Chapter 5 – Going to Dumbledore

Class with the most feared Potions Master is never boring, Hermione thought. Even though she had already finished learning the entire N.E.W.Ts syllabus and more, Snape's lessons were always interesting. He would slip comments with bits of extra information, even when he is meting out punishments. She was usually sharp enough to catch it and take it down. When she had time, she would then go to the comb the library for information on that particular subject.

All in all, she thought it a pity that Ron and Harry did not appreciate it. Harry...well, he had the Dark Lord to defeat. The only consolation Hermione could give herself was the fact that he was trying hard in his Defense Against Dark Arts, one subject vital for fighting. It should come in useful when dueling with Voldemort.

Ron was...well, just plain old Ron who loved Quidditch too much and loved Potions too little. Boys, she thought.

She didn't even remembered how she got to be friends with them. Although she had been involved in their little adventures, as they grew, the boys and her had begun to drift apart. It wasn't their faults but she couldn't help wishing it were back to the "old days" where they crammed themselves under Harry's infamous invisibility cloak.

There were no more late night discussions in the Gryffindor common room such that she could berate them for leaving homework till the last minute. Maybe, she thought, the Sorting Hat wants them to be rid of me.

Blaise was a different matter altogether. Hermione told her of the Death Eaters attack but a very much-altered one. She purposely excluded the part about the dream or Snape.

Snape. She really didn't know what to think of him now. He had helped her. It shows that he wasn't as bad as they've always thought. Or Ron and Harry always thought, she corrected herself. She respected him and admired him intellectually as well as his bravery for being a spy. She trusted him instinctively. Yet that doesn't mean she wasn't intimidated or scared of him. His tall menacing figure, always dressed in that strict black robes, made almost all students run away from him.

She snapped back to the Potions class. Blaise was trying to determine what to do with the extra carrots. Throw it at Malfoy or his cauldron? Hermione approved of both but seeing the black mood of Professor Snape, she didn't dare to do anything. Fortunately, Blaise had the decency to look innocent while Snape sent a suspicious glare her way.

Snape had forbidden her to help Neville, Harry or Ron but they seemed to be doing fine. The potion was an easy one and Hermione was sure she could concoct it with her eyes closed, even though she didn't dare risk it.

Today, the usually sneering Professor seemed very jittery to her. He was pacing. It was fifteen minutes to the end of the lesson and he had yet to take points off Gryffindor or mete out a detention. She was puzzled. What caused him to worry so much that he forgot to maintain his usual unpleasant demeanor?

She felt the answer right then. Her whole body tingled. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, only unsettling. However, Snape was grimacing. It wasn't really that obvious yet the first jolt was enough to make him wince. This can't be coincidence, she thought. There must be some connection. What did Voldemort do to her hair, she wondered. Her tingling didn't cease till the end of the lesson.

She waited will the whole class had gotten away, which is not very long considering Snape's popularity, and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"It hurts doesn't it?"

Surprisingly, Snape didn't bite her head. He replied her civilly, his hand unconsciously making its way to rub his scorching arm.

She knew that this was significant. Sighing, she made her way to the Slytherin dorm, only to be stopped by...

"What were you doing in there? Consorting with that Vampire?" Ron demanded.

"I...Erm...I had...a detention to arrange with Snape." Hermione replied lamely, trying to look ashamed of herself.

"What could you possibly do for Snape to take a special interest in you?" Harry was curious now.

"It's nothing really. You remembered the time I made him lose dignity for shouting at me across the stairs? Well, he was still smarting over that incident and I am given a detention of scrubbing cauldrons." Hermione was shocked to hear her own lie. She knew Ron and Harry were convinced by the look of their faces and it made her guilty.

"That git! How I long to drown him in a cauldron full or rats..." Ron started.

Hermione was relieved. Ron did not suspect anything and was still supportive of her, showing that he really did care for her.

Harry took the opportunity between Ron's rants and surveyed Hermione, which made her feel uneasy. After all, Harry also had a connection forged between him and Voldemort. Could it be that he sensed what she was feeling? She held his gaze defiantly, as if daring him to challenge her. Although she did not falter, Harry's eyes were doing something to her. There was another tingle, though this time unpleasant, which gave her the impulse to break the contact. Yet Hermione did not relent. Her self-control had ebbed away but she wasn't about to be controlled.

Finally, Harry broke the contact between him and Hermione and she immediately felt weak though more aware of her surroundings. He couldn't have used Legilimens, she thought. She would have seen flashes of it, she comforted herself. However, another voice in her mind told her that it wasn't a good thing at all, the exchange whatever it was.

Ron was staring at both of them in utmost confusion and baffled at their eye contact. He finally finished his rants and rounded it up that if it were possible, he would send Snape to Azkaban. Before he had a chance to ask, Harry cut him in.

"Hermione, if you have any problems you cannot talk to us about, go to Dumbledore. He usually knows what to do and if not, he would still like to know." Harry said.

It took Hermione by surprise. Harry had been her friend for her past six years and he would have noticed if there was something wrong about you, She thought. She looked up in surprise but did not comment. How much did he know?

Not very much I should think, she thought. She decided to think it over.

"Thanks Harry. I better be going. See you around." Without waiting for a reply from Ron, she briskly walked away.

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Harry was puzzled. He was sure there was something Hermione wasn't telling him. But what?

She refused to relent. He had tried to use Legilimens on her. He knew he was powerful enough to do so, yet to no avail. Hermione's mind was impossible to penetrate if not dangerous.

There was something subtly different about her. There was a familiarity about her that he simply couldn't place. After he broke eye-contact, his hear had hurt. He knew Hermione couldn't possibly wanted to hurt her but what if the Death Eaters had dome something to her?

"What was that all about?" Ron asked, trying to keep up with Harry.

"Do you get a feeling that Hermione is not telling us something? No, Ron. It's not our place to question her about it. It's much deeper than a simple secret like the Time-Turner. She will tell us in time and if she keeps it, she would have a very good reason."

Ron wanted to argue but finally relented.

Harry wondered whether he should get Dumbledore. He knew Snape would be with Dumbledore now. He had felt Voldemort's joy in potions and he had summoned his Death Eaters.

This could wait, he thought. As much as he wanted to help, he did not think an irritated Snape was one to be face lightly.

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Hermione took a long shower and a mug of hot chocolate. It seemed to help calm her nerves. She was pondering over the questions floating around in her head.

She knew that seeing Dumbledore would probably be the best solution. She could trust Dumbledore. Then why was she so reluctant?

She needed to research on the uses of a body part of a magical person. Voldemort had done something to her hair, she was sure of it. She didn't think he wanted to kill her or she would have been dead by now. Yet why he did it was still a mystery to her.

She missed Crookshanks. His grumpy mood and cat intelligence was a comfort to her. She dried herself and put on a new set of robes and decided to follow Harry's advice.

She made her way back to the Slytherin Common Room and exited, not forgetting to apply a Concealment Charm on herself. It would not do good for Blaise or other Slytherins to see her. She did not want to be distracted.

Making her way from the dungeons to the Headmaster's office, she had been more careful this time. Her senses were very alert and picked up every single movement within the empty corridor.

She saw Mrs Norris but didn't see where she had done wrong. It was only six and curfew was at nine. She walked to Dumbledore's spinning staircase, only realizing then that she did not have the password. Harry had told her that Dumbledore's password is always revolving around sweets, yet she could think of none.

She tried to name all the sweets that she knew to no avail. She tried all sort of things to do with Gryffindor, also to no avail. Apparently, Dumbledore showed no favouritism to his previous house. What about Slytherin, she thought.

She was vexed at the moment and finally started to rack her brains with things to do with Slytherin. She was getting more impatient. The horrible gargoyle just wouldn't budge. Finally, out of ideas, she shouted the first thing that came into her mind.

"SEVERUS SNAPE!"

And she could go in. What a password, she thought mischievously. Snape would have known of course. She giggled, trying to picture Snape's embarrassment at his name being used as the password to Dumbledore's office.

Just as Hermione was preparing to knock on the door, the door opened with the usually style of the Potions Master. He was distressed then and didn't even take note of the figure of Hermione standing just outside the door.

As a result...

"MISS GRANGER!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? WHY DIDN'T YOU KNOCK ON THE DOOR? TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR FOR..."

By then, Hermione was already sprawled on the floor as a result of her fall and Snape cut himself off his bellow. Instead he changed his tone to...

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" Snape asked, his tone concerned.

"I was ten seconds ago until you knocked me down." Hermione replied sarcastically.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your impertinence." He said silkily.

Albeit his irritation, he was gentlemanly enough to haul Hermione up, to which she was surprised. She never had much contact with Snape before. Almost none at all, excluding the time he carried her. And here he was, offering to help her up.

Hermione noted that Dumbledore was looking at the scene with somewhat of amusement on his face as he chuckled. Snape's hand was full of calluses, she realized. It was warm, to her surprise.

It should be, she chided herself. Yet in her mind, she always pictured Snape as a very cold man.

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Snape bid her a good day and exited.

What did that impertinent girl want? Snape thought.

He felt like chastising her. She had made him look like an idiot twice only in the first week and he wasn't happy about it.

He knew Dumbledore had laughed at him and shot him a glare, which only made him laugh louder. He should have known. The headmaster's humour was just too good for him to appreciate. That barmy old codger. He had even dared to use his name for his office password. He was lucky Dumbledore had omitted his middle name. He couldn't bear it for everyone to know.

His thoughts went back to Hermione's touch. She just had a shower. He could tell by the smell of her. It was a unique scent of her own. And her touch. It made him shudder. He always avoided physical contact with everyone else. He didn't like it.

But that wasn't the case with her, another part of his mind said. And he knew it was right.

Damn it all, he thought. He would find as many excuses to give her detention as possible for embarrassing him like that. It was bad enough with the staircases.

He tried to put all those thoughts out of his mind. After all, it was dangerous to meet the Dark Lord with unfocused and messy thoughts. He changed his mindset as he prepared himself for the inevitable Death Eater meeting that night.

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So I say...Thank you for your reviews. I know this isn't a very good story, seeing as its my first serious project, I have a lot to learn. Well, I am sixteen, there's plenty of time yet. This chapter is rather short, and I apologise. School had started and homework is really a handful. Lucky my parents are in ShangHai or I would be snoring away now. Monday is Youth Day...and I look forward to the holiday. Yay!

In any case, I will try to update but not as often as holidays. I am flunking science. Any kind soul willing to tutor me?

Signed off

Margaery Augustine