Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. They belong to JKR.

A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed this story. Thanks for the encouragement!

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Power in All Its Glory

Chapter 7: Plan? Who has the plan?

Thud. Severus Snape watched grimly as a house elf dropped yet another heavy box on the floor of his office. This was the fifth box so far and many more would be coming later. The boxes contained information the headmaster thought would be useful to Snape's investigation.

They were full of files on every student and every professor in the school. There was not only an account of every trip off Hogwarts grounds but also every detention given to every student. Schedules of students and professors were also enclosed. They were leaving no stone unturned. These were to be cross-referenced to look for any clues. When the house elves had finally gone, Snape was left alone to fume.

Bloody Hell! It would take a great deal of work, time, and energy to go through those files. To accomplish what?

Nothing.

Nothing would be accomplished. He knew there was nothing in those files of any use to him. Who ever set this plan in action would make sure that all the evidence pointed toward Miss Granger and himself. The question was why?

Severus' mind was a jumble of thoughts as he tried to sort things out, logically.

First of all, whoever did this also gave him the reverse-love potion. Of that he was certain. Second, he (or she, he amended) probably knew Hermione had feelings for Snape. This would be used against them, he was sure. Third, this person obviously hated him. That was no help, Snape thought derisively. Most of the students and the majority of the staff hated him.

One thing that really bothered the Potions master was why this person was dragging it out. He or she had the perfect opportunity to exact his or her revenge. Instead, a port key had been left for them.

A feeling of anger and frustration threatened to consume him. He hated not being in control. He hated having someone enjoy his misery and distress.

Most of all, he hated having Hermione involved in all of this. He had done many foul and loathsome things over the years that could warrant such a thirst for revenge but Hermione had done nothing.

Her only crime was being foolish enough to have feelings for him.

"Silly little girl," he muttered to himself.

As he thought of her, he wondered how she was handling things. She didn't know yet what was happening. He needed to see her to tell her what he had found out. They needed to develop a plan. He thought of giving her detention and immediately dismissed the idea. He had already skimmed her student file. She had had detention only four times in the seven years she had been a student at Hogwarts.

The first time was in her first year. She (along with Potter, Longbottom, and Malfoy) had received detention for being out after dark. For this detention, they had to go with Hagrid into the Dark Forest to look for an injured unicorn.

The other three times were all within the last few weeks.

And, they were all with him.

Snape growled in frustration. He had been so careless.

There had been no reason to be careful, he reminded himself. They hadn't done anything wrong. He quickly dismissed that thought. He was an ex-Deatheater, and a spy. He should have been suspicious. He should have been more careful.

As his gaze wandered over the boxes now invading his office, Snape suddenly had a thought.

It was possible he could use the information in those boxes to find whoever was doing this. Although he had no idea what to look for, he thought the information he needed would be located within those files.

Snape smirked evilly.

Not only would he find whoever was responsible for his current misery, he would use his newfound position to his advantage. He would have to interview all the students and all the staff. This could work out better than he had originally thought. He would enjoy terrorizing the students, especially Potter and Weasley.

A feral grin spread over the Potion Master's face. Sirius Black was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Black had somehow, miraculously, come back from the dead in his overly dramatic, look-at-me-I-am-a-hero fashion and Dumbledore just handed him Snape's coveted DADA position.

Although he couldn't pin this offense on Black, he could use him to divert attention away from himself.

Things were definitely looking up. Now if he could only figure out some way to get Miss Granger alone.

*****

Hermione sat studying in the library. Actually studying was probably the wrong word.

Worrying, fretting, obsessing. Those words were closer to the truth.

This morning she had awakened in the arms of her Potion's professor. (She pushed away that mental image.) She had no idea how she got there. Then, Dumbledore summoned Professor Snape. Now she had to wait for answers.

She hadn't heard from Snape all day. Although she had tried to concentrate, her classes had all passed in a haze. The next Potions class wasn't until tomorrow. Hermione sighed.

She desperately wanted to see him. She had hoped to see him at lunch but he was noticeably absent from the head table. She wondered if she would see him at dinner. Fleetingly she thought of going down to the dungeons to talk to him. She immediately dismissed this idea. It would probably make things worse.

"Hermione."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Neville Longbottom. He was out of breath, and it took him a few minutes to regain his composure.

"What is it Neville?" Hermione asked, her thoughts still on a certain professor.

"It's just … You won't believe what I heard!" He looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?" She encouraged him to continue.

"I heard Professor Dumbledore talking to Professor McGonagall. He was saying that they found out a professor and a student were …" At this, he stopped and blushed.

"What?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Well, you know … together." He looked at her expectantly.

Hermione realized what he was implying, and suddenly the pieces seemed to fall into place.

The spell in detention that knocked her and Snape out.

Waking up this morning, together and in a strange bed.

Someone almost walking in on them.

She felt sick to her stomach. Someone was setting them up to be caught. For something they hadn't even done! Her mind screamed at the injustice of it all. Why would anyone do this to them?

"Did they say who it was?" she asked tentatively.

"I don't think they know," Neville answered. "But when they find them," he continued, "they are going to sack the professor and expel the student."

Hermione looked levelly at the boy across from her. "You heard Dumbledore say this?"

Neville nodded.

Hermione was momentarily overcome with a sense of fear. This was no longer a prank. Someone was out to ruin their lives.

Her fear slowly turned to anger. Hermione was not one to waste time feeling sorry for herself. They were going to find out who did this and make them pay.

What they needed was a plan.

She wanted to talk to Professor Snape but instinctively knew she would need to wait for him to contact her. Meanwhile, she wasn't going to just do nothing.

Neville watched patiently as Hermione sorted things out in her head. Everything was going just as planned.

"Neville," she began, "I just can't believe that something like this would go on at Hogwarts." She smiled at him. "Maybe we could find out what is going on. What do you think?"

"Sure, Hermione," he said sounding slightly confused. "But what could we do?"

"Well," she continued. "You seem to be good at gathering information. Just keep your eyes and ears open and report what you find back to me."

"We could be like partners, working together." He sounded hopeful. Hermione nodded at him.

Neville gave her a big smile.

Just as planned.

Maybe, even better than planned.

Unnoticed by the two Gryffindors, Draco Malfoy sat at a corner table, hidden from view by a bookcase. He had gone to the library to be alone. After all, no one would look for him there.

He had heard everything they said and now he was really worried. It was obvious to him that he was the student Dumbledore was referring to … hadn't he spent last night with a professor? He had tried desperately to remember what had happened, but he could not. One thing was certain. He needed to talk to his professor about what he had overheard. They needed a plan.

He couldn't let this get out. He would be humiliated.

Worse of all, he could get expelled.

His father would kill him.