He watched as she paced around the room. She had been venting for hours but he couldn't figure out why. Rodolphus was fool on a good day and a monster on a bad one. She hated her husband and Voldemort always presumed she would kill him herself. Maybe why she was mad, the mudblood robbed her of the pleasure. Voldemort was a master of psychology as it came hand-in-hand with being a despot, but understanding Bellatrix was something no one could master.

Voldemort was deciding whether sending a thank you owl to the girl would be crass. He would have killed Rudolphus himself years ago but Rabastan was one of his best men and more importantly the Lestranges added significant galleons to his war chest. Rabastan had run off to the mudblood's house against his orders the night before. He was getting revenge under any circumstances and chose to ignore his Lord's direct order.

Unfortunately for the vengeance obsessed pureblood he ran into Aurors who had been stationed there hoping someone would make the mistake. Rabastan quickly joined his brother care of Kinsley Shacklebolt. He lost one of his best men, but he would have done the same once Rabastan blatantly flouted his edict. The best part is that Rabastan was single which meant both men's estates went to Bellatrix. He was surprised at the damage that had been done. Two dead and Dolohov was still being patched up, and all this because of one little mudblood school girl.

He knew that his file definitely needed to be updated, there was more to this woman than met the eye. Unfortunately, Rodolphus made his file and did so with the usual skill and commitment he applied to all his endeavors; maybe a fruit basket for the girl would be proper.

She was resourceful and clever and that made her a dangerous enemy. She eliminated a thorn in his side he couldn't so he she had done him a great service there but cost him Rabastan in the process. The Gryffindor Princess, as she was apparently titled, was now the center of his enforcer's attentions and Bellatrix was erratic at times and a sadist to boot. She was also hands down his most skilled and loyal follower and was only rivaled by Severus in the intelligence department. He needed her by his side and having this mudblood as a distraction wasn't helping.

"Bella! Stop ranting and get Severus. The two of you meet me in the study."

Thirty minutes later he was sitting behind Lucius' desk and Bella and Severus were sitting before him.

"I want to know everything about Hermione Jean Granger."

"My Lord, she is a know-it-all book worm chit."

"Severus, I know how much you dislike the girl, but I want facts not feelings. Tell me what you know."

Severus began a long winded diatribe. He glossed over what he could but Severus knew the Dark Lord's information would be quite thorough after this fiasco and he needed to stay in his good graces. He filled him in on which tests Hermione passed the first year in pursuit of the sorcerer's stone, her polyjuice potion incident, discovering the basilisk and her relationship with Viktor Krum. He left out her time turner use and rescue of Sirius Black. He also left out some items about Dumbledore's Army but he assumed most of it would be discovered. He tried to balance the need to keep the Dark Lord's trust with protecting the annoying little swot who Albus Dumbledore was so fond of.

"My Lord, I would like to volunteer myself to eliminate the little mudblood."

"I am sure you do Bella, but I am not ready for that yet. I want our dossiers on everyone in the Order and Potter's friends updated. She killed Rod and tortured Antonin, nowhere in her file did it indicate she was capable of this! Rod made a mess of these records and it cost him both his brother's life and his own. I lost a good man in Rabastan, not to mention Dolohov is still twitching a bit from the hexing she gave him. Delegate the rest but you two are to personally update everything on the so-called 'Golden trio', especially the little mudblood!"

Voldemort may have found Harry Potter's Achilles heel. He didn't know how yet but he was going to find a way to use this girl.


Severus reported back to Dumbledore. Much to Snape's dismay, Dumbledore invited Hermione to sit in. When he was questioned as to her presence he cryptically responded, "Severus you have seen her potential plus she needs to be protected."

Severus quickly pointed out he never gave open access to information for anyone else who needed to be protected but he didn't go so far as to pointing out that a little information might have gone a long way in keeping Neville Longbottom alive.

They sat in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and the three went through all of the events that happened. Hermione was adjusting to the aftermath of the battle. Although she was having nightmares they weren't as bad as she expected. She was more disturbed about how well she was taking all of this than she was about the actual events. She felt nothing for Rudolphus or for Dolohov. She should feel something, guilt, elation….anything. She told the Headmaster and Snape what she was going through. She expected a sneer or recriminations from the dour potions professor but he seemed to understand.

Dumbledore was holding something back; both Severus and Hermione could feel it in his demeanor. He stated his concerns over Hermione being in the crosshairs of both Bellatrix and Tom, but they could feel as though he knew something was going to happen and he wasn't saying what. She was nervous. The last time he was this cryptic she ended up on a running tour of the Department of Mysteries.

He told her that she needed physical skills to match her mental ones and he set up a schedule for her to train with Severus almost every moment he was available. He also set up times from her to train with Sirius, Tonks, Mad Eye, McGonagall and Remus. She was going to be doing 12-15 hours of training a day. She wondered why there was such an interest in turning her into the Hogwarts version of Rambo. This was about more than keeping her safe. What did the old man know that he wasn't sharing?


Later that week she was able to go visit her parents in their safe house. She was worried about how they were faring and they were terrified for their only daughter. She spent four days with them, up and through her birthday. After that it was back to Grimmauld Place for training.

Her birthday was a quiet affair. Her parents had only just found out it had been moved up four months and were a bit taken aback by their time travelling daughter. Her friends were being kept in the dark and most of the Order didn't know where her parent's safe house was. She spent the evening with her parents trying to cherish every moment. They would be moved to a new location the next day and she wouldn't know where they were being kept. She knew everything had changed and she didn't know when or if she would be seeing them again. As she hugged them goodbye she shed tears, not only for the effective loss of her parents, but also for the end of her childhood.


He had only seen her like this once before and that did not end well. She was fixated on the little mudblood. The walls of her room were lined with photos and news articles, an entire section filled with the articles Rita Skeeter had written about the young woman. Her bed was covered in notes and documents provided by Malfoy. Despite numerous Order members and the D.A. testifying against Lucius, he once again escaped smelling like roses. Bellatrix had ordered him to pull all ministry documents on the Trio. Her bed was covered with Hermione's files, random notes and the final investigative report into the Battle of the Department of Mysteries as they were calling it. She also pulled any documents that had been left in the Granger home. She had almost gotten herself killed trying to get in but she was quicker on the draw than Rabastan and the sole casualty was an Auror named Dawlish who nobody would mourn.

The last time he had seen her so obsessed was Alice Jayne who later became Alice Longbottom. He knew that the torture wasn't about them defying him or them being blood traitors. It was about Alice marrying Frank. Bellatrix tortured them to insanity because Alice rejected her and chose him. Bellatrix was brilliant, fierce and deadly with a wand. She was worth ten of his other Death Eaters with the exception of Severus. The only problem was she was completely batshit crazy.

How on earth does one go about fixing someone like that up with a proper girlfriend? Being a Dark Lord had its draw backs, and making sure his people were happy was one of them. As a proper villain you have two choices, one be charismatic and make your minions loyal and happy or two, hire a lower class of minion. Skilled evil henchmen did not put up with irrational despots or regular abuse. Villainy was an expanding field of work and there were quite a few hopeful despots looking for good right hand men and women. He had a reputation for being cruel and unreasonable, and although he was cruel when it was deserved he was very reasonable and took care of his followers. He was a half-blood with no nose or lips and in charge of the elite pureblood society and some of the most evil wizards to ever live, damn skippy he had people skills.

Bellatrix was married off to Rodolphus because her parents knew that if they didn't marry her quickly they never would be able to pawn her off. Her obsession with Alice was well known and was getting worse with every passing month. They had already lost Andromeda to a mudblood, they didn't want to lose Bellatrix to a scandal as well. Voldemort didn't care about such things but at the time the Lestrange money was a welcome addition and he made sure Rudolphus always knew that if it came down to Bellatrix or him, Voldemort would always choose her. She never let Rudolphus touch her. Not even for an heir and she told him frequently she would rather be childless than lay with him. He kept his mistresses and so did she. She was known for her dark leanings in the bedroom and for being extraordinarily possessive.

Now that she was a widow she could take whoever she wanted as a lover. If he won no one would ever question who she bed no matter how nuts she was about it, if he lost it wouldn't matter they would all be dead. He needed to keep her focused. He decided Bellatrix needed a trip to the local brothel and he certainly needed to keep an eye on her. Finding her a permanent playmate would have to be one of his priorities. However he was going to use her obsession to solve all his problems.


Hermione was exhausted.

"Again."

"I need a break."

"There are no breaks in battle."

She stood and readied her wand, the physical training was her weakness and she was limping from a hex she missed and her lip was split. She had been training for over a month and only stopped to eat and sleep a couple hours a night. She had been doing well with her occlumency training which Severus said was because she compartmentalized well. It was why she was able to recover emotionally from the Ministry so quickly. She had a great deal of respect for the taciturn man and after training with her he had developed a respect for her as well.

They were like personalities and the two became fast friends. She was no longer the annoying little chit that caused him grief. She was an Order member and now living a double life just like him. She was underappreciated and spent most of her life being mocked for her intelligence and commitment to learning. She understood him better than anyone but Albus and Minerva. They stuck together in the house. She defended him to Sirius and Remus every time the two remaining Marauders decide to hassle him which put her on their bad side as well. She hated the way they treated him.

He put his ass on the line every day with every breath and they were still bullying him like it was the school yard. They told her to stay out of it and that it wasn't proper for her to be involved in adult business, but last she checked she was an adult and there really wasn't an age requirement on morality. He in return protected her, keeping Sirius away from her. She knew Harry loved his godfather but the man was creepy and frequently propositioned her.

"You need to be stronger. You need to be quicker."

She knew he was right. She raised her wand to begin again. He only had one other true friend in his life and he lost her. It made him work Hermione harder and he offered her no quarter when it came to training, especially combat. She had learned about Lily through a rare successful attempt at legilimency and had seen the marauders' treatment of him in school. She saw his love for her and the confrontation. She saw him try and win her friendship back and thought it noble, although a bit stalkerish. She respected him for his love and devotion to her. She hoped one day she could love that deeply.

She spent most of her time training with Severus with whom she studied occlumency and combat techniques. Tonks and Remus also trained her in combat styles and dueling. Sirius refused as he thought she had no business 'playing war'. She was tempted to tell him to ask Rod Lestrange how well she played but things were already tense enough in the house as it was. The closer she and Severus became the more divided the house became with her and Severus on one side. Minerva favored them and when she was there the others scattered less they get on the Gryffindor head's bad side.

Minerva worked with her on apparition which she learned quickly. She would take the apparition test and get her license in the beginning of October and the Ministry wouldn't be the wiser. Without a trace the Ministry had no idea she was apparating now. She had also begun animagus training which was much harder. It took her almost a month to get to her animagus form but it was well worth the hard work.

By the end of the summer she was an excellent occlumens, an acceptable legilimens, a proficient dueler and a Naja Pallida. When Severus saw her animagus form he gave her hell about it. She was a cobra which showed her Slytherin training, but the Naja Pallida was the Red Spitting Cobra. He said she even flew her Gryffindor colors while she was taking on Slytherin traits. She actually liked her animagus even if she was surprised by it. The snake was quite beautiful. She enjoyed being in snake form and was starting to pick up a bit of parselmouth through her frequent transformations. Only Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall knew she was a successful animagus and she spent as much time as she could sneaking throughout the house eavesdropping unseen. It was fun and she gleaned quite a bit of information.

The Weasleys showed up the last month and she had to do her training at odd hours to avoid questions. She couldn't take a chance of changing into her animagus outside of her or Severus' rooms and she wasn't getting enough training in. Harry showed up two weeks later and it was decided she would continue her training in school and break for the rest of the summer. She knew she needed to prepare the boys for her additional time with Snape.

When she told Harry and Ron that she was going to be Snape's assistant they had a meltdown. She tried to explain that she wanted to be a Potion's Mistress and it was the only way. She had expected it from Ron but not from Harry. It took Ginny yelling at them to get them to calm down and listen to her. Sometimes she forgot how hot headed and moody the pair could be.

Harry now blamed Severus for Neville's death, she didn't see how that worked but she was sure it sounded better in his head than they made their choices and they had to live with them. Neville knew the risk; he knew he was likely to face the same people that put his parents in St. Mungo's. Somehow in Harry's mind, Severus' brusque teaching manner was to blame, not the fact that six students foolishly jumped a ride on some thestrals to confront He Who is Most Creepy. Harry took it as a personal affront that she would be Snape's assistant. It didn't help that she was the one who told him not to go to the Ministry in the first place.

She no longer had the patience to deal with this nonsense but she needed to maintain the image that nothing had changed with them. She didn't see how they could keep up school rivalries and talk quidditch when the war had started and among the first casualties was their friend. How was it the only lesson they learned in the Ministry is Snape is bad. It was like the whole 'we are at war' bit just completely escaped their notice. Ginny had changed profoundly after the Ministry and the girl was both quieter and a bit darker. No one noticed but Hermione. They carried on like nothing had changed when everything was different now.

After a rough first few days the friends fell back into an easy rapport. She blocked out the war and used her newly acquired training to adapt to the boys cluelessness. When they got to be too much she escaped to her room with Ginny. The two had become close. Ginny saw Hermione as the reason they had lived through the Ministry and she knew if they had listened to her they would have never been trapped like that. Additionally Hermione was helping Ginny deal with her nightmares. She was teaching her meditation techniques and spent hours giving her a shoulder to cry on. Ginny tried to talk to her mother but Molly blanched at the darkness of Ginny's thoughts and brushed them off. Hermione didn't judge her for her anger, which wasn't just directed at the Death Eaters but also at the Order and D.A. including Harry.

A few days before they were set to return Severus woke her up around two in the morning. The two snuck down stairs and flooed to Hogwarts. Hermione didn't know what was going on but she knew it had to be serious for them to drag her here like this. As they sat down in the Headmasters office she learned the bad news, Albus Dumbledore was dying. He had been trying to destroy something called a Horcrux which was a piece of the Dark Lord's soul. He had been irrevocably cursed and would be dead by the end of the school year.

He wanted to use his death to leverage Severus into a better position with the Dark Lord. The last three weeks of the curse would be filled with unbearable pain and suffering. There was no cure and no potion would temper the torture the curse would inflict. Tom had been questioning Severus' loyalty since he had been back. Severus needed to be as close to him as possible to win this war and his information was vital to winning the war. This plan would put Severus in a position to bring down Voldemort.

There was one flaw to the plan; Severus would no longer be able to contact the Order. Albus didn't trust anyone else's emotions to let them know what was happening. Hermione was logical to the point of being icy at times. She understood it and wouldn't judge Severus for killing him. Albus hadn't trained Hermione for her protection. He had seen her handle herself against Voldemort and her stoicism while sitting with her friends in the hospital. Most importantly he saw the way she could compartmentalize. Combat could be taught easily, psychology was much harder.

Albus said he had wanted to train her eventually to be the Order's eyes and ears in the Ministry. Hermione's scores guaranteed her a job, most likely close to the Minister. She had some of the highest O.W.L. scores in Hogwarts history. He had intended for her to be a spy all along, but the mission had changed and the timetable moved up. She needed to be a handler for Severus and she needed to be ready by the end of the school year. She would be the contact between the trio and Severus. She would also have to find a way to relay that information to the Order. There was a chance they would have to go on the run and she needed to be ready. Albus didn't think Scrimageour could hold Tom back once he died. Neither did Hermione. She needed to be ready for the fate of the world to lie, in part, on her shoulders in approximately eight months' time.