A/N Chapter Warnings: Thank you for all your positive feedback! i'm glad you all enjoyed the first chapter of this new story. Story is rated M for a reason, this chapter may contain: bad language, sex, violence, mentions of rape, and general adult themes.

Chapter 2: Grimmauld Place, an Order meeting and Reconciled with Friends

The Order meeting came around much quicker than anticipated. Many times over the last few days, Hermione had been rehearsing to herself in the mirror exactly what she was going to say to the boys. Severus had seen her practising a couple of times and had to refrain from laughing, he knew that would piss her off, but he couldn't help but think that no matter how prepared she was, her friends would still be shocked to see her. Hermione's leg muscles had been getting stronger, now that she was using them again, although she still had a slight limp. Her magic had also been stronger recently; Severus suspected it was because her magic had fully recovered from her near depletion.

"You're staring Severus" Hermione said as she saw his reflection in the mirror.

"How could I not be in awe of such a remarkable view" he replied as he approached her from behind and kissed her neck.

Hermione hummed in contentment and grinned up at him.

"Are you nervous?" He asked her.

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Just a tad" she replied.

Severus frowned at her; there was something else that was wrong, he was sure of it. He gave her a look that he reserved for students that he knew were blatantly lying to him. He arched an eyebrow at her. Hermione hesitated.

"I'm fine, it's nothing, it's just...my magic feels odd" she finally admitted.

Severus looked concerned.

"How do you mean odd?" He asked her.

"It just feels a little different" she answered nonchalantly.

"Darling, a change of your magic is hardly something to just brush aside. You really need to make sure everything is alright. I have some books on magic depletion and time turner magic" he said.

"What's a time turner got to do with my change in magic?" She asked.

"You're not far off turning of age, I know you estimated that you were probably already seventeen a while back, however, if you've miscalculated, you could be coming into your majority now. That could also explain why your magic has been off" Severus told her.

"Possibly..." Hermione agreed.

"For now I shan't worry about it, I'm seeing my friends today. I'm going to worry about that first. There are going to be lots of questions coming my way and I need to mentally prepare myself" she said.

"Do we have a story for why I've been hiding, or can I say whatever I like?" Hermione asked Severus.

Severus thought for a moment.

"Well Dumbledore does not know you are coming today, so that will be entertaining in itself and as for a revised story, it's up to you. You can tell the truth or you could say that I recently located you and healed you. At least it will explain why you arrived with me today" he told her.

Hermione was deep in thought.

"I will think of something" she finally said.

Severus nodded.

"Are you ready to go then?" Severus asked her.

Hermione nodded.

"Let's do this" she said.

The two left Severus' home and walked towards the apparition point. With a loud crack, Hermione found herself in London.

She embraced the smoggy air as she made her way with Severus towards Grimmauld Place. This was the first time Hermione had been outside for this long in weeks and she loved it. She didn't realise how much she had missed the fresh air, breeze, and the sunshine. Hermione eventually found herself stood in front of the one building that had given her so much grief a year ago but she felt none of the emotional pain and insecurity that she had felt the last time she had been here. In fact, she felt calm. Now that she knew that Sirius Black was currently awaiting trial in Azkaban, and the fact that she hadn't had to stay at the headquarters this summer, she was relaxed and ready to see her friends.

"Are you ready?" Severus asked her, pulling her out of her daydream state.

Hermione smiled.

"Yup" she replied as she walked towards him.

Severus went first and used the entrance spell, which allowed him and Hermione inside, and the two headed for the kitchen. The kitchen was where everyone seemed to gather before Order meetings began. Severus walked into the kitchen first and was greeted by Dumbledore, Minerva, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley. He nodded in greeting and assumed his normal position in the corner of the kitchen that had the darkest walls. The other Order members turned their attention back to the conversation they were having before Severus walked in. However, Tonks happened to look towards the kitchen door as Hermione stepped through the threshold.

Tonks paused for a moment in disbelief before halting all conversation in the room by shouting.

"HERMIONE?!" She yelled.

You could hear a pin drop.

There was silence for a few seconds before Arthur Weasley finally spoke.

"Thank Merlin you're alright. What happened to you dear?" Arthur asked Hermione gently.

"Never mind about what happened to her! Look at her now. The poor girl is extremely pale, looks exhausted and half starved. I'm going to make you something to eat, you're going to eat every single thing that I put on your plate before anyone dares to ask any more questions" Molly stated firmly, daring anyone to disagree with her.

With tears of relief in her eyes, Molly moved over to where Hermione was standing and enveloped the girl in a massive hug.

"Now, let's find you something to eat" Molly sniffled and then smiled warmly at Hermione.

Hermione was just about to protest as she didn't want to cause Molly any extra work but Molly was having none of it.

"Dear girl, if you even try to disagree, I will stick you to one of these chairs and force feed you myself" she promised.

Hermione kept her mouth firmly shut and nodded.

Remus quickly stood up so that Hermione could have a seat at the table.

"Here Hermione, take my seat" Remus, ever the gentleman, offered.

Hermione thanked him and sat down. She took in the stunned faces of everyone who was in the kitchen. They clearly had accepted that they would probably never see her alive again. Hermione was at a loss for what to say but she knew she had to say something; she was becoming uncomfortable with all the staring.

"How is everyone? I bet Harry and Ron have been driving you mad if they've been here all summer" she said lightly.

That fortunately earned some chuckles as some of the group instantly remembered some of the pranks that the boys had played on them out of sheer boredom.

"The boys have been quiet recently, they think you're dead, they have resigned themselves to thinking that they will never see you again" Tonks told her.

Hermione nodded.

"I know, I've been an awful friend in not telling them anything but just because I wasn't captured, doesn't mean that I wasn't injured. I dissaperated that night, as I was falling from the astronomy tower, in the process I managed to splinch myself and deplete my magic. If Professor Snape hadn't found me, I don't really know what would have happened" she said.

The Order members stared at her waiting to see if they would get any more information about what had happened to her.

"I didn't mean to cause the boys or all of you any worry, I certainly didn't want you to think I was dead" she said looking down.

"The main thing is that you are alright dear" Arthur said comfortingly.

"Yeah Mione, if it ever came to it, we would much rather you be alive, and us never see you ever again, than dead" Tonks grinned at her.

Hermione smiled back as Molly placed some food down on the table.

"There you go dear. You too Severus, you will have something to eat before this meeting commences" Molly ordered.

Severus was about to reject the offer when the glare on Molly's face made him backtrack. He sat down and picked up some food.

"There's a good lad" she said sweetly at she patted him in the shoulder.

Hermione was trying not to laugh at the glare Severus was giving the rest of the Order's amused faces at Molly's mollycoddling.

Once full, Hermione and Severus turned to Dumbledore who had just begun speaking.

"Now that everybody is here we shall begin today's meeting. Miss Granger, you are unable to sit in as you are still legitimately underage. You may proceed upstairs where I am sure you will find your friends. We shall come and find you all after the meeting and explain the back to school arrangements" Dumbledore said.

Hermione nodded, he was politely telling her to bugger off and she accepted that. She would find out what the Order discussed later on anyway. She couldn't wait to see her friends.

"See you later everyone and thank you for the food Molly, it was delicious as always" Hermione said.

"You're welcome dear" Molly replied.

As Hermione exited the room, she could hear Dumbledore offering a lemon drop to the Order members. She let out a small snigger at the thought of Severus' reaction and how she had probably ruined lemon drops, for him, forever.

Once the door had closed behind her and Hermione felt a silencing charm activate, she headed upstairs.

Her palms were sweating as she heard the voices of her friends; clearly they were in the middle of a game of wizards chess. She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself.

"Look at the carnage your queen just did to my knight!" Neville exclaimed as Harry and Ron chuckled nostalgically at his reaction. If Hermione were here she would've said -

"I still find it barbaric you know" Hermione stated from her position in the doorway.

Three heads swivelled round to stare at her in complete disbelief.

"Hi boys" she said murmured shyly.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered, face pale, as if he had seen a ghost.

Hermione just stood awkwardly.

"I know I have a lot of explaining to do-" she was cut off by Harry charging at her, picking her up and spinning her around.

Neville and Ron had raced over to join their two friends. They all hugged.

"Where the hell have you been?" Harry asked.

"What happened to you?" Ron questioned at the same time.

"Are you alright?" Neville asked her.

"Calm down, I'm going to explain everything to you all, I promised you all an explanation and you're all going to get one. However, I must ask that you swear to me that you will not repeat any of what I'm about to tell you because I don't know what the Order has been told and I don't know what they're supposed to know" Hermione said.

They all nodded in agreement.

"So what happened?" Ron asked after a silent pause.

Hermione sighed and explained everything.

As she told her tale, she took in the different emotions that were on the boys' faces. Their emotions told her exactly what the boys were thinking.

After she finished her account she looked asked if they had any questions. Ron was predictable.

"So you're telling me that you have spent the whole summer in the home of the dungeon bat?" Ron asked shivering in disgust.

Hermione nodded.

"He helped heal me, I owe him big time and I am very thankful for what he has done" she replied.

Harry stared at her with a slight green tinge to his face.

"I'm sure you will find a way to repay him" Harry replied unable to stop his thoughts about how much time she had spent with Snape and what she was likely doing with that time.

Hermione glared at Harry, a way of telling him to shut up. Harry quickly obeyed.

"Do you still have any pain?" Neville asked.

Hermione nodded.

"I get a few twinges here and there, especially if I twist or bend my leg in a way that it's not ready to bend yet" she said.

"So you have scars?" Ron asked excitedly. Hermione rolled her eyes, what was it with boys and scars?

"I had splinched myself Ron! A massive chunk has been taken out of my thigh! Of course I have scars from it" she stated firmly.

"Sorry Mione, I didn't mean to upset you. The experience sounds awful but I always knew you were brilliant. I can't imagine how badass you must have looked disapparating in mid-air" Ron said in awe.

"Hang on; I thought you had to be of age for apparition lessons? We're only going to start looking at the theory when we go back this term. So, how in the name of Merlin did you manage to apparate?" Neville asked.

"Good question Neville! How did you do it Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I received some private lessons last term and didn't even realise I had excelled that far until I was falling to my death" she replied.

"Who taught you?" Ron asked.

"Now that's classified" Hermione winked at them.

Ron groaned at not getting an answer but he wasn't prepared to try and battle an answer out of Hermione, he knew it was a lost cause. Harry sent Hermione a knowing look; he had an inkling as to who it was but knew better than to voice his opinions out loud. He knew that, had Hermione wanted to tell them, she would have told them and that alone encouraged Harry to keep his mouth shut.

The four friends chatted for a while and laughed at some summer memories. Harry, Ron and Neville were filling Hermione in on their antics and how they had been annoying the adults all summer. Hermione had to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes.

They settled back into relaxed chatter once more until the conversation turned to Neville.

"So who is she mate?" Harry asked.

The tips of Neville's ears turned red.

"No-one, you can't ask me about that!" Neville exclaimed.

"Oh come on! The last few months you have had more wet dreams than in your entire time at Hogwarts so far! She's got to be something special; can you give us a clue?" Ron asked.

Neville looked mortified at the fact that the boys, and now Hermione, knew about his private dreams.

"Neville don't listen to them, you say whatever you want to say. You don't have to say anything you don't want to" Hermione said, trying to spare her friend some embarrassment.

Everyone paused once more.

"I bet it's Luna" Harry stated.

Hermione slapped her hand to her face and shook her head. The boys were like dogs with bones.

"Or Hannah Abbot" Ron chimed in.

Poor Neville was getting even more embarrassed and Hermione was trying to think of something quick to save her friend.

"Is that another extendable ear?" Hermione quickly said as soon as she spotted the object.

Success! The boys' attention was drawn to the object and they excitedly grabbed it and practically forced Hermione and Neville onto the landing so they could listen into the Orders meeting.

"Damn, there are silencing wards around the door" Ron said after a few tense moments of silence.

"They're strong wards too, probably Professor Snape's, the magic feels very similar" Hermione stated.

Neville stared at her.

"How would you know that?" Neville asked, shocked at her assessment.

Ron glanced at her and Harry watched her with curiosity. Harry was intrigued to see how his friend would talk her way out of that.

Hermione paused for a millisecond.

"You didn't let me finish. I was going to say that the magic feels very similar to the magic you feel when walking through the dungeons at Hogwarts, or in the classroom supply cupboard. Only Professor Snape would put wards on those areas of the castle" she said, quickly thinking on her feet.

The three boys processed her logic for a moment more.

"Well that's that then, there is no way of getting through his wards, believe me I've tried" Ron muttered.

"Give me a moment" Hermione said, closing her eyes and focusing her magic.

"Hermione, don't waste your energy, there is no way that you can-" Neville didn't finish his sentence.

"Done it!" Hermione exclaimed as she opened her eyes.

Hermione then realised what she had done, why was it that Harry and Ron always brought out her disobedience?

"How the hell did you-. Never mind, let's listen to what they have to say" Ron stated.

The four of them listened in.

"The muggle Prime Minister has been informed and warned of further attacks" Shacklebolt said.

"He's getting more dangerous, war is coming" Remus said gravely.

"Death Eaters have just caused major devastation to muggle London. Where will they destroy next?" Molly shrieked.

"We have no way of knowing really" Tonks replied.

"Well if our best 'spy' actually did some work instead of pussyfooting around, maybe we would know" Moody growled.

Hermione bit her lip in anger.

How dare he question Severus!

"I trust Severus' judgement Alastor. Voldemort doesn't always tell everyone his plans, just the people he intends to involve about five seconds before he executes his plans" Dumbledore replied.

"Bullshit" Moody spat.

Hermione was getting really worked up now, she felt Harry nudge her and place a hand over her clenched fist.

She looked at him apologetically but Harry still looked mildly concerned.

"Anyway, it's of no matter. I've recruited Horace Slughorn again, he is willing to come back and teach this year. I believe he has information that may be invaluable at this stage" Dumbledore informed the Order.

There were collective murmurs of approval mixed with groans.

"It's going to be a long year Severus" Minerva sighed.

"I concur, Madame" Severus agreed.

"What's wrong with Horace Slughorn?" Moody asked.

"It's all about name dropping and the Slug Club" Minerva said.

Some Order members nodded, the middle-aged members in particular, they had been taught by Slughorn at one point or another after all.

"Well on that joyous note, I believe that concludes the meeting for today" Dumbledore stated.

"Who wishes to accompany me upstairs to deliver the back to school arrangements to the children?" Minerva asked.

The four friends quickly pulled the extendable ear up and hid it in the room.

"Who is Horace Slughorn then?" Harry asked.

They all shook their heads.

"Dunno, I recognise the name but I can't place where I know it from" Hermione replied.

"Keep quiet you lot, the adults are coming up, we don't want to let on that we have been listening in on private business" Ron hissed at them as footsteps sounded on the stairs.

The four friends quickly made themselves appear busy as the adults approached the room.

"Hello my dear cubs, I have come to tell you the plans for getting you to Kings Cross on September 1st" Minerva stated.

The students stood and looked at her expectantly.

"You will all be accompanied by an Order member and you shall be assigned your partner on the day of travel however, there is the case of a visit to Diagon Alley to purchase your school supplies. On Friday we shall all meet here and we will go to Diagon Alley, then you will all stay here Saturday night before travelling to Kings Cross on the Sunday morning. Any questions?" Minerva asked.

The students shook their heads.

"Very well then, I will see you all on Friday" Minerva replied before bidding them all goodbye and descending the stairs.

"Miss Granger, are you ready to leave? Or do you wish to stay with your friends for the remainder of the afternoon?" Severus asked her.

Hermione bit her lip and looked between the boys and Severus, trying to determine whether she should stay or leave.

"I will of course return this evening to ensure you are escorted to where you are currently residing" Severus added.

"Yes please professor that would be most kind of you" Hermione said.

Severus nodded at her before leaving the room.

The rest of the adults soon followed all silently agreeing that the friends should be allowed more time together.

"So boys, how's your summer reading going?" Hermione grinned at them.

The three boys groaned, Hermione was most definitely back.