Author's notes: Eesh. Sorry for not updating this sooner. Until today, I've had a pretty hectic life. And also had to fight writer's block over the weekend in what time I had then… Sorry, I'll try to be more active in the future.

duj – Honestly, I don't think the most of Dumbledore in all instances either; but I'd still take him over an organization as corrupt and self-serving as the Ministry any day. Just my opinion though.

As for Hermione – again, it's going to be a somewhat gradual process as she gains more information on what's going on. She was coming in initially with a sort of "Gryffindor = good, Slytherin = bad" mindset, and that's what's being slowly changed in this.

As per Gyllenkrok's name – I'm going with the theory that Durmstrang is in Northern Europe. Thus I gave him a (real world) Norse-based surname.

For the dueling bit. You might be right. Then again, she was a founder of DA, and has traded fire with actual, adult Death Eaters by this point.

As per her being the only female in class. Well, again, this was only the Gryffindors and Slytherins; no Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs in the picture. I could see the Marauders wanting to take it – well, two of them at least, and the other two would probably be dragged along, because that's how they would tend to be I'd imagine. Lily – just for plot reasons I really didn't want her in there; and she seems pretty averse to anything to do with the Dark Arts. The other Gryffindor girls aren't known all that well. I guess I could have put some in, but I was trying to ensure an equal number of Slytherins and Gryffindors so the scene would work. And well, it should be obvious enough why the mentioned Slytherins joined I think.

Everyone - Thank you all very much for the reviews. Sorry once more for the delays. I'll try and be a little faster in the future; can't entirely promise though. Also, I've started writing another fanfiction, essentially a narrative of Eileen Prince's backstory, that I sort of got inspired to start writing by writing this. It only has a first chapter – in some senses, an overview of the story as a whole. If anyone would like to look it over so I can see if there's any interest or not, it'll probably be the determining factor in how much effort I put into updating that one. In any case, this fanfic will still be my primary one. Long AN, sorry…

September 2nd, 1976

Gyllenkrok didn't speak again until the three of them were in his office behind a closed door, Snape and Hermione trading a single wary glance at one another. At least for once, both were in much the same situation; they really didn't know what to expect.

"That…" Gyllenkrok began, after a moment or so's pause. "Was rather impressive. I think the two of you might be what I'm looking for…" he frowned, "I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, sending me here. A lost cause if I've ever seen one with most of them… But he seems to think you lot have potential, and maybe, just maybe with the right guidance might perhaps hope to survive the darkness to come. Well, we'll see I suppose."

"Dumbledore has asked of me – in addition to instructing Defense Against the Dark Arts, to oversee the formation of a new organization on campus – Dueling Club as he called it. Still nowhere near as … complete a training as I'd like to give; but this is Hogwarts, not Durmstrang, isn't it…?" He sounded almost resentful at the task.

"In any such case… I need House Team Captains before I can proceed. Seventh Years here of course are too busy studying for their NEWTS to devote time for the more… practical matters, so they're out of the question. Anyone still in their OWL classes wouldn't very likely be capable enough of my standards. So that leaves Sixth Years the only remaining choice. The lesson today – as you may have deduced – was a test of your aptitude. I haven't seen the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs yet – though I've heard much … better things about the former than the latter…"

"Regardless… Though, with such basic spells, it's relatively difficult to fully gauge your potential. Of the students I've observed this far… the two of you seem … the closest to the level of competence that I'd like to see. I take it you're interested…?" It wasn't even so much a question as just an expectation, a statement of presumed fact.

Well, aside from Gyllenkrok's … backhanded at best compliments, Snape's attention was rather fixated. It was a … fascinating idea really. An actual chance to practice spellwork in a somewhat more realistic setting. A way to humiliate – maybe even hurt Gryffindors – one not involving arrogant prats flying around on brooms chasing a golden ball – something that had real world applications to his own future. In some ways, it was even practice for becoming a Death Eater, joining the Dark Lord. It'd give him a chance to become better skilled not just in the theoretical knowledge behind the spells, but in actually using them in real time against an opponent, in a situation that simulated at least life and death. Training on his own, in private was certainly beneficial, but in some ways, this would be more so. Even if Dumbledore only allowed the use of… limited spells, it'd still be something. Still be a means of demonstrating and improving his talent.

Beyond that, he could be finally recognized publicly for some talent of his own. Sure, he was Lucius's contact at Hogwarts. Sure there was a degree of de facto status there. But by the very nature of what it was, it was nothing he could ever explicitly admit to. If anyone – outside Slytherin at least – had any definitive proof that he actually was working for the Death Eaters, he'd be expelled – at best. It was a rather frustrating irony that for all the power, all the prestige he'd attained, outside his House, it did him absolutely no good.

Now though he actually had a chance. To… be given a position of prestige. Be recognized for his talent. Deal with Gryffindors and practice to become a Death Eater at the same time. And be rewarded for doing it. Maybe… even if he did well enough, have some tiny modicum of hope of getting Lily's attention once more. It was all… almost too good to be true. It hadn't even taken him a moment of thought before he nearly blurted out.

"Very interested, Professor." Snape nodded, trying to make himself not look too eager.

"Good." Gyllenkrok nodded curtly. "And you, Miss Granger?"

Hermione for her part was a bit more hesitant about the whole thing. Hell, she saw the advantage in actual practical use of DADA. She'd been one of the founders of Dumbledore's Army precisely because Umbridge had been… about as opposite from Gyllenkrok as possible on that point. But, in his case… Hermione didn't entirely know what to think of him. She'd never heard the name before so… presumably he wasn't someone who'd go on to be a Death Eater. Well, not a major one at least, as his name was never mentioned in any of the history books she'd ever read.

And… Dumbledore himself was evidently behind the idea. So it was probably fine just… bad memories from … Dueling Clubs that wouldn't even exist for more than another fifteen years. Well, hopefully at least, she'd learned enough since then that she wouldn't end up choked from behind by some Slytherin who looked almost half-troll and…

But, if she was entirely honest with herself, it was the man… rather than the club itself, that made her so wary. Maybe she was just upset at the way he'd demeaned her, assumed her to be useless just because of what school she happened to attend. Well, he'd made her and … him… exceptions to that apparently now, but it was still the principle, and…

Honestly, Gyllenkrok seemed… rather dark… Maybe it wasn't the fairest thing in the world; just based off intuition, first impressions, and her general understanding of Durmstrang – though fine, Krum had been nice enough, if a bit dense. But at any rate, there was something deeply unsettling about the man. If Dumbledore himself had selected him, that seemed to lead some credence, but… Dumbledore had selected Quirrel and Barty Crouch Jr. - albeit unknowingly – and… well, the other Sixth Year in the room with her. And look what great character they all seemed to have…

Well… she supposed, if she hadn't heard about him… he couldn't be too horrible. Or at least failed at whatever it was he tried to do. So… it was probably alright to put a certain level of trust in him. Besides, if he was actually honest. Well, he certainly wouldn't do anything to her if there were truly no other Gryffindors of suitable talent.

"Yeah…" Hermione nodded slowly. "I'll do it."

Hermione's head felt as if it were spinning at dinner that evening, now that she finally had time to process it all. She tried her best joining in on the conversation going on around her – opting this time to sit with the Gryffindor girls after… what had happened earlier – but wasn't really succeeding well at it. She still wasn't certain what the Marauders might think of her now or even… what she thought of them… She was still somewhat incredulous that Harry's own father, and Sirus Black and Remus Lupin – whom as adults she'd thought of as some of the greatest, bravest individuals alive – that they could be so petty, so cruel. Almost like she'd expect of a Slytherin in her own time…

It wasn't as if she thought much of Snape. In some senses, she'd dealt with him just as long as they did – as a professor, not even a peer. So she had no impressions he was an innocent victim in all of this, but still… It was unbecoming of what a Gryffindor was supposed to be to act so… vile. Even if there was standing animosity in general between them, well, that was one thing, but… they seemed to be going out of their way to initiate things, antagonize him when he just wanted to be left alone…

Was that it then? Why the older Snape seemed so bitter against Gryffindor? Because the Marauders had acted like this towards them…? And seemed to hate Harry so much simply because he looked like his father – who seemed to be the ringleader. That… was patently unfair, unjust. Hermione for one didn't want to be judged based on their actions simply because they happened to share a House. Whatever her, Harry, and Ron's faults they… generally didn't go around starting trouble. Granted, they'd found more than their fair share of it, but at least – in most cases – it was someone else initiating it. But in any case, Snape's… hatred for Gryffindor seemed almost to make slightly more sense now. Even if she couldn't agree with the reasoning behind it, she thought she at least understood why.

Still though, back to Snape himself. Again it wasn't like he was innocent. Like Lupin had said – the one Marauder she still had some degree of respect left for, at least in their present time – he'd been acting cruelly towards everyone. And done something to Lily in particular. That enraged her. Not enough to condone what the Marauders had done, but… She wanted to get to the bottom of it. Had to. There were few people in the world that Hermione respected more than Lily Potter. Or, Evans now… Right, she'd have to get used to that…

Actually, speaking of Lily – where was she? Though Hermione was sitting where the Gryffindor girls tended to, the Sixth Year female prefect was nowhere to be found. She'd been so… distracted before that she hadn't even noticed it…

"Have… have you seen Lily?" Hermione asked the Gryffindor sitting across from her, who'd introduced herself earlier as Mary MacDonald. Trying not to sound too concerned, pass it off as casual…

"Oh, yeah. Her…." Mary frowned. "She's sick or something I heard. Still up in the dorm I think and…"

"Oh, thanks." Hermione nodded softly. "I, uhh… hope she feels better soon…" Somehow, Hermione knew it wasn't a physical sickness. Just what had Snape done to her…?

"Look, uhh, I'm done eating…" Hermione started – actually, she'd been so distracted she'd barely touched her food. "Going to finish up my homework. See you later, alright?"

"Sure…" Mary had nodded, not thinking much of anything over it.

With that, Hermione set of, and began to march straight out of the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor Dormitories. Lupin seemed to notice and tried to get her attention, but she waved him off, singleminded in going and seeing Lily and finding out what was going on. A few minutes or so later, she found herself once more in front of the Fat Lady, muttering "Aperi Januam" then strolling inside.

Quietly, she made her way up the stairs to the Gryffindor girls dormitory, cringing somewhat at the noise that the door made creaking open.

A certain red-haired Prefect inside whipped her head around suddenly. She was trying to hide it, but there were tears in her eyes. "What do you want?" Lily muttered, almost accusingly.

"Sorry Lily, I just finished eating, and thought I'd come back to do homework…"

"Don't lie to me…" she snapped.

"Lily, what's wrong…?" Hermione frowned, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You… Why do you have to be so good at potions…?"

Hermione was admittedly bewildered at that particular lashing out. Why was potions of all things relevant? Well, she saw the indirect relevance to Snape – if he was doing something. But why would being good at potions matter itself? Unless Lily and Snape had been rivals in it before or… No, that didn't even make any real sense…

She couldn't really think of much of anything to say to that, but seeing Lily like this, perhaps exacerbated by something she'd unknowingly done. Alright, she still wasn't fully sure what she'd done but… maybe using the information in that book; showing off like that … had been a bad idea after all… It wasn't just her and Snape in the class after all, and that had been really quite … selfish in hindsight.

"You just had to rub it in, didn't you?" Lily continued, " ' Oh, you and Snape are the absolute best potions students I've ever seen in my life. No one else could ever be as good as them…' "

"I… I didn't mean to cause trouble, Lily…" Hermione looked down, biting her lip. Just what had she done though? Hermione didn't really imagine Lily the type to get this worked up over grades. Even Hermione herself wouldn't be this upset over a professor praising someone else's work for once.

"So… you're good at potions…?" Hermione offered. "Maybe we could work on it together or…"

"Of course I'm not good at potions! Not on my own at least…! Just… ugggh…!" Lily groaned, Hermione obviously having - albeit unknowingly – said about the worst possible thing in response. "Look, I know you weren't here last year and everything but… It's just … touchy for me… I'm sorry…" Lily sighed sadly. "I know it's not your fault. I can't blame you just for being good at a subject I'm not, but… it hurts… What happened… And… a lot happened today to remind me of it…"

Hermione, though desperately wanting to know just what had happened figured better than to press the issue any further. If anything, her attempts at comforting Lily were just making her feel all the worse.

"Sorry Lily, I didn't realize… Honestly… If… there's anything I can do, to help you feel better, just please let me know, and…"

"Thank you…" Lily sniffled. "But there's nothing to do about it. He chose his path, and I chose mine… That's just how life is sometimes…"

Once more, Hermione had to suppress the strongest desire to question Lily further about … what she meant. That was certainly a rather cryptic way of stating things. Who chose what path…?

"Well," Hemione said softly, "If you ever need someone to talk to… I'm always willing to listen."

Lily nodded slowly. "Thank you… I … don't think I'm ready to talk to anyone about this right now but, if the time comes… "

"When it comes, I'll be there."