Chapter Eight: Non-Crimes and Punishment

Hermione lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was the first day of school, even though classes would not begin until tomorrow. She and Severus had been working on menu for the Welcoming Feast that evening, and she decided she had needed a nap. She had a lot to prepare for that day.

Dumbledore had informed her that Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter would all arrive around four that afternoon. Severus had also heard the news, and had become noticeably less amiable as the clock drew nearer to the time. By two o'clock, his attitude had become unbearable. Hermione was loathe to start a fight, so she excused herself from his company before either of them could say something they would regret later.

She understood what caused his tension. She had heard about the Marauders' pranks on him, not only from Severus himself, but from the Headmaster as well. Most of the pranks were not as harmless as Sirius had made them seem. It was a small wonder that no lasting physical damage was done to Severus. She was well aware that Severus retaliated every time, but she was not sure she could begrudge him that. It seemed his revenge was a little more subtle, ways that Sirius and the gang would know it was him, but could never prove it.

While all of the Marauders were involved in the pranks, Hermione noticed that all of the animosity centered on Sirius and Severus. There seemed to be no discernible reason for this, it was just the way it was. Hermione was going to have to dig to find the underlying cause of the situation before she could work on fixing it. A gentle knock on the door lifted her from her thoughts.

"Come in," she called out. Severus cautiously entered the room and shut the door behind him. He saw her lying on the bed, and pulled up a chair next to her. When he spoke, he sounded oddly formal, like he was not used to apologizing. Hermione considered the idea that he probably had not apologized for his actions in quite some time.

"I'm really sorry, Hermione, about how I've behaved today. It is unacceptable. I want you to know that I will try not to take out my… hatred of these individuals upon you."

With that, he rose and left the room. He managed a weak smile at her before he closed the door. It was at that moment, Hermione made up her mind to change the situation for the better.

"I still can't believe you gave up your Head Girl title, Lily," Sirius protested as the group neared the gates of Hogwarts. "You worked really hard for it!"

Lily just smiled at him and shook her head. "You know what's at stake here, Sirius, as well as I do. Besides, she was Head Girl in her own time, so I'm sure she's more than able to perform any task needed of her."

James watched as his best friend and his girlfriend argued good-naturedly. He shook his head in amusement; Sirius would never win. James agreed with Sirius, but also knew why Hermione (he hoped that was her name, he never was good at remembering stuff like that) needed to have the position, though for the life of him, he could not figure out what made Snape so special.

For the first time that journey, Remus spoke up. "I hope she can undo some of the damage I've caused. I hope this isn't a lost cause."

Lily threw her arms around Remus in an attempt to comfort him. "Remus, he'll forgive you someday. He'll realize that you were both just kids, and that kids make stupid mistakes. You're a better person now than you were back then, we all are." With that, she glared at Sirius. "We all have to make an effort to not only make Hermione feel welcome, but also not make things more difficult than they already are for her. This means, Sirius and James, being nice to Severus, no matter what!"

James and Sirius nodded in agreement, though neither was sincere in their promise. They had made it their mission for the past six years to torment Snape, and they were not going to let up just because someone needed to save him. To them, Snape was beyond saving, so what they did to him was not going to hurt anything.

Hermione was waiting for the group in the Great Hall. She paced nervously, not sure how she would react to seeing the parents of one her best friends. How would she act? Would they accept her as part of the group? Did she want to be accepted as part of the group? Sure, she wanted Harry to have his parents, but they weren't the focus of the mission, were they?

At that moment, the doors to the Great Hall flew open, and the group she had been waiting for came in, and she felt most of her panic melt away. Hermione took her time to look over them as they made their way up to her. Harry really did look like his father -- it was amazing. Lily was just like she looked in the photo Harry kept by his bedside. Sirius was truly a sight to behold – he was youthful, vibrant, and full of life – so much different than he had been in her time. Then again, she mused, he hasn't lost any of his friends or spent thirteen years in Azkaban. Remus was another surprise. While he looked young still, the lines of worry that constantly creased his face in the future were already starting to show now. Was he that worried already? It saddened her. When it came time to examine Peter, she saw only a boy, not the monster he had become in her mind. She had a hard time coming to terms with the dual images.

Lily grabbed Hermione in a hug, and introduced her to everyone in the group. Hermione smiled, and soon Lily realized that Hermione knew everyone already.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. You must think I'm a total idiot. I was just so excited to meet you that I forgot a few details."

Hermione smiled kindly and said, "No, I don't think you're an idiot Lily. This isn't exactly a normal situation. It's really interesting to meet you guys now. I know Peter, Sirius, and Remus from my time, but I unfortunately don't know you and James. It'll be great getting to know you guys."

With that said, the Marauders inducted her into their group, and went to settle into their rooms in the Gryffindor Tower. No one noticed when Sirius quietly left them shortly before the Sorting Ceremony began, nor did anyone notice he had taken a very important map with him.

Sirius made his way to the dungeons, where Snape was hanging out. 'Slytherin like him belongs in the dungeons,' Sirius thought maliciously. He intended to have a few words with Snape before the Sorting Ceremony.

As soon as he reached the room where Snape was working, he shoved the door open and immediately found himself at wandpoint.

"Funny, I expected you down here sooner Black," hissed Severus. "I did not expect it to take you so long to come and see what fun you could have at my expense."

Sirius, never one to know when to keep his mouth shut, retorted, "I just wanted to come down here to let you know that you'll be staying away from Hermione. She's too good to be seen with the likes of you."

"Is that so, Black? I think Hermione's old enough, and smart enough, to decide what she wants for herself."

"Not when some Dark-Arts-crazed asshole like you is running around, fucking with her mind, poisoning it!"

Severus snorted, electing not to dignify Black's rant with a response. He did, however, elect to continue holding Black at wandpoint. "Leave," he hissed. "Leave before I do something you'll regret in the morning."

Sirius, seeing no viable way out of the situation without incurring some sort of injury, backed up to the door, never turning away from Severus. He quickly made his way to the Great Hall, and took his place at the Gryffindor table.

Back in the dungeons, Severus took a minute to collect himself before he made the unavoidable appearance in the Great Hall. He was glad that he had to thought to set the wards that would notify if anyone was coming.

He generally put little credence in what Black said, but for some reason, a seed of doubt was niggling into the back of his mind. It asked if he was wrong about Hermione, what if he was wrong about he was doing to her. Was he poisoning her mind like Black claimed?

As much as he tried to shake it off, the thoughts would never completely go away. He made his way up to the front, and took his place next to Hermione at the Head Table. They would only dine up here for the evening; tomorrow they would go back to their respective House tables. She smiled warmly at him, and it reassured him. Surely, if he were poisoning her mind, she would not smile so brilliantly at him.

At the Gryffindor table, things were not so calm. Sirius was convincing the other members of the Marauders that Snape was brainwashing Hermione, and leading her down the path to the Dark Arts. He felt bad about lying to his friends, but only marginally so.

"We have to stay with her at all times! We do not want to lose her to Lord Voldemort. We pretty much know that Snape's already a Death Eater…"

Lily slammed her cup down. "Sirius Black! We do not know that! You like to think it's true, so it must be true, right! Hermione is here to save him, which means he can be saved. This is lunacy! I'm having no part in this conversation, if this is where it's leading." She shoved her plate towards Sirius, and left the Great Hall. She was so angry that red sparks shot out the tip of her wand. However, that did not stop Sirius.

"Do you guys agree," he continued, "to stay with Hermione at all times?"

James and Peter nodded enthusiastically, but Remus was hesitant. "Sirius, don't you think we're impeding the mission? I mean, if nothing else?" He added quickly.

"Remus, you really have to let that whole thing go. You did the right thing all those years ago, when you finally decided to ditch him," Sirius cajoled.

Remus just shook his head. He knew he had been very wrong, but it would do no good to argue with Sirius when it came to what was right and what was wrong in regards to Severus Snape. Remus knew his friends would be mad at him, but he was going to have to let Hermione in on their little plan. He knew he would be forgiven in time, especially because he would have Lily on his side. Lily would convince James, who would in turn convince Sirius. Peter would just go along with the majority of the group. He nodded to appease Sirius.

"So, it's decided then," Sirius declared. "We start right after dinner."

Remus made sure he was going to be the one that "escorted" Hermione to her room. When they reached her door, he asked to come in.

"Of course, Remus," Hermione said, ushering him into her room. She was worried about what Severus would think if he saw Remus in her room, but she knew he was asleep. She had just left his room when he was falling asleep standing up.

"Hermione," Remus began, "Sirius has this crazy idea that Severus is trying to brainwash you. I know it's probably not true, given Sirius' animosity toward Severus. Sirius wants one of us with you everywhere you go because he knows that Severus won't approach you if we're with you."

Hermione saw red. "Get Sirius right now!"

Remus did as he was told. A few moments later, the Marauders arrived in her chambers, Lily in tow. Hermione glared at each of them. "What," she asked, "is this nonsense about following me around all about?"

Lily sighed in relief, which earned her another glare from Hermione. "Hermione, I agree with you whole-heartedly. I was trying to say this to the boys during dinner." Lily moved herself over by Hermione so that they were both starring daggers at the boys. Sirius could not speak a word.

Hermione scolded, "You are seriously jeopardizing my mission here, not to mention punishing Severus for whatever imaginary slights he committed against you in the first place. Neither party is innocent now, but I happen to know that you, Sirius, started this little feud! Explain yourself, Sirius Black!"

Sirius looked dumbly at her, unable to come up with a plausible explanation of why he had always picked on Severus. He mumbled the best explanation he could think of now.

"Excuse me, what was that," spat Hermione.

"I said I don't like him because he comes from a family like mine! He's got evil running through his veins! He's in Slytherin, which just proves it!" Sirius was screaming at her now.

"Severus being in Slytherin proves nothing! You never even gave him a chance, did you? If he was so evil, he would have told the whole school about Remus being a werewolf by now, right? No one knows, and he's still working on a cure for him! What, exactly, is evil about that," Hermione screamed.

Sirius was stunned. He worked to prove his point, but every time he thought about something Severus had done to him, he realized he had done something to Severus first. Severus never attacked him, he just retaliated – Sirius, for once, was speechless.

"That's what I thought," said Hermione. "Leave this room, now. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. I don't expect you to love Severus, or to even like him, but I expect you to be tolerant of him, and of my friendship with him."

With that, she pushed them out the door, but Lily lingered behind. "I'll work on them too, but you can't expect a miracle overnight."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't expect a miracle, Lily, just a little effort on their part."

Lily nodded in silent agreement and left the room to work on the boys' attitude.

Severus couldn't help but overhearing part of the exchange. It seemed Hermione had quite a set of lungs on her, one to match the ones he knew Black possessed. He would have paid anything to see the look on Black's face when she ripped him a new asshole.

He was genuinely touched that she had defended him so vehemently. He was starting to feel something he hadn't felt in a long time, and he wondered if she felt the same way about him. He doubted she thought of him as anything more than a friend, but since he allowed himself to open up to her, he could possibly allow himself to hope just a little bit.

He did a quick mental calculation in his head before he drifted back off to sleep. He had a monumentally important question to ask Hermione in the morning.

The next morning, Severus was waiting outside her door when Hermione opened it up to go to breakfast. He silently offered his arm to her, which she took, and they made the short trip together.

Before they went their separate ways, Severus put his hand on her hand and asked, "Hermione, seeing as how the advance Potions class is shared by all of the houses, I was wondering if you would be my partner?"

Hermione looked at him in shock. She knew how important this class was to him, and had expected him to try to work alone because he generally trusted no one but himself. While it may seem like an inconsequential question to others, she knew how much a show of faith it truly was. She nodded her agreement, and went to sat down, puzzled at the turn of events and about how she was beginning to feel about Severus Snape.