A/N- Whee, another chapter! An interesting, but not totally unexpected turn of events here, and then next chapter holds some goodies that I am positive you all will enjoy very much! Thank you so much for the reviews, keep them coming! Enjoy :)

"Darreth was cursed?" Hermione said with shock as she stared at the headmistress. Minerva had called her and Severus up to the office that evening, saying she had some important news to tell them. Both her and Severus had been rather confused at the summons, but neither had opposed them.

"The Head of the Auror office?" Severus asked incredulously. Darreth was a good man, and quite skilled. Severus had been in school with him, and he had been in Ravenclaw. He had received top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and was an excellent fighter, if Severus recalled correctly. "How did that happen?"

Minerva shrugged sadly. "He was found a little ways outside one of the entrances to the Ministry on Christmas morning. He had wandered around, and his screaming had alerted a muggle. They had to obliviate a few of the muggle policemen, and some passerbys. He's in St. Mungo's now. I wasn't alerted until after the holidays ended, the Minister was worried about it getting out. It was a shock to everyone."

Feeling slightly guilty that she and Severus had spent the entire holidays ignoring most of the world, Hermione frowned. "Do they have any idea who cast the curse? Darreth is an important Ministry official, it's more than clear now that whomever is using this curse has some sort of ulterior motive now, as an attack on the Head of Auror's office was no accident."

Minerva nodded. "They have people working on it, Kingsley assured me. Harry has been made acting Head of the Auror office in his place. Kingsley said that Harry was working quickly on arranging a group to hunt down whomever is using the curse; the group is nearly ready to be off. He was last sighted somewhere in the north, so that is where they are focusing their efforts."

Hermione nodded, Harry had been made for the job, she had confidence he would get somewhere. "Good. At least they made one smart decision. The north...curious, but it shows that whomever is using the curse is hiding; most particularly from the Ministry."

Severus nodded in agreement. "We will have to use this lapse to our advantage. This means we have to work even faster on the potion, does it not?"

Minerva looked at him sadly. "Yes. And the Minister and I have bother agreed that you should be excused from your teaching duties for the foreseeable future to devote all of your efforts towards the potion. Severus, you have a fully equipped Potions laboratory at Spinner's End, correct?"

Severus looked at the headmistress in barely disguised shock. "Yes, but excused from our teaching duties? Who will act in our stead?"

"I have arranged for two qualified wizards to take over the posts, and they will stand in until the potion is completed. You must work quickly. I will send a few house elves to your laboratory to help you move whatever you need to Spinner's End."

Hermione sat back, eying the headmistress thoughtfully. It was only a week after their return to Hogwarts, and Hermione didn't think it was fair to the students to have to reacquaint themselves with a new teacher so early in the new term, but it was apparent she didn't have a choice. "I have a small flat in London, where I lived when I had free time while I was in school. It isn't large enough for a potions laboratory, though."

Severus scoffed. "Don't be daft, Miss Granger. We will make the potion at Spinner's End, of course. You will be given full access to the wards surrounding the property."

Hermione nodded, satisfied. "When do we have to leave?"

"As soon as you are able," Minerva replied briskly. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, but the Ministry is desperate, and the victims are getting worse each day. It is imperative that this potion be completed quickly. The students will adjust to their new teachers just fine, the health and sanity of those affected are worth far more than a few disgruntled kids."

Severus nodded and stood up. "I will be gone by the evening, and I will owl you weekly with reports, Minerva." Looking down at Hermione, he arched an eyebrow inquiringly. Hermione nodded and stood up with him.

Minerva watched the exchange and bit back a grin. The two would be good together, and she was absolutely positive that something would come of it. Feeling pleased, she noticed happily how Severus looked at Hermione. It was barely discernible, but there was a slight change in his eyes whenever he looked at her. Minerva nodded to Severus and Hermione, and said goodbye to the both of them, watching them walk out.

Severus kept a brisk pace all the way down to the dungeons, and Hermione followed at almost a jog. They stayed silent until they reached his office. Severus sat down behind the desk wearily, and Hermione leaned against the edge of it. "Excused from teaching. They really are getting desperate," she said quietly.

Severus nodded, and looked up at her. "We will have to spend the vast majority of our time testing various ingredients, and we'll have precious little time to devote to anything else," he stated.

Hermione nodded, she had expected as much. "I will still work on becoming an animagus in whatever free time I have left," she said firmly. "The potion is more important, though, and I understand that perfectly."

Severus nodded to her. "Go, pack your things and meet me down here when you're done."

Hermione looked at him curiously. "Why do I have to meet you?"

Severus shot her a glare. "You don't think you're going to go back to your flat, do you? You'll be spending more time passing out on my couch from exhaustion than you will actually apparating back to your flat. There is no point, and I have more than enough rooms for you to live comfortably in, and privately. It is the most practical solution to this, and you cannot deny it would make more sense to simple live there, rather than try to juggle apparating back and forth every day."

Hermione worked hard to retain her smile. That was exactly what she had been hoping for; she had greatly enjoyed their time together at the mansion. It made perfect sense, too, as Severus had stated. "Very well, I'll be back when I'm done." She rose and hurried out of his office, shutting the door behind her.

Severus watched her go, and found himself looking forward to the prospect of working and living so closely with Hermione. He wasn't upset about not being able to teach, in fact it was a much better solution than them being forced to work through their other duties. Giving them all the time they could was the best solution, and Severus fervently hoped that they finished it as quickly as he dared to hope.

Knowing Hermione, she would work as tirelessly as he, and he knew there was more than a few odds in their favour. Plus, they both spent a very large amount of their time reading up on ancient Dark Magics, something had to come of it, and soon. Lucius had promised to deliver the last of his books on the subject, and that would certainly give them something to do if they found themselves lacking for ways to eat up time.

Rising, he walked to his rooms quickly, pausing to tell the dragon that he wouldn't be returning for a while. The dragon had merely nodded, and stated something about a blessed reprieve. Severus rolled his eyes, and waited impatiently for the dragon to open the door. Once inside, he set to gathering all his books, shrinking them and placing them in his pockets. He conjured a suitcase and packed his few clothes into it, and shrunk that as well. Doing one last sweep through of the house, he double checked to make sure he had everything. There was nothing to stop him from coming back for anything he may have left behind, but Severus hated to make two trips.

Hermione arrived in due course, and they used the Floo to travel to Spinner's end. Once inside the mansion, Severus disconnected the Floo. He didn't want any one surprising them while they were working. Satisfied, he turned to look at Hermione. "Do you remember where your room was?"

Hermione nodded. "I do," she said as she turned to walk out. "I wonder if that cat is still here," she added mischievously.

Severus raised his eyes to the heavens as he followed Hermione up the stairs. "Don't go rampaging through my house looking for the damned thing," he said sternly.

Hermione laughed, and didn't respond. Instead she hurried up the stairs to the room that Severus had given to her, and she set about unloading her possessions. It took all of five minutes with magic, and with a few flicks of her wand the last of her socks flew neatly into the draw. Curiously, she checked the closet and was quite pleased to see two of the black nightshirts she had found so comfortable hanging up. Satisfied, she went back downstairs, settling herself into the couch. Severus looked up from the old tome in his hands. "Finished?"

"Yep, I unpacked everything and added a few pictures. There's really no point in me putting up with the drab atmosphere if I'm going to be here for at least a few weeks," Hermione said with amusement.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Keep it to your room; I don't want your Gryffindorish ideas of decorating spreading to any other rooms. It would give Frannel an unfortunate amount of cleaning to do."

Scoffing, Hermione threw her head back and didn't respond, focusing instead on pulling her mass of bushy hair back into a ponytail. Severus glared at the witch even though he knew perfectly well that she couldn't see; it seemed she was intent on being oblivious to just how provocative her position was to him. Grousing inwardly, he tore his eyes away from her chest and focused on the interesting patterns of the upholstery.

"Do you have any plans for the potion?" Hermione asked when she was satisfied with the position of her hair.

"We have enough for the base, so now its a matter of combining the right amounts into a liquid that won't explode on contact," he replied dryly. "A difficult task, and it will take many days. Who knows how precise the measurements will have to be, there is no potion out there that resembles what we are trying to do, so everything will be no more than guesswork."

Hermione grinned. "At least we won't be twiddling our thumbs with idleness. We can both work at the same time, as well. You have stocked up on parchment, yes? We will need to write down absolutely everything."

Severus glared at Hermione over the book he held. "I appreciate your faith in me, yet again. I know better than most of the essential need for parchment in creating or modifying a potion. I have plenty, and if we need more than we can send out Sarthor or Cosette to Flourish and Blott's."

Hermione grinned at Severus's indignation. "It's getting late, isn't it?"

"Nearly eleven, actually," he replied. Standing up, he placed the book on the coffee table and nodded to Hermione. "I am feeling the need to retire; I will see you tomorrow morning."

Hermione bade him a good night, and stood as well, but instead of heading upstairs she walked towards the library. She wasn't feeling the least bit tired, and she figured she may as well get some reading in until exhaustion overtook her. Selecting a tome about the effects of Dark Magics on the blood, she returned to the sitting room, and stretched out on the carpet in front of the fire. Opening the page, she quickly get lost in the paragraphs explaining the adverse affects of Dark Magics. Some time later, she was startled from her reading by something rubbing her shoulder. Turning her head, she smiled as she saw the black cat. Retiring, my backside.

"Hello, kitty," she said softly as she scratched under his left ear. "Back again, I see. I'm glad, I do enjoy your company." She spoke honestly, as she knew now who the cat actually was. It gave her a certain pleasure to be able to talk to Severus in this form, as he couldn't glower at her if she tried to be ridiculously soppy, as he would so eloquently put it. The cat looked up at her intently, and purred loudly. Hermione smirked at that, it appeared Severus enjoyed hearing her words too.

Grinning, she rubbed his ear and again and returned to her book. Severus curled up next to Hermione, feeling quite contented with the turn of events, despite the tragedies that had occurred to bring them here.