Disclaimer: the usual. Not mine, all JKR's.
Search and Research
Hermione was in the library. It was early morning, which was nothing out of the ordinary for her, even on summer holidays. What was out of the ordinary during summer holidays was that she was in Hogwarts' library, having used the Vanishing Cabinet as a portal to the school as Tonks had shown them.
She glanced around guiltily. McGonagall had given them permission, of course, when Hermione had asked after the last Order meeting.
Surrounded by silence, Hermione couldn't shake the feeling she was doing something not quite right. Perhaps because she had headed straight for the Restricted Section without so much as a pass. She had finished with the books from Dobby and had dropped them in the Return tray, relieved to return them safely.
Ron teased her about her reverence for books. He didn't understand what it was like to be lonely and friendless and weird. She knew she was weird. She had grown up being called that and other, even less flattering, names. Somehow the other children always sensed she was different, and were relentless in their torment. They ridiculed her for her bushy brown hair and overlarge teeth, her unusual name, her eagerness in school...
Hermione discovered the magic in books long before she ever discovered it in herself. Books were her friends. She didn't need the human kind. Her mind was too logical to understand other girls and their love of gossip and silly nonsense. It wasn't practical, and it was a waste of time. She was a tiny adult in a child's body. It wasn't really a miserable existence though; she mostly ignored the children at school, concentrated on her books, and read about what it would be like to have friends.
When Hermione had received her Hogwarts letter on her eleventh birthday, she had been ecstatic. Finally, she knew what it was that set her apart from other children. Unfortunately, she had missed the school's September 1 cutoff. Her birthday was the 19th of September, so she couldn't begin that term, but that gave her almost a full year to prepare. It hadn't been difficult to talk her parents into taking her to Diagon Alley, carefully following the instructions in the letter. They'd purchased the standard first year curriculum materials on the booklist and indulged Hermione's pleas for extra books. A copy of Hogwarts, a History quickly found its way to her basket, as did several other volumes of spells, charms and potions. She was determined to excel, even in a world she never knew existed.
With the same determination and desperation, Hermione yet again ensconced herself with her beloved books, searching for answers.
She found books in the Restricted Section pertaining to the creation of spells. She decided to check those out to read later. Professor Lupin had agreed to help her. She really was not comfortable creating new spells on her own. Things could go very badly wrong, after all. Luna Lovegood's mother had died working on an experimental spell, and that knowledge had always been more than enough deterrent for Hermione.
She skimmed some books, copying out the information she found potentially useful. She found one ancient Latin tome that described the magical properties of sun and salt. "Sol and sal, two things essential for the maintenance of life," she added to her long list of notes. "Evil spirits cannot bear salt," she read in another passage. Her eyes narrowed as connections clicked away in her mind. "I wonder… what would happen to dementors exposed to salt water?"
She glanced at her watch, wondering when Harry would join her. He had promised to help her in the library as soon as he could. Ron and Ginny had Flooed to the Burrow after breakfast. Bill and Fleur's wedding loomed ever closer, and their presence was needed for the preparations. Harry had gone to find Professor Slughorn to discuss using the Pensieve and to ask for assistance regarding the Horcrux potion. Hermione planned to spend the morning in the library. Then she and Harry could have lunch in the kitchen with the house-elves before proceeding back to the Room of Requirement to do some searching there.
She turned back to her books. "A circle of salt will protect from demon possession," she noted, then added a question: Too common to work?
"Who knows," she muttered, "Dumbledore did say Riddle undervalued anything common, perhaps Harry just needs to sprinkle a bit of salt on his tail."She chose a few books on ancient Mayan spells, Native American magic, African wizardry and one on Egyptian curses that reminded her of Bill. I bet Bill could teach us a lot. I wonder if McGonagall has considered him for teaching DADA, she pondered, making another note.
"Oh Harry! There you are! Did you get what you needed from Professor Slughorn without plying him with mead this time?"
Harry looked preoccupied, running fingers through his messy hair. "Yeah, he showed me a few things I didn't know about using a Pensieve." Harry hesitated, frowned, then whispered in disbelief. "When I asked about my mum, he told me she was good friends with Snape. He said they worked on projects together for his Advanced Potions class. He thought that might have contributed to why he and my dad were such rivals."
Hermione didn't seem as stunned as Harry had been. She merely shrugged. "Harry, I think your mum was nice to everyone. She probably had a lot of friends."
"Yeah, I know she defended Snape once when Sirius and my dad were hexing him," Harry said, still disturbed. "But then he called her some pretty nasty names…"
"Like, 'Nightmare'? Harry, if I could forgive Ron for that, don't you think your mum could get past being called a Mudblood?"
"But you like Ron!" Harry spluttered, "My mum could never like Snape, not that way! That's just… just wrong, on so many levels. Eeeurghhh." He shuddered violently.
"Harry, your mum married your dad; she didn't like Snape that way." Hermione patted his arm comfortingly, but looked speculative. "Though we really don't know how he felt about her, do we? Think about it, Harry, here was Snape, harboring the dirty secret of being a half-blood, sorted into Slytherin. Do you think he'd just smile and thank her for defending him in front of his arch-rival? Well, that really would have been the smart thing to do, if he was interested in her. Good thing Snape wasn't a Ravenclaw, you might have ended up with different parents." She grinned teasingly at Harry's disgusted countenance. "No, he simply could not allow a Muggleborn Gryffindor girl to defend him in front of his pure-blooded peers. It would have been a matter of Slytherin pride and all. He had to make a snarky comment so he wouldn't seem weak, or indebted. Still, he could have carried a torch for her all along." Hermione brightened and said, "Oh just think, Harry! If they worked together in Advanced Potions, those could have been some of your mum's notes that he copied in his book!"
"Hermione, please, let's just go find some lunch."
Hermione absently gathered the books and notes she had accumulated, checked out the books and shrunk them down to fit in her knapsack. They headed down to the kitchens, where Harry tickled the pear in the painting. Dobby was delighted to see them, and immediately brought butterbeer and pumpkin juice for them to sip while the elves readied the rest of their meal. They sat at a small table and ate mostly in silence, lost in their own thoughts.
Harry was finishing a generous helping of treacle tart when Hermione asked him about Neville and Luna.
"They're already in danger," Hermione reminded. "They were with us at the Ministry, so the Death Eaters know who they are. Isn't it a better idea to move them in to Headquarters so they can help us instead of just being out there like sitting ducks? They would be valuable. We know they're loyal, and they could help with the research. Luna is a Ravenclaw, and Neville is brilliant at Herbology."
"I know they're loyal and valuable, I just don't want them in more danger by associating with me. What about the rest of the members of the D.A.?" Harry queried. "What about the Muggleborn and half-blood families out there? We can't move them all into Headquarters. What can we do for them?" he asked.
"Well, Fred and George are working on getting authorization for the emergency Portkeys. They will set them with passwords and destinations unique to each family. If the Ministry officials cooperate, Aurors will be notified whenever one of the Portkeys is activated." Hermione stood to carry her dishes to the sink. "I also think we should compose a letter to the Ministry and the Prophet asking for temporary lifting of the Underage Use of Magic laws and lowering the age for Apparition licenses. I think they should distribute notices with instructions for basic Shield and defense spells and make it common knowledge that anyone who can wield a wand has the ability to use it. Younger legal Apparition might provide some people means to escape. The emergency Portkeys would be made available through the Ministry. No need for Fred and George's names to be on those, we don't want them targeted. They can take the credit for them after all this is over..."
"A letter?" Harry was incredulous. "You think a nice little letter with those helpful suggestions is going to get anywhere in the Ministry or the Prophet?"
Hermione faced him, "With your signature at the bottom, Harry Potter, yes, I believe they might just pay attention."
"Well, it can't hurt I guess," Harry shrugged, rolling his eyes. "You write it, I'll sign it. Now, let's go visit the Room of Requirement, shall we? Maybe we can Floo to the Burrow when we're finished and see how the wedding plans are going." He frowned. "I'm sure the Weasleys have precautions in place, but... Does it make sense to have so many of the people Voldemort wants to kill in one place like that? Weddings draw pretty big crowds, right? There will be people there from the Ministry, Gringotts, Hogwarts, the Order… I don't like it. That kind of target would be hard to resist. If giants, dementors and Death Eaters crash the party, things will get ugly real fast."
Hermione's worried look and curt nod confirmed she had considered the same dangers, but had no reassuring answers.
They reached the Room of Requirement and Harry paced, concentrating on the room where he'd hid his book. The door appeared, and Harry glanced inside before swinging it open. Hermione waited for Harry to retrieve the Potions book, then shrunk it for him and put it in her knapsack.
They wandered about, intrigued by the cast-off paraphernalia of generations of Hogwarts students and staff. Professor Trelawney had contributed an impressive pile of sherry bottles. Hermione was inspecting one of several mountains of books, and Harry wandered over to another pile. His eyes widened suddenly and he turned to glance furtively at Hermione before slipping a volume from the stack.
"What Women Want" by Dr. Ruth Kinsey. He opened the front cover to see Property of Sirius Black in a familiar scrawl. Harry nearly laughed aloud. Only in the Room of Requirement could he run across such a book. He flipped through, skimming pages and wincing at some rather familiar diagrams. Glancing again at Hermione, who was inspecting another tower of books farther away, he hastily shrunk and pocketed it. He couldn't wait to show Ron. "How long have we wished for a book that explained girls?" he thought, grinning. "Oh wait…" Ron may not react all that well to Harry reading books about sexual techniques. Quite honestly, Harry didn't want to think about what Ron would do with the information in the book, either. "Not a pleasant mental image, that." With a slight shudder, Harry steered his mind into other avenues.
"Find anything?" he asked Hermione.
"A few books," she answered, predictably. "Have you found anything?"
"Er, not really. Have we any use for the skeleton of a pygmy Quintaped or that huge stuffed troll over there? Those old cloaks don't look very useful. Too bad none of them are Invisibility Cloaks."
"I wonder if there's anything of Voldemort's in here," Hermione mused. "If Dobby had something of Riddle's, perhaps he could help locate the bits of his soul."
Harry gaped at her. "You really are the most brilliant person who ever lived," he declared reverently. Hermione's cheeks pinkened and she smiled.
He looked around, then frowned at the rusty swords. "I could use 'Accio Tom Riddle's stuff,' but it'd be bad if that pile of swords came flying at us."
Hermione nodded. "I'll cast the Accio, you cast Protego, and we'll duck behind this cupboard."
"Accio Tom Riddle's stuff!" Hermione cried at the same time Harry shouted "Protego!"
Nothing happened. Not a rustle of movement anywhere.
"Maybe you should try saying Lord Voldemort's stuff," Harry suggested.
They tried again, but still nothing. "How about Gaunts' or Salazar Slytherin's stuff?"
Nothing.
"Try Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor."
Still nothing.
"Oh what the heck," Harry said. "How about… Accio Horcrux!"
Disappointing silence.
"Well, I guess that would have made it too easy," Hermione sighed. Suddenly she frowned. "Harry, do you think it's safe to leave the Vanishing Cabinet in here? Malfoy and several Death Eaters know where it is."
Harry shrugged. "Even if they got in to Hogwarts and the Room of Requirement, they'd have to get through the wards and password spell Tonks put on it."
"Well, it's not worth the risk, is it?" Hermione said, tapping her nose thoughtfully. "How about this: Let's levitate the cabinet out of here and shut the door. Then we create a new Room, asking for everything we need to defeat Voldemort, the Death Eaters and dementors. Kind of like the Room you imagined for the D.A. classes, but more specific. Then we put the cabinet in there. The room has to be large enough to accommodate much of the student population in case they need to use the cabinet to evacuate, and this one really would not do."
"Brilliant."
Together, they used Wingardium Leviosa to lift the cabinet out the door. After they closed the portal and it had turned back to a bare patch of wall, Harry turned to Hermione.
"Do you want to set up the Room or shall I?" he asked, privately thinking if she did it, the walls would be lined with books and quite possibly nothing else. Books were fine sources of information, of course, but they took time to read.
"Let's try it together and see what we come up with, shall we?" Hermione suggested. "Here, give me your hand, so we don't confuse the Room."
Together they paced back and forth three times, each thinking along various lines of "Everything we need to defeat Voldemort and his followers."
They opened the door and stared in amazement. Hermione caught Harry's arm and pointed back at the cabinet before he could enter. They quickly levitated it in and placed it against a wall, then separated to inspect the Room they had conjured.
It was nearly as large as the Great Hall. As Harry had suspected, much of the wallspace was lined with bookshelves. On one wall was an enormous map. He headed straight for it and gasped in awe. It was like the Marauder's Map, but seemed to cover enough territory to show the homes of every magical family whose children attended or would attend Hogwarts. It was, in fact, tied to the magical book at Hogwarts that recorded the birth of every magical child. His eyes roved over the map, searching for the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. "Argh, where is it? Where's the Burrow?" he murmured. A small flare of light appeared. Surprised, he touched it with his wand and a grid appeared, enlarging the village until he could clearly see a square labeled, "The Burrow" and the little floating names indicating the presence of the various Weasley family members.
"Hermione! Come see this!" Harry gestured wildly and she rushed over.
She smiled approvingly. "This must have come from you, there's quite a similarity to the Marauder's Map." She tapped Ron's name gently. "We should fetch them and bring them here." She gestured to the rest of the room. "We've got a lot to do."
Harry nodded slowly, tearing his gaze from the little floating Ginevra Weasley on the map. He tapped the grid and it went back to normal. "Show me Order Headquarters." The little flare flashed again, this time in London, and he tapped it with his wand. The grid appeared, but it was blank. Remus Lupin's name was hovering about, and Harry was relieved to see there was no information giving away the exact location. He tapped the grid again. Curious, he said "Hogwarts" and saw the flash in Scotland. Enlarging it, he saw Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. It was almost exactly a duplicate of the Marauder's Map. He shook his head in wonder. "Hey look, Hermione, here we are! The Room of Requirement doesn't show up on my map, but on here it does. Hermione squinted at the map closely.
"The War Room," she read. "And it says the password is Minerva's Minions." She grinned, shaking her head. "That's rather appropriate, isn't it."
Harry looked at her questioningly. "Minerva? As in, McGonagall?"
"Maybe," Hermione said, head tilted thoughtfully. "Coincidentally, Minerva is also the name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, particularly in defending home from outside threats."
"I don't believe in coincidence," Harry said. He turned toward the cabinet. "C'mon, let's go back to Headquarters. We can collect Professor Lupin and see if Mrs. Weasley needs any help with dinner."
"Ha," Hermione said dryly. "I'll help her make it and you'll help eat it? Is that your plan?"
Harry gave her his sad puppy look. "Well, as I'm not of age to do magic yet, I wouldn't be much help with cooking, much as I want to."
Hermione made a face at him. "Like the age thing would stop you." Then she pulled out a notebook and scribbled quickly. "You know, that's another class that should be offered here."
"Cooking with Magic?" Harry suggested with a grin. "Magic Chef?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, a class that teaches household and cooking spells, like a basic life skills class. I mean, come on Harry, how fun was it for you to ask Ron about shaving?"
They went through the cabinet, emerging back at Headquarters.
Harry made to go off and find Lupin, but Hermione put her hand on his arm hesitantly. "Harry, can I ask you something?" She seemed quite distressed.
"Is something wrong?" Harry wondered if she somehow knew about the tiny book in his pocket.
"Well, it's about your memory in the Pensieve." She glanced at him apologetically, but took a breath and continued. "I know you aren't going to like this, but hear me out, please?"
Harry nodded curtly, jaw set.
"Harry, when I watched you make Dumbledore drink that potion, you looked… angry."
"Of course I was angry!" he interrupted, "Dumbledore had made me promise to force him to drink it, no matter what he said or did. I was angry with myself for agreeing to that and hurting him."
"I know, Harry, I know," Hermione soothed, touching his arm. "The thing is… the look on your face was identical to the expression on Snape's when he shot that spell at Dumbledore."
Harry stared at her in shock. "You cannot possibly compare me to that… that… murderer," he sputtered, pulling away angrily.
"No, Harry, no! That's not what I meant!" Hermione said desperately, trying to catch him.
"What, then?" he faced her coldly.
"I don't think Snape wanted to do what Dumbledore forced him to do, either," she whispered.
Harry shook his head. "No… That's not… I can't…" he trailed off uncertainly.
"Why else didn't he kill you that night? He had plenty of opportunity," Hermione insisted. Harry flushed, remembering how his every hex had been blocked. "You were completely alone with Snape, Malfoy and two Death Eaters.
"He said Voldemort wanted me for himself," Harry said. "He didn't let the other Death Eaters curse me either."
Hermione scoffed, "You think Voldemort would really have minded? If Snape killed Dumbledore and you for him in a single night, he would have been rewarded handsomely."
"Voldemort has plans for me, he said, and if Snape had killed both of us, wouldn't that make him seem more powerful than Voldemort himself? Seeing as how Voldemort hadn't managed it? He wouldn't want his Death Eaters looking to Snape as their new master."
"Possibly," Hermione shrugged. "But Snape could have Stunned you and taken you with him, or he could have transfigured you into an animal, like Moody did Malfoy. He could have turned you into almost anything and stuck you in his pocket and taken you straight to Voldemort. Instead, he said 'Keep your mouth shut and your mind closed.' What if he meant non-verbal spells and Occlumency? He could've been giving you advice, Harry!"
Harry was still angry, but he felt tiny twinges of doubt. Snape had been in a towering rage after Harry had called him a coward. Harry had even dared Snape to kill him, but he wouldn't do it.
"And think, Harry, all these years of Snape being awful to you, calling you incompetent and idiotic…" If Voldemort saw Snape's memories, he'd be delighted, right? And what else, Harry? He would underestimate you. All Voldemort knows of you is what he's seen through Snape. Snape may be a superb Legilimens and Occlumens, but you still managed to accidentally break into his mind once. Now, because Snape has always been very careful and thorough with his mistreatment of you, you are protected. And on the flip side, with Voldemort seemingly having some kind of access to your mind, if he saw into your memories, all he'd see of Snape is that you hate him and believe him to be a traitor and Dumbledore's murderer."
"That's just absolutely insane, Hermione. Totally bizarre. Why do you insist on defending Snape? Why do you believe there is any molecule of decency in him?" Harry ranted, pacing and clenching his fists.
"Because things do not add up!" Hermione declared. "And if things don't add up, there's something else in the equation that needs closer examination." She sighed. "Look, Harry, I'm not asking you to befriend Snape or anything. I just wanted you to know my interpretation of events, and what it might mean. Perhaps Professor Lupin could take a look."
"Yeah, okay, fine, another day," Harry said shortly, finished with the discussion.
"Speaking of Lupin," he said, changing the subject, "We need to brew Wolfsbane for him. D'you think we should pilfer Slughorn's Potions cabinet for supplies next time we're at Hogwarts?"
Hermione nodded, adding another note to her parchment.
They found their professor in the library. "Hi Professor Lupin," Hermione chimed. "Where's Tonks?"
"She went in to the Ministry today," he answered. "She was going to go on sabbatical to help train you lot, but the Ministry didn't want to let her go. They've worked it out so she's assigned to protect Harry. Probably Scrimgeour's way of keeping tabs on Harry, but it serves our purposes too, so..." he shrugged eloquently.
"Will she be joining us for dinner?" Hermione asked. "We thought we might Floo to the Burrow."
"Ah yes, Molly invited us all. I'll wait here for Tonks. Depending on the time, we may join you for pudding."
Harry eyed him suspiciously, but Hermione just dragged him to the fireplace, trying to hide a knowing grin. "Come on, Harry, Ginny's waiting!"
Within moments, Harry and Hermione were brushing soot off their clothes and being tightly hugged by Mrs. Weasley.
Harry's eyes met Ginny's over her mum's shoulder. She had been looking at his hair, which he belatedly realized was probably standing on end from his nervous habit of running his fingers through it. She narrowed her eyes, studying him closely. He joined her in the kitchen then, where she immediately demanded to know what was wrong.
"Nothing, Hermione was just carrying on about Snape. She thinks he's still working against Voldemort," Harry said disgustedly. "I suppose anything is possible, but it really doesn't matter. If I run across him, I'll hex first and ask questions later."
Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist. Harry glanced around nervously before gingerly returning the embrace. "Harry, my family knows we're together, it's alright to hug me, you know."
"Gin, you have several older brothers who would kill me as soon as look at me if I put one toe out of line with you. Not to mention the twins, who would probably want to torture me just for fun. I'm sorry if I seem a bit nervous!"
Ginny chuckled. "So that's the real reason you tried to break up with me, isn't it. You're not afraid of Riddle, it's my brothers."
"Don't forget, your mum can be scary too. Probably even your dad. Yeah, definitely terrifying… I may need to sit down before I pass out in fear, actually... Or I could just be light-headed with hunger," he said hopefully.
"Boys!" she threw her hands up in the air. "It'll be twenty minutes until dinner. D'you think you can hang on that long?"
Harry pondered a moment. "Well, if I do pass out, I'll probably require artificial respiration," he said gravely.
"You are a bit pale. Perhaps you need a little of that right now."
"Is this some kind of retaliation for me kissing you in the common room in front of everyone?" Harry tried to fend her off, catching her wrists before they could wrap around his neck. "Though actually, I think you may have bewitched me into doing that."
"Do not ruin that moment by blaming it on me!"
"Nah, I'm sorry, you're right," he said. "You had me bewitched long before that day." He pulled her close for a moment but before she could stretch up for a kiss, he turned and tugged her toward the door. "Hey, what happened to Hermione? I know she volunteered to help with dinner. Let's go see if we can get the twins to catch her and Ron snogging in the broomshed. Or maybe we could just ah, inspect the broomshed."
"Boys," she declared again, grinning.