Chapter Eight: Words Exchanged

Hermione was out numbered, 5 to 1, and wandless. She appeared calm, but inside she was panicking. It was all imaginary, but what if this did happen to her in real life?

"CRUCIO!" one of them yelled. The professors gasped in horror. The curse hit Hermione square in the chest and she stumble backwards a bit. She was in pain and her breathing was irregular. She fought through the pain and kicked her attacker in the head, knocking him unconscious. This body disappeared.

'CRUCIO!" another on of the men in black yelled. The curse hit her left arm. She gasped and stumbled backwards again. She did her best to ignore the pain and gave her attacker a right-hooked punch, then a punch in the stomach, then uppercut him. 'The old 1-2-3,' she thought. He fell back and disappeared.

"CRUCIO!" Hermione felt her knees go weak. The pain was excruciating. He went to this person and choked him as he disappeared.

"CRUCIO!" Hermione wanted to die. She couldn't stand it. She was losing her energy. She was running on adrenaline. She almost fell as the curse hit her. She went to this attacker and snapped his neck. He disappeared.

"CRUCIO!" the last man in black yelled. She was seeing double vision and was now on all fours trying to fight the now extremely intense pain. She hurt all over and was shallowly breathing. 'I am not letting this contraption get the best of me.' She got up and yelled in anger and pain as she ran to her attacker. She beat him up good until he disappeared.

Now standing alone, she let out a loud blood curdling scream until there was no air in her lungs. She soon fell to her knees and collapsed on the metal floor. She fainted.

"HERMIONE!" McGonagall yelled.

The professors ran from their seats to where Hermione was lying on the ground.

"Mission Two, complete. Would you like to proceed to Mission Three?" the computerized voice asked.

"No!" Lupin yelled. He went to Hermione and used her wristband to turn the system off.

Hermione was now face down in the grass. Lupin turned her over on her back.

"Hermione?" Lupin said as he tried to wake her. "Hermione, can you hear me?"

Madam Pomfrey went to her and checked for a pulse. "She's still alive." She took out her wand and pointed it at Hermione. "Ennverate."

Hermione's chest rose as she took in a deep breath. She got up and stretched as if she were waking up from a nap.

"Hey guys, watcha doin' down here?" she asked.

"You fainted after being hit by the Cruciatus Curse five times, Ms. Granger," Snape said.

"I did? Yeah, that sounds vaguely familiar now."

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm fine. I'm not in any pain."

"How did you manage to kill off those five men while you were being hit with the Cruciatus Curse?" Snape asked.

"I turned my blinding pain into a murderous rage. Believe me, it's easier said than done. I just wanted to rip off my limbs because they hurt so much."

"It was quite a display of strength and endurance," he said.

"Was that a compliment coming from the dastardly Potions Master of Hogwarts?" She asked feigning shock as she smiled.

"Let's get you to bed, Hermione. I'm sure all this excitement has made you tired," McGonagall cut in before Snape could reply.

"Sure." It was late. She put on her cloak and took out her wand. "Pack!"

All of the equipment flew at her and went back into the box it came in. She picked it up and said. "Alright, let's go." They all went back inside the castle.

"Let me walk you back to your room, Hermione," Lupin offered.

"No, it's alright, Remus. I'm sure Severus can walk me down there." She turned to Snape. "I assume that you are going to the dungeons anyway, yes?"

"Yes, I am, Ms. Granger. Come along." They both walked down to the dungeons. Hermione and Snape stopped in front of her portrait.

"You mind coming in for a bit? I need to talk to you."

"Very well."

"Hello, my lady. I see that Sir Severus Snape is with you."

"Hello, Sir Henry and yes he is. Smokey Joe's Cafe."

The portrait swung open and they both entered. She put the box down on the table and motioned for him to sit. "Tea?"

"No, thank you. Do you think it's wise that I know your password, Ms. Granger?"

"Yes, I think it is. In case you need me, you know my password and can wait for me here. It's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. I also want all of your passwords."

"I am not giving you my passwords."

"But you must. I am your bodyguard. If I need access to you, I need to know your passwords and every time you change them, I need to know. Just give them up. It's not like I'm going to broadcast this to everyone. Here, write them down."

He took the parchment and quill form her hand and reluctantly wrote down his passwords and where they correspond to. He handed her back the paper.

"Thank you." She looked at the parchment and put it in her pocket. "Now, we need a safe word."

"A safe word?"

"Yes. It's so I know that you're you. I'll ask you every so often for the safe word. You can do the same to me. So, how about 'Swordfish'?"

"Fine. Is there anything else, Ms. Granger?"

"Only a couple more things. I think you're safe for the rest of the month. Dolohov and Rookwood won't try to attack you so soon. You have better be careful. No matter how hard I try, I can't be with you 24/7."

"I'm always careful, Ms. Granger. I am a spy for Dumbledore after all."

"Don't underestimate these two. And just as I can call you by your first name, you can call me 'Hermione' or 'Granger'. 'Ms. Granger' is too formal and I am your equal at the moment."

He stared at her.

"Or we could just stick with 'Granger'. Ya know...baby steps."

Snape smirked. "Are we done here, Granger?"

"Yes, we are. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night." He got up from his seat and walked to the connecting door.

"Hey, Snape?" He turned around to face her. He was about to comment when she said, "Word?"

"Swordfish." He opened the door and entered his chambers.

Hermione sat quietly in her seat for a while after he left, musing over what had happened on her first day back at Hogwarts. 'Quite eventful and productive, if I do say so myself.'

Hermione took out the list of passwords Snape had written. Within minutes she had memorized them. She put the note in with her case files. She then took out the Marauder's Map. She made two copies of it. Harry would never forgive her if anything happened to it.

One of the copies she enlarged and placed on the wall of her bedroom. The other copy was like the original, pocketsize.

"Crook? Where are you?"

Her owl flew from her perch and hooted. She fed her some owl treats as she wrote a Thank You note to Harry and Shacklebolt. In Harry's envelope, she enclosed his Marauder's Map.

"Crook, take this one to Harry and then this one to Shacklebolt."

She hooted and flew away. She really was tired. The using new Auror training system had taken a lot out of her. She went out of her quarters.

"Sir Henry. Are you awake?"

"Yes, Lady Hermione, I am."

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor." He nodded. "Unless the school's on fire, I do not wish to be disturbed."

"As you wish, my lady. I shall grant no one entry unless it is of dire importance."

She smiled. "Thank you, Sir Henry. I appreciate it."

"It is my pleasure." He bowed from inside his portrait.

'There is work to do tomorrow.' She entered her chambers and changed into her pajamas. It was a gray cotton tank top with matching cotton shorts that came above mid-thigh. She immediately fell asleep.

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