Sorry it took so long for whoever is reading this,

see i have this thing where i really suck at updating quickly.

enjoy. i own nothing.


During meetings Severus had started to daydream slightly. Not overly so but to a point where he would be thinking about his next meal instead of what the Dark Lord was saying. Honestly, for a while there he was sure the Dark Lord was at a loss of what to do. His track record with killing Potter wasn't exactly in favor of him and he had this complete obsession with being the one to kill Potter. Now the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-A-Pain-In-The-Arse was running around with The Red Headed Weasel destroying bits of the Dark Lords soul and whatever Voldemort would send to retrieve them, seemed to never return.

So, for a long time all the Dark Lords plans consisted of small attacks on different muggle villages. Severus wasn't particularly interested in that, hence the day dreaming. Tonight however was much different as Severus stood at full attention at his spot in the inner circle. Only the Dark Lord's most trusted Death Eaters were called to this meeting, and there was a slight tension between everyone in the inner circle. Severus' place in the circle was highest, he had been moved to the right hand side of the Dark Lord; closest to his masters throne chair. Lucius' spot had once been there but ever since Severus had killed Dumbledore, he had been moved up, and Malfoy had been moved down.

Severus could remember that day so clearly. In the Dark Lords inner circle, if you were moved down in the ranks you were usually punished. In this case Lucius had lost his place because of what Severus had accomplished and for the fact his son had not completed the task given to him and then fled afterwards without a trace. The Dark Lord had been livid and taken his anger out on Lucius. Voldemort could not afford to kill Lucius like he had threatened Draco he would, but by the end of that night Lucius had wished he were dead. What further more infuriated the Dark Lord was that not only could he not find Draco, he could not find Narcissa either. The truth was that when Severus and Draco aparated away from Hogwarts, Severus had immediately taken them to one of his own Fathers old abandoned houses on the Irish country side and told them to stay there until he returned.

He had taken a week before it had been safe for him to go there and perform the Fidelius Charm, making himself the Secret Keeper of the Malfoy's. He wasn't exactly surprised when he returned and the Malfoy's seemed to have moved very little. Draco, usually being an arrogant git, would have left the little home immediately after Severus, but it seemed in this case, young Malfoy realized just how much Danger he was in. Since then Severus had not visited them, but delivered them food every two weeks by a different owl each time. He never wrote them any notes, or sent them any papers.

"The time is drawing slowly near, my friends, my Death Eaters." Voldemort hissed the words, "Potter may be retrieving my possessions but that is all he is doing." Behind his mask Severus' brow furrowed. Hermione had told him that Potter had destroyed them all but the last two and the Dark Lord himself. "Yes, he does not know how to destroy them. He saw how it had injured the old fool; he cannot take that risk. We will strike soon, in surprise, before I am weakened. We will take back what is mine." Voldemort's red eyes glinted strangely in the torch lighted chamber. "Including the Wizarding World." Severus didn't move he had done this for years, he knew any little movement of surprise or astonishment would betray him. "I will be calling on each one of my most trusted individually to tell you your own personal task to complete before the war begins." And with that, Voldemort disappeared.

Severus always thought it was so over dramatic the way he just aparated away at the end of meetings, leaving them to socialize. Severus scowled; he hated socializing, especially with his 'colleagues'.

"Severus, you must be overwhelmed with joy knowing that soon, you will be able to come out of hiding." Lucius Malfoy, Severus' scowl seemed to deepen as he turned to greet the man.

"If you recall Malfoy, many of us, with the exceptions of the ones who use their money to buy themselves back into society, will be able to come out of hiding." Lucius smiled, or tried to smile, the expression came out more like a sneer.

"Yes and where are you hiding now, Severus?" Lucius asked as he turned his snake head cane beneath his palm. "Not at that dreaded place of yours, Spinners End I should hope. I swear I have seen you from time to time sneaking around London." Severus remained neutral, he knew Malfoy was trying to get something out of him. Severus could not allow him to find any stable proof he was a traitor.

"I go where I need to be, Lucius. I will especially be doing that now, with the war at the tips of our heels. There is a lot to prepare for." Severus refused to answer Lucius' question directly, all he wanted to do was return to Hermione's flat and have a strong cup of tea. They were going to need to take a lot of time to figure out what to do. Severus watched as Lucius' eyes narrowed.

"I see, yes, there is plenty to prepare for, our Lord will be victorious. His loyal servants will reek the benefits they deserve no doubt." Lucius leaned closer to Severus, his voice becoming nothing but a whisper. "Mudblood slaves, Severus, tied to our beds. I've already informed the Dark Lord of my pick." And as quickly as Lucius had leaned in and said it he had straightened up and was adjusting his cloak. "Pity Severus, I must be off, there's a few things I need to discuss with Bella." With that he was gone.

'Oh fuck'.


Hermione chugged down the rest of her coffee and slammed the cup back onto the table. This was the third glass she had drunk since Snape had left. She was absolutely determined to stay awake until he returned. She felt a little bad for being such a twit. She had had a horrible dream about what it would be like if Voldemort were to run the Wizarding world. Now Snape was off with Voldemort and she had no idea when he would be coming back. She wondered briefly if he would come back, or if he would come back with a gang of death eaters. The thought left her head though and she scolded herself for doubting him, there was just something about Severus that made her believe him, made her trust him…

Sighing, Hermione lifted the coffee pot from the counter to poor herself another glass when she heard a distinct 'popping' sound from behind her and promptly spilt hot coffee all over her counter.

"Don't scare me like that!" She wheezed as she turned around and was again very surprised as Snape grabbed her shoulder and shook her. "What!" she managed to bite out between shakes, which then abruptly stopped and was replaced by a smirk.

"Just wanted to see if you were awake." He muttered and motioned her to sit down at the table. "We have a lot to discuss." It was then that she realized he was still in his death eater robes. She stopped and took a good look, he was completely clad in black, but that was no different from what he always wore. The only difference was the black gloves, and the white skull mask that he held now in one of his hands. He seemed to notice her observations. "Would you like me to change, Miss Granger?" She only shook her head. "Very well."

Hermione offered him a cup of coffee, but he gently refused and pointed out he was not a dog, and did not lick up any liquids. Her cheeks dusted pink as she flicked her wand and cleaned up the mess, then putting water on for tea, as he requested.

"Potter hasn't destroyed any of the Hurcruxs." He said simply, and then leaned back in his chair, seemingly inspecting the wood of the table. Hermione seethed silently. Was that all he was going to bloody well say?

"That's impossible. Riddles Diary was destroyed in Harry's second year, and Slytherin's locket was destroyed by R.A.B. who knows when. Harry and Ron destroyed Hufflepuffs cup!" Hermione smiled to herself and waited for his response.

"Like I said. Potter has destroyed nothing." Hermione just starred at him. "The Dark Lord feels no difference. Potter may have found the cup, but he doesn't have a clue what to do with it. Destroying a Hurcrux isn't easy, you saw the effect it had on Albus." He was right, Dumbledore had been injured severely. "The Dark Lord sees this as an opportunity to begin the war." Hermione gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"No! We're not ready yet! He has so much more power then we do!" Snape nodded dully.

"He does have the Werewolves, but the giants remain neutral. If he plans to attack soon then they will not pick a side. You have to go to Minerva tomorrow and tell her of this development." Hermione nodded numbly. She had no idea what to do really, for all the logic and knowledge she had it seemed to just shut off in this moment. War wasn't something Hermione took lightly. She had read plenty of muggle books on World War one and two. Hermione leaned closer to Snape on the table.

Severus was surprised when he saw her move towards him slightly, he stopped tilting his chair and sat up straight. She seemed to be in a place of her own right now, he had forgotten she had never seen the first war, and the fact she was only a 18 year old girl who was so closely tied to the final battle. He wouldn't be surprised if she was a little overwhelmed by this news. He almost felt guilty that he had chosen her to be his messenger to the Order, she was really so young, and shouldn't have to deal with this burden.

Is she really that young? He asked himself, and was surprised when he answered no. She had stopped being a child the minute she became friend's with Harry Bloody Potter.

She looked at him then, her doe eyes were sparkling with unshed tears and so many questions. He breathed in slowly; she was a beautiful young lady. Her hair was a pulled back in a low ponytail and was messy; her cheeks were slightly flushed with her excitement or fear. He couldn't quite tell which, but damn was she beautiful. Mentally, he slapped himself a couple times.

"Do you think we have a chance?" She asked, so softly his heart seemed to shatter in his chest, and really he wanted to tell her that no matter what, he'd make sure she was safe, but that was just plain out lying. At that point he decided not to mention to her what Lucius had said to him at the meeting. There was no reason to frighten her more.

"We have as much chance as we have determination and hope, Hermione." He didn't know why he had used her first name but his answer seemed to comfort her slightly and she nodded.

"Tomorrow I'll go to Minerva first thing, we'll think of something I'm sure." She smiled at him softly. "And she'll be glad to hear we still have a spy in Voldemort's ranks." Severus' face changed immediately and he stood up.

"You can not tell her where you are receiving this information from." He said this in that tone of voice that reminded Hermione of when he was her teacher, but he wasn't her teacher anymore. The soft moment they had had just seconds before seemed to vanish.

"Why not? How the hell am I going to explain to her where all this is coming from and if it's valid? She won't listen to a thing I say without confirmation!" Hermione was standing to now.

"She will listen, and you will tell her that the source is to remain confidential. The order has no other choice but to listen, and you will tell them that if they do not, then they should all prepare for extremely painful deaths because that is what will happen if you all don't start doing something!" His voice had risen unconsciously and Hermione had taken a step back. She looked slightly hurt, but more angry then anything.

"Fine." She spat out between her clenched jaw and with that she returned to her room, slamming the door loudly behind her. That was when Severus noticed the kettle whistling in the back round. Pinching the bridge between his nose he sat back down.

He felt a headache coming on.


The next morning Hermione was up at dawn and left immediately for Hogwarts. Arriving in Hogsmeade, she briefly entertained the idea of going for a drink, but then remembered that it was 7 in the morning.

She was thankful for the summer air, even though it was a bit crisp this early in the morning, it was better then in the winter. She remembered the long walks from the School to the village and how it had been so cold she thought her toes were going to fall off.

When she arrived at the Headmasters office she wondered why Minerva decided to stay at Hogwarts over the summer, but it seemed that this year there were at least 15 teachers staying. She wondered if it was because Hogwarts was just all around safer then any other place. She laughed at the thought, it seemed like nothing but a fairytale now. Hogwarts wasn't safe.

"Hermione! I hope you haven't been standing outside my office long. I don't imagine how you would know to get in." Hermione smiled as she turned to greet her former professor. "None the less I decided to keep the password sweet names, in a sort of honor for Albus." Hermione smiled at this. "Chocolate Frogs."

As Hermione entered the office she felt an overwhelming desire to leave, immediately. She really hated being in here, and as much as she loved Minerva, the only person she thought should be in this office was Dumbledore.

With this on her mind she quickly told the older woman all about what Snape had told her, leaving out whom was the one giving her this information. Minerva looked a tad bit skeptical but asked few questions other then main details and who she got this important information from. Hermione flushed and felt like a complete idiot when she told Minerva that it was confidential, but trustworthy. Damn, if Severus screwed her over she'd ring his neck with her own two hands. Severus, the thought of him crossed her mind, and the way he had used her first name last night. There was something about that voice of his, and the way her name just rolled off his tongue that made her feel warm inside her belly. Maybe it was just stomach acid.

"I think I know what I will assign you for your first task as an Order member." She smiled softly and folded her fingers on her desk. "I seem to remember you were quite the researcher at school." Hermione blushed slightly as she recalled all the late night escapades into the restricted section. "I am putting you in charge of finding out how to properly destroy Hurcruxs and then performing that task." Hermione's mouth fell open.

"Are you sure? That is something which is very crucial to whether we win or lose this war… and you're putting me in charge of it?" Hermione couldn't deny the excitement she held at the idea, after all that was what she did, solve problems and retain knowledge. Minerva smiled.

"I don't think anyone in the order could do a better job then you. Good Luck, I'll update Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter."

Hermione left the office by 9:45, feeling slightly dumb struck. Where the hell would she start?


A/N : Thanks babes. Kind of a transition chapter, not an overwhelming amount of action

but i PROMISE. cross my heart and hope to die we'll be getting some SS/HG action going on soon. i just hate to rush it.