By the end of the week, Hermione's arms and hands had healed. Her skin was new with no scars, and the pain in her nerves had finally left, leaving only an odd tingling feeling and somewhat-deadened sense of touch in her fingers. The first thing she did once her bandages were undone for the last time was march straight to McGonagall's office and transfigure a turnip into a tulip flawlessly on her first try, for which McGonagall awarded her ten points, making Hermione feel a bit better about her failure in class.

Saturday night, Snape gave her coven their first Occlumency lesson.

"You want to clear your mind," he told them silkily, his eyes gleaming in the darkness of the dungeon classroom. "If your mind is clear and still, a Legilimens will have nothing to find."

He took turns with each of them, casting Legilimens and trying to have them force him out.

Harry did horribly, and though Snape sneered at him and mocked his efforts, Harry just grit his teeth, standing aside silently so Susan could take a turn.

Susan didn't fare much better, and her turn ended with her in tears, water streaming down her face, and Snape looked uncomfortable. Susan went to the side with Harry, who engulfed her in a hug, murmuring to her, and Hermione felt her heart go out to the girl.

Luna was next, and when Snape entered her mind, he stopped very suddenly.

"Miss Lovegood," he said finally. "You will not need any lessons from me. Anyone unwise enough to fully penetrate your mind is likely to be lost entirely."

Luna nodded and smiled. "Thank you, professor."

While she joined Harry and Susan on the other side of the room, Blaise stepped up.

"Legilimens."

Hermione watched as Blaise struggled against Snape, his face torn. When Snape stopped his repeated assault on Blaise, he raised one eyebrow mockingly.

"Not entirely hopeless," he said. "Though you will need to learn how to clear your mind of all emotions if you have any hope of protecting important information, Mister Zabini."

"Yes, sir."

Blaise wouldn't meet her eyes as he went to the far side, and Snape turned to her, one eyebrow still raised.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione stepped up, taking deep breaths and slowly blowing them out, trying to steady her mind. She imagined her fiery mindscape, picturing large caves carved out of fiery magma rock behind her that stored and hid her memories, leaving the mindscape itself blank and bare, simply a wave of fire and river of lava.

Snape looked at her for a long moment.

"I suspect," he said, eyes glittering, "that I will need express permission from you first, Miss Granger, before we can begin."

Hermione took a deep breath.

"I permit you to enter my mind," she explicitly stated.

Snape's eyes gleamed, and there was no hesitation.

"Legilimens!"

Hermione was in her mind again, on the plains of fire, and she watched as the image of Snape took a step over the river of lava, before looking around. It was like an after-image, a colored semi-transparent version of her teacher wandering around. He didn't seem to see her, somehow, though she could see him clearly, and she wondered what this looked like from his end of things.

As he strode off in the direction of the caves, Hermione attempted to hide them from him, running in front of them and waving her arms to block him. Snape walked right through her into one of them, though, and Hermione's mind abruptly clouded with a vision.

She was in the entrance way, caught with a pentacle drawn on the floor and a silver knife when her parents got home from work —

She was wearing her robes at home, being told off by her parents for not asking permission —

Her parents were reading her spell book, her looking at them in shock —

Her father was cutting his hand, smearing his blood on the doorway —

She was chanting, and the blood was sucked up, her mother watching in astonishment as she effortlessly healed their hands —

She fell out of the memory gasping, Snape raising an eyebrow high.

"Well well well," he murmured. "We do have secrets to hide, don't we?"

Hermione flushed, and Snape's eyes gleamed.

"Let's try again. Legilimens!"

This time, she tried to get the caves to shift position within her mindscape so Snape couldn't find them. It didn't work as she wanted, though; once Snape entered her mind, the rock no longer seemed malleable, and he was able to find them and enter another one.

She was talking with her friends in the Gryffindor common room, Ron talking about everyone worrying over the Heir —

She was telling them about how some of the Slytherins were worried too, Neville and Ron leaning close —

"Rumor has it that Lilian Travers is terrified—"

"She's not actually a pureblood; her parents couldn't have a child—"

"They bribed someone at the Ministry to look at the book of names… they went to a muggle home and stole their infant Muggleborn child—"

Hermione was gasping for breath when the assault stopped again. Snape's eyes were narrowed into slits, sharp.

"Miss Granger—" he started, his voice furious and dangerous.

"Justified revenge," Hermione shot back quickly. "She made a bet. And she deserved it. She left me for dead. It wasn't Dark."

There was a pause as they had a silent standoff, Hermione glaring back at him defiantly while Snape looked over her consideringly. Hermione kept her head high; she wasn't in the wrong, here.

Snape's eyes gleamed in the darkness as he began to speak.

"Regardless of your vengeance," he said, "that was cruel."

Hermione's eyes blazed in defiance. "I never claimed to be nice."

Snape looked at her a long moment before he raised his wand again.

"Legilimens!"

This time, Hermione tried to make the fiery winds block the cave entrances, spinning up sand and sheets of flame and wind to block his way. It seemed to be working – Snape walked by several cave entrances, before a gap in the fire let him slip through into a cave.

Quirrell was looking down at her, his eyes gleaming, signing her permission slip for Restricted ritual books —

Quirrell was examining her, discussing with her when to best get her period —

She was getting a bar of chocolate in the mail, a note from Quirrell on her success enclosed —

It was the last day of exams, and she was approaching Quirrell's office —

With a mighty wrenching of her mind, Hermione could feel Snape shoved out, blown back by fire and lava born of sheer panic and terror. As Hermione's eyes refocused, gasping, she realized that Snape had literally been blown backwards and was crumpled on the floor. As he got to his feet, his eyes glinted.

"Well done, Miss Granger," he said. "Though hardly very subtle."

Hermione winced.

"Practice makes perfect?" she ventured.

Snape rolled his eyes. "If you ever truly have a need to practice at all."

He looked over them all, before grudgingly giving a nod.

"That was not as wretched a first attempt as I anticipated," he conceded. "You all took it very seriously and acquitted yourselves not unwell." He gave Hermione a look, before looking over the others. "If you were to return in a week's time," he said slowly, his tone reeking of reluctance, "I might acquiesce to help you all again."

Harry and Blaise broke out into wide grins, and even Susan bounced on the balls of her feet, excited. Luna looked highly amused, and Hermione beamed at Snape, who just rolled his eyes.

"Now – I daresay you'll have to run. Curfew is in five minutes, and I have an obligation to dock points from students out of their common rooms late at night—"

They laughed as they sprinted from the classroom, awash in their glee at their modest success.