A/N: Help? Can anyone tell me how to fix errors in the first chapter, I found a few after reading through it, and I thought by saving the new changes, it would stick. Apparently not?
There's just a bit of last minute set up in this chapter, then we get to throw a sack over Draco and let the games begin! If you're enjoying what you read, please take a moment to leave a review. Yesterday was my birthday, and I turned ** (old).
-Elvee
Chapter Two
"To achieve great things two things are needed; a plan and not quite enough time."
-Leonard Bernstein
A week later, Hermione had received Professor Dumbledore's note over breakfast. It still had a smear of dried porridge on it, but she could read his elegant handwriting clearly: Acid Pops 9PM. All week she'd been making a master list of things to buy, brew, do and acquire. Prefects most certainly didn't steal. They – ahem- acquired.
As she rode the spiral staircase to the Headmaster's office, she was busily reviewing her list. Most items had only been checked off in the past couple of days, explaining her waxy complexion, crazy hair and the slightly manic look in her eyes. She could tell some things were already going to be problematic, and was hoping Professor Dumbledore might have some ideas.
After last week's meeting she would have thought that perhaps Professor Snape would have been a bit better in his lessons, but nothing could have been further from the truth. She'd lost a record one hundred and twelve points this week for helping Neville and knowing the answers to too many questions. She did catch him trying to pry into her thoughts once, but quickly broke the eye contact and refused to look at him the rest of the week. She wondered if he'd be here tonight as well.
All too soon the ride to the Headmaster's door was finished and she found herself taking a deep breath and giving three sharp knocks.
"Come in," Professor Dumbledore called.
She opened the door slowly, reaching for her sunglasses again. Finding Professor Snape pacing in front of the snapping fire, she took a moment and put them on before saying, "Good evening, Professors."
Professor Dumbledore sank down into his desk chair and conjured a tray of hot chocolate and biscuits. He smiled and said, "I find tea too close to bedtime keeps me awake. Hot chocolate, Miss Granger?"
"Thank you, sir." She took the offered cup and sank into a chair.
Dumbledore sent Professor Snape a mock scowl, "Severus, don't sulk. Have some chocolate and come join the discussion."
Professor Snape took the opposite chair, accepting the hot chocolate, but quickly transfiguring it to fire whiskey and downing it in one go. He turned to face Hermione full on, saying, "Well, Miss Granger, are you quite sure you're willing to go through with this?"
With a dainty finger, she wiped the foam from her top lip and said, "I am, sir. I was ready to begin preparations last week."
At this answer, Dumbledore nodded gravely, "Harry will not be pleased. I had planned for you to be with him during the days leading up to the final battle to help him... figure some things out and give him tempering advice."
Hermione sighed, "I had thought about that. If we can eliminate Fenrir Grayback early on, we should be able to pull Professor Lupin from his field duty. He and Harry get on well, and he will give as good advice as I could. I've written him a letter to be sent when the time comes. Harry won't like it, but he'll come around. It's Ron I worry about, sir."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "And how do you propose we tell Mr. Weasley?" He took a bottle of fire whiskey from a drawer in his desk and pushed across to the other man with a smile.
"We don't." For the first time in six years Hermione saw approval in the Potions Master's eyes. "There is nothing I can say or do that will make Ron understand what must be done. It would be better to ask forgiveness than permission, as the saying goes."
"Very well. Severus, please go ahead and tell Miss Granger the details we've worked out." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and prepared to listen.
Hermione, however, had other ideas, "No!" she cried, before Professor Snape could get a word in edgewise. "My apologies, sir, but I have all the details worked out. The less I know about anything else in the Order, the better. For that matter, the less Professor Snape knows about it, all the better for him. I only..."
"You only... what? Miss Granger?" Professor Snape sneered.
"I need some help with a few things. Food, for example. It isn't the cooking, I can cook quite well. Rather, I can't exactly run out to go shopping. Even if I wore a disguise, Malfoy might try to escape. There's no telling how long we'll have to stay holed up. I've given it a lot of thought, and I think I might need a house elf." She mumbled that last bit. It really stung to think she might need to use slave labor to get her job done. There had to be a better way, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure it out.
The house elf issue really bothered her, not only would she need the help of a house elf, she'd have to own one to make sure all of her instructions were carried out the the letter. There was only one elf she could think of that would let her avoid the entire slave-owning process. She'd prepared for it in the hope that Dumbledore would be willing. "I was wondering, sir, if I might offer Dobby work."
Dumbledore laughed, "Wonderful idea! Dobby!"
With a crack, Dobby appeared wearing one green sock and one orange one. He had four hats on his head and a holey pink jumper on that reached to his knees. He bowed low in front of Dumbledore's desk. "How may Dobby serve, sir? More hot chocolate?"
"Good evening, Dobby. I'd like for you to listen to Miss Granger's offer of employment. She has some very important work to do, and needs a very good elf to help her. If you agree, she'll become your new mistress." Dumbledore said.
"Hello Dobby. How are you?" Hermione had charmed a small beaded purse with an undetectable extension charm just a few days ago. Right now she had her arm shoved in up to her armpit, fishing around for something.
"Miss Granger! Dobby's head is always warm because Miss Granger always makes such nice hats. You is Harry Potter's friend." Dobby bowed low.
Hermione finally retrieved the item out of her purse and offered it to Dobby. It was an apron, shrunk down to a child's size with the words Kiss the House Elf on it. "I brought you something."
Dobby immediately teared up, "Oh, Miss Granger is so nice to think of Dobby! Thank you, friend of Harry Potter!" Hermione helped him slip it over his head and tied it around his waist.
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Snape huffed under his breath, sloshing another shot of whiskey into his glass.
Professor Dumbledore patted the air, telling Snape silently not to interrupt. Snape rolled his eyes and gulped the drink.
"Dobby, how much money does Professor Dumbledore pay you every week?" Hermione dug out her coin purse.
"A galleon a week and one day off a month." He said proudly, puffing up his chest.
Hermione let her face fall into a frown, as if considering, before saying, "That's very good. It's going to be tough to beat, but how about a galleon every two weeks and a day off every three months? Do you think that would be fair? I'm only making such a generous offer because I need the very best help I can find, and you're the best house elf Harry has ever known."
Dobby's chin began to quiver, then he broke down and began to sob outright, saying between hiccups, "Does Harry Potter say that? Dobby is the very best elf he knows?"
Hermione dropped to her knees in front of the elf and dabbed at his eyes with her handkerchief, "Yes, he does. I know you like working here, but Harry and I really need your help. Would you consider working for me, Dobby?"
Dobby's sniffled miserably, but he turned bravely to Professor Dumbledore, "Dobby is sorry, Professor Dumbledore, sir, but Miss Granger is a friend of Harry Potter's and she is needing my help. Dobby..." he stopped abruptly, struggling for the word. "Dobby..."
"You quit?" Professor Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes merry. Snape rolled his eyes.
"Yes! Dobby quits!" The small elf burst out in a fresh round of sobs, wailing loudly into the hem of his new apron.
"Excellent, Dobby! Miss Granger is now your new mistress, you must obey only her orders and keep all her secrets as you have kept mine. And I would be very pleased to have you back, if you ever find yourself in need of more work."Dumbledore held out his hand and shook with the elf.
Knowing that house elves were beside themselves with glee under punishing work schedules, she handed the elf a list, "This is your first task as my best elf, Dobby. Get everything on that list and make sure to put the food under a stasis charm. It will have to last us a very long time."
Dobby bowed and beamed over top of the long list, "Right away, Miss Granger."
"Return to me when you're done, we have much to do. Oh!" She fished a galleon out of her robes and handed it to him, "Here is your first two week's pay. Make sure you have enough clothes to be warm."
With a bow and a watery smile, Dobby was gone with a loud crack.
"For Merlin's sake! Can we get on with it?" Professor Snape capped the whiskey and resumed pacing in front of the fire.
Hermione stiffened, "Sorry, sir. I will also need money. Money that can't be traced back to anyone in the Order or to Great Britain for that matter. I have a few thousand pounds put aside, but that will hardly be enough to fund a safe house. I'd say even well provisioned at the start, I'll need about three thousand galleons." It was a small fortune, and she winced at the figure she threw so blithely out into the air.
"Done." The Potions Master said curtly. "Next."
Hermione looked sheepish, "Potions and potion ingredients. If I need to be ready anytime I can't start brewing soon enough. I'll need work space, ingredients and privacy to brew everything I might need."
"Such as?" Snape was immediately suspicious and raised an eyebrow.
"Amortentia, Veritaserum, Polyjuice, and various high level healing potions. Blood replenisher, Skele-Gro, those kinds of things. Also enough ingredients that I can make bruise salve, Pepper Up and possibly nutritive potions in case of pregnancy."
"Amortentia? Miss Granger, explain to me why you would need the most potent love potion in the world." Snape's eyebrow hadn't lowered since she'd mentioned the love potion.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with mischief, "Severus, that will only be used if Lucius Malfoy doesn't keep his end of the bargain, am I right Miss Granger?"
She blushed, "Yes, sir. If that's the case, I'll need a – er- willing groom." She cleared her throat, "I'll also need to arrange long term loans of quite a few books out of the library."
Snape snorted, "You are hardly going on vacation, Miss Granger. You won't have time for recreational reading."
"I hardly thought I might, Professor," she bit back. "If I am in need of more than the standard potions, I will need a recipe to brew them from, yes? I also require some more advanced warding books, healing spells and books on wizarding marriage, pregnancy and childbirth. I'm sure I'd want more, but I'm also quite sure I couldn't fit them all, even with the extension charm."She motioned to her beaded bag.
Dumbledore was nodding along, "Consider it done. If you have a list, I'll have Madam Pince see to it."
After handing over the list of titles she thought would come in handy, she checked her master list, they were rapidly reaching the bottom, "I'll also need an international portkey to an as yet undetermined location."
The Potions Master threw up his hands in exasperation, "Albus! I must protest! She doesn't even know where she's going yet!"
"Actually, sir, I do. I need the money to secure the property. Even if I did know the address, I wouldn't give it to Professor Dumbledore in front of you for reasons we've already discussed," She said stiffly. "I've already hired a barrister to act as a go-between." She thumbed through the rest of her list, "The only other thing left is to ensure my parents' safety. When I disappear at the same time as Draco, someone is liable to put two and two together. At the very least, we'd have to worry that Lucius would not be above a little leverage himself."
Despite not defending her from Professor Snape's sniping protests, Dumbledore was nodding along as she spoke. "Of course. A very reasonable and prudent request. We'll make plans to move them as soon as possible."
Hermione bit her lip, this next request wasn't going to go over very well. "I'd like to make a few things clear, sir. When I am finished my preparations, I'll take Draco to the location I've chosen. After that, there will be no more direct contact between myself and anyone else in the Order. We can't risk it." She'd thought of many ways to communicate, but all of them were traceable in one way or another.
Dumbledore smiled gently, "There, Miss Granger, we are going to have to agree to disagree. I will provide you with a safe and secure way to contact Professor Snape. As he will have the best vantage point close to Lucius and Narcissa, he will be an ideal ally. At the same time, perhaps you will be able to pass along any intelligence to Harry and the Order, should my demise make it otherwise... difficult."
The last of the now cold chocolate was swigged back, and Hermione was dismissed with the knowledge she would regularly be given detention in Potions to account for her late night brewing sessions.
Over the next month, true to the Potions Master's word, she got detention for everything from answering too many questions to breathing too loudly while brewing. She would spend hours each night pouring over a cauldron as Dobby popped in and out running errands.
Late on the night that her parents were to be moved, Professor Snape banged open the door to the deserted classroom where she had several cauldrons brewing at once. His usually perfect clothing was ripped. He was bleeding from a shoulder wound and his hands were shaking.
"Miss Granger?" he said quietly, almost kindly.
Turning to take in his sudden appearance, her fingers grew numb. She dropped her silver knife on the floor with a clatter. "What's wrong Professor?"
His mouth was pulled into a hard line. He blinked once, twice. He didn't answer.
Her tongue was too thick for her mouth. It was an effort just to form the words, "Professor, where are my parents? Did they make it to the safe house?"
Professor Snape put a stasis charm on her cauldron then said quietly, "We were attacked enroute." He leaned heavily on the table, not looking at her. "I'm sorry."
As the implications of his two words hit her, the world began to tilt. Her legs turned to jelly and Professor Snape caught her just as she fainted away.
She woke under the watchful eyes of Madam Pomfrey, who released her into the supportive arms of Harry and Ron. She took calming draughts to make it through her days, and dreamless sleep to make it through her nights. She went from class to class like a zombie, going through the motions of normalcy. Several days passed in a nondescript blur.
Everyone knew that Death Eaters killed muggles. The names were all over the Daily Prophet or muggle papers. But that's all they were ever supposed to be, names in the paper. Never were they supposed to be someone she knew, someone she loved.
In a haze of shock and calming draught, she waited outside the dungeon door to the Potions classroom, leaning into Harry for support. Who knows how long the numbness of shock might have held her if at that very moment Malfoy and his cronies hadn't shown up.
Malfoy slung his arm over Pansy's shoulders as he approached. As he walked past, he leaned in, hissing, "Two more filthy muggles down, eh, Granger?"
Hermione blinked from the pain of it, like she was waking from a long sleep. The shock and numbness were finally shoved aside by Malfoy's cruelty. Harry drew his wand and yelled at him to leave her alone. Neville stepped forward and drew his as well.
Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles and loomed menacingly. Pansy shrieked with laughter. But Malfoy just pinned Hermione with his gray eyes and smirked, knowing his remark had gutted her.
In that moment, her anger overcame her grief. Hermione drew her own wand and was about to hex his bollocks off, plan or no plan. In that moment, she would have sacrificed the victory of the entire war for a cheap shoot at Malfoy's bits. Ron, bless him, was her unwitting savior. Predictably, he took a poke at Malfoy muggle-style, and just as predictably, Professor Snape showed up and gave him detention.
She couldn't hold Malfoy, the mighty bouncing ferret, hostage if he was unable to produce an heir. Stick to the plan, she admonished herself. Just stick to the plan, and hope like hell you won't have to sleep with him. Briefly, she also wondered if she could obliviate herself if she had to do the deed.
It was Malfoy's own words in front of the Potions classroom that sealed his fate. Everything was ready. Professor Snape had even finished her potions and sent them up with Dobby a few days ago. She was packed, the safe house was stocked, her lists were all crossed off. There wasn't a single reason to wait any longer.
Tomorrow, Draco Malfoy was going to pay for every cruel word, for every hex, for every smug little smirk he'd ever thrown her way. Tomorrow Draco Malfoy would rue the day he'd ever tangled with Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age.