Late One Night

Disclaimer: I still own very little, but you probably know what I do own by now.

Brunette89: I will be skipping the yelling part from Severus, but yes, he would have yelled at her. And I'm glad you still like it!

Sarahamanda: Glad you like it!

Cutieak88: Ha ha, no, Harry doesn't have a boyfriend.

DemiSaiyan: Glad you liked it!

Elmindrea-al'Thor: Ha, I do the same sometimes. I managed to miss most of the Occlumency chapter in the fifth book when I first read it, either I wasn't paying attention or I just skipped the whole chapter. I love my Lucius too :-D

Tall oaks: Ha ha, well you can gather that Harry and Ron won't be too happy about Hermione being alone with Lucius, anyways. Ah, Remus already knows about Hermione's bad memory, he just doesn't know that Severus now knows.

Frk-werewolf: Ha ha, the Harry thing is not so much a crush… Ah yes, I thought it was about time Hermione got a hug off one of her parents, as I don't think I've written that in yet.

Yoblossom: Ha ha, thank you! I'm glad you like it! And I'll try and update soon so you don't have to get the angry mob onto me :-P

Sasami Tombo: Well, lover is the only word I can think of to use for Sev and Rem's relationship. I mean, I think boyfriend sounds stupid for men in their late thirties and they're not married, so I figured lover was the next best step. And don't worry, I am a step ahead of you with the Draught of Life, it won't have to be administered by swallowing. Also, I am glad to have brought ol' Siri back!

Eve27: Ha ha, you'll have to wait and see what's up with Harry.

Goddess of Gorgeousness: Glad you liked what you've read so far!

ThouandI: Glad you like it! Don't worry, I know how Sev will administer the potion to James.

Im no muggle: I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reading!

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Ah, I'm glad I've finally gotten that bad memory of Hermione's over and done with, that idea has been bugging me since I started this story. It's just taken me all this time to find the right place to slip it in.

Though I can't find it in any of the previous chapters, I'm fairly certain that I've given Maria black hair. If I have actually said something different in previous chapters, forgive me.

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Chapter 13: Umbridge Returns

The days were warming up now, as April continued on. Students were starting to get more anxious about their up and coming exams, the teachers were getting more irritated by the constant revision questions being asked, Sirius was still in the Infirmary and finally making more of a recovery and Remus' hormones were still all over the place.

After catching Hermione reading his notes about the Draught of Life and shouting at her, Severus had decided to employ her help. He had set her the task of jotting down his notes while he was making the potion, as it was still experimental and he had also decided on another task for her to help him with as it would be easier with a female.

…………

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were all sitting under an oak tree near the lake doing their homework and revising, and also babysitting Maria.

"I have to say," Started Ginny without lifting her eyes from her Defense homework. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is so much more fun with a competent teacher…especially without Umbridge."

Harry smirked, "I'd say, god I hope we never have to see her again."

"Yeah, I hope those centaurs scared her off for good." Replied Ron; he glanced at the forest for a moment. "You think they'll attack her again if she came back?"

"More than likely." Said Hermione, "I'd attack her if she came back."

"Would you really?"

Hermione nodded, "Well last year with all her half breed remarks, it was only self constraint that stopped me from smashing her face into the wall." She settled herself on her stomach and continued reading her Transfiguration textbook. "That and I was rather hoping dad would lose control and attack her first."

Ginny frowned, "Would he have attacked her?"

Hermione smirked, "You haven't seen him angry yet, trust me. When he loses control, he really loses control, and no Harry, at the end of third year, that wasn't his worst." She answered to Harry's raised eyebrows.

"Mione?" Hermione looked up at Ron. "Can I borrow your Potions essay? I just want to check some of my facts."

Ginny snorted, "That's one I haven't heard for can I copy your homework?"

Ron glared at his sister and then looked back to Hermione, "Please?"

"No." Said Hermione firmly. "Do it yourself."

"But I really do need to check a fact."

"Then ask me, don't copy."

Ron grumbled, "Ok then, what exactly does the Wolfsbane Potion do to a werewolf?" Their essay topic for potions had been to talk about and describe the effects of the Wolfsbane Potion.

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed, "The Wolfsbane Potion has to be taken everyday for a week prior to the full moon, and come the transformation the werewolf will stay subdued and sleepy. They still have their animalistic urges to attack but when they've had the Wolfsbane, they have to be provoked into an attack instead of just attacking because they smell human." She glanced at Maria who was making a daisy chain before looking back to Ron. "You might want to add that the potion doesn't work on young werewolves as well and that the only person bothering to make a strain of it to help cubs is our very own Potions master. Of course, saying that he'll know I've helped you and he'll probably mark you down because of it."

Ron frowned, "I don't think he could mark me much worse than he has been." He scribbled down the things Hermione had just told him, "All right, what's in it?"

"I'm not doing your essay for you." Snapped Hermione, "You shouldn't have left it until today to do, should you?" It was after all, Sunday afternoon, he'd had since Friday afternoon to do it and it was due tomorrow.

Ginny snickered, "Its called the Wolfsbane Potion, what do you think is in it?"

"Oh…"

"I need the loo, Miney."

Hermione looked to her sister before forcing herself to get, "All right, come on." She took Maria's hand. "We'll be back."

Ron watched as Hermione and Maria walked away from the tree and across the grounds, he snapped his head back to his sister when he heard her giggle. "What?"

Ginny grinned, "Planning your family with Hermione, are you?"

"No!"

"She's good with kids." Continued Ginny teasingly. "I think its about time you two did something about the attraction, don't you reckon Harry?" she glanced at Harry and saw the colour coming into his cheeks just like Ron. "Oh dear god…you both fancy your best friend?"

"NO!"

Ginny laughed, "Oh that's a classic, I wonder what 'Mione would say to that?"

Neither Harry nor Ron replied as they were scowling at each other.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at them both and decided it would probably be best not to mention this again, as the two boys looked ready to fight each other over Hermione.

…

Though the dungeon bathroom was actually closer, Hermione took her sister up to the first floor bathroom mainly because she didn't particularly want to have to face any Slytherins on such a lovely afternoon. "Don't take too long, I have a lot of homework to do."

"Otay." Maria disappeared into the bathroom.

Hermione leaned against the wall and gazed out the windows opposite her, which showed the Forbidden Forest. She had been given strict orders not to allow Maria to go wandering on her own, because last time that had happened it had taken nearly four hours to find the little girl in the castle and Remus had nearly had kittens out of worry.

"I'm finished, Miney."

Hermione smiled, "Did you wash your hands?" Maria nodded. "Good girl. Let's go make sure the others have stayed out of trouble, eh?"

Maria clutched her sister's hand as they walked back along the first floor corridor to the Grand Staircase, "Whose Umbwidge?"

Hermione snorted, "A right old bat, that's who. She's not very nice at all, she taught here in my fifth year."

"Oh…was she mean to you?"

"Yeah she was, but then she was mean to anyone that didn't co-operate." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking?"

"Cause daddy was talking about her last night, he sounded angwy." Replied Maria; her brown eyes (inherited from Remus) were innocent as she looked up at her big sister.

"Really…" Now Hermione was curious. Why would either of her parents mention Umbridge unless she was returning to Hogwarts or she had come up with something else to discredit werewolves.

"What are you doing with the half breed's brat, Granger?"

Hermione stopped dead in the Entrance hall with her sister and turned to face Pansy Parkinson, who was as usual, flanked by all her friends as well as Crabbe and Goyle now that they had stopped trailing after Draco. "Its not really any of your business, whore." She replied, giving a rather nasty sneer. Though when you were related to Severus Snape sneering came quite naturally.

"How dare you!" Shrieked Pansy, a highly offended look on her face.

Hermione was holding Maria's hand tightly, her other hand was now holding her wand which was in one of the pockets of her robes, "How dare I what? Speak the truth or defend someone that is a much better person than you will ever be?" she gave Pansy a scornful look. "Now if you don't mind, Maria and I will be going back outside now. Goodbye."

With that, Hermione quickly tugged her wide-eyed sister back out through the entrance hall doors and back across the grounds to the oak tree beside the lake.

"Took your time." Said Ginny, she was still glancing between Harry and Ron who hadn't spoken since she had teased them but they did keep looking up and glaring at each other.

Hermione sat back down, "Had a run in with bloody Parkinson again."

Ginny tore her gaze away from the two boys, "What did the cow say?"

Hermione lay back on the grass and put an arm over her eyes, "What are you doing with the half breed's brat? Is what she said… I admit, I think my sister is a brat, but insulting my dad to my face whether she realises it or not is definitely going to piss me off. She can run to her Head of House if she wants, but when I say my side of the story its safe to assume he won't give a shit about her feelings."

"Feel a bit better now?" Asked Ginny in amusement.

Hermione huffed, "A little. I should've hexed her."

"Probably, but then you'd be in trouble as well. Plus, you're a Prefect, if you get anymore detentions you probably will have your badge taken off you."

Hermione sat back up and leaned back against the tree, "True…" She looked to the still silent Ron and Harry, and then back to Ginny. "What's up with those two?"

Ginny just giggled.

"Miney, what's a whore?"

Hermione bit her lip and looked to her sister, "Something I shouldn't have said in front of you…and promise me you will not repeat it in front of our parents, ok?"

"Otay."

"Good."

"What does shit mean then?"

Ginny snorted at the look on Hermione's face, "I think that's something else you shouldn't repeat, Maria."

………

When dinner came around that night, everyone got a rather big shock. There, up at the staff table, sat Dolores Umbridge looking just as high and mighty as she did at the beginning of the previous school year. None of the other teachers looked too happy about this, though Dumbledore did actually look rather amused.

Whatever reason she was there for, it must have been bad because Hermione actually witnessed Severus and Romulus talking to each other and only glaring in Umbridge's direction. Those two only ever spoke to each other if Remus was present to keep an eye on them, and he wasn't at dinner this evening.

"I can't believe she's back." Said Parvati down at the Gryffindor table. "I thought she had gone for good."

"Apparently not."

"I wish Fred and George were here now." Said Ron, "We could do with their pranks again."

Hermione thought for a moment as she played with her mashed potato, she had Maria beside her. "Maybe we could owl them for supplies. Pool all our money together, get some nice little items to attack her with." She glanced around at the several silent and surprised Gryffindor sixth years. "Yes, I am condoning it."

Lavender nodded her head vigorously, "I agree then. We need something to get rid of her. Again."

"Yeah, and next Hogsmeade weekend, if she's still here, we can call in at Zonkos." Suggested Dean.

………

After dinner that night, the Gryffindors went back to their Common Room and started plotting. Dumbledore had announced that Umbridge was here on behalf of the Ministry once again, though she had absolutely no power over the school this time.

Hermione checked her watch, "Come on Maria, I'll take you back to your dad."

"Otay."

"Bye Maria." Lavender and Parvati both gave the five-year-old a hug before they left.

Nearly all the students knew that Maria belonged to Remus, but only a handful of them, mostly Gryffindors, knew who her other parent was. And most of the students accepted that Remus seemed to trust Hermione with his daughter more than the other students.

Maria yawned as they walked along a corridor; "I'm tired."

"I bet you are. It's passed your bedtime." Said Hermione; "I am going to be in so much trouble."

And she was right; Remus turned on her almost as soon as they had entered the dungeon quarters.

"It's nearly nine o clock! What were you thinking?!"

Hermione took a step back from her dad, "Sorry, I just lost track of time…"

"That's no excuse!"

"Remus, calm down."

Remus glared at Severus, who was gazing back at him levelly, before picking Maria up and carrying her to her bedroom in a huff.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Hermione, "And the real reason?"

Hermione opened her mouth in offense, "I did lose track of the time…that and we were plotting how to get rid of Umbridge again." She added quietly. "How long is she here for?"

"Till the end of term, apparently." Replied Severus.

"Oh…damn." Hermione headed to the door.

"Before you go, I want a word with you." Said Severus, his tone was a bit disapproving now. Hermione looked back to him. "What did you say to Pansy Parkinson?"

Hermione snorted, "I knew she'd come crying to you." Severus didn't look amused at all. "I called her a whore but she did start it."

"What did she say?"

Hermione sighed and lowered her voice, hoping Remus wouldn't be able to hear her, "She asked me what I was doing with the half breed's brat. She's lucky I didn't smash her face into the floor."

Severus nodded slowly, "Ok."

"Ok? That's all you have to say?" Questioned Hermione incredulously. "Aren't you going to do something about it?"

Severus frowned, "Hermione, there isn't much I can do about it. No matter what I say its not going to change anyone's prejudices, is it?" Hermione crossed her arms petulantly. "Don't be like that."

"Fine." She turned back to the door. "Night."

"One more thing, dress warm tomorrow night."

Hermione frowned, that was a bit of an odd command for an Occlumency lesson, but she shrugged it off and left her father's quarters.

………

Before they had all turned in the night before, the Gryffindor sixth years had penned a note to send to Fred and George this morning, along with a lot of their money. It had been a very short note but they figured that just mentioning Umbridge and pranks would be enough to get the twins to send them a wide selection of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes.

Their first lesson of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts and upon entering the classroom they were rather shocked to see Umbridge sitting at the back, a clipboard resting on the table in front of her and a nasty look on her face.

"Oh dear god." Muttered Hermione, "She's making notes on the teachers again?" she sat down between Ron and Harry.

Harry frowned, "What do you think she'll do if she realises that our teacher is the brother of a werewolf?"

"Judging by the colourful language my uncle uses to describe her, she probably already knows." Whispered Hermione as Romulus entered the classroom.

Romulus waited for everyone to quieten down; he threw a dirty look at Umbridge and then looked back to the class. "Right, as you know, your exams are coming up in June. As I am setting it I have decided to put in things from your last few years of Defense as well as this year, so we will be doing some revision classes of your last few years from now until the exam." Lavender had her hand in there. "Yeah Lavender?"

"What particular things will we be doing from the last few years?" She asked.

Romulus turned to the blackboard and wrote Revision Subjects across the top, "Well, dark creatures for one-"

"Hem hem."

You'd have to have been blind to miss just how much Romulus tensed up at Umbridge's interruption, his back and shoulders went rigid and it was obvious to the class that he was forcing himself to keep control. He finished writing up Dark Creatures on the board before turning back to the class and Umbridge. "Can I help, Ms. Umbridge?"

Umbridge gave one of her sickly sweet smiles, "Yes, I was wondering if you planned to study werewolves as part of this revision, Professor."

"Oh here we go." Said Hermione, perhaps a little too loudly.

Romulus frowned slightly, "As a matter of fact, I planned on us doing werewolves today. Of course there's no need for you stick around if you dislike the topic."

"Oh no, I will stay."

Romulus gave her a withering look before looking back to his class, "As I was saying, we will be going over Dark Creatures, curses and counter-curses and most importantly, the Unforgivables as they will most definitely crop up in your NEWTs next year." He wrote those up on the board as well. "Is there anything else you guys want to go over in case I overlooked anything?"

"Dark Lords." Called out Seamus.

Romulus nodded and wrote Dark Lords – Grindelwald and Voldemort up on the board. "Anything else?" There were a few murmurs of no from the students so he nodded. "Ok, now like I said, we will be starting on werewolves today. So brainstorm, what do you know about them from previous lessons?"

Dean put up his hand, "We know we were too dim to recognise when we were being taught by one in third year."

Romulus smirked and nodded, "That's a good point. But seriously, what else?"

Hermione put up her hand; "They're not harmful to their mate, their offspring or other animals."

"Very good." Romulus wrote Hermione's answer under the heading of Werewolves, which was now on the board. "What else?"

"Hem hem."

Romulus silently groaned, "Yes, Ms. Umbridge?"

"I think you'll find that is not true, Professor." Said Umbridge, still smiling. "Werewolves are known to be vicious beasts."

Ron nervously watched as Hermione's knuckles went white from her tightly clenched fists.

Romulus raised an eyebrow, "Tell me, Ms Umbridge, do you know any werewolves personally?"

"No."

Romulus nodded, "I thought so. However, I do, so it is I who will be saying whether Miss Granger's answer was right or wrong. She was, of course, spot on and I was told that straight from the mouth of a werewolf." That seemed to shut up Umbridge up for now. "Now, what else do we know?"

"The Wolfsbane potion makes them more docile around the full moon."

"Also correct Hermione. Does anyone else want to share their knowledge?" Asked Romulus as he wrote Wolfsbane potion up on the board.

………

By that night, Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors in her year were all in particularly foul moods and from what Hermione could tell from potions that afternoon, she and her father probably wouldn't get along at all this evening, as they were both rather irritated. And it was all because of Umbridge.

Hermione pulled her winter cloak around her as she walked along the dungeon corridor to the Potions classroom, it was quite chilly this evening but she still wasn't sure why she had to dress warmly. There was a fire in her father's office if they got too cold.

Severus was in his classroom writing something down as he checked on the potion he was brewing, "Wait there."

Hermione stopped in front of his desk and folded her arms, judging by the warm cloak he was wearing it appeared that they would probably be going outside. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Mmhmm." Severus put his quill down and put a few things into his cloak pockets. "Forbidden Forest." He said to Hermione's questioning look.

"Why?" Asked Hermione as she followed him out of the classroom.

"I'll tell you when we're outside."

Once they were outside and half way across the castle grounds, Hermione asked again. "Why?"

"I need to collect some unicorn blood." Replied Severus shortly, he stopped when they got to the edge of the forest and lit his wand. "And as unicorns don't tend to like men-"

"You want me to do it." Finished Hermione for him. Severus nodded before they started into the forest. "I'm sure Hagrid could have just caught one for you…ow!" a branch had just hit her in the face. "Lumos!" The tip of her wand lit up so she could see where she was going now, as Severus walked quite swiftly.

"Unicorns have to trust you before you can take some of their blood." Said Severus, he slowed down a bit so Hermione could catch up to him. But when she did she tripped over a tree root. "Getting awfully clumsy, aren't you?"

"Shut up." Hermione scrambled back to her feet and brushed herself off before she started walking again. "I thought taking blood from a unicorn cursed you?"

"No, no. Drinking unicorn blood will curse you." Replied Severus, "But as its being distilled and put into a potion for a dead man, it shouldn't be too bad. But I am only testing it."

"Oh…what if the centaurs attack us?" Hermione used her wand to light up the sides of the track they were walking along.

"Centaurs do not usually come near…certain people."

Hermione frowned, what was that supposed to mean? But then it clicked in her mind. "…Death Eaters…"

Severus didn't reply straight away, but when he did Hermione nearly missed it because he spoke so quietly. "Exactly."

They walked in silence for about another ten minutes until they came to the edge of a clearing, which was apparently home to quite a few unicorns.

Hermione gasped when she saw them; there were six fully-grown pure white unicorns as well as three golden foals.

Severus crouched down while Hermione gazed doe-eyed at the unicorns, he pulled two vials and a syringe out of his cloak pocket then he tugged Hermione down next to him. "Do you know how to use a syringe?" he asked quietly.

Hermione eyed the syringe warily, she had always hated needles, "I think so yeah…"

Severus put the two vials and the syringe into her hand, "You have to let them trust you first, and I know it sounds stupid but ask if you can take the blood first." Hermione nodded. "The neck is your best bet."

Hermione nodded again, "Ok." She stood up, took a deep breath and then she went out into the clearing after tucking the vials and the syringe into her pocket.

………

It had taken nearly three hours for all the unicorns to trust Hermione completely so that she could take some of their blood, the first time she had tried one of the foals had gotten upset and nearly attacked her. But Hermione had forced herself not run off because having this blood could be the thing that made the Draught of Life ready, and if it worked then Harry would have his father back.

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A/N: Yes Hermione has a fixation with smashing people's faces into various solid objects. And yes, I have finally gotten around to adding more of little Maria into the story. Yey!

It was a long chapter, I was actually going to split it into two again but I decided not to as I'm on a roll today.

Also, you may be wondering why I put Umbridge in. She isn't really there for a purpose except so that I can hurt her. Badly. I know she is very unpopular and I doubt she'd be missed :-D

Next Chapter: The Weasleys Wizard Wheezes arrive for the 6th year Gryffindors. Also, Maria is hurt badly and Umbridge is the prime suspect.