A project of Severus Snape

The day of departure finally came. She woke up with a combination of Mrs. Weasley's and that wretched portrait's screams. She checked her head like she would every morning. She could see a burnt shade of yellow if she looked closely. It was nothing that would draw attention but it was noticeable. It was as if she had dyed her blonde hair red.

"Maybe I should dye my hair." she said to herself, "That would make things much simpler."

Lupin had asked her to keep the matter of her physical change a secret for now. She had disagreed hotly.

"If I don't tell people the truth from early on, they'll suspect me even more." she had argued.

Although Snape and Sirius had agreed with her, they had warned her that flaunting it would be equally wrong. Snape had told her that his Slytherins wouldn't ask, but some would surely notify their families; Ravenclaws would be busy with their OWLs; Huffelpuffs wouldn't be so rude to ask. Gryffindors, however, were going to be different case altogether as they knew her much better than others and weren't shy to ask questions. She would be safe from anyone lower than 5th year, but she had to expect some friendly and maybe some unfriendly questions as the political atmosphere was not in their favour.

Unfortunately, Sturgis Podmore, one of Harry's guards, had failed to come back in time. She kept her concerns to herself and tried to stay calm. Their trip to the train station was rather uneventful until Snuffles decided to show off. What if somebody had recognised him? It seemed that he didn't care about that. Thinking about the fact that the following year was perhaps going to be her most awful year in Hogwarts, Hermione entered the Prefects' carriage.

It was beautiful. They had renovated the wagon so it looked like a big hall instead of an aisle surrounded by compartments squeezed tightly together. There were nice comfortable benches and a table in the middle, stacked with snacks.

Ronald and Hermione met the Heads and listened to them. They apparently met with each prefect pair separately. They advised and warned them about certain issues they would be facing soon. they were almost finished with them, when Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson entered.

"Look who's here, Drakey?" said Pansy. Malfoy was obviously annoyed by this nickname. He scowled and looked at them. The moment he saw her it was as if he was thunderstruck.

"Blasted bludger. What happened to your hair Granger?" He seemed alerted.

"Does it matter, Draco? She probably hexed herself." Pansy smirked. Hermione gave them a tight smile as she restrained Ron from attacking Slytherin Prefects.

Malfoy wasn't convinced at all. Through the trip, he found the opportunity to ask her once more when Ronald was having an amicable conversation with Ernie.

"I'm not buying 'I dyed my hair' excuse. Your natural hair isn't blonde. Your face is different too." he said without trying to conceal his suspicion.

Hermione weighed her options and settled on a half truth, "I don't know Malfoy. My hair colour started to change late June and I can't stop it."

Her blond nemesis raised his eyebrows.

"Not curious why?" he asked.

"I am, and I asked. Professor Dumbledore thinks it's just puberty." she responded. She let him interpret the answer on his own. Of course, Malfoy was not easy to fool.

"Potter wanking on a magazine is puberty. This is not puberty."

He looked into her eyes, wishing he could read her mind. Unfortunately, he had not learnt much about Legilimency.

"Believe whatever you want to believe, Malfoy. Just don't bother me with your stupid questions." said Hermione.

"Oh I don't need to do that, Granger. We're just going to wait. You see, this kind of change will become evident at some point, and we'll know what's really going on." Malfoy smirked at her, "See you later blood traitor."

Hermione froze where she was as Malfoy left her alone. It was unclear how strongly he suspected the nature of her change. Malfoy had the privilege of being a pure blood and a competent wizard. If he had guessed her secret even before they had reached Hogwarts, how many more would find out by Christmas?"

"What did the ferret want?" Ron asked.

"Oh nothing, he was being his old evil self." Hermione answered distractedly, "We should go back to Harry before he goes crazy."

The rest of the trip was much less stressful. Luna Lovegood stared at her the whole time, but on the plus side she never mentioned anything about her appearance. Neville had brought a very strange plant. It was exotic and she learnt immediately that it should not be poked carelessly.

Once they arrived she jumped off the train, happy that she would finally be in a warm bed only a couple hours later. She became flabbergasted by the fact that Harry could see non-existent horses that were supposedly pulling their carriages even more so when she realised that Luna could see them, too.

The most unpleasant part was Hagrid's absence. No announcement was made regarding him. Ron kept annoying Nearly Headless Nick during the feast, and then finally they met their new lovely DADA instructor. The moment she saw Professor Umbridge, she knew she was going to hate her. She had every intention to poke her nose into their business after all.

She soon realised Umbridge was even worse than she had judged her to be. Defense was not going to be the worst of their problems, because at Potions class Snape explained his plan for the year. After his brief speech on the importance of OWL results, Snape revealed his plan for the fifth-years..

"Now that you know what is ahead, we can start discussing our first project." he said softly. He moved his wand subtly.

A cauldron appeared in front of the class. It was triple the size of a standard cauldron.

"In addition to our brewing each session, you will have to deliver a personal brewing by the end of February." he explained with his commanding voice, " This is an incomplete heritage tree potion. Each student will get a small cauldron of this potion to complete. Then we will test it outside the castle in a designated area. I will of course, complete my own to be presented as an example of the potion since I'm afraid not many will manage to complete this delicate potion. You can find the instructions on the notebook in front of you, where you will document the process of your portion making as well. Make sure not to omit even the most insignificant detail."

"As most of you know by now, I usually take only the best for my advanced classes." Snape said looking at Harry and Ron with contempt, "However, I am willing to make an exception for those who hand over an Acceptable project. They will be allowed to participate in our second N.E.W.T. Potions class."

He waved his wand and the massive cauldron disappeared.

"You'll find your cauldron secured in your dorm rooms. Now, for today we will be brewing the Draught of Peace."

Snape explained the usage of the potion and warned them that any clumsiness could have severe consequences. Hermione of course knew that many here would be more than heavy-handed as Snape had put it.

She was right in her assumption. Ron's Potion looked like paste by the end, Goyle's was awful and Neville's looked like cement. Harry's potion was a bit off and produced not silver but gray vapour. Snape came to him with a smirk. Hermione knew that he was about to be unfair to him. He had used Evanesco on his cauldron. Hermione was fuming at this display of bigotry against Harry. He said nothing to Snape and that surprised her. He was clearly angry.

"Stay after class, Potter." said the Potion master as he continued to instruct other students to bottle their potions.

When everyone left Harry and his two friends stayed. Snape looked at Hermione and Ron impassively.

"I assumed we have only one Potter in this class." he said, "This conversation is private. Leave now unless you are his newfound siblings."

"Sorry mate, see you soon," said Ron as he and Hermione walked out.

"Do you know why I said, your potion was utterly useless." Snape asked.

"Because you hate me, sir?" asked Harry.

"I dislike you Mr. Potter, yes. Although that's true, it's not the reason." said Snape as he sat, "Take a look at these disasters. Would anyone in their right mind mistake them for the Draught of Peace?"

Harry looked at the batches. Some didn't even look like a potion.

"I wouldn't call some a potion ,sir." Harry responded as he looked at the man carefully. What was he up to?

To Harry's amazement, Snape smiled. "Yes, these are not potions. Yours was a potion at least, and it was extremely dangerous. If someone drank your potion they would never wake up. The purpose of adding hellebore is to prevent that." he explained, "If you make that potion again you won't repeat that mistake, and that might save someone's life."

"But it could be used for assassination, right?"

Harry cringed at his own stupidity for asking that. He would never establish a good rapport with Snape.

"If your target is as stupid as Mister Goyle, then yes." Snape smirked at Harry's shocked face.

"Make this potion again in your free time and bring me a sample. Then I might give you something other than zero."

When simply stared at him, Snape asked Harry to leave the classroom.

With all the stress in the world, Hermione also had to be worried about Harry being unlucky with Cho Chang the Ravenclaw. Ronald, being tactless as ever, didn't disappoint Hermione by insulting Cho's favorite quidditch team. As a result she had a lot on her mind once she called Sirius on her mirror.

"Hey, little bird." Sirius was very happy to see her after a week.

"Hello, Sirius. No calls from Harry yet?" She said.

"Oh that's okay. I know he's busy." he answered casually. "So how's it going on?"

"Not bad. Well there's one thing. Do you know anything about Dolores Umbridge?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know her on a personal level. But if you ask Remus, he will have so much to tell you. Umbridge made it quite impossible for him to find a suitable job. She's a nasty person, but I don't think Voldemort would want her as a Death Eater, if that's what you're asking." he responded and then he changed the subject by asking, "How's the change going on?"

Hermione pressed her lips together.

"Well, my hair is turning blonde really fast. I'm actually really happy with my skin. It's getting great. These days I can feel a bit of pain in my legs and ankles, my torso is starting to hurt as well. Is that normal?"

"Yeah it means that your bones are changing as well. I told you it would happen." Sirius assured her, "Nothing dangerous will happen to your body, so don't worry. Has anyone suspected anything yet?"

Hermione looked at him uncomfortably. "On the day we were in the train. Malfoy saw me" she paused a bit, "I'm pretty sure he suspects me. He called me a …" she paused again and took a deep breath as Sirius waited patiently, " …blood traitor."

Sirius looked at her, his eyes all wide, "Oh crap." He exclaimed. "I didn't think…"

"Yeah, I know. So much for Slytherins not asking questions."

Hermione smiled sadly. She could only hope that her biological parents were good people.

"At least we know. It's good that we do. I'll let Snape know." said Sirius after a long pause.

Sirius and Hermione avoided that topic for the rest of the conversation. Even though she ended the call with a smile, she couldn't stop feeling worried.