As Hermione headed back for the common room, the sudden realization that she had no idea how she was going to accomplish this task hit her like a Bludger. Panic settled in and she began to feel lightheaded. Arriving at the foot of the Fat Lady, Hermione slid down the wall next to the portrait clutching her head in her now sweaty palms. She went over all of the memories she had explored taking deep breaths and closing her eyes allowing herself to be engulfed in the memories of Dumbledore about Severus Snape. Dumbledore's request had been simple enough; ensure Snape's loyalty to Dumbledore and Dumbledore alone. But how to go about this she had not the slightest clue. The main things she could remember about what she learned was that Snape had longed for Lily Evans. But Snape was a jerk to her and she never looked back once she started falling for James Potter. As Snape wallowed in self-pity he began to follow through with his original plan to become a Death Eater. Some time later, Dumbledore welcomed Snape back to the castle after Snape convinced him that he no longer wanted to be a Death Eater and serve under the command of a monster who took the life of the woman he was in love with. Dumbledore has trusted Snape fully ever since…until recently. Dumbledore had suspected that Snape had been betraying his trust in the final task of the Tri Wizard Tournament last year. He believed that Igor Korkerauf and convinced Snape to switch sides and become faithful to the Dark Lord once more. Apparently Snape's lust for power had overcome his better judgement and made him feel more like a man than Dumbledore ever could. How does one change the mind of such a headstrong and undeniably powerful wizard? The more Hermione began to think back to the memories, the more she doubted herself. This was going to be a lot of work and would take a lot of planning prior to her time travel. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from further down the hall. Guessing that it might be Filch, Hermione slowly got up and entered the Gryffindor common room. Still racking her brain for a potential plan, Hermione settled herself into the loveseat in front of the dying fire. Dumbledore's words pulsed through her ears; the fate of this man and possibly the Wizarding World as we know it depends on this task…the Wizarding World… So much pressure was upon her that she could not seem to think straight. I would rather be given a million Finals than do this she thought.
"Hey," came a familiar voice. Startled, Hermione turned around to find Ron slouched in the doorway from the boy's dormitory. "What are you still doing up?" he asked making his way over to her.
"I could ask you the same question." She said.
"I heard you come in. Where were you? You've been out late almost every night lately-"
"I've been in the library. Studying." She stuttered.
"You know, with all the studying you're doing, your brain might explode. And don't look at me to clean up the mess." Ron joked. Hermione couldn't help but smile. As she looked deep into his brown eyes, sparkling with the reflection from the fire, she couldn't help but lose almost all train of thought. It seemed wrong for someone as brilliant as her to fall for a boy as childish and obnoxious as him, but he made her feel as thought she did not have to be perfect all the time. Like she could let lose and just have fun while she was with him. She could sense that his potential was masked by his laziness and the fear that he would no longer be accepted by his friends if he were to give in to his true brilliance. The fact that Hermione seemed to bring out the "smart guy" in him made her feel responsible for him and made her feel special. It was then that she realized that everything might change for them. If Hermione did something so drastic that Ron would no longer know who she was…She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. The smile on her face quickly faded and did not go unnoticed.
"What's wrong?" he asked, placing a reassuring arm around her shoulders. His strong arm seemed to be holding her together and Hermione felt herself lean into his chest. She was further comforted by the soft beating of his heart against her ear.
"Hermione?" he whispered. His voice seemed distant as she felt her eyelids close and slowly drifted off to sleep.