Hermione ascended the shifting stairway slowly, glancing at everywhere of the castle: its stone walls, the fire flickering calmly on the torches, the ghosts flitting in and out of the empty classrooms, the Prefect's bathrooms, Moaning Myrtle's toilet, the Astronomy Tower which had an impeccable view of the entire school ground being the tallest structure of Hogwarts.

Soon, she found herself standing before the Fat Lady's Portrait, who looked at her and gasped, "Why, isn't it the bushy-haired girl I used to let in many years ago!"

Hermione glowered a little when she heard the term "bushy-haired girl". Indeed, she used to have untamed, thick tresses, but as she matured, her hair altered itself to become lustrous, shiny locks of delicate curls that shone a honey-brown and hung over her shoulders now.

"Password?"

"Er, Madam (here, the Fat Lady beamed down at her), I am now a professor here."

"Oh? Then it is true! Violet!" the Fat Lady plodded past the frame of her portrait and returned with another plump lady wearing a mauve-coloured dress.

"Oh, this is the one I told you, the Granger girl! Potter's best friend!" the lady called Violet now smoothed her dress and addressed Hermione graciously. Too graciously, in fact.

"Hello," Hermione returned the greeting uncertainly.

"Do you want to enter?" Violet inquired, now trying to push the Fat Lady aside to settle in the centre of the portrait. A muffled, angry "Vi!" came from the right side of the frame.

"No, not really. You should probably ask for the password before letting anyone enter," Hermione added as she bit her lip.

"Of course, Madam."

"Then I expect I should be going now. Good night!" Hermione started down the steps before any of the portrait figures uttered anything and headed towards the dungeons, her new quarters.

A familiar blast of cold air hit her the moment she stepped through the "boundaries of Snape", as it was often called by Hogwarts students. They had segregated the dungeons from other classrooms, and when in proximity of the cold dungeons, they would call in the "boundaries of Snape". As much as it was amusing for find exceptional Muggle Geography talent in each new horde of young wizards and witches, Hermione found it rather insulting and rude.

Hermione continued down the corridor until she found the well-known and avoided rectangular wooden door. It was the door that contained the flight of ten steps (Hermione remembered the number of steps since Ron had always joked that those were the "ten steps to Hell") that lead to the dungeons. Pulling on the handle, she found it would not budge. There was no latch or lock bolting the door; hence it must be magically warded.

Obviously, Severus Snape had no intentions of permitting the intruders.

And obviously, he must have set some intricate wards since she could not feel any resistance, Hermione decided.

The wards had encroached Hermione's next thirty minutes as she tried prying the door away using magic fruitlessly. Even the enchanted Swiss Knife she was given by Lupin on her seventeenth birthday failed to weaken the invisible protection that bound to the door. Finally, at eleven in the night, she found herself rooted in front of the stone gargoyles (Hermione had no idea wha the password was), explaining in dismay her "emergency" to the unmoving statures of the gargoyles, glaring steadily at her.

Just as she was about stomp off, she heard an incredulous voice brushing past her ears; one that she never dreamed she would hear in her lifetime ever again.

"Think, Miss Granger, of the most ridiculous items you can think of," the voice drawled in his silken tone, and when Hermione whirled around so fast that her neck let out a protesting crick, she found no one behind her.

Even when she had expected to see a wizard dressed in black, billowing robes with a large, hooked nose and greasy hair hanging down the sides of his face.

That was Snape's voice.

Hermione felt her heart pounding wildly onto her ribcage, and she darted her eyes over her surroundings; the gargoyle, the office entrance; the empty corridor with its marble flooring…

There was still no Potions Professor striding towards her wearing his trademark sneer.

In spite of her frantic self, she felt her heart sink.

Where had that voice come from?

For the first time, the Gryffindor know-it-all had no answer.

She decided to ponder over the advice given, if it was really an advice after all.

Ridiculous things? But how does that relate to Dumbledore?

And as if on cue, something flashed across her mind again. Something that sounded very much like Harry telling following Professor McGonagall, being summoned to the Headmaster's Office after a Basilisk attack, something that sounded like "Sherbet Lemons" as Harry recounted the meeting with Dumbledore.

Suddenly, everything became crystal clear.

"Okay, here goes," Hermione muttered to herself, closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.

"Sherbet Lemons?"

Still the beady-eyed frown on the gargoyles' faces

"Lemon Drops?"

Nothing happened.

"Fine, fine! You could go ask Ron and Fred and George; they're much better at these things than I am! Cockroach Clusters! Cauldron Cakes! Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! Spicy Lozenges! Sugar Quills! Chocolate Fro–" Hermione blinked and gaped at the gargoyles as it sprang to life and spiraled upwards, revealing stone steps. She quickly stepped on one of them.

"Sugar Quills? But... but I was only joking," Hermione muttered to herself, appalled.

The spiraling stopped, and Hermione took two steps forward. She stood before the door to Dumbledore's office, marveling at the beauty of the wooden door which seemed to sparkle under the soft light that came from a lamp that hung on the ceiling above Hermione.

The door swung open as Hermione raised her hand to knock it. She jumped.

"I was under the impression you needed to see me, Hermione. Please come in," Dumbledore said, with a benign smile and the very same twinkle in his eyes.

"Headmaster, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Hermione stuttered as she slowly entered the office.

"Take a seat, Hermione. Is there anything wrong?"

But Hermione did not answer. She gasped as she caught sight of a certain black-robed wizard, famous for his snarky personality and snide remarks, together with his hooked nose and the usual sneer.

"Miss Granger," the man in the portrait greeted in a velvet tone.

Hermione continued to stare, with her jaws dropped at her former Potions Master.

"Yes, this is Severus, Hermione. Although I say he hasn't changed much," Dumbledore waved his hand casually at the portrait and straightened it unnecessarily (Snape scowled blackly), his beard twitching.

"Miss Granger, I presume Potter and Weasley have never reminded you, that staring is rude?"

"Oh, sorry Professor… I… I never thought I would… see you again, Professor," Hermione finished in a rush, still gazing at her former Potions Master in awe.

"I am not Potter, and I refuse to be worshipped, Miss Granger!" Snape snapped.

Hermione gave a start and was jolted back to her senses.

"Well, Hermione? What brings you here at this hour?" Dumbledore continued, his beard visibly quivering now.

"I couldn't…" Hermione broke off, phrasing her words carefully to avoid mentioning her new status as Potions Mistress.

"I couldn't remove the wards of my quarters, Headmaster."

"Ah, no doubt Severus would have placed unbreakable, complex wards on his quarters. Come now, I can dissolve them."

"Wait, Albus. This girl is the next Potions Mistress," Snape hissed malevolently.

"Well, Severus, you can't expect me to be teaching Potions forever. Besides, Hermione has the most amazing grades, Severus, I don't see why not," Dumbledore replied innocently.

Hermione had been wondering if Snape looked phony, being trapped in a portrait. True, there were many other portraits he could go occupy, but she knew that Snape was not a man who fancied attention, so staying in Dumbledore's portrait seemed most likely for him. But being only able to move around in a portrait was so much different than the former Severus Snape, since he was, no truer than the words spoke, the unconventional bat of the dungeons.

As she followed Dumbledore out of his office, she heard a soft sneer, just low enough for her to hear in fact.

"Insufferable know-it-all."

Oh, Snape's real, all right, Hermione scoffed, glowering as she exited the office and spiraled downwards on the stone steps.

**********************************************************

Together, she and Dumbledore descended the shifting stairway towards the dungeons.

"Hermione, would you be so kind as to answer my question?"

"No problem, Headmaster," Hermione replied, glancing curiously at the bearded wizard.

"Do you understand what the tune the Hat sung means?"

Hermione blinked. She hadn't expected this question and to be frank, she was befuddled by the song as well.

"I guess I don't. No, I mean I do understand the words, but the depth of the complete grasp is only about surface level. The Hat introduced Hogwarts like always, but later, I think it referred to a Slytherin and Gryffindor. Something like someone would be chosen to travel in time, and correct what was a mistake before, and in the process, save a life. And that there is only one opportunity given to the… protagonist, I suppose. But other than that, I am clueless," Hermione admitted wistfully.

Dumbledore nodded.

"Very accurate, Hermione. This is exactly what it means."

"Do you have any idea who this refers to?" Hermione probed on, keyed up.

"The truth will prevail soon, Hermione. I suggest we wait, and see."

Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. She couldn't expect Dumbledore to know everything. Still, a nagging conviction irked her; the very thought that Dumbledore was concealing something from her. Something concerning you, the voice declared. It took Hermione everything to push it to the back of the mind when they arrived at the wooden door after walking in comfortable silence.

Dumbledore drew his wand, touched the door and revealed an emblazoned a golden circle on the door. He touched the circle with his wand tip and the door flew open.

"Severus has personalized the wards, so that besides him, I can also enter. I am very sorry to have held up your night, Hermione."

"Don't mention it, Headmaster."

Dumbledore fumbled for something in his pocket, unraveled the wrapper and popped it into his mouth before Vanishing the wrapper.

"Delicious as always… Lemon drops, Hermione?" Dumbledore fished a yellow sweet out of his pocket again and dropped it into Hermione's palms before giving her a wink and strode away.

Hermione stared, bemused by the old wizard before she too, popped the sweet into her mouth and Vanished the wrapper. Closing the door and restructuring the wards, she sucked hard at the sweet in her mouth.

If she was right about anything, it was two things.

First, Dumbledore was hiding something from her.

Secondly, and she would do everything to prove this, that old man was right about everything.