"How well do you know the Mother Superior, Albus? And dare I ask, how do you know her at all?" Severus tried to appear dispassionate about the topic over afternoon tea, but Albus was too clever for him.

"You're wondering about the refences to the power she spoke of, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, I guess I am. Hermione has changed. At first I thought it was because she had gone through a dreadful ordeal with Malfoy, but there is something more powerful at work. You can feel it, and see the evidence of it in her."

"Yes," Dumbledore said wearily, "but I'm not quite sure how to describe it to you. Let me try. When I took over as headmaster of this school, I was told by my predecessor that occasionally disaffected young witches would enter a convent in Ireland. I also learned that while the convent itself was non-magical, the women who would seek shelter there and then return were quite extraordinary witches. They harnessed a feminine power unlike anything else we've known. No one knows for sure exactly why these witches change, but becoming a part of the Order of Benevolent Light and receiving the Mother Superior's blessing awakens something that is probably already inherent in these witches' personality. This drives them to become very mature and wise, if they use the power well. It's been manifested differently each time I've seen it; in my lifetime there have been only three witches that have returned from the Order. Four, if you include Hermione."

"Have I known any of these witches? You would think if someone was capable of greater magic than normal, I'd know something about them."

"You have known two personally. Lily Potter. Narcissa Malfoy."

"Are you suggesting…you're not saying…"

"I am saying it. Lily ran away to the convent before her seventh year here. My theory has always been that in addition to her great love for her son helping to protect him from Voldemort, her power helped rebound the curse. It didn't protect her, most unfortunately. But Lily proved the power of the Order in her ability to protect her son. And in both Narcissa and Lily's case, they passed on the power to their sons."

The revelations were shocking to Severus Snape. Why had Lily run away? She had everything going for her and was always in control of every situation, with that insufferable Gryffindor courage and spirit and her idiotic boyfriend and his Marauding friends.

"Was she…"

"I'd rather not tell you, Severus."

"I have to know."

Albus sighed with the weight of long-kept secrets that he wasn't certain should be revealed. "All right. She was in love with someone who made it clear that he didn't return her affections. It was before she became involved with James. She ran away on an impulse, and thought better of it before her final year here."

Snape's eyes flew open. "Me?"

"Did you not send her a letter telling her you could never love a Gryffindor and to sod off and leave you alone?"

"Oh, Albus. I had no idea she was in love with me. I thought she was toying with me like her idiot Gryffindor friends had done, and I lashed out. No one else ever wanted me, and I refused to believe someone as incredible as Lily Evans could possibly want me. I was in love with her. I am a damn fool. After she took up with James, I made the worst mistake of my life by joining Voldemort out of my frustration and rage at how the situation turned out. How twisted my life was because of my refusal to believe her."

"You were a damn fool, my friend. But things have unfolded as they should, Severus, you must believe that she never held you in contempt, and her destiny was with James. Harry had to be born. You must believe in this timeline, or it will be your undoing. There is nothing you can do about the past, but you have a future in your hands now that you need to consider." Dumbledore watched his friend carefully. Dumbledore had just revealed some very painful truths, but it was time that Severus knew the story.

"You never bloody well told me this. After all these years."

"I didn't want your feelings towards Harry to get any worse. And she swore me to secrecy, a trust I've just broken. I'm sorry."

"And Narcissa?"

"When she discovered her fiance's role in the Death Eaters, she fled for Ireland and the sanctuary of the Order. She discovered she was with child while she was there, and made the unfortunate decision to return to marry Lucius. Draco, like Harry, has the power of the Order in him. That's what Voldemort intends to use. This is only theory on my part, but I believe the reason Harry has had access to this power his whole life is because of his mother's blood sacrifice; but Draco will have access to the power on his eighteenth birthday, if past history is any indication. The only other living child of the Order's power became mature when he turned eighteen."

"I'll decide whether to forgive you for holding all this back from me later. Meanwhile, Miss Granger has this unnamed and unpredictable power just from spending five hours with that nun? Are you sure that ancient crone is not a witch? What am I to expect living next door to this woman?"

"I don't know, as my only available case study died three years after receiving the gift, and Narcissa might as well be dead; as you well know, she exists only on a lot of Muggle painkillers and alcohol, these days. I trust you will try not to allow either of those scenarios to happen to Miss Granger."

Snape shook his head slowly, and left for the Infirmary. He'd process the grief over what could have been with Lily some other time, as those days were in the past and he couldn't change them now. Like Albus said, he had someone else to protect now, and he had to see her again.

*~*

Hermione sat at the desk in her new rooms adjoining Severus' in the dungeons. While she was still confused about her growing attraction to the Potions Master and the power she could feel coursing through her soul, she was certain that the quiet dungeons were just the place for her to mend after all that had happened.

"Crookshanks," she murmured in the direction of her familiar, "what in the name of all that I hold dear has happened to my life?"

Crookshanks didn't have an answer, but he purred contentedly.

Dear Harry and Ron,

I hope this letter finds you well and safe at the Burrow. I am out of the Infirmary on my own power, and staying at Hogwarts for the time being. I'm contemplating my options, but I won't be joining you at the Burrow just yet. I'll owl you when I know more. If you can believe it, I've moved into rooms in the dungeons.

I will never be able to repay you for standing by me in my darkest hour. I love the two of you more than you know.

Keep Ginny out of trouble, you hear?

Love,

Hermione

She strode to the door to walk up to the Owlery, and nearly plowed headfirst into Snape. "Madam Pomfrey informed me that you insisted on leaving and settling in down here. I trust everything is satisfactory? How are you feeling?"

She wasn't used to him being this solicitous. "I'm fine, just tired and confused about a few things."

"What are you confused about, Miss Granger?"

"Several things, none of which I care to elaborate on as yet. When do we begin work on the potions?"

"I wasn't aware you had made a decision to accept my offer."

"I accept," she waved her hand impatiently. "Now, when do we start?"

"We can start after we lay down some ground rules, Miss Granger. We need to have a clear understanding of purpose before we can proceed, as our relationship by necessity is changing and we need to be clear on what the parameters are."

"I'm not oblivious to the relationship between a graduate assistant and a professor. I help you with your work, the Ministry grants me the title of Potions Mistress when all is said and done on your recommendation. You don't treat me like an insufferable first year, but I'm not your equal and must defer to your better judgment in our work. You depend on me, and we have absolute trust in each other's ability to work; yours to lead, mine to follow. Am I on the right track?" Hermione was amazed at herself. She was matching his normal sarcastic tone in her speech, and wondered for a minute if by becoming his apprentice she would take on more of his characteristics by default.

He nodded. "You can drop the insolent tone with me. I'm well aware of your grasp of the obvious, Miss Granger. We need to talk about a few other things, as well."

She realized they had been standing in the doorway for this exchange, and belatedly she motioned him inside and offered him a seat and put on the teakettle. My, has my life changed in less than two days, she mused. Who could have imagined that I would be offering a chair to Professor Snape in my own rooms in the Hogwarts dungeon? Or that I would be an ordained nun? Or that I would no longer be able to approach a bloody unicorn thanks to that scum Malfoy?

How much more could happen?

And why the devil does Snape make butterflies dance in my stomach? How is it that I never noticed what amazing hands he has, or the beauty of his eyes? Oh, gods, I am clearly going insane.

Snape's muse was engaged in similar fashion as he settled into a chair with a cup of fine Earl Grey. That ruddy penguin bewitched me, or some other foolish nonsense. I cannot for the life of me understand how I can be so attracted to an eighteen-year-old girl who not forty-eight hours ago was driving me insane with her know-it-all assistance to that overgrown lunatic Longbottom in the N.E.W.T. practicals. I am clearly going insane.

"So, Professor Snape, you had some more rules to lay down?" she prompted.

"Indeed. First of all, you may call me Severus. We are to be colleagues in our joint venture, and I'd like you to feel free to call me by my given name."

She inclined her head in acknowledgement, and mentally the name rolled in her mind. Severus. Even the name is so sexy. Shuddering and squashing the thought, she said out loud, "Then please call me Hermione. Though you could call me Sister Mary Rebecca if you are so inclined." She hoped that sounded lighthearted, but she could feel herself falling into his eyes and needed to figure out a way to pull herself out. What was happening?

"You chose the name Mary Rebecca?"

"Mary is my paternal grandmother's name, and Rebecca is my maternal grandmother's name."

"Hermione, then." He found himself inexorably drawn to her, and knew he needed to finish his speech and get out before he did something he would certainly regret in the morning.

"Secondly," he continued, shaking somewhat, "we'll need to draw up a formal contract with goals and schedules before we proceed. I think we should meet in my office after this whole thing with Malfoy is at an end, and work on this together. I want you to have the freedom to have a life, and not spend sixteen hours a day being harassed by me as you so eloquently said in Ireland."

"Agreed. I'll think about what my goals are tonight, and you consider what you want out of this…relationship…and we'll talk about it soon." She became very aware that he was trembling, and was unsure why at first. Could he be as attracted to her as she was to him? The thought was patently absurd.

"One more thing, Hermione," she loved the way he said her name, "we need to talk about your new powers."

"My new…what?"

"Dumbledore shared some very interesting information about the Order of the Benevolent Light, and I think we need to explore exactly what it means to be a member of that Order. It's not as cut and dried as you think; I don't think you're just a run-of-the-mill nun now."

"I've been noticing some rather drastic changes in myself since I went to Ireland, but I was unable to put a finger on what was causing it." She was worried about what she had gotten herself into, and that vow of celibacy was chafing her somewhat right about now. Vows were made to be broken, right?

"I don't think it is a bad thing, but you have received a gift. I believe you should visit with both Dumbledore and the Mother Superior as soon as possible, so that you can have a grasp of the power you currently possess and how we might make use of it." And maybe that ancient nun will help you figure out how to shut off your intense attractiveness to me so that I may sleep at night.

"Well then, I was off to find an owl to carry a note to the Burrow, and I think I'll stop by and talk to Dumbledore while I'm out. See you for dinner?" she asked with a note of longing.

He knew he couldn't make it through dinner at this rate, with the attraction to her growing stronger even now in her presence. "I'll be taking dinner alone in my quarters tonight. I believe tonight is Minerva's last night for a while, so you might ask her…I am sorry, I must be going." She resisted the urge to touch him as he fled her rooms, and turned around to the basin to throw cold water on her face before heading out.