Changes Made

Chapter 3

Snape's robes billowed ominously around him as he strode towards Dumbledore's office. His scowl caused figures in the portraits along the corridor duck for fear that the glass in their frames would break should he glance in their direction. He reached the stone gargoyle at the end of the hallway and nearly shouted the password, "Fizzing Whizbee", in his anxiousness to see the Headmaster of Hogwarts. The spiral staircase rose to the heavy wooden door, which Snape burst through without knocking. Dumbledore looked up from his seat behind the desk.

"Ah, Severus. I've been expecting you."

"Headmaster," Snape said, fury making his voice strangely calm. "What is the meaning of this?" He produced the crumpled message delivered minutes earlier by the house elf.

"My dear Severus, I should have thought it quite clear! Do you have some sort of problem with it?" Dumbledore smiled to himself and looked questioningly at the younger man before him.

"How can you ask me to resume Occlumency classes with Potter? And you want me to teach Hermione Granger, too? You know what that infernal boy saw during our last lesson!" Snape exclaimed, moving his arm about expressively.

"Yes, I do, Severus. I trust that you remember what Harry saw after your last lesson together as well. We can not let that happen again, for the sake of every one involved," Dumbledore explained kindly, adjusting his half-moon spectacles. Snape looked slightly abashed, but then continued.

"But why Granger as well?" he demanded, looking even angrier.

"Because I believe Miss Granger has the mental capacity to learn Occlumency and do well. Her presence there will also encourage Harry to do well, and I suspect," Dumbledore smiled again, "that she will also encourage Harry to practice."

"I don't want to repeat what happened last time," Snape said tiredly.

"I quite understand," Dumbledore assured him. "If you like, you may remove particularly uncomfortable memories in my office and I shall place them in a carefully locked cupboard until you see fit to return them to your head. However, if I understand correctly, it was an experience that Harry hardly desires to repeat, and Hermione Granger is not likely to do anything so careless as to wander into another's thoughts." At this Snape relented.

"Very well, Headmaster." He gazed broodingly for a moment at his oldest friend. "Any news from Headquarters?"

"Nothing new," Dumbledore answered, beginning to rifle through papers on his desk. "The Ministry is still in an uproar. New precautions all over the place. If I didn't know better, I'd say several of them were designed more to keep people inside the Ministry rather than out of it. Fudge has ordered new background checks on everyone. Several of the shadier fellows are being closely watched, including Lucius Malfoy, who is being very careful not to get his robes wet." Here Dumbledore chuckled. "Any change in your Mark?"

"None," Snape replied, twitching his left arm reflexively. "He's being careful not to make any disturbance that will get him caught."

"I don't suppose you've come to any conclusions as to how we might locate his Soulstone?"

"None, sir."

Dumbledore sighed. "I'll let you know if anything comes up, Severus. In the meantime, perhaps you'd better work on a lesson plan. I would like your lessons to commence two weeks before start-of-term. I'll be sending letters to Mr. Potter and Miss Granger within the hour." Snape knew a dismissal when he heard one. He took his leave and departed.

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Hermione had removed the drop cloth from overtop the cluster of furniture at the centre of her room. Her bed was nestled snugly between the bureau and the desk, still wrinkle-free, waiting for her to clamber into it. Hermione stood by the door in her pyjamas and slippers, listening for her mother's footsteps on the stairs. Soon enough, they came, and holding her breath Hermione shot out of her room, closing the door behind her.

With an excellent display of acting skills, Hermione pretended that she had been in the bathroom getting a drink of water.

"Is everything all right, dear?" Mrs. Granger asked worriedly, coming to the head of the staircase.

"Of course, mum. Just caught a bit of a frog in my throat and needed a drink," Hermione answered. "Everything's fine." Mrs. Granger took a step towards Hermione's bedroom and stretched her hand out to grab the door knob.

"Why is your door closed, dear?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Oh no reason!" Hermione leapt forward and stepped between her mother and the door. "I just had to closed to keep Crookshanks out tonight. I'm leaving the window open so Griselda can get in, and I don't want him tying to jump out of it."

"Has he done that before?" Mrs. Granger frowned in thought. "That isn't very safe, is it? Oh well, in that case, I won't tuck you in tonight, okay? Are you sure you don't smell something?"

"Yes, mum, I'm sure. Good night!" Hermione hugged her mother, breathing an inward sigh of relief. Her heart was still beating quickly as her mother descended the stairs.

............

The next morning, Hermione woke with a flutter in her stomach. She had a new plan for the day. As soon as her parents had gone off to work, Hermione flew back up the stairs and dressed quickly. Grabbing her purse, Hermione legged it for the nearest bus stop. Within minutes a noisy bus lumbered up and Hermione got on, handing her fare to the cranky looking man behind the wheel. Another few minutes on the bus had her nearly to the centre of town where she quickly located a promising department store.

Once inside, Hermione hurried to the bedding section where she found bedclothes and pillows in every shape and size one could imagine. Pulling from her purse the paint chips that she'd used in her room, Hermione began searching for the perfect matches. Half an hour later, she had it narrowed down to two sets. One was the same crimson as her walls with golden stars and moons printed on it. The other was a deep royal blue with glow-in-the-dark constellations on it. Ultimately, Hermione decided that the stars-and-moons print fit the room much better, and she moved on to choose bedroom accessories to match the sheets.

............

Hermione rode the bus home giddy with excitement. The shopping bags piled in the seat next to her were tangible proof of her new found resolve to step from the corner where everyone seemed to place her. When she reached home, Hermione shuffled inside, laden with her heavy bags. Upstairs, she rearranged her furniture and in a flash had everything off the bed and waiting to be put through the wash. Deciding she could wait no longer, Hermione removed her new things from their plastic packaging and almost reverently deposited them around her room. She began with the sheets, then the pillowcases and comforter, and then one fantastic little pillow shaped like a star that she'd found in a corner of the store.

Next, Hermione replaced the frilly white lampshade that covered the lamp on her bureau with a tasteful golden one, accented neatly with red beads. She exchanged the lacy curtains over the window for some that matched the bedclothes. A sweet little alarm clock, also shaped like a star, now resided in her desk. The wall opposite her bed now played host to a poster of the Weird Sisters, and next to her bureau, Hermione had tacked a clever poster of Kenneth Branagh.

The final touch to the room was a crimson throw rug with the image of a sleeping lion on it. On the reverse side, the lion was posed proudly, as if making to bellow out an earth-quaking roar. As she stepped back to take in the final effect, Hermione couldn't resist hugging herself and doing a little dance. As if to signify that this was obviously how things ought to be, Crookshanks ambled past her and jumped easily to her bed, curling up quite as if he belonged there. He then proceeded to purr loudly. All Hermione had to do now was wait.

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A/N: Hello everyone! This story is incredibly easy to write, assuming I can find all the proper words to tell it with. The only problem now is finding time in which to write! Of course, if I don't have time to write, I'm too busy, but tell that to my mum and see what you get. Wow! So many reviews! I am, quite frankly, amazed and astounded. Thank you all!