Chapter 04: Hard evidence

Within a matter of hours, this despicable ministry witch had managed to transform the whole castle into a madhouse. Everyone was talking about the Open Link, if Severus had thought his task impossible before, it was even more so now. It would have been much easier to watch these moody teenagers under natural circumstances but now that they were all in a frenzy, it was totally impossible to detect who was falling out of line, because in a way, they all were. Suddenly half of the castle felt encouraged to follow their urges, indulging in heavy snogging sessions in various broom closets or the middle of the hallways. Severus Snape could only look at those idiots in disgust. Did none of them understand what it would mean to be discovered as the Open Link? Those dunderheads seemed under the impression that it was all about being special and desired but actually all they would be, was used. There was no saying what would happen if the Dark Lord ever got them into his spidery fingers. That was a fate he didn't wish on his worst enemy and definitely not on an unsuspecting teenager.

That left the question: What fate did he wish for the Open Link? What would he do, if he finally found him or her? Should he try to win the person for himself? Could he even win somebody's affection or admiration in the first place? What was the alternative? He knew the Dark Lord was not the only one after the Open Link, the Headmaster and the Ministry had also cast nets to catch the unlucky bastard. And Severus Snape would bet his strong hand, that they were not the only ones out for prey.

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Hermione was not in a good mood. She had spent every free minute of her day trying to procure a book that would help them learn more about the Open Link. By closing time she had to admit that either all books were already checked out or that there was no such book in the Hogwarts Library to begin with. This meant they were lacking unbiased information leaving them vulnerable to any falsehoods or half-truths the Ministry decided to spout. It was a situation she didn't like at all.

"There's really nothing?" Harry mumbled as soon as they had retreated into their corner of the common room.

"Nothing. There's not a single book Harry" Hermione admitted in defeat "and believe me, I was thorough."

"Crap," Ron mumbled and pulled his legs up to his chest. "But there needs to be something we can do, right Mione?"

She sighed. "I don't know Ron. Maybe we should give things a bit more time. I mean, Professor Umbridge told us how to recognize an Open Link in us. If there is some sort of … yearning or emotional uproar, then we'll realize it sooner or later, don't you think?"

He shrugged nonchalantly and stared at his knees not saying anything in return. So Harry took the chance and asked: "How did the Ministry even realize that there's something like an Open Link? Is there maybe some sort of artifact that can detect these sorts of anomalies? I mean, they are also somehow monitoring the trace in us. What if it is something similar?"

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip and contemplated this. "That's a very good question, Harry. Isn't that something your dad might know about Ron? I mean, he works at the Ministry, maybe not in the right department, but nonetheless…"

Her friend shrugged again. "Dunno, but I guess it's worth a try. I could write to my parents and ask them if you want. I mean, the Weasleys are an old pureblood family, so maybe they do know something about it."

"That would be great!" Hermione exclaimed and before she realized what she was doing, she threw her arms around his middle and hugged him fiercely. It was only a moment later that she contemplated her actions as she saw Ron staring down at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, uh…" he mumbled and Hermione could feel him stiffen next to her. She immediately let go but stared at him with furrowed brows refraining from commenting on his awkward behaviour. "I'll just go upstairs and write a letter to them, shall I?" Ron said quickly and a moment later he leapt from his spot on the floor. "See you tomorrow Mione, Harry." He waved at them with an awkward smile and a moment later he was gone.

Hermione and Harry stared at each other with wide eyes. "What was that?" she asked, blinking in confusion but Harry just shrugged helplessly.

"Honestly? I have no idea."

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Ron Weasley had already been suspicious of these new feelings blooming in him for quite some time but all it took was a hug from Hermione and he finally realized that he was, in fact, the Open Link. He had barely made it out of the room before his emotions caught up with him and he threw himself on the bed, heart beating wildly in his chest. There was also another, very unmistakable physical evidence of his growing feelings and wild emotions and he just hoped that Hermione hadn't realized what had just happened to… him. She was just Hermione for Merlin's sake, good old Hermione and she must have hugged him a dozen times before. Why was he suddenly feeling attracted to her like this? He knew the answer of course, it was the Open Link in his magic looking for a suitable partner to attach him to. In a way, this came as a relief because honestly, it would have been kind of unsettling if he suddenly developed feelings for one of his best mates. No, Hermione was still nothing more than one of his best friends. He would just have to reign in his marauding feelings a bit while in her presence. There were plenty of witches that would be happy to be attached to him, which gave him enough choice to find a suitable partner. This just left the question if he should tell his friends of his new discovery. Would they even believe him? He was only ordinary, boring Ron Weasley after all. Never in his life, he had been anything special, not until now.

No, he decided, he would wait and see how these growing powers evolved. Then, when he had collected enough evidence that he was, in fact, the chosen one, he would tell them. Harry and Hermione would have no other possibility then to acknowledge that he, Ron Weasley, was indeed special.

Now that he finally knew what he was looking for, he easily detected the chaotic feelings within him. He didn't even make it halfway through breakfast the next morning before his eyes caught sight of a sweet blonde Hufflepuff girl who he hadn't even taken notice of until now. But suddenly he felt a pull in his chest again and he had to force himself to stay seated and remain outwardly calm. Inwardly he was burning and under his voluminous school robes there was the ever-growing evidence of his newly awakened emotions. This realisation scared and excited him at the same time. If Hermione was right, which she usually was, then not only the ministry but also You-Know-Who himself would be on his heels. He really needed to prepare himself for that, maybe it was time to pay a bit more attention in class. It would be the best possibility to test his new awakened powers too.

"Today you will learn the Nox Maxima spell," Professor Flitwick announced in his usual squeaky voice. "As the name says, it is the opposite of Lumos Maxima and will enable you to darken a whole room or even a larger area, if you are powerful enough. Combined with a night-vision spell, which we will learn soon after, it is a valuable skill to have in a fight, this much I can promise you." The small Professor looked at them with a good-natured expression. "The spell is quite difficult to master but it is definitely worth the effort."

Ron agreed. This was his chance to learn a spell that would help him defend himself. He had no doubts that his newly awakened magical powers would help him master the spell. For him, it was just a matter of getting all the instructions and he made damn sure he did. He was promptly rewarded.

"Mr. Weasley! Very good!" Flitwick praised him as he covered the room in darkness on his first attempt of the spell. He couldn't see the reactions of the students surrounding him but he imagined that Hermione was gaping at him with an open mouth. "That was quite an extraordinary feat of magic, Mr Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Flitwick said with a wide smile after canceling Ron's spell. Ron looked onto the room with his chest puffed in pride. The spell practice continued soon after. Hermione was only able to master the spell on her third attempt and even though that earned her five house-points, Ron had proven once more that he was indeed the chosen one.

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"Look who's here, our new favourite Prefect," Fred said loudly as the small figure of Hermione Granger appeared in front of them in the hallway. Their first days of school had indeed been unexpectedly exciting with all the talk about the Open Link. The place had been in a delightful amount of chaos without them putting any effort into it. In a way, it was kind of like being on holiday.

Hermione stopped in her tracks and turned towards them. "Fred, George," she said neutrally and nodded as a greeting. But Fred could help but get the impression, that she seemed kind of distracted.

"How is our little brother treating you?" George asked and casually slung an arm around her shoulder. "I bet you're seeing even more of him now that you're both on prefect-duty."

"We're not doing any patrols together, so I'm not actually seeing him that much more often," Hermione answered matter-of-factly and started walking again. Fred nodded with a grin and fell into step with her and his twin. "And even so I don't know what you're implying."

The stiffening of her posture showed that she was lying and Fred said: "Well, it seems like our little Ronnekins has discovered the joys of manhood."

George snorted. "Yeah, he's been behaving rather strangely lately. Thought you'd noticed."

The witch in their middle sighed. "He's behaved like this ever since our first day of school. I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with him, but he's kind of been avoiding being alone with me ever since and when he talks to me he seems kind of… stiff."

"In more ways than one I imagine," George whispered through their twin link and Fred couldn't suppress the wide grin that spread on his face.

"Don't worry Hermione, I'm sure it's just a phase," Fred said and smiled encouragingly. "He'll come around. Boys can be like that sometimes but it's nothing to be worried about."

Their friend hummed thoughtfully and after a moment she nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Not that I have any experience in that department." At that, her cheeks blushed prettily and Fred grinned.

"Of course we're right, you'll see," he said and winked at her. The smile that bloomed on her face at his words made his heart do an excited little jump in his chest. How very curious.

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Hermione really needed to get a grip on her feelings and soon. Ever since that fateful day at the pool, her head had been going crazy with thoughts that had nothing to do with schoolwork. Fred and George drifted in her mind at least once during each of her lessons, no matter if it was Transfiguration or History of Magic. Her mind replayed every encounter she'd had with them over the past weeks and meeting them in the corridor while having George's arm draped around her shoulders hadn't helped matters – at all. It was just so humiliating having all these feelings when she didn't want them at all.

Her mum was probably right that she was a late bloomer but as it seemed her body had finally decided to enter puberty and had dove right in. Suddenly she understood why Lavender and the other girls had been so insufferable over the last years. If they had been on this rollercoaster of feelings for the last years, then Hermione felt really sorry for them. She felt like she was slowly going mad after only a few weeks of these feelings and she really didn't want to imagine what would happen to her if things got even worse.

"Today we are going to brew the Draught of Insight," Snape stated in his deep baritone from the front of the classroom snapping Hermione out of her thoughts. "Can anyone of you tell me what it is used for?"

Hermione knew the answer of course, as she had thoroughly prepared herself for all of her lessons today. She raised her hand, as usual, and as usual, she was ignored by the sour-looking man in front of her. She closed her eyes in annoyance and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"As usual you don't come prepared for your lessons. This talk of the Open Link seems to have gone to your heads even more than last year's excitement. How very disappointing." Professor Snape sighed before he finally fixed her with his eyes. "Miss Granger? Tell these dunderheads what you so eagerly memorized from the book, but in your own words, if you please."

Hermione nodded. "The Draught of Insight can be taken to find the answer to one's most pressing question. The answer, however, must be buried within the person itself, as the potion can only provide insight and not sight or wisdom in general."

The Professor nodded with a sigh before he started to walk through the classroom. "Good enough. In former days the Draught of Insight was also called the self-discovery potion as it was usually taken by people who were confused by their feelings. As a similar confusion seems to have befallen this school" Snape wrinkled his nose as if there was a bad smell in the air "I thought it appropriate to provide you with the means to give you the answer, some of you so desperately seem to seek."

At that, excited whispers broke out in class and Hermione felt a flutter of excitement herself. This potion could indeed be what she, Ron and Harry needed to find out if any one of them was, in fact, the Open Link.

"The instructions for the potion can be found in your books on page 13. I strongly recommend reading them very carefully as already minor mistakes can lead to quite unpleasant consequences." At that Snape paused in front of Neville's table and looked at the mortified boy with a dark expression. "Those of you, who find their potion adequate enough, will be allowed to try it at the end of class – at their own risk of course." Hermione couldn't help but note the unpleasant smile that graced his lips at those words. She was pretty sure that not many of them would be able to brew an adequate potion but it was totally like Snape to rub that fact in their faces. "You may begin."

Immediately the room leapt into action and Hermione could see that almost everyone started to read the instructions in the book with the utmost concentration. Well, Snape certainly knew how to motivate his students that much at least was certain.

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The plan was simple enough, Severus thought, as he watched the dunderheads attempt to brew an actually drinkable version of the potion he had assigned. He was sure that only a few of them would be able to produce something adequate during the lesson, but with a bit of luck at least the Granger girl and some others would be among them. He had no doubts that the nosy Know-it-all would do anything in her power to prove her superiority to him and to the rest of the class and if things went according to plan, some others would achieve the same result.

All he would need was a bit of low-key Occlumancy to scan some of those kids and if fate smiled down at him, he would find his answer concerning the Open Link. Even if this part of the plan didn't work, the school would still hopefully have a few less agitated and over-reacting teenagers. Only one of them could be the Open Link and every student who realized that it was not them, was a blessing for Severus' poor nerves. Wasn't that actually a reason to teach this potion in all of his classes this week?

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Hermione could feel Professor Snape's eyes on her during the lesson. It was quite common that the man kept a close eye on all of his students as Potions was one of their more dangerous school subjects and mistakes could be made very easily. Still, Hermione felt like he was watching her more carefully than usual and she couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling that spread in her belly at the realization. From their time at Grimmauld Place, she knew that the man was working as a spy for the Order, and even if Hermione trusted Dumbledore and his judgement, she couldn't help but ask herself why he had chosen this exact potion for today's assignment. Hermione read through the year's curriculum and therefore knew that the Draught of Insight would have only been due in the second half of the term. Was it only to provide to them as a means to find an answer for themselves? Or was there more behind it? Severus Snape was a Slytherin at heart and she could very well imagine that he wasn't simply trying to be nice or helpful towards them but had an ulterior motive. It wasn't like the man could read her thoughts, right?

The minutes flew by and Hermione banished her musings to the back of her head. She would need all her concentration to finish this challenging potion and achieve the desired result. Yet every time she looked up, she could see the dark eyes of Professor Snape resting on her making the uneasy feeling in her stomach grow. Why was he looking at her like that? Did she do something? Maybe it was her slicing technique or did she accidentally stir the potion into the wrong direction? No, she couldn't lose her nerve just now. Just half an hour more and then she'd take the time to think about her possible mistakes.

"Alright, time is up," Professor Snape called and Hermione sank back in her chair with a relieved sigh. Her potion was perfect, she was almost sure of it, which gave her the chance to finally relax.

"Bottle your potions up and put them on my desk. Those of you who are willing to try their own creation may line up in front of the class."

Hermione thought for a moment before she grabbed two small phials and bottled the potion carefully. From the corner of her eye, she could see several students trailing towards Professor Snape's desk to hand in their potions. Just as she was about to get up, her eyes landed on Ron and his definitely ruined potion.

"Mione? Could you… would you… would you give me your potion to test it for you? I don't want to hand it in with Snape, I don't mind getting a bad grade. But in the last days I just had this … feeling… and I need to know."

He looked at her with his huge, blue puppy eyes and Hermione couldn't help but sigh. She had actually planned on using the potion for herself but Ron was her friend and he clearly looked desperate.

"I… alright, you can have it," she said with a sigh and handed one of her vials over to him as inconspicuously as possible. Then she quickly marched to Snape's desk and handed him the other one with a neutral expression.

"Miss Granger, I assumed that you were one of the students willing to sample your potion. But I see you've only brought one phial of your potion." He looked at her with dark contemplating eyes but Hermione willed her expression to stay as calm as possible.

"No thank you, Professor. There's no particular question on my mind at the moment, so it would be totally wasted on me." She put on a smile and after the man stared at her for another moment, she turned around and went back to her seat. In the meantime, a short row of five students had formed in the front of the classroom. Besides Ron also Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott and Parvati Patil had decided to test their potions and Hermione watched with a heavy heart as one after the other nodded and downed the contents of their phials. Apart from a grimace on everybody but Malfoy's face and a moment of trance afterwards there was not much to see. The Slytherin's expressions stayed totally neutral when their eyes lost their glassy look, but Parvati sighed and sniffed dramatically as she made her way back to her seat. Ron looked … contemplative but for once Hermione really couldn't tell what he was thinking which made her more uncomfortable than she wanted to admit.