Weeks soon began to pass without Hermione meeting up with Snape anymore. She just seemed to wander aimlessly through the corridors of Hogwarts. . . She still completed all her homework on time, attended her classes, sat with her friends. . . But she didn't feel the same. She felt empty. Like there was nothing worth living for. . .

And as she began to dip into despair, she became jumpy when others were around her and skeptical of what they told her. She was slowly becoming frightened of those closest to her. She began to think that they might be helping Graham get to her. . .Everything around her was becoming dark.

Her feelings and mind were clouding over. She felt like she was walking around in a haze that blocked her from seeing anything. As if it was allowing her only the paranoia that others might be around, lurking in the haze; waiting, watching, for her to show a moment of weakness. Then, they would attack.

But she wouldn't show that moment of weakness. No, she had resigned herself to never let another near her. She couldn't take the risks. Not while she was trying to find a way to rescue her parents.

But the place she had always thought of as a haven was now merely a place to gather information and nothing more. Her hours in the library passed with alarming slowness. She was working harder than she ever had before, and it was fruitless. The answers she was looking for were not to be found in books. She had long since figured that out, but she didn't want to admit - not even to herself - that books couldn't help her through her largest crisis.

Hermione shut the book quickly. She was tired of this; tired of being lost; tired of having no answers; tired of not being able to do anything. She needed to do something. She needed to help. She wanted to help, in any way she could.

Hermione checked her watch. It was late. Which meant dark halls and the possibility of running into Graham. . .She fearfully cast a long look at the door that led out of the library. She had to do it. She couldn't let her fears get in the way. Gathering her courage, she began her long journey to Dumbledore's office.

__________

"Three finest," Hermione said as she stood beside the large stone eagle in the spiral area. It was motionless for a moment before swiveling upwards. Hermione took deep breaths to calm herself and stepped into Dumbledore's office. Was he going to ask her how she found out that the Order was holding meetings? The password to his office? Her brow creased but settled back to normal when she saw Dumbledore smile at her.

"Hermione, what a pleasant surprise," Professor Dumbledore looked up at her from behind his desk and smiled kindly.

Hermione lost her nerve for a moment as the professor's kind, seeing blue eyes looked into her.

"To what do I owe this visit?" He said, still kindly, when she didn't say anything.

"H-Hello, Professor, I just came to talk to you about the. ." She paused. Would he really let her have a larger role - any role - for that matter? "The Order." She finished defiantly.

"Oh? What, might I ask, for?" His face depicted mild surprise.

"I was wondering if I could have a larger role in what we are doing. I know you must be doing something; it would seem silly and not exactly intelligent to have nothing planned with Lord Voldemort's steady rise in power."

"Ah. . .Yes, we do have plans - and are currently executing several of them. What sort of part would you like?"

Hermione felt her nervousness drift away. "Anything where I can help."

"Is that so," He murmured and looked at her through his half-moon spectacles. He seemed to be studying her and she tried not to glance away under his knowing eyes.

"How about you come to the next meeting, and we will discuss it there?"

Hermione nodded, smiling brightly. "Thank you, Professor." Dumbledore smiled at her and she left.

____________

"I did it!" The young witch whispered excitedly to herself as she hurried to her dormitory.

"Excuse me," A voice suddenly hissed in her ear. She jumped and whirled around.

"F-Filch!" Her eyes widened, but her insides sighed with relief; it wasn't Graham.

"You know my name, well done. Now what are you doing out after hours?" Filch growled.

"I was just speaking with Professor Dumbledore," She said.

"Is that so? How about we go and have a chat with him now?" His beady eyes glared at her.

"Please, Mr. Filch, I need to get back to my dormitory and do my homework," Hermione pleaded not wanting to be caught right after she was told she could participate more in the Order.

"I see," His beady eyes glittered, "You don't want to see him, eh? Now why would that be? Might it be because you were never there?"

"Please, let's just go to Professor Mcgonagall, if you must. Professor Dumbledore is a busy man."

"Mcgonagall. . ." Filch paused to consider it. "Why wou - Professor!"

Professor Snape looked at the scene before him with great distaste on his features.

"What is going on, Filch?" He said with the same distaste in his voice that his features showed.

"I seem to have caught a student sneaking around after hours. . .What do you reckon the punishment should be?" Filch asked with utter happiness on his face.

Hermione looked at Snape with desperateness written on her face. Please get me out of this. . .Please. . She pleaded silently to herself and looked at Snape's cold expression. They stared at each for several moments before Snape's face hardened even more. Hermione's heart sank. He wasn't going to help her. But what had happened to the man who had been so kind to her just a few weeks ago?

Hermione felt something stir within her. Snape had been acting differently in the past few weeks. He had been cold to her. He had chastised her more than normal. Yet despite his cruelness to her, she had seen something lurking in his eyes when she had been in his rooms that day. And the way both he and she had acted. The way she felt for him - the way he would never return. . .But she had still seen something in his eyes that day that had been hidden well ever since. Perhaps it was. . .

"I reckon," His cold leer rested once more on Hermione and halted her thoughts, "That you should punish her at your discretion." Snape said before sweeping off down the dark corridor. Hermione glared at his back wondering where the sensitivity he had shone her before was. . .

Filch's face widened in glee. Very rarely was he able to choose a punishment for the rule-breakers, and Snape had just given him the permission to. . .

"All right, follow me," Filch barked at Hermione. She winced and followed.

All the while she walked that night, and through her next night's detention, she thought of Snape. She thought of everything about him, right down to the almost caring nature he had been showing her to his coldness to her when she was caught out after hours.

She had thought of everything about him, except for the grief that had remained hidden deep within him.

__________

And everything remained that way for several weeks. Snape remained cold to Hermione, while her own sadness grew. It stemmed from not only her Hermione's destroying encounter with Graham, it also came from her not being able to speak with Snape. His cold manner to her remained until there was a meeting of the Order. When she was somehow tricked into becoming closer to the professor whom she thought loathed her.

Hermione walked into Dumbledore's office. In the round office stood just Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor? Where are the others?" She checked her watch and saw that it read the time she was supposed to be there by, but where was everyone?

"In the other room. This way," The wizened wizard showed her to a wall that was covered with various photographs overlapping each other so there wasn't a speck of the wall showing. He touched one with a bright red blotch on the upper hand corner of it and murmured a phrase. The photographs instantly sprang aside and revealed a semi-wide opening into a well lit passage. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Did you catch the password, Hermione? It's 'Black Éclairs'. You will do well to remember it," Dumbledore said before smiling at her and starting down the passage. Hermione followed him down the passage, and saw that, while they took no turns, she could easily get lost. The patterned walls were of fluorescent colors that outshone the torches on either side of the passage. Not only that but the passage way seemed to turn and have many other passageways branching off of it, but as Hermione walked through the passageway and kept a careful eye on her surroundings. She was sure that she went only straight and took no turns.

"Ah, here we are, the Meeting Room," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he saw that everyone was there. "I assume you know everyone?" Hermione nodded as she saw Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Snape, and her survey of the room stopped there. She glanced away from Snape and looked around the rest of the room, not seeing the rest. She moved and sat into a large chintz chair and sat straight, looking at the cup of tea that appeared before her. She took the tea and began to sip it slowly, ignoring the looks she got from the others and looked at Dumbledore.

"Hello everyone, I trust that you have all had a pleasant couple of weeks?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he spoke. "Well, I hope you have, however, now is not the time to discuss it. We are here for a brief update then to assign new roles." He looked at Hermione for a moment before turning his attention to Snape. "Severus, have you been summoned recently?"

"Only once. The Grangers are still there and alive," Snape kept his eyes trained on the headmaster. "However, I am unsure of how long they will last." Hermione fought to control her emotions. "They are growing thin and the Dark Lord is growing impatient. . ."

"Ah, I see. We will have to come up with a reason for him to keep them around. Any ideas?" Dumbledore cast his gaze around the room.

"Can we tell Him that Hermione has yet to find out about her parents and He must wait a little longer so she does?" Tonks suggested.

"Don't be foolish," Snape's voice cut the suggestion in half. "The Dark Lord already knows that Miss Granger knows, I'm sure of it. The Dark Lord has the children of His Death Eaters stationed at Hogwarts. They must have noticed something."

There was silence. No one spoke. Hermione looked around slightly unnerved that no one else had any suggestions.

"What if. ." All eyes turned to Hermione. "What if Professor Snape were to go to Lord Voldemort," A few flinched in the room, "and tell Him that I am slowly sinking into despair at knowing about my parents." Snape was almost going to object, but Hermione continued. "However, what if the fact that knowing my parents were still under His control and not d-dead left me in even more despair?" Hermione was quiet and silently waited for criticism. There were several moments of quiet before anyone spoke.

"Well, Severus, would He take it?" Dumbledore asked.

Severus studied his own cup of tea for several more moments.

"Yes. .I think He might. He seems to understand such matters, that is why He has kept them alive, I believe." Severus spoke slowly.

"Well then," Dumbledore said cheerfully clapping his hands together. "The next order of business, shall we? Any pressing information to volunteer?"

"There have been no odd reports from the students," Professor Mcgonagall said.

"Splendid. Anyone else? Akasa?"

Akasa looked at the headmaster. "No, nothing has been going on. It seems the He has gone into a duration of waiting. . ."

"It does seem that way. So, no reports have been heard. Strange sightings? Conversations?"

"Nothing here," Professor Flitwick said. Hermione looked at him. He wasn't in the Order before, then again, neither was Professor Sprout who was sitting next to him. . .How many people did Dumbledore recruit?

"I have heard nothing, and I even made a point of visiting Hogsmeade too," Professor Sprout followed in suit.

Dumbledore's eyes began to lose their twinkle. "No one has heard or seen anything? He is being too quiet. . . False sense of security. . ." Dumbledore muttered. The room remained quiet until Dumbledore spoke again.

"Now, the Advance Guard, you haven't had as much work while he is at school, but you are still watching, right? Bed checks? When he is at Hogsmeade?" Dumbledore asked, assuming all knew that 'he' was Harry Potter.

"I have been keeping tabs on him and the others when they are in Hogsmeade," Mad-Eye Moody said in his usual growling voice.

"You mean Hermione and Ron? Or have you been watching the others close to the Order too?"

"I watch all of them, but mainly just the three." Moody's magical eye spun towards Hermione then other various parts of the room.

"Good," Dumbledore said approvingly. "Minerva?"

"Bed checks. I have been doing them every night late enough so I will know they are not prowling the corridors. Though, they do have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Mcgonagall looked at Hermione for a moment before changing her gaze to another area of the room.

Hermione couldn't help but smile slightly. "Sorry, Professor. I will try to make sure we don't stay out after curfew as often."

Dumbledore smiled at her. "That would help, Hermione. And - " He continued to look at the young witch. "We now need a real placement for you." He looked at everyone. "Hermione has requested a larger role in the Order. Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Can't she work with me?" Akasa asked tentatively.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, I think it would be too soon for a placement like that."

"And some positions would be too dangerous. . ." Tonks murmured, casting a glance at Snape.

"Actually," Moody growled. "She should work with Snape," Moody looked at Snape, daring him to counter his 'suggestion'.

"Severus? That's too dangerous!" Mcgonagall said.

"Not that, " Moody growled. "She can help him make potions. When Snape has to pay a visit to Voldemort, it leaves him tired afterwards. My suggestion was that she would help him brew the necessary potions," Moody gave a pointed look at Lupin.

"She can't brew the potions that need to be brewed. I won't have her working with me," Snape growled at Moody.

"Now Severus, why don't we give her a chance? If she can't, she can't. If she can, then you will have an easier time in your own job," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Hermione, do you think you are up to the task of brewing potions well beyond the schooling level Hogwarts offers?"

Hermione stirred her tea. It swirled gently in the glass cup. Would she be able to do it? True, she had brewed many potions beyond her years, but if she made a mistake this time. . The consequences would be far higher.

"What potions would I need to brew?" She asked timidly.

"I doubt you can brew the potions with such complexity that I must," Snape said.

"At least tell me what potions are required," She replied evenly.

Snape glowered at her. "The Polyjuice Potion is a difficult potion to make which many can't brew."

Hermione fought a smirk and settled for a small smile. "Is that all?" Everyone looked at her. "I learned how to brew that potion in my second year. Aren't there any more challenging potions?" Slightly stunned, those in the room looked at Snape.

"I suspected that much. The Wolfsbane potion is among the most difficult for even myself. Have you ever tried that?"

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully. "No, I haven't. Shall we see if I can?"

Dumbledore smiled and clapped his hands together. "Well there we have it! Hermione you shall be working with Severus when he needs your help."

_________

AN:

This chapter took longer than I expected to write. Very little inspiration. And the bad news is that as the most you people will probably only get one more chapter for the next two or three weeks. Why? Well, the next chapter will come out this week, however, next week I will be gone for a week at a fair. And the week after that if ALL practices. I have soccer from 7-9am, band practice until 4, and then another soccer practice for two more hours. Sounds like loads of fun, doesn't it? :P It will be a busy week, but I love it^_^ Wouldn't do it if I didn't. I'm just going to busy that's all, just like this coming school year. Going into 11th grade *cheers* Though I'm taking lots of difficult classes *boo* But, like I said, I love it. Whether it is playing sports, learning, or writing.

As for my writing, thankies so much for reviewing! I love it^_^ I'll update soon!