Severus' hand tightly clenched the fork he had been holding when Minerva made her little announcement. What did she mean, contra... Suddenly, it hit him. Dumbledore.

When Dumbledore forced Severus to make the Unbreakable Vow, he'd included a stipulation that Severus had ignored because it had been so minimal compared to the other things he was forced to agree to. "Oh, and one more thing, Severus," he'd said. "You'll work here for at least three more years, won't you? Just to make sure that everything passes to the next generation smoothly? I don't want Minerva to have to make too many staff changes at once, you see." It hadn't mattered. Severus had expected to die in the war and then wouldn't have had to keep that promise, but the Granger chit had effectively prevented that. Shit.

Severus forced himself to place his fork down without slamming it, and rose from his chair stiffly. Who knew Minerva had it in her to force him to stay at Hogwarts against his will?

"Severus?" He heard her sickly sweet voice follow him as he tried to leave the Great Hall. "Why don't you come to my office for tea today? We can discuss this years' curriculum then."

Not dignifying the meddling woman with a response, Severus waved his hand in the air behind him and left the hall.

--

Minerva smiled. She knew she'd be in for hell when she met with Severus later, but that was unavoidable. She knew he desperately wanted out of his teaching position, and would do almost anything to leave Hogwarts. Hopefully that almost anything would cover what she had in mind for him. Severus could (and would, if she had her way) leave Hogwarts and still do some good with his life before becoming a hermit.

--

Meanwhile, oblivious to the happenings in the Great Hall, Hermione had fled in tears to the Head Girl's room, and lay sobbing on the bed. She hadn't expected him to change his mind so soon, but did he really need to be such a bastard that he had to call her out and ridicule her in front of the rest of the staff? She knew the idea was a good one, and had hoped to truly make a difference in the wizarding world, but one stubborn, snarky, annoying, self-centered, selfish Potions Master stood in her way. Hermione scrubbed the tears off her face, and sat up, determined. Well, fine. Plan A didn't work, but that doesn't mean that plan B won't. I think it's time to give Kingsley a call. She got up and out of bed, and dressed in a nice suit. Kingsley would allow her access to the records of Potions Masters and Mistresses, and he would get in contact with the right people, should she find someone that fit the bill of what she wanted to do. Who needs Snape?

She floo'd to the Ministry just an hour later, and was detained by a couple of reporters. Hermione didn't talk for long, but smiled sweetly and told them that the repairs and restorations at Hogwarts were progressing nicely, that the school would be quite ready for students in the fall. She actually knew nothing of these things, since her career options had taken up much of her time, but she knew that Minerva would appreciate the positive column reported in the newspapers the next day.

Walking into the Minister's office, she explained to Kingsley's secretary, some blond that looked remarkably like Lavender, who she was and that she needed to speak to Kingsley as soon as he was free. She scowled and rolled her eyes, like she didn't know who Hermione was and how dare she expect to meet with the Minister without an appointment, but dutifully called Kingsley on a two-way mirror that lie on her desk. It was charmed so that Hermione could not hear what Kingsley said to the secretary, but Hermione was ushered directly into his office.

"Hermione! What a surprise! Is everything alright?" He looked worried, but seeing that Hermione wasn't in a panic or bleeding, he began to relax some.

"Oh, no, everything's fine! I didn't mean to barge in here like something was wrong –"

"No worries, I don't have anything important going on today. Why don't you sit down? Tea?"

Hermione gratefully accepted her tea, and explained to Kingsley what she had discussed with Minerva. "So, you see, sir, I need to find a Potions Master who can teach me, but someone who has extensive fieldwork in either Defense Against the Dark Arts or Charms, so that I can learn from someone who has figured out how to meld disciplines."

Kingsley smiled brilliantly. "Why don't you just ask –"

"Snape has already adamantly and loudly refused to be of any assistance," Hermione added with a small roll of her eyes.

"Hmm. I wonder why."

"Professor Snape has decided that his role in life is no longer as Hogwarts professor, but as bitter hermit. He plans on holing up in his house and never gracing the world with his glorious presence again."

Kingsley grinned at her sarcastic tone, but returned quickly to the business at hand. "Well, I'm sure Minerva has some plans to stop that from happening... But you're more than welcome to use some of the Ministry's resources to find someone else, if that would help you. We have records of all of the certified Potions Masters and Mistresses in the world, so we can verify someone's certification if they come from another country claiming mastership. Why don't you look through some of those files and see who you can find? Of course, the files are confidential, so if you find someone who fits your bill, I'll write to them and ask if they'd be willing to meet with you? You can even draft the letter, if you like. Just let me know what I can do to help." Kingsley normally wouldn't have let even a war hero loose in the Ministry's classified files, but he'd just received a letter from Minerva suggesting exactly the same thing, should Hermione seek help. He knew Hermione could be trusted, and after all that she'd found the one sure way to defeat Voldemort, she deserved some help from the Ministry.

"Thank you so much, Minister," Hermione started but Kingsley cut her off.

"Hermione, we've known each other for years, and fought next to each other in the war. The only reason you have to call me that is if you're in any kind of official setting."

"Sorry, Kingsley. Anyway, thank you. I appreciate your help. I'll be in either later this afternoon or tomorrow if I find anything – if that's okay. Your secretary seemed a little offended that I didn't have an appointment."

Kingsley's big laugh boomed through the office. "Sarah? Yeah, she's new and seems to think that everything must be on the schedule, and can not deviate from it at all. She'll figure it out soon enough, I hope. I'll let her know that you'll be back in sometime soon, and as long as I'm not in a meeting, I'll have her show you in right away."

Hermione shook hands with Kingsley, a big smile on her face. Thank goodness, someone willing to work with her on this project instead of against her. "See you soon, then." She walked out of the office and waved at the secretary as she passed. She got on the lift and pressed the button for the Department of Overseeing and Regulating Potions, Potions Mastership and Potions Regulations. There was a man waiting for her at the bottom of the lift.

"Miss Granger? I just received a note from the Minister that you are to be escorted to the Mastership files. Would you like to go there now?" The young man must have been an intern, Hermione thought, but she didn't recognize him from Hogwarts. From the way he was wringing his hands together and stuttering slightly, though, he recognized her from the papers, or somewhere.

"Yes, please, Mr. –" Hermione smiled sweetly and waited for a name.

"Hamilton. Brendon Hamilton. I graduated the same year as you from Beauxbatons," he explained.

"Oh! That's wonderful! You wouldn't have been here for the Tri-Wizard a few years ago, then?" When he shook his head no, Hermione continued, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you at the British Ministry instead of the French one?"

"My mom grew up in Britain, but moved to France for my dad. I went to Beauxbatons because it was closer to home, but I never really felt like I belonged there." He shrugged. "So, when they offered me the position here as Records Keeper, I accepted it. Hopefully I'll be able to complete my own Mastership in Potions at some point, but until then, working here is fun."

While they were talking, they reached a door that Brendon unlocked. It contained hundreds of magical filing cabinets neatly labeled with different years, titles, and laws. Every now and again, a drawer would open and some parchment would fly out and neatly reposition itself in another drawer. When Hermione looked curiously at Brendon, he grinned.

"Something I came up with when I got here. We keep records of every registered potion, every certified Potions Master or Mistress, and all pending registration records, pending certifications, that sort of thing. When a Master dies, when a potion becomes useless or goes off the market, when a law changes, the records move from the "current" cabinets, where anything active, the living Masters' records, or pending records are, to the "inactive" cabinets. This way, we don't have to do the searching by hand, and we don't have to keep someone on the job full time to research the changes in potions, or to keep track of the deaths around the world. The parchments keep track of whatever they were written for, and move at the appropriate time to the appropriate cabinet." Brendon was obviously proud of this bit of work, and Hermione could see why. It must have saved hours and hours of busy work that could be turned to something more productive...

She smiled at the man, and grinned a little wider when he blushed at her praise. "Brendon! That's wonderful! What a great idea! I wonder if I can make that work in my library. If I could make that idea work so that books I've read or don't use as much sit on one shelf, and ones that I use frequently, or need for a project sit on another... Do you think that spell could be triggered for book subjects? Like, if I needed a book about a specific potion, or something, it would fly from one shelf to another, so I knew which books were applicable to an idea? Or..." She trailed off when she realized she was babbling.

"I'm sure it could be done. It would take a little work, but I bet you could make it do that, with some help. Send me an owl sometime, if you're still interested. We could probably get it to work." He smiled nervously, but seemed more confident of himself than he had before. Hermione realized he was a little star struck and smiled again. This was one aspect of fame that wasn't bad – people willing to talk to her and help her because they respected her intelligence.

"Thank you. Now, did Kingsley explain at all what I need to do with all of these records?" He shook his head, and she explained what she was looking for. Brendon frowned thoughtfully. He waved his wand a few times, and dozens of parchments began flying out of cabinets and on to a series of tables in the back of the room.

"I told the cabinets to release the records of living Potions Masters who have worked, concentrated in, studied, or otherwise have experience in a field other than Potions. You'll get some that have taught other subjects simply because a school needed a teacher in a subject other than Potions, but I think that you'll be able to find some in that pile that meet your specifications. I didn't tell it just Charms or Defense because I think that the files might have held back some that might have worked. Hmm. Do you need help going through these?" He gestured at the back table where a couple hundred parchments sat. "I can at least help you get rid of the ones that have barely any qualifications."

"Yes, thank you. I think I'd like that, if you don't have any other pressing work..." Hermione realized that she was keeping people from their work this morning, and was a little worried.

"Not at all! I have barely anything to do on a daily basis now that this spell maintains the records. I only have to set the spell on new records, things like that. It can wait. Shall we get started?"

--

Hermione and Brendon sat and worked all morning and into the early afternoon. Hermione bought them lunch and had it sent in while they were working, so they wouldn't have to get up and leave in the middle of the project. Around two o'clock they were done, but Hermione was disappointed to see that there were only six men and women that they had agreed met her standards. She copied down the names and information of the men and women, and decided to approach Kingsley in the morning about them. In the mean time, she'd research each one to see what types of articles they'd done recently, the research they focused on primarily and if they took on students or not.

She thanked Brendon and set up a date with him to go over her library and see if the spell could be altered to her liking. She left the Ministry hoping beyond hope that one of these Masters would agree to take her on as an apprentice. There had been a seventh name in the pile, but Hermione had simply removed it without speaking, confusing Brendon. Severus Snape made it very clear that he would never help out with this project, and she knew that pressing him further would only irritate them both further.

She apparated to the gates of Hogwarts with the parchment in her bag, and headed back to her room. When she opened her door, she found an owl waiting in her room with a note. She fed it an owl treat before opening the note.

Miss Granger,

Please meet me in my office this evening around seven if you wish to continue our discussion on your future professional goals.

-S.S.