Chapter 19

Hermione rushed from the Owlery all the way to Gryffindor tower. When she got there, Harry and Ron were huddled together working on their Divination homework. She bent over in an attempt to catch her breath.

"Hermione, why have you been running?" Ron asked, not looking up from his diagram.

She held up a hand and caught her breath before walking over and setting a letter down in Harry's lap. Harry set down his quill and read quickly through the letter before handing it over to Ron.

"Blimey, really?" Ron asked, handing it back to Hermione who threw it into the flames. It was best to not keep any correspondence she was receiving from Greece, as it could put Geoff and R.J. in even more danger, not to mention herself if the wrong hands found it.

Hermione nodded. "I can't believe that the Death Eaters would go after them."

"I can," Harry replied. "I mean, hear me out. They protect the colony there in Greece right? If I was a bad guy, I would go straight for them demanding that they show me the way."

"I suppose you're right. But how much longer can Geoff and R.J. hold out because they help them? They aren't going to want to continue to get hurt protecting them are they?"

Harry shrugged. "They were chosen by the government for the job ages ago. Maybe they are tougher than we think. They sure look it."

Hermione had to agree that Geoff and R.J. looked a bit rough...and not in the sexy way she used to read in her mum's romance novels. No, they looked more like they had one foot in the grave with how beat up and terrifying they looked.

"Maybe, but I think I am going to talk to Professor Snape tomorrow. Do either of you want to come?"

Ron looked blatantly down at his Divination homework, pretending to be completely engrossed in it.

"I'll take that as a no. Harry?" She looked at him expectantly, but he didn't look down and ignore her.

"Sure, why not? But Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"Occlumency is not the topic here, okay?"

Hermione nodded. That hadn't even been on her mind, but now that he had brought it up, she desperately wanted Snape to convince Harry to come back and try again at the Occlumency lessons. He needed it, but she knew he would just increasingly grow angrier with her if she continued to bring it up. Besides, she had more important matters at hand. If Harry wanted help now, he needed to be proactive and get it on his own.

Hermione and Harry walked down to the dungeon that evening for a meeting with Professor Snape. Of course, they used their usual cover of having detention with him, in case Umbridge or the like came snooping.

Harry brought his knuckles up to the door and rapped three times. The professor's deep voice said 'enter' and they made their way into his private quarters.

"Good evening Miss Granger, Mr Potter."

"Professor Snape." He moved aside to let them enter his quarters. Shutting the door behind him, he waved his wand to lock it and cast a silencing charm.

"Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the sofa as he took a seat in a leather chair. "Now, why have you come to see me this evening? I doubt it is because Potter wants to resume his Occlumency lessons."

"I don't," Harry said, quietly.

"But, Harry—"

"Hermione, you promised you wouldn't bring this up and this wasn't the reason for coming here!" Harry was starting to raise his voice and standing up from the sofa.

"Sit down, Potter. I know you don't want to continue Occlumency lessons, but need I remind you that your mind is an open book and I can see easily into your small, frail mind."

Harry looked as if he was going to explode, his face turning red and his green eyes flashing. Hermione frowned. They had never done that before. She looked at Snape, who was looking at Harry curiously as well.

"Harry, fine," Hermione said, grabbing his hand. "This isn't about Occlumency, calm down."

Harry let out a deep breath and his eyes returned to their normal green color.

"I just came to tell you about what happened in Greece," Hermione said. "Geoff and R.J. were—"

"—Attacked, I know."

"You do?" Harry asked. "How?"

Snape stood up and walked over to his liquor cabinet, pouring himself a drink before returning to them to continue.

"Well, I think it's time that I tell you a little story, and all that I ask is that you keep an open mind. Potter, it will be ever-important that you don't keep eye contact with anyone that could possibly know Legilimency and invade your mind after I tell you this information. Especially if you have no intent of continuing Occlumency."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

"I would refrain from telling the both of you, but I feel it is best for the three of us to be on the same side and that cannot happen when I am hiding something."

"Okay, your secret is safe with us," Hermione reassured him. Eager to hear what their professor was about to reveal, she sat on the edge of her seat, her hands clasped in her lap. Looking to her right, Harry was readjusting his position, relaxing back against the sofa as if he was preparing for a long and enjoyable story. It reminded her of when she used to read books to him in the evening back in third year.

Snape inclined his head. "When I was seventeen years old, Lucius Malfoy told the Dark Lord about me and how adept I was at potions. After showing him my skills, and promising to be loyal, I was marked as a Death Eater."

Harry let out a spluttering noise, while Hermione's hand flew to cover her mouth.

"I turned spy for Dumbledore not long afterward, close to the time that your parents died."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Snape held up his hand. "I ask now that you don't ask questions, as there are a lot of components. I wanted you to know that about me: I am a spy for the Headmaster and the Order of the Phoenix. Be sure not to tell anyone, not even Mr Weasley or anyone in the organization. There are few that know of my true allegiance."

"But doesn't that make it hard for them to trust you?"

Snape shrugged, his eyes giving nothing away. They were black and unblinking as usual as if this was information you'd tell someone over morning tea. "They trust Dumbledore and he tells them to trust me, so they do."

Hermione nodded. "What can you tell us of the attack in Greece? Did you know about it?"

"I did not know about it beforehand, otherwise I would have done my best to either try to stop it from happening or at least gone along to make sure no one was seriously injured. From what I hear from fellow Death Eaters, they tortured the waitress you spoke to until she gave them Geoff's and R.J's names. The Death Eaters then found them on their dock and tortured them for information. The waitress must have called someone to help because the Death Eaters were soon run off. Your friends are—"

"Alive," Hermione breathed. "We know. They sent us a letter themselves, but they really diluted what actually happened."

"They were seriously injured, but are expected to make a full recovery." When Hermione raised an eyebrow at this, Snape explained, "I have a potioneering colleague there that is giving them the potions needed to heal."

Hermione nodded. "Well that's a relief."

"Who are the other Death Eaters?" Harry asked. "Or who are the ones that attacked in Greece?"

Snape scoffed. "It would be dangerous for me to tell you. Plus, you can't fool me Potter. I know that you would do some rash, Gryffindor thing and try and go after them. Trust me," Snape leaned in close. "You'll lose every time."

"Try me," Harry said.

"They are witches and wizards highly trained in the Dark Arts. You think an expelliarmus is going to get you by again? No, you need to stay out of this until the time comes."

"And when will that be?"

"Harry," Hermione said, tugging on his arm as he sat there, looking down at the ground refusing to look at her or at their professor. "Let's get back to the issue at hand."

"Let's," Snape echoed. "What else do you want to know about the Greece situation?"

"Why does Voldemort want to get down into the colony so badly?"

Snape drained the last of his glass and got up to get another, but continued talking. "That's a tough one, as they Dark Lord doesn't reveal his true motives to just anyone. Though you are lucky, I am one of his most trusted."

Harry went to say something and Hermione just shook her head. He closed his mouth reluctantly, but could tell he was bursting at the brim to be smart with their professor.

"Go on," Hermione said.

"Well, mermaids are known to be extremely powerful, especially the Daughter of the Sea. Back in the first war, before he lost his powers and before he was completely corrupted by the evil he was committing, he went to Damara. It turned very badly when he asked for mermaid soldiers for his cause or wisdom from Atargatis." He paused. "This is all hearsay of course from other Death Eaters, but that is the best I can do."

Hermione nodded.

"She shunned him and threw him out of the water. He is banned from ever touching foot in the ocean again which is why he sends his Death Eaters to do his work for him."

"But if she said no, why is he still going after her?"

"As you may imagine, the Dark Lord holds grudges. You can see it with Damara. He isn't looking for power anymore from the Daughter of the Sea, he's looking to destroy. And he hopes that if he destroys the leader, he will be free to control all mermaids to do his bidding."

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock at Snape's explanation.

"You can't be serious." Harry said. "That's crazy."

Snape nodded. "It is. But the Dark Lord's mind was corrupted long ago. There is no changing his mind. So Miss Granger, you need to be careful. If he finds out that you are the Daughter of the Sea there's no telling what he would do to get you."

Later, as they were returning to their dormitories, Hermione's mind was numb.

"It's going to be okay," Harry reassured her. "It is."

"Yeah, but it's possible that it might get worse before it does."

Harry didn't disagree with her and that gave her the strength she needed. She was ready to fight.

Hermione continued to practice Occlumency, clearing her mind each night before she went to bed. Harry might not want to put in the effort to not have nightmares, but she did.

Before she knew it, it was April. Between lessons, studying for O.W.L's, and Dumbledore's Army, she felt there was no time for anything else. She and Harry barely found time to spend alone together which wasn't a huge deal, but something she craved. Which is why that evening, they ate dinner quickly and made their way to the Room of Requirement to get some time alone before the DA meeting that evening.

"So what are we learning tonight, oh ye great professor?" Hermione asked, giggling as they entered the room.

Harry grinned and shook his head. "I figured we would start on Patronus Charms. Knowing Voldy and the breakout that happened earlier this year, the dementors are on his side. People need to know how to defend themselves against them."

Hermione nodded. "I agree. Though do you mind if I help you show others the concept of how to do it? I don't want to show my patronus."

"I figured you might ask. That's fine. I don't want you to give away any secrets that could put you in danger."

"Thanks." Hermione stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Harry's lips. Silently, she asked the room for a sofa and it provided one. She pulled him down onto it and continued her onslaught of kisses until it was time for their lesson. She even found herself in his lap at one point, which she realized that she enjoyed very much. And just for a little while, she could forget about all of their problems and everything to come.

Later, as Hermione sat on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room, she found she really couldn't believe that horrid woman and her team she called the Inquisitorial Squad. But really, she should have known that Marietta Edgecombe couldn't be trusted all along, especially when Cho Chang had been the one to drag her to the meetings. Anyone who didn't want to be there of their own free will was dangerous.

She wrestled with her thoughts for awhile, until the entrance to the common room opened. It was Harry. Several people including herself swarmed him. Everyone was yelling, asking questions, talking over each other — it was madness.

Harry just put up his hands and everyone stopped. "There is nothing to say. We got caught, we won't be doing it again." There were several mumbles and sad murmurings, but Hermione didn't blame him for that decision. He was probably in a load of trouble and taking the hit for all of them.

He grabbed her hand and walked over to the sofa to sit down. Ron followed them over.

Hermione looked at Harry expectantly. "So what happened?"

"Dumbledore's gone. He took the hit for Dumbledore's Army as his own idea. Umbridge called in Fudge and he brought Kingsley. They tried to arrest him for conspiring against the Ministry and he did this crazy magic, and then he and Fawkes disappeared."

"Bloody Hell!"

Hermione nodded, not bothering to correct Ron's language as she normally did.

"So you didn't get into trouble at all?"

Harry shook his head. "None, Umbridge is pissed about that too. I'll have to be more careful than usual."

"We all will."

Not long after their conversation, Ron bid them goodnight, leaving Harry and Hermione to themselves in front of the fire.

"There's something else."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't tell you everything earlier. I didn't want to say it in front of Ron."

Hermione waited patiently for him to tell her on his own, without being prompted from her.

"When Dumbledore was in front of me, I felt like I wanted to attack him. This burning rage just built up inside me and I wanted to hurt him." Harry shook his head. "What's wrong with me?" He whispered the last sentence and hung his head. Hermione couldn't even imagine the turmoil going on inside his mind.

Hermione pulled his head down to rest on her shoulder and played with his hair. It must have calmed him down, at least a little, as he eventually moved his head back up. "You know what this means right?"

Resigned, Harry nodded. "I'll go talk to Professor Snape tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"Can we sleep down here tonight? I am afraid of what might happen if I fall asleep on my own."

They both needed some comfort, but Harry most of all. She nodded. "Let's do some homework while we wait for everyone to go up to bed."

Harry reluctantly agreed and soon enough they were the only ones left in the common room. Hermione had a difficult time drifting off to sleep, Harry having fallen asleep right away. She didn't mind that she was up, as long as Harry was sleeping peacefully next to her, she would be okay.

The next evening, Hermione sequestered herself into the corner of the common room once more. Apparently, it had been dubbed the Hermione Granger spot as she was there more often than not, working on homework. The Weasley twins informed her that no one else even bothered to sit there anymore. She shrugged. It worked for her.

"Hermione?"

She must have been so engrossed in her schoolwork that she hadn't seen Harry enter the common room. He was standing there, his eyes darting around the room, messing with the back of his hair. Uh, oh—this can't be good. He was acting a nervous wreck. And wasn't he supposed to be meeting with Professor Snape?

"Harry, I didn't see you come in." She took the piles of books off the chair next to her and set them on the floor. "Sit down."

He sat down, but didn't say anything and only continued to act weirdly.

"Spit it out," she said, writing down another sentence for her Arithmancy homework.

"Wha—What?" he asked, his eyes wide.

She looked at him with pursed lips. "Don't play that game with me. Something obviously happened because you are looking like a scared chicken. And I know you had your meeting with Professor Snape tonight. Why aren't you still there?"

Hermione watched him visibly stiffen, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. He pulled at his collar and untied his tie. She just looked at him until he made eye contact with her again, and then she raised her eyebrows.

"Harry, tell me what happened."

He sighed. "Fine, I showed up at our meeting time and all of a sudden, we heard a loud bang. I think it was Fred and George. Well Snape left me in his quarters and I might have... accidentally fallen into his pensieve and seen some memories."

Hermione looked at him and mentally rolled her eyes. "I doubt that was an accident, but go on. What kind of memories?"

Harry frantically shook his head. "I will never tell. But Snape was angry and kicked me out. I don't think we can get past this Hermione—it was bad. He'll never forgive me for snooping and I saw something I didn't want to see."

Hermione's throat was dry and she was trying really hard to keep it together. She was under an extreme amount of stress and this just added to it. Snape was one of their only allies and Harry might have ruined it because he had decided to snoop where he didn't belong.

She took a deep breath and asked, "Did you apologize?"

"No, but he was just so angry, I got out of there as fast as I could."

"Well, I think you should go and apologize. It's the least you can do. And if he's mad, fine, but I really think he wants to help you. He will get over whatever you saw."

"I don't think so. Maybe in a few days. But there is no way I am going back down there unless it's for Potions."

Hermione just shook her head and returned to her homework. That boy was something else. It was like trouble gravitated toward him and he didn't do anything to push it away. And if that was the case (which she knew it was because that's how its been since they had come to Hogwarts), then they were in for a whole lot more than they bargained for.

A/N: Thank you again to my amazing friend, cheerleader, alpha, and beta, HeartOfAspen for all of her work on my stories. Feel free to leave a review, I would love to hear from you!