Changing Things for the Better Chapter Three, a harry potter fanfic

Hey everyone, I am so glad to see people adding this story and reviewing etcetera. This is the next chapter and please continue to review and let me know what your thoughts are.

As always it is Rated M for language, Lemons and Violence. Please enjoy this latest chapter and I will see you for the next one.

Chapter Three

Hermione

I had been released from The Hospital Wing the following day and my first stop was the Room of Requirement. I took my now empty bag with me and made my way to the Seventh Floor corridor to try and make a start on my mission. This strange opportunity that I have had is something eclven beyond my imagination, so many people to try and save, I know I had to accept the fact that I might not be able to save everyone but I can hopefully make some semblance of a difference.

I had already managed to save Sirius and now Harry would be able to have some semblance of a family instead and marching into war having lost everything. I had so much to do and such little time to do it, I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will need help. I am not conceited enough to believe I can do it on my own, there is no way especially when it comes to the Horcruxes.

The best way of dealing with the Horcruxes were to gather them together and destroy them all at once, all except for Harry of course. For each Horcrux we had destroyed he became more aware of what we were doing and I don't know if that was because of his connection to Harry or if he felt each piece of his soul die.

As I found it sitting exactly where Harry had said before inside the box. I had created a specific compartment in my trunk for it to stay and given it every manner of protection possible. Some curses to anyone who attempted to open it and a special lead lined jewellery box which will hopefully keep the Darkness contained.

Wrapping the Diadem up I placed it in the front compartment of my bag before slowly going around the room in sections and picking out some things which would be useful. Books, Potions and Ingredients.

It was just as I was about to leave when something caught my eye, it was a dark green and black cloak that shimmered slightly. I am unsure what made me pick it up but as I did I realised what it was.

A fucking Invisability cloak, as I placed it over my body I noticed that the charm appeared to partially have worn off and so it had been sitting here for a while. Most of my upper torso was invisible but the bottom half of my body was flickering slightly between visibility and not.

I had done a lot of research into them in the last timeline and should be able to work out the charms to renew it to full usage. I placed it into the now very full schoolbag and made my way out of the room. I deposited everything into my trunk and slowly made my way down to the dungeons for my detention.

I had to admit I was looking forward to spending time with the dour Potions master. Realising the last timeline I was obsessed with Ron of all people at this point made me cringe slightly. Not only was I too old mentally for him now, we had nothing in common.

The conversation with the Potions master was probably one of the most intelligent and exciting ones I had. I always enjoyed wonderful conversations with the staff at Hogwarts, always wanting to pick Snapes brain but knowing I would probably be laughed at or cursed always stopped me. I am at the point now where any fear I felt as his student before was now gone. I suppose war will do that to a, person, seeing friends and teachers die in front of me changed my brain chemistry in a way where fear did not come as easy as before. All of my nightmares had already came to life and now I had the chance to change that.

Arriving outside the Potions classroom at five to six I didn't even hesitate to lift my hand up and knock on the door. The door swung open allowing me to walk on in, two cauldrons sat opposite each other and Severus Snape stood at the front of the classroom.

"Left hand side Miss Granger." I made my way over and set my bag down on one of the classroom tables and removed my outer robes. It was strange wearing a uniform again, it had felt like so long since I had the Gryffindor colours on. He stood in his usual garb in front of one of the Potions.

"I wanna thank you sir for the lend of the book it was insightful." He nodded as I set it back down onto his, desk and handed me a piece of Parchment with Six Potions written on it.

"These are some of the Potions I have to stock for the Hospital Wing before the Summer. I prefer to do the first Terms brewing before my Summer so I do not have to come back to the Castle earlier. So we have Six detentions between now and the end of term so you will be making a large batch of each of these. I do not care in what order as long as they get done." I nodded my head and realistically my inner first year was practically giddy that he trusted me to help him.

" I have some other personal brewing to do and so I will not be helping you. Should you come across something you do not understand or cannot do then feel free to ask rather than ruin expensive ingredients." I only nodded again and took a look at the list.

Skele-Gro, Blood Replenishing Potion, Wide Eye Potion, Pepper Up, Calming Draught and Burn Healing Paste. Easy enough, considering the Skele-Gro is the most complicated I decided to get that one over and done with.

Without another word I made my way to his stores and spotted the empty crate of Skelegro bottles and brought them out to sit on one of the student tables behond my workstation. I didn't even realise my mistake of not looking at the parchment before getting the ingredients.

I was completely finished preparing the ingredients and I placed the cauldron on to heat when I felt him watching me. I made the mistake of looking up at him and when I seen his gobsmacked face I immediately got self conscious.

"I couldn't have made a mistake already, did I?" He tilted his head to the side and took two strides towards my workstation and seen my prepped ingredients sitting all in individual wooden bowls. Having his posing figure glaring down at me filled my tummy with a different kind of butterflies, one thing I noticed was he smelled amazing. Like lemons and something minty, his eyes were so incredibly dark but there was an amusement behind them.

"Hard to make a mistake when you don't look at the notes Miss Granger." Shit! I looked down at my table and realised the Parchment he had handed me was in Alphabetical Order so the ingredients list and preparation instructions in front of me was for Blood Replenishing Potion and not Skele-Gro.

This is the reason why I am going to fail at this mission. I had been making all of these plans to change the future and realistically I messed up already by nearly dying and being too comfortable in front of Severus Fucking Snape. I was so glad he couldn't access my thoughts in this moment.

"I... I did look at it... I have a bit of a photographic memory Sir. It's how I am able to give my answers in class from the textbook." I could not tell whether or not he believed me but he rolled his eyes before turning the page to the one I needed and swept away from me.

I am not dealing with an idiot, Severus Snape was probably one of the most intelligent men I had ever met, considering he was also the youngest member of staff and after glancing through his book Harry had, even I found it was impressive.

Not just with Potions but impressive spells he created also.

I needed to be especially careful in the future when around him because if anyone could figure it out it would be him. I spent the next two hours methodically doing my potion. Occasionally glancing at the parchment as to not make him any more suspicious.

As I started to bottle up the now finished Potion I could see he too was bottled up a green Potion into various bottles and it was intriguing. I wanted to ask what it was, I wanted to be able to ask all sorts of questions but I couldnt bring myself to say anything else.

Instead I finished cleaning my workstation and cauldron before putting everything away noted the time was eight forty five. I sat down and kept my head down refusing eye contact with him.

Not just with Potions but impressive spells he created also.

"Stronger potency of love potion, Amortentia is a potion that doesn't smell the same to everyone and so it makes it a, bit difficult to make..." I trailed off at his amused expression and I realised he was testing me.

"You have been insufferable since your first year with your long winded answers, essays and not to mention your need to prove you are right at everything. You spent the first half hour of this detention mincing, dicing, slicing and crushing to the ability and confidence of a Potions Master without even looking at the instructions and then proceeded to pretend to need them for the rest of it." I am not going to last a week with this, mans observations, I may as well wear a big sign around my neck that says I am from the future.

"What is your point Professor?" It took every ounce of strength I had in me to keep my words polite because at this present moment half of me wanted to slap him really hard in his, stupid face and the other half wanted to blurt everything out to him and confess.

"You say your memory is Photographic?" It wasn't necessary a lie but I honestly did not know the full extent of it. Photographic, idetic I have no idea and realistically it has came in handy.

"Sort of, I don't really know what way it works, I read something and information stays rattling around in my brain. I will of course use your notes for the rest of the Potions, sir." He nodded his head at me in that moment and sat down in the chair at his, deak.

"What made you crush the beetles to get the venom out?" Not even realising the full extent of my mistakes, I could have kicked myself extra hard. It was a hack from his book I had taken to using.

"I figured the beetles scurrying around would be easier to crush than slice because I could pin them down with my blade. Professor I am sorry but I don't see how this is relevant to anything." He shook his head at me before tucking his finger under his chin in an all too amused stance.

Before he could say anything else I could see his body tense and he gripped his left forearm in pain, I knew instantly what was happening and he went to stand and gave me a glare.

"If you could put away the brewing Miss Granger and then make your way back to Gryffindor Tower, you are excused." He made his way out of the classroom leaving me in his wake and I knew he was heading to Voldemort. In that moment I was angry at Albus Dumbledore, this man risks his life and sanity every time he steps in front of the so called Dark Lord and he is still vilified.

I know he was innocent and was fully on our side but Harry wouldn't disclose any of the secrets his memories had given away except he had always emphatically been on the side of the light. As I levitated the two crates of Potions into his stores I spotted the name of the Potion he was working on.

It was an anti venom crafted from Nagini, I remember hearing Arthur Weasley saying that Snape had brewed a potion which helped counteract the poison of that fucking snake. Hopefully I could take care of it soon enough and not have to wait.

Fuck my head hurts. It was in that moment I realised that I had been presented with an opportunity. Almost like I was in a trance I made my way over to the book shelf and inside everything was really dusty but there on the top shelf sat the Half Blood Princes Book.

I tucked it into my robes and made my way out of the rooms but not before throwing up locking and guarding wards around it and make my way up to the Gryffindor Common Room to await Harry.

-/-/-/-/-

Severus

Leaving the chit and all thoughts of her in my classroom I sent a message to Albus to let him know I had been summoned. I was unsure what kind of reception I was going to recieve.

The Dark Lord was not a patient man and as I donned my robe and mask and made my way to Nott Manor which was one of many homes we jumped between for meetings I felt death in the air.

No matter where he went there was a darkness to it. As I entered the foyer I could see Bellatrix making her way giddy up the staircase. Crazy Bitch needs dealt with. I took my place at the table beside Rodolphous Lestrange whom just nodded in acknowledgement to me.

The Dark Lord came and sat down with that bloody snake trailed around the throne he was currently perched on. A soft smile overcame his features before turning to look at me.

"Severus, how is the mudblood?" It made my skin crawl at his asking about the young woman. Bellatrix was perched on the edge of her seat awaiting news that the girl is fucked. I knew exactly what was going to happen and she would pitch a fit.

"The girl had lost a lot of blood, she was in a bad way. She is conscious and Dumbledore has asked me to brew her a potion, there is only so long I can put it off." Knowing I was playing with fire I needed to figure something out.

"I can of course delay for as long as possible and hope the drain on her magic will kill her eventually." He looked deadly into my eyes and I tried to conjure as much fake images of what I had been doing.

"Mmm, interesting. It seems the mudblood is important to Harry Potter. Almost a sibling like relationship. Severus, I need you to brew the potion and save her life." I was confused by him in that moment and he must have sensed my apprehension.

"She is intelligent according to young Draco and we know she is fast with her fist as well as her wand. Poor Antonins nose had to be fixed also. I want information of what that old fool is hiding and naturally Harry Potter will tell the girl." I nodded but Bellatrix was seething that she was to live.

"My lord what exactly is it you are asking me to do." A small chuckle came from his, throat which was, very uncharacteristic and I honestly didn't know whether to be terrified.

"I know the school year is almost over but next year how would you feel about having some help. Reel her in, teach her become a confidant and then when we have extracted all we can... Break her." He paused in his explanation for a second before his voice going to a low hum was enough to set my teeth on edge.

"I am aware of your affliction Severus and I am sorry you will not be able to enjoy her in other ways but she seems important to Dumbledore and it will be helpful to have someone close to Potter, he will be quicker to confide in her than anyone else." When he mentioned my affliction soft titters could be heard from around the table and to be fair I was alright with that.

Thanks to a potion of my own creation I have been faking impotence for many, many years. I had blamed it on my father and his abuse and the Dark Lord seemed to accept that as an answer. Of course he had tested me throughout the years by providing me with women and various men to try and jump start me.

"What exactly do you want me to do my lord? The girl despises me and will not provide any confidences in my person. I am probably her least favourite teacher and to be perfectly honest she is one of my least favourite students." He smiled again and it was unnerving seeing him look so gleeful, I don't know what exactly he has planned for the girl but it can't be pleasant.

"There is very little time now considering it is the end of the year, brew the potion to stop the curse Severus. Become a hero in her eyes and with her guard down she will maybe see you in a different light. Write to her over the summer, try and encourage a friendship of some sort or perhaps some specialist training." I really didn't like where this was going, I tried to plaster an unhappy expression on my face but he seemed to get more and more giddy.

"The girl is positively exhausting my lord, it will cause suspicion if I just suddenly start being nice to her. There will be many of the teachers that will not trust me." He nodded his head at me and stood from the table to come and stand behind me, Nagini slid up and across the table until she was staring straight into my eyes.

I could feel his hands grip my shoulders in a way that if it was anyone else it would have been comforting but I could feel the cold of his magic envelop me as he did so. I knew then I don't have a choice in this and just nodded briskly.

"I am aware of what hardship I am asking of you Severus but imagine the information the girl could provide. I have assigned you this task of befriending the Mudblood so please do not question it. She will be an asset without even realising it." I knew there was going to be no getting out of it so I nodded my head and agreed hoping Albus would have some way out of this for me.

The meeting continued on and after it was over the Dark Lord had only cursed three people and none of which was me thankfully. The next meeting would be held at Malfoy Manor hosted by Narcissa and at his excitement to meet Draco in the absence of his father made me somewhat nervous for my godson.

The boy was an egotistical selfish brat but Narcissa was two years above me in school and took me under her wing and helped me adjust to Hogwarts. People always assumed Lucius was the reason why I was Dracos godfather but realistically his mother had been a very good friend to me over the years.

Narcissa was caught somewhere in between, a fierce and formidable witch in her own right. Intelligent to the extreme and loyal to a fault but she would cut you down in her path to protect her own. It was not a good sign that he wanted to meet Draco and I can only imagine what nefarious scheme he had for the young boy.

I decided to forgo the festivities and make my way back to Hogwarts, I did not know how the conversation was going to go if I was being honest. Albus Dumbledore was just as unpredictable as The Dark Lord and as I ascended the staircase to his office I couldn't help but feel my stomach drop.

Not bothering to knock because of the late hour I opened the door to see him sitting at his desk with a small glass of what looked to be Chocolate Milk in front of him. He smiled upon seeing me and closed the journal he was currently reading.

"Ah Severus, come in. Can I offer you a drink?" I shook my head and stood in front of his desk, opting not to take a seat. I told him of the meeting and everything he had asked me to do.

"Why is Miss Granger on his radar? Surely a muggleborn witch is of no consequence to him?" I couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on my face.

"It seems the young chit broke Dolohovs nose and almost impaled his balls into his kidneys. It made an impression, she is Harry Potters best friend also." Albus looked worried for a second before nodding his head.

"Well thankfully we have already healed her and she is back fighting fit. Perhaps giving you a helper next year is not a bad thing." I nearly balked at the idea of having to spend anymore time with the girl than necessary.

"Albus be reasonable, I do not need a helper." He nodded his head and smiled that grandfather smile which made me want to slap him.

"Your duties as a teacher, brewer and spy will spread you too thin. It will be good also to keep an eye on Harry through the girl too." I didn't dare tell him about the Occlumency Shields the girl had miraculously gained overnight.

"I have enough things to do without babysitting Hermione Fucking Granger. I really and truly don't see why she would want to even indulge in spending any more time with me." Albus smiled and told me not to worry he would sort it.

"Start with the Summer Severus, you will need to check on her scar over the summer. Perhaps strike up a conversation about books and maybe send the odd letter. You are both a lot more alike than you think." I glared at the man for a second before turning on my heel and walking out of the room. This will not end well and yet both of my masters are like puppets pulling at the strings.

Coming back to my classroom I noticed she had placed wards around the room, going into the storeroom I could see she had left everything in perfect order. To be fair out of all of the students in the school she would probably be the most productive and helpful but having to listen to the little chit would be difficult.

As I threw off my outer robes I made my way deeper into my quarters and I could see my tea and some supper waiting on me. Sending a quick thank you to Lonny I sat and tried to decompress from the idea of having to befriend Hermione Fucking Granger.

There was something off about her, ever since she came back from the Minsitry she had been different. Occlumency shields, photographic memory and War honed reflexes to name a few. I couldn't put my finger on it but when I walked into the Hosptial Wing her reactions were one of an Auror or someone who had seen combat.