Late One Night

Disclaimer: I own Maria and Romulus.

Elmindrea-al'Thor: I did actually mention the thing about pregnant werewolves a few chapters back, but I can tell you again. Pregnant werewolves do not transform, as it would damage the baby. Thanks for still liking this!

Brunette89: Ha, I knew someone would disagree with me. Ah yes, the mysterious potion, you will definitely hear about it this chapter.

ThouandI: Yet again, I know someone would disagree with me. The potion you will see in this chapter as well as more Sirius.

Sarahamanda: Thank you! Glad you like it! Is Harry falling for Hermione? You'll have to wait and see.

frk-werewolf: Ha ha, I'm glad you like this AU! I quite like the idea of Snape as a father as well.

DemiSaiyan: Thank you! Glad you like it!

Wonni: I'm glad you like it! And don't worry, I won't involve the Dursleys.

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Right, I have my trusty copy of OotP here to help me with the Occlumency lessons…so hopefully I have gotten it right. The odd one or two things are quoted directly from Chapter 24: Occlumency in book 5.

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Also, as mentioned back in chapter 6, Remus and Romulus have three sisters…just in case you forgot. Their names also come from mythology/legends like their younger twin brothers. Aglaia, Althea, Aurora. There's no particular reason why their names all start with an 'A', it was just an alphabetical order Mythological Name list.

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Chapter 12: What Nightmares Are Made Of: Part 2

Hermione spent most of her weekend, after getting out of the Infirmary and coming down with an illness, down in the dungeon, entertaining her sister with magic and generally being a nice big sister, for once. She also spent a good two hours trying to get Maria to say her name properly but it still didn't work much to her disappointment.

………

It was Monday night now and Hermione was already late for her first Occlumency lesson, she ran along the dungeon corridor to the Potions classroom and entered the room out of breath. She went to the door off to the side of the classroom and cautiously pushed it open, knowing she would be in trouble for being late.

"You're late."

Hermione bit her bottom lip, "I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't let it happen again." Said Severus as he put his Pensieve back on the shelf he had gotten it from. "Close the door."

Hermione obediently closed the door and stood still waiting for her next instruction. Her father hadn't been in the best of moods today, so she felt it would be better if she didn't say anything at all unless he said something that required an answer. But she did have a pretty good idea of what had caused his foul mood; she had noticed Remus glaring at him at the staff table at lunchtime.

Severus finally turned back to her, "Am I right in assuming that you have already read everything you can about Occlumency?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah."

"Tell me what you know."

Hermione thought for a moment, "Well…I know that it's a branch of magic that seals your mind against magical intrusion and influence. I also know that Legilimency is what's used to break into somebody's mind and that Vol-the Dark Lord is a skilled a Legilimens." She had only just caught herself before saying Voldemort and she was glad she had, because she didn't particularly want to do this while he was in a ratty mood with her. Before Severus could say anything, Hermione spoke again. "Why do I have to learn this? I mean, what in my mind needs to be shut off from the Dark Lord if I'm kidnapped?"

Severus spoke as he pulled his wand out from inside his robes again, "You know too much about the Order, where the Headquarters are for instance and Lucius being a spy for Dumbledore. There is also the matter of your heritage."

"Oh…never thought of that."

Severus smirked slightly, "Obviously. Now, take out your wand." Hermione did so and he moved so he was about six feet in front of her. "You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of."

Hermione nodded, eyeing him or more precisely, eyeing his wand cautiously. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to attempt to break into your mind." Replied Severus, he raised his wand and pointed it at his daughter. "Brace yourself. Legilimens!"

Hermione had barely raised her own wand when he struck; she hadn't been ready at all. The office started to go hazy in front of her before it completely vanished. She started to see images flashing before her eyes; it was like seeing her life flash before her eyes.

She was thirteen and storming out of Trelawney's classroom in a tantrum… Her third year again and she was punching Draco in the face for laughing at Hagrid… She was fifteen and cornered in the Department of Mysteries with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna by Death Eaters, Lucius was trying to bargain with Harry… She was twelve and seeing the yellow eyes of the Basilisk in the pocket mirror she had borrowed… She was six and watching wide eyed as Death Eaters tortured her parents…

No! Cried Hermione inside her head, that was the one memory she was afraid he would see. No…

But before she could react anymore, Severus had lifted the spell in shock at seeing her last memory.

Hermione was on her knees breathing heavily, ever since she had been told she had to learn Occlumency, she had been worried her father would see that particular memory mainly because he had been kept in the dark about her seeing that. She chanced a nervous look up and saw Severus watching her with a mixture of shock, curiosity and anger written on his face.

"You saw that…" He stated quietly as Hermione pulled herself back to her feet.

Hermione looked down at the ground and sniffed, "Yes…"

…

Remus was sitting on a rock beside the lake, staring up at the nearly full moon. He had been out here thinking since dinnertime, he needed some fresh air and he had wanted to get away from Severus for a little while. The mood swings that came with his pregnancy had turned towards anger now instead of misery, and with Severus' perpetual bad mood they didn't make the most pleasant of couples at the moment.

He had been to Dumbledore and told the Headmaster that he was pregnant and that he probably wouldn't be the most reliable of teachers now, not that he thought he ever had been. Romulus had been given the full time job of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor now as he had already been substituting for his brother. Though Remus was no longer needed at Hogwarts to teach, he had been made to remain at the school anyway. Sirius had wanted his remaining friend around while he was still bound to his bed in the Infirmary, Romulus had been concerned for his brother, Dumbledore always thought he knew best and Severus was just a little overprotective sometimes, even when they weren't on the best of terms.

Remus sighed and lay back on the over-sized rock and folded his arms over his stomach. He was quite content to stay out here most of the night, especially as he knew Hermione would be having her first Occlumency lesson right now and it would be best not to interrupt that.

A few minutes later he heard someone approaching, the footsteps were light on the ground so it definitely wasn't Hagrid.aHaH

"Do you usually sleep on rocks?"

Romulus. Remus kept his eyes closed and smiled slightly, "Only when beds don't seem too appealing."

Romulus raised an eyebrow slightly and sat down on the rock next to his brother, "You all right?"

Remus huffed quietly, "Define all right."

"Fair enough." Romulus thought for a moment, his eyes glued to the moon. "I got an owl from Rory earlier." Rory, or Aurora in full, was their older sister; there was an age gap of nearly a decade between them.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm, she's worried about you, so's mum apparently…she said you haven't been replying to any of their letters recently." Said Romulus almost questioningly. He was quite aware of the fact that Remus hadn't been getting along with any of their siblings or their parents for quite a number of years now. So much so that he hadn't even taken little Maria to see her grandparents yet and she was growing up fast, they hadn't seen Hermione for a long time either.

Remus opened his eyes again and gazed up at the starlit sky above him, "Its not like I haven't replied before. Anyway, why should I?"

Romulus raised his eyebrows, he figured it was probably Remus' erratic hormones speaking more than anything, "We're in the middle of a war, is that not reason enough?"

…

"Why didn't you say anything?" Questioned Severus after getting over his shock.

Hermione sat down on the chair in front of his desk, "Because dad and Lucius told me not to…"

"They knew?" His tone was a bit harsher than he had intended.

Hermione bit her bottom lip and nodded, "Lucius turned up with Dumbledore half way through that…torture session," Severus quite visibly winced. "He saw me and he dragged me away…he told me not to mention it to either of you so I didn't."

Severus gazed at her, a faint frown on his face now. This had sparked a memory from when Hermione was six years old and it fit right into place, "That's why you started having reoccurring nightmares, isn't it?"

Hermione nodded jerkily, "I'd had a nightmare that night…that's why I wasn't in bed in the first place." Seeing her parents being tortured when she was so young had scared her, but every since she had been old enough to understand it and know what had been happening, her fear of it happening again had become even greater. Especially now that Voldemort was back and she knew they were both in the Order, not to mention them both being targets for murder. "Why were they there in the first place?"

Severus sighed and leaned back against his desk, his eyes still on his daughter. "They had found out my betrayal to the Dark Lord, and being some of the few Death Eaters that managed to stay out of Azkaban after the Dark Lord's fall, they decided to do something about it. From what I remember, they had employed Lucius' help as well, but he refused and instead he tipped Dumbledore off about their plans." He saw that Hermione's eyes were rapidly filling with tears, he could imagine how horrible it must have been for her to see that, Remus and himself under the Cruciatus Curse. "I think they intended to leave you as an orphan by the end of the night, thankfully their plans were foiled."

Hermione wiped her eyes on one of the sleeves of her robes and she looked back down at the floor. "…Dad only found out after he saw my boggart before I started Hogwarts…that's why he wouldn't let me fight it in third year, when we studied them in class…" She sniffled. "W-when I saw the boggart in my bedroom I thought it was happening again and I screamed…dad came running and he saw it…"

Severus closed his eyes for a moment, taking all this in, then he opened them again and saw Hermione was desperately trying not to cry. His daughter's worst fear was seeing her parents hurt… Hermione sniffed again which broke him out of his thoughts. Severus then pulled Hermione to her feet and hugged her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head and stroking her hair soothingly as she cried into his robes.

But now, knowing this, there was even more reason to teach Hermione how to close her mind to the Dark Lord and how to resist the Imperius Curse. Severus knew the Dark Lord would use something like this to his advantage if he ever got a hold of Hermione or he would use it to get a hold of her.

………

It was Tuesday night now and Hermione was running late for her Imperius Curse lesson, she was trying to catch up on the work she had missed while she was in the Infirmary unconscious, not to mention the new homework they were given by every teacher. She was to meet Lucius in an empty classroom in the dungeons, mainly so that he could floo through the Potion master's fireplace and so they he wasn't seen skulking around the school by curious students, especially certain ones that knew he should have been in Azkaban.

Hermione took a deep breath and pushed open the door, she was bracing herself for any sort of mood wing from Lucius, she knew from the tales Draco had told her that he could be even worse than Severus if you kept him waiting.

"Ah, so you did decide to turn up then?"

Well, at least he doesn't sound angry. I'd hate for him to be in a bad mood if he's going to cast an Unforgivable on me. Thought Hermione as she closed the door behind her. "Sorry. Had a lot of homework to do…" she trailed off when she saw the bottle of Firewhiskey on the desk beside Lucius. "Should you be drinking if you're going to cast an Unforgivable on me?" She was well aware of the fear that had edged into her voice.

Lucius smirked, "You may be surprised to learn, my dear, that I am usually intoxicated when I cast the Unforgivables. It lessens the guilt." Hermione still looked a little worried. "I am not going to torture or kill you, don't worry. I'm not that drunk."

Hermione nodded slowly, "Right… You'll forgive me for still being worried though, right?"

"I suppose so." Replied Lucius lazily before getting of the desk he had been sitting on, he pulled his wand out of the end of his cane and pushed his long hair behind his shoulders. "Right-what are you grinning at?"

Hermione stifled a giggle and shook her head, "Nothing."

Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly, "Hermione." His tone was threatening.

Hermione regained some of her composure but she was still grinning, "Just…just something someone said about your cane…" She forced an innocent look onto her face, though she was sure it was already a bit too late for that.

"Don't make me use something other than the Imperius on you." Warned Lucius, he did not like being kept in the dark about something, especially by teenagers or children.

"Ask your son." Was all she replied with.

Lucius was still watching her suspiciously when he raised his wand; "Right…I know Moody taught about the Unforgivables while he was teaching so I assume you know what's going to happen."

"Yep."

"Good… Imperio!"

………

"Where do you keep disappearing to?" Asked Ron early Friday evening, while he Hermione and Harry were doing their homework in a secluded corner of the Common Room.

"Me?" Replied Hermione glancing up at him. He nodded. She sighed, "I suppose it won't hurt to tell you."

Ron frowned, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Hermione snorted, "No, Ron. No need to jump to the defense over that." Harry smirked, but Hermione couldn't help but notice a red tint had come to his cheeks. She mentally noted that as another bit of odd behaviour from him and then she lowered her voice to answer Ron's question. "Last term Dumbledore told me that Voldemort-for heaven's sake Ron! -He told me that Voldemort was planning to have me kidnapped because I'm close to you, Harry. And before I was attacked I was meant to start having Occlumency lessons as well as lesson to fight off the Imperius Curse. I've only started them properly this week."

"So who's teaching you then?" Questioned Ron.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "I would've thought the Occlumency teacher was obvious."

"I figured that." Said Harry, "But who's teaching you how to fight off the Imperius Curse?"

Hermione bit her lip in thought for a moment, she figured coming clean would be the best course of action otherwise her friend would use the Marauders' Map next time she disappeared at night. "Lucius Malfoy."

"What?!"

Several people in the common room looked over at them to see why Ron had just shouted.

Hermione scowled at him, "Try not to attract too much unnecessary attention, Ronald. But yes, Lucius Malfoy. Why?" She lowered her voice again so that it was barely above a whisper. "He's spying for Dumbledore as well. Its just not many of the Order know about him… He's also my Godfather if that makes a difference."

"You're kidding."

"No I am not kidding." Hermione checked her watch. "Right I have to go… Occlumency lesson." She confirmed to the two curious boys. "See you later and do not copy my homework."

Hermione left the common room and headed down to the dungeon, she was determined not to be late this time. After Monday night's Occlumency experience she had nearly not bothered turning up for her Wednesday night lesson in case she had to relive that same memory again and she had ended up being exceptionally late. It didn't help that Severus had been particularly snappish that night, so much so that he had nearly made her cry again.

When she arrived at her father's office, exactly on time, Hermione found it deserted. The only tell tale signs that he had been in there this evening was the cauldron that was simmering away on his desk. She peered into the cauldron and took a sniff, it definitely wasn't a potion she recognised, and then a group of notes next to the cauldron caught her attention.

Natural curiosity overtook her and she picked up the notes, was this the potion her father had been working on for the last few months?

As she skimmed the first few lines of the top page her eyes widened slightly.

Draught of Life

Intended for J. Potter…

At that moment someone cleared throat behind her.

"Shit…"

"And you are deep in it."

Hermione slowly turned around, the notes still in her hand, and face her glowering father.

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A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter.

Next Chapter: Now that Hermione knows about the potion Severus is brewing, he decides to enlist her help for certain things. And Umbridge returns…