely a directional transfer. A better analogy would be entropy causing the energy to dissipate, taking the path of least resistance.

"What if we overloaded it somehow? We know the crystals are designed as a capacitor for magical energy – what would happen if some other form of energy was directed at them?"

Severus frowned. "Electricity?"

"Sure." Hermione replied. "The crystals are attuned to the wands, and set to absorb everything the wands don't use. What would happen if someone were to electrocute a linked wand?"

Severus' grin looked feral. "I can't be sure, but I do believe your hypothesis is worth taking to the clinical trial stage. At the very least it will be the distraction we need." He spent a minute sending Hermione's knife into controlled stabs before freeing his hands, then tackled the remainder of their bonds.

"Ready to gain the upper hand?" He smirked at her.

"Always." She grinned back. "On three. One... Two..."

She opened all the doors in the general vicinity, while he sent a strong targeted Accio towards their wands. A minute later the two wands flew through the door, followed by a panting Cornelius Fudge. "What the devil?"

Two stunners brought him down simultaneously, Severus twitched his wand again and ropes twined around Fudge's body. Hermione quickly sent out her Patronus. "Harry, we are fine. Umbridge and Rowle are at the Ministry linking crystals to the traced wands. We have a plan. Check the parchment."


Ginny frowned at the message Hermione had written on the linked checklists.

'Get as many adults as possible together. Teach them Force Lightning Spell. When I write NOW below this message, have them perform it on each other's wands simultaneously.'

"Force lightning?" Ginny asked.

Harry blushed. "I'll tell you later. Let's get started. You contact the Order and Hogwarts staff. I'll get some Aurors and other friends. We'll all meet in the Hogwarts Room of Requirement." He turned on the spot and disapparated.


Dolores Umbridge felt the power already thrumming through the crystals she wore around her neck. And this was only the beginning! "Lumos", she incanted, and power drained from them as her wand emitted a blinding light.

"Merlin's Man-Tits, Dolores. Stop fucking around." Asta snarled, shielding her eyes as she entered the house. "Cornelius, you imbecile. Wake up!"

Cornelius Fudge jerked awake from his position on the sofa. He looked a bit dazed.

"If the prisoners have escaped through your carelessness, I will imperio you to geld yourself."

He blanched. Asta had a vicious streak. "No, no, nothing happened. I just dozed off a minute ago..."

They entered the bedroom where the traitor and bitch were apparently asleep in very uncomfortable positions . Dolores giggled. She had been anticipating revenge on the Granger chit for years. "Hem Hem," she sang. "I know the best way to wake up filthy mudbloods. Cruc..."

As she was talking, three things happened.

Hermione's wand slipped into her suddenly free hand, and she flicked it at the parchment that was partly hidden under the bed.

Severus cast the strongest shield charm he could muster around the bed.

And Umbridge, Rowle and Fudge exploded in a torrent of electricity.


A/N: Yes, They finally kissed! And I apologize for the initial awkwardness, but I don't see either Severus or Hermione as being all that experienced at seduction. This writing gig is not at all what I expected – somehow I had envisioned having god-like powers over the characters and plot. In reality, I am simply a vessel through whom the characters assert themselves . Again, thank you to all you wonderful reviewers, followers, etc! One more chapter to go.