Chapter 6 – For What It's Worth

Disclaimer: Not mine. I don't claim to own. Don't sue.

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Hermione spent the next day positively bored through her classes, the irony of which being none of these were Potions, when it was probably the only time ever Hermione would have been pleased to see the Potion's Master. And surely, Hermione told herself, the need to find out if Snape was okay wasn't worth making a fool of herself. And though she didn't know the exact reason why she worried so much, she did, and when the time came to brew the Wolfsbane, she found herself almost twenty minutes early.

"Professor. You're alright." Hermione blurted, as she slid inside the Slytherin Head Office when the door opened.

A surprised Severus Snape sneered (A.N: Try saying that five times really fast!). "And I wouldn't be because?"

This stopped Hermione in her tracks. How she wished she could just turn around, walk out and close the door. "Well. Yesterday… during the Wolfsbane… you left for... meeting…"

Severus Snape looked amused, and this served to embarrass Hermione even more. One of these days, she told herself, she should really learn how to turn invisible. "You told the Head Master?"

"Yes sir. But I assumed it was a meeting for Death Eaters." Hermione's voice dropped almost to a whisper as she reached the last two words. For one, they could be heard by anyone who stepped into the Slytherin Dungeons. And two, perhaps Snape found it offensive being called a Death Eater. Who knew?

Snape let Hermione step in, before the door closed. He sat down. "Death Eaters, Miss Granger. It is who they are. They do not deny it. And do not be afraid to speak their name." Snape paused. "Gods, I sound like Albus."

Hermione made no move to sit down. "Why do you say 'they', Professor. If you are one of 'them'" Hermione breathed, it had sounded more brutal than she had intended.

But it was either Snape was the best mood he'd been in for years, or he hadn't yet realised the insult. "Because a Mark, The Mark, any mark, is only skin deep. Any values, beliefs, faiths lie below that."

"How can the Mark be only skin deep if it is actually a bond to Voldemort."

Snape tensed at the word 'Voldemort', and Hermione saw it.

"Do not be afraid to speak his name. You said it yourself, Professor. And yet, you still can't readily hear You-Know-Who's name."

Snape looked almost angry for a moment, but it faded into a sort of melancholy tone. "Perhaps you've read about it, Hermione, but to truly understand, you have to have experienced."

Hermione noticed he used her first name, but didn't find she felt any reaction. "You're linked to him through the Mark. Just like Harry's scar held his mother's love, and saved him from You-Know-Who, the Dark Mark is a symbol of Voldemort."

"Bonds can be broken, Miss Granger. Just like ties can be betrayed."

There was a silence. Hermione looked down at her hands, feeling rather depressed.

"Professor?"

"Hmm?"

"Many people know you're a spy for Dumbledore, right?"

"Right."

"How is it Voldemort hasn't discovered it yet?"

"We don't know. He could have."

"You know this and you're still attending the Death Eater meetings?"

"Yes, Miss Granger."

"Why in the worl – "

"The information I receive as a follower of the Dark Lord is invaluable to the fight against him."

Hermione felt like she was at a loss for words. Sighing, she leaned back into the green/black chair. Severus Snape moved to look at the time. Two minutes before they began the final stage of the Wolfsbane.

"We should start preparing."

Hermione nodded, and as the portrait swung open, they both stepped into the next room.

The cauldron was already set up, but had lay idle since yesterday, and numerous flasks and jars were standing at random places on the bench. Hermione went to remove them, while Snape left to find the new ingredients needed.

A faint alarm buzzed just as Severus Snape rushed out of his storeroom, several jars floating behind him. It took Hermione a moment to realize the buzzing was coming from Snape's wand. Hermione looked on with interest as he pulled a thin polished wand from his sleeve, and she found it surprisingly ironic that is wasn't black. A dull brown instead, Snape waved it once and the alarm stopped, and he carefully slid it back up the arm of his robes.

"Well. Miss Granger." He finally said. "The final stage of the Wolfsbane is centered only on the Wolf's Blood alone. We melt it, and add a controlled amount at set intervals. The entire process will take more than hour, and the slightest error will cause the potion to become unstable, and therefore unusable."

"Which leads to the question: why were you making the potion while teaching a class?"

Snape allowed a small smile. Something, Hermione realized, was happening more and more these days. "Seemed fine at the time. It had been stage four then."

Hermione laughed and bit back the urge to say 'Well, it didn't turn out so fine, did it?.' Instead, she turned back to the Potion. "So. How much first and what are the set intervals?"

"250ml. Intervals are in minutes: 10, 23, 12.5, 14, 35.5."

"Half minutes?" Hermione looked on exasperated. "It compensates for stirring and stuff right?"

Severus Snape sneered. "There is no stirring and stuff."

"I had no idea." Hermione answered hotly. "Besides, one person could get this done much faster."

"I know. Which is why I'm doing the Potion, and you – " He reached for his desk drawer and pulled a manila folder from it – at which point Hermione groaned – and handed it to her. " – are marking these."

"Okay. I marked them last time. What makes you think I'm going to help you with your 'teacher duties' this time?"

Snape shrugged and tried to look innocent, something Hermione realized she had never seen before.

"I also said I was Potion making, not red penning essays."

Another shrug. Snape tried to look disinterested, and turned back to the Potion, which was now simmering softly.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I saw that, Miss Granger. I could take off points for that."

Hermione rolled them again. "But you won't, because…" Hermione mocked a sickly sweet tone. "I'm helping you mark your essays."

"Very well. No points taken. Besides, its good experience."

"For what? Growing up to be a manipulative bastard of a teacher like you?" Hermione muttered. Luckily, Snape didn't hear.

Five minutes later, when Hermione was immersed in a rather amusing Polyjuice Potion essay, Snape's wand buzzed, and Snape poured 250ml of silvery red liquid all at once into the cauldron.

"Shouldn't it be put in droplet by droplet?"

"No. It was take too much time that way, and either method allows the liquid to dissolve, which is what we want."

Hermione nodded, and placed yet another cross on the homework of a 'Annabelle Jones.'

Half an hour later, Hermione had finished. And she was, in no circumstance, accepting another pile of the junk some students wrote. Most of it was even worst than Ron's, and that was really saying something.

"Finished."

"I've got – "

"No," Hermione said immediately.

"Excuse me?"

"No, Professor Snape, I am not marking anymore student assignments."

Snape almost laughed. "That wasn't what I was going to ask Miss Granger. I've got to go inside to prepare for a sixth year lesson tomorrow. I need you to add this entire flask – " He indicated the silver liquid. " – when the wand goes off."

He set his wand onto the bench and left for his Office, and when the portrait closed, Hermione swore she had heard him laugh.

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Okay, I know it's been too long for you to forgive me. But at least I continued, right?

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