Monday, Hermione got to breakfast early along with a tired Tracey and Millie, who had practiced long into the night.

"If I fail all my exams because you've turned my brain into swiss cheese, I'm blaming you," Millie grumbled at Tracey. "I have this awful mental fog from all last night."

"I've only been targeting recent memories that meant nothing, and I've been very careful!" Tracey objected hotly. "And I've gotten better! You don't remember anything I told you about Adrian, do you?"

Hermione tuned out their easy squabbling, scanning the Great Hall. Most of the Prefects and more studious older students arrived at breakfast early, and Hermione's eyes caught on the potential prefect she was looking for.

"Hermione," Cedric said, giving her a grin as she approached. His eyes were bright but tired, his hair in slight disarray. "How are you?"

"I'm doing alright," she told him. "How are you?"

Cedric winced.

"Alright. Been comforting a lot of scared first years recently," he said. "With a teacher attacked, no one feels safe. It makes it hard for the younger ones to sleep."

Hermione's heart went out to him.

"I'm so sorry," she said honestly. "I wish I could help."

Cedric gave her a resigned smile.

"Nothing to be done about it for now," he said.

"I know," Hermione said, pained. "But still…"

Cedric's eyes sparkled.

"Such a warm, kind heart," he teased her. "And you wonder why I like you…"

Hermione blushed, her cheeks turning red.

"I wanted to ask you about that advanced study group you proposed," she said. "Would you be able to help me study an advanced spell today?"

"An advanced spell?" Cedric looked curious. "You have one in mind in particular?"

"Kind of?" Hermione admitted. "I don't know all the spell theory. I'm hoping you could help me with that?"

Cedric looked intrigued.

"Sure," he said. "It's the last day of break, so no classes to worry about. Shall I escort you to the library after breakfast?"

Hermione smiled up at him. "That'll work."

Hermione made it back to the Slytherin table before the others arrived, though Tracey and Millie teased her until Blaise showed up, when they promptly dropped the topic of Cedric as if it had never been on their minds at all. Blaise didn't seem to notice.

"Have you talked to Potter about it yet?" Blaise asked her immediately.

"No. When would I have been able to?" Hermione said, annoyed.

"If Potter's not on board, we're doomed," Blaise stressed. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"Harry will help," Hermione assured him. "It'll be fine. Don't you trust him?"

Blaise smirked.

"We're not coven-bonded yet, Hermione," he murmured. "So no, not entirely."

When breakfast was finally done, Blaise went off to talk to Harry. Hermione watched as the boys talked quietly, leaving the Great Hall together, and she lingered behind for Cedric, who approached her with a smile.

"Ready?" he asked, and Hermione felt her cheeks pinken.

"Yes," she said. "Let's go."

"Let me get this straight," Cedric said, twirling a quill in his hands. "You want to make a spell have a generalized area?"

"Kind of?" Hermione said. "Like – how do you make a spell effect into a mist? How do you make it affect an area or hang in the air instead of just being a bolt of light?"

"Are you sure that it's possible?" Cedric asked her frankly. "This sounds bizarre."

"I read about it in passing – there's a way that someone was able to make a mist that flipped people upside-down in it," Hermione told him. "If it's possible to put that spell effect into a mist, why not others?"

"Really?" Cedric said, his eyes widening. He whistled lowly. "That's mad. Who did that?"

"It was part of some historical challenge," Hermione dismissed. "Happened ages ago. Doesn't matter now. But if I wanted to do that – how could I?"

Cedric looked thoughtful.

"Honestly, Hermione, I don't know if it is possible," he said. "Wands focus magic directly into a single purpose. Unless the spell itself is designed to have an area of effect, I don't think you can do that."

"Would it work wandlessly?" Hermione asked, intrigued. "If you don't want your magic focused so singularly, would doing it wandlessly make it work?"

Cedric chuckled. "Wandless magic is extraordinarily difficult, Hermione. Most people only ever master a couple charms that they use all the time – the Summoning Charm and the Vanishing Charm, for example. Wandlessly casting a complex spell to reverse gravity…"

"But would it work?" Hermione pressed. "Do you think?"

"Possibly?" Cedric guessed. He looked at her. "It would take a lot of practice, though. Weeks."

Hermione's face fell.

"I don't have weeks," she grumbled. "I have hours."

"Then this doesn't sound like the right path to explore," he said gently. He tucked a loose curl behind her ear, his fingers brushing her face. "Hermione, tell me what your goal is. Maybe I can help."

"I told you," Hermione said, fighting the blush that threatened her face. "I want an aerosolized spell to hang around in an area like a mist."

Cedric sighed.

"Well, unless you can concentrate a spell into a potion and literally just spray it into the air in a mist, I don't know how to help you," he said. He paused. "…I also don't know if Hogwarts has devices to spray with. The only ones I've seen were water toys that muggle children used."

"A potion…" Hermione trailed off. "I don't know all that many potions yet, but I wonder…" She refocused onto Cedric, offering him a smile. "Want to help me research if there's any sort of potion that has the same effects as the Conjunctivitis curse?" she asked.

Cedric's eyebrows went up very high, but he merely grinned.

"Why not?" he said. "I'm sure you have a good reason, right?"

He nudged her affectionately as they stood from the table to go into the stacks, and Hermione blushed brilliantly.

"A good reason?" she muttered under her breath. "You have no idea."

The last thing Hermione did on Monday night was stand in front of Professor Snape's office door with Blaise and Tracey at her side. Blaise gave her an amused look as she hesitated, before finally knocking on the door.

"Enter."

"See you," Blaise murmured, and he and Tracey went back down the hall to the common room. Hermione took a deep breath and entered.

Snape's office looked much like it always had. Snape sat at his desk, marking essays with vicious red ink. Two wooden chairs sat in front of the desk, and there were shelves with odd ingredients and things in jars all around. One set of shelves had been moved, revealing the blackboard beneath it. There was a list of ingredients and a scribble of what looked like steps on it. As Hermione scanned it, she didn't recognize it.

"What's this?" she asked. "I don't know some of these ingredients."

"An attempt at a potion to revive your classmates," Snape said, a note of annoyance in his voice. "Mandrakes are difficult to get fresh, and Professor Sprout's are still not yet grown. I had hoped to mitigate the wait, but alas, it seems it was not meant to be." He fixed his eyes on her. "What do you need, Miss Granger?"

"Two things," Hermione said promptly. She paused. "Well, more like one. But I have two questions."

"I am amazed to learn you can limit yourself," Snape commented dryly. "What is your first?"

Hermione steadied herself.

"Do you happen to have a Bulgeye Potion, and if so, may I have it?" she asked.

Snape shot her a dark look.

"Bulgeye Potions have very few legitimate uses," he said. "Why do you—"

"I promise not to use it on a person whose full consent I do not have," Hermione promised immediately. "This is sort of an… experiment. A back-up plan, if you will. But I won't hurt any of the students or teachers here."

"And I suppose if I do not give you one, you will attempt to brew this difficult potion yourself?" he inquired. "Probably alone, in an abandoned classroom, with inadequate safety precautions?"

"Yes," Hermione said immediately. "I need one."

Snape gave her a scrutinizing look, his eyes heavy and evaluating. Hermione steadily returned his gaze. Finally, he stood, striding from his desk directly through a wall. Hermione blinked.

He must have gone into his private rooms, right? Was the wall an illusion, then? But no, she had seen him touch the wall and shelves before. But then how…?

He returned presently while she was still stumbling over her thoughts, bearing a flask with an emerald green liquid inside it.

"Be very careful how you choose to use this, Miss Granger," he told her, handing her the potion. "And if you harm yourself, go to Madam Pomfrey – I will not have the patience to deal with such ineptitude."

"I will, sir," Hermione promised, tucking the potion into her bag. "Thank you."

"Spare me your gratitude," Snape said dryly. "What is the second question you have?"

Hermione took a deep breath.

"In the event of something very dramatic happening, something that could have possible negative implications if it were learned that you knew about it ahead of time," she began, "would you prefer to know ahead of time and take that risk, or would you prefer plausible deniability?"

There was a heavy silence.

Snape's eyes glittered, piercing hers, and Hermione held her quaking courage to her.

"What are you going to do, Miss Granger?"

His voice was a whisper in the air, and Hermione shivered.

"Would you like plausible deniability, sir?" she asked, her voice shaking. "Or would you want to risk the details?"

There was a pause.

"Does it put the school at risk?"

"No," Hermione said, thinking. "No more than it already is."

"Is it dangerous?" Snape's eyes glittered at her, and Hermione swallowed.

"Yes," she said truthfully. "But I would have taken steps to minimize the danger as much as possible, and no one would be in danger who hadn't fully consented to it."

There was another pause as he examined her.

"Are you going to carry out this silly plan, regardless of what I say?" he asked.

"Probably," Hermione admitted. "I just remembered how you reacted after the Polyjuice prank with the Ravenclaws, and I was offering to tell you ahead of time out of respect."

Snape gave her a sharp look, before settling back in his chair with a sigh.

"Miss Granger, in this case, I believe I would prefer plausible deniability," he told her, pinching the bridge of his nose tightly. "The staff is preoccupied with the safety precautions for the Heir and monster, and I would rather not be wondering what mischief you are up to." He glanced at her. "So long as you have fully planned out your little plan, and you are prepared to accept the consequences of your actions if you are caught, you have my dubious blessing, if that matters to you."

It was clear he thought she was planning some sort of revenge or prank by the dismissive tone with which he spoke, but Hermione wasn't about to clarify matters further.

"Thank you very much, sir," she said, bowing slightly. "I won't take up your time further."

And with that last box mentally checked, Hermione returned to her room.