Chapter 11

Hermione read the entire book on Chakras that night. She shrugged off her mild hesitation at disobeying Snape so flagrantly, and instead decided that flouting his commands made her feel satisfyingly rebellious.

She doubted she could have stopped reading anyway. Not only was Virtue's simple prose on the subject compelling, but the margins of the book were heavily annotated with Snape's spiky, impatient handwriting. Hermione quickly realised that his notes were magical additions and addenda (and, sometimes, corrections) to Virtue's understanding of Chakra healing and clearing. Where Virtue wrote of the unblocking of the natural spiritual power within each Chakra, Snape scrawled about gently strengthening corresponding magical abilities; he took issue with her work on God and the angels, and added whole paragraphs on historic magical and religious figures, many of whom were one and the same; when she waxed poetic about inborn healing and psychic abilities, Snape added line after line on inborn Occlumency and magically-enhanced psychic protection. It was fascinating – and confusing – reading, and by the time Hermione got to the last page, the sun was clearing the horizon.

She read Snape's final comments with heavily-lidded eyes, and her mind didn't register his words until she'd almost nodded off:

"Miss Granger, if you have read this book in one sitting against my express instructions, you will know my displeasure at our next meeting. That is, unless you prove yourself capable of grasping and employing the healing concepts in this book to my satisfaction. I advise a slower (and more intelligent) reread followed by thorough practice. SS"

"Of course," Hermione muttered, before setting the volume aside at last and dropping off to sleep.

Hermione practiced as diligently as she could throughout the week, setting aside time in the Room of Requirement, which graciously added yet another new room, this one with large cushions on a plush carpeted floor, a small, decorative fountain, and a distinctly zen feel to it. She reread the book, slowly this time, and tried not to memorise it, which was surprisingly difficult. She also called upon the Room to create a space suitable for long walks, and it obligingly became cathedral-sized and full of piles and towers of junk. She spent hours walking at night, staring in wonderment at the Room of Hidden things, and making up stories about the objects she saw and the people who so desperately wanted to be rid of them. The only thing the Room couldn't supply, and which she wished for every day, was to have her time-turner back; between her heavy NEWT classes and homework, her obligations to the DA, her diligent supervision of the Marauder's Map, her long conversations with Harry and Ron, and her work for Snape, sleep was hard to come by.

"You're dead on your feet again, 'Mione," Ginny said to her one morning. "I thought we set you a proper bedtime, you know, before sunrise."

Hermione stifled a yawn and reached across Neville to grasp a plate of sausages.

"I know, Ginny," she answered. "But there's a lot to keep track of, and I have trouble sleeping these days anyway."

It was true: although she carefully avoided using her Mind's Eye throughout the day time, it cropped up in her dreams. It wasn't, however, the well-appointed little chamber she'd set up over the course of the summer; it was the slanting, off room that Snape had seen when he'd checked on her. It was full of little holes that congealed together into one huge emptiness. She shuddered to think of it.

"You should let us help with you duties," Ginny said in an undertone so that only Hermione and Neville could hear her. "I can take the Marauder's Map for you a few nights a week. At least when I patrol."

Hermione looked at her friend and shrugged. She didn't want anyone except herself to have access to the Map. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ginny or Neville or Luna – they would never purposefully let the Map come to harm – Hermione didn't trust that they would do what would need to be done should someone catch them using it.

"I can't, Ginny," Hermione answered, just as quietly. "I'm sorry. The Map is our best resource, and I can't risk it floating around the castle for Professor Snape or the Carrows to get a hold of. You get that, don't you?"

"But what if I used it at night?" Ginny demanded, undeterred. "You spend way too much time alone in the Room of Requirement, Hermione. Let someone else play watchdog for a few nights a week. Get some socialising in. You're starting to look rather cracked."

"No," Hermione said, more firmly.

Ginny looked at Neville, eyebrows raised, her hand up in an indignant gesture. Neville sighed, but took up the cause.

"Ginny's right, Hermione," he said, and Hermione was impressed by the directness of his gaze. "The Map is our best resource, just like you say, and you're the only one allowed to use it. We might see something you don't. We might –"

"Harry gave it to me," Hermione said, her voice still pitched very low, but barbed with authority now. "He gave it to me. Not to the DA, not to you. And I will use it as I see fit."

Ginny opened her mouth to argue further, but Neville put a calming hand on her arm.

"Leave it, Gin," he said.

"But we aren't doing anything," Ginny hissed.

"Enough," Neville said. He did a cursory scan of the Great Hall. "We can discuss this tomorrow at the meeting – we shouldn't be talking about DA stuff here anyway."

"The Map is not up for discussion," Hermione said, adding a weight of finality to her voice.

Ginny threw each of them a disgusted look and rose from the table, her breakfast hardly touched. As she left, Neville gave Hermione a pointed shrug, and she felt her appetite fall away entirely.

Hermione was half afraid that Ginny would demand to open the issue of the map to the larger DA the following evening, but the redhead simply took her place at Hermione's right and helped to conduct the meeting as expected. It went well, and Neville did a head-count that yielded an astounding number.

"We've topped the 100 mark, everyone," Hermione announced, jubilation making her voice ring out over the crowd of students. "I'm so glad that you've all committed to the DA, and that you're all on board to keep your fellow students safe at Hogwarts this year. Updated timetables will be handed out by Lavender and Parvati on your way out. Please leave in pairs, and shut the door after each pair leaves. The room will automatically exit in a different location when it is reopened. Until the next meeting, everyone!"

A smattering of applause, and the students began to line up at the exit, flanked by a smiling Lavender and Parvati. Ginny sidled up to Hermione.

"I want to talk to you," she said in an undertone. Hermione registered that Luna and Neville were making their way over as well.

"Sure," Hermione answered, her earlier worries resurfacing. "Let's let the Room empty, and then we'll have a talk."

It took a little under ten minutes for the students to exit the Room safely, with Hermione quickly checking and double-checking the locations of the DA's enemies as the students left on the Marauder's Map. When everyone was safely ensconced in their Common Rooms, she turned back to her friends.

"Right," Hermione said, straightening her back and pocketing the Map. "Ginny has something she'd like to discuss with us."

"I want to use the DA's resources," Ginny said determinedly, "to steal the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office. We'll find a way to get it to Harry. He should have the sword, not the Greasy Slytherin Bat."

The bald statement hung in the air around them, and Hermione had to fight not to bury her surprise within her Mind's Eye. She was further surprised that Neville and Luna hadn't already been briefed on Ginny's proposal– she had figured that the redhead was setting up an ambush. No: Ginny was playing fair, mostly. And Hermione felt her stomach flip with excitement as the idea took hold, and her mind started to race. We could get the sword to Harry – he could finally destroy the locket, and any other Horcruxes he finds! She thought of the sword in its ostentatious case in Snape's office; she'd seen it just the previous week. If they could just – she cut herself off, a frisson running through her at the thought of what the consequences would be if they did manage to steal the sword. She hadn't been listening to the voices around her, and now Neville's excited voice rang through the room.

"It's brilliant, Ginny!" he cried. "We'll do it. We just need to set up a diversion, I think and – "

"Yes," Luna said. Her habitually dreamy face was animated, her eyes shining. "I think I can persuade some of the younger Ravenclaws to – "

"No," Hermione said, her voice quiet.

Ginny, Luna, and Neville all looked at her, the excitement draining from their faces in almost perfect unison.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Hermione said gently. "I love the idea of getting the sword for Harry, and I think he'd love to have it, but I don't think it's – "

"If you say safe, Hermione," Ginny spat, her face growing red, "I'm going to shove my wand up your nose. We have all these people, all this support from the teachers, even the ghosts have approached Nearly Headless Nick to help us, and you want us to – what? Just sit around doing nothing? That's not what we're here to –"

"Exactly," Hermione cut her off. "Exactly right, Ginny. That's not what we're here to do. We're not here to pull off stunts that may or may not work out. And that's not what we're doing. We are here to keep everyone safe, to provide resources for that safety, and to push back carefully against – "

"Why can't something like this be careful?" Ginny demanded, her voice going shrill. "Why can't something like this be safe? You said it yourself! We have over one hundred members – we can pull something like this off easily. Merlin's balls, we could probably take over the school if we wanted to!"

"And what if something did go wrong?" Hermione's voice was getting louder now too, despite her effort to control it. She missed using her Mind's Eye. "We're not playing around here, Ginny. There may only be three Death Eaters in the school to our one hundred DA members, but what happens when Snape calls in the rest of them? What happens when he calls in the Ministry? What happens – " she paused, and looked around at all three of them in turn – "when Voldemort himself crosses the Entrance Hall to reclaim our school?"

Ginny glared back at Hermione, but it was Luna who spoke first.

"I'm not sure it would escalate to that point," she said softly. "I understand what could happen, but I think we have to consider the positives of what will happen if we were to succeed."

"Exactly," Neville said, nodding vigourously, "if we pull it off, it'll be a huge victory!"

"Victories have fallout," Hermione said. "There will be a reckoning for it, regardless of whether or not we pull it off."

Ginny was staring at Hermione with such a concentrated expression of disgust that Hermione took a step back from her friend.

"Listen," Hermione said, looking down. "I think it's time to adjourn for the night. We can all consider this further, if you want, but it's late and we should table it for now. Okay?"

Luna and Neville looked disappointed, and Ginny looked mutinous, but they nodded and headed for the door.

"I can escort Luna," Hermione offered. "You and Ginny can stay here, Neville, and – "

"No," Ginny said, her back to Hermione, her hand already on the doorknob. "Neville and I will take her. That is, unless it's not safe."

Hermione sighed, bade her disheartened friends farewell, and proceeded to her room to perform her evening meditation. She had her next meeting with Snape the next day, and she needed to be ready for him.

A/N: Things are gonna heat up again soon...