A/N: Hooray! An update! Finally! I really can't explain why this took so long. I kept coming back to this chapter, trying to force it out, and eventually I got there. Thank you for all your support. Your reviews really did inspire me to keep coming back to try and churn this chapter out.


Hermione held the summons tightly in her hand as she hovered in the Entrance Hall waiting for Tonks to arrive. The letter calling her to a meeting at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had arrived via owl during breakfast a couple days ago. She hadn't even been back at Hogwarts for a whole week and she was still trying to adjust to being in the school whilst living with her condition (and all that it entailed), and she had a nagging concern that the meeting in the Ministry would also do her no favours. She had no proof of this, of course, but her view of the Ministry was very much tainted after the way they had treated Harry the previous year. There may be a new Minister in charge but she doubted that the system had changed that much since Rufus Scrimgeour had taken over the reins.

Next to her, Harry restlessly fiddled with a loose thread he'd managed to create in his brand new robes. After a few minutes of enduring his well-meaning but distracting presence, Hermione took out her wand and mended the damage to his robes. He shot her a look that was mostly grateful but also a little bit sheepish.

"You don't have to wait with me," Hermione told him. "Why don't you go down to the quidditch pitch and help Ron practise before next week's tryouts?" she suggested.

Harry shook his head. "Ron doesn't want me to help him now that we're back at school - he thinks it'll be seen as favouritism and he wants to earn his place fair and square," he explained. "Besides, I don't mind waiting with you. I'd go to the Ministry with you if I could."

The over-protectiveness that Harry had developed over the summer hadn't diminished, perhaps because he'd been vindicated in his concerns after her curse-induced attempt to get to Azkaban. Nothing like that had happened since but Hermione hadn't foolishly tried to avoid Dolohov when she needed his touch either. "Nothing's going to happen to me here or in the Ministry, Harry," she reassured him. Harry opened his mouth to argue her point but she quickly added, "Or at Azkaban. I've told you: he's still Dolohov but he's nowhere near as bad as he used to be."

Harry pressed his lips into an unhappy line but didn't argue with her. His eyes flicked to something over her shoulder and his gaze hardened. She turned her head and saw Draco Malfoy emerge from the staircase that led down to the dungeons. Unusually, he was alone, and when he saw the Gryffindors lingering across the hall, he paused and then produced his typical sneer before continuing towards the marble staircase.

"Twat," Harry muttered, watching Malfoy's movements darkly. Hermione knew that her friend was still burning with anger and shame after Malfoy had discovered him spying in his train compartment during the journey up to school on the first of September. Based on what he'd heard whilst underneath the invisibility cloak, Harry had spent the majority of their first week trying to convince Ron and Hermione that Malfoy had joined the Death Eaters.

This wasn't a new theory on Harry's part because he'd raised the suspicion after the three of them had spied on Malfoy at Borgin and Burke's a few weeks previously. Back at the Burrow, she and Ron had been thoroughly unconvinced of Harry's arguments that Malfoy had shown the shopkeeper a Dark Mark on his arm in order to threaten him. After Harry overheard Malfoy's boasts in front of his friends linking himself to 'him', Ron still thought that Malfoy was just lying to show off but Hermione wasn't so sure anymore. If it was a lie, it was an awfully big one.

Their attention was removed from the back of Malfoy's head as Tonks stepped through the large door and softly called Hermione's name.

"Wotcher, Harry," the auror greeted as she got closer but Hermione noticed that it was said without her usual vigour. During the weeks of the summer holidays, Hermione had become aware that Tonks was much more muted and introspective, although she did a fairly good job of hiding her feelings whenever she spoke to Hermione. At first, Hermione had assumed that Tonks was mourning Sirius's death and battling guilt over her inability to stop Bellatrix Lestrange before she went on to kill him. Hermione had expected Tonks's feelings to pass with time but that didn't appear to be the case - if anything, she looked worse. Hermione and Harry were far too polite to say anything about her limp, brown hair or pale, drawn face though.

"Why does your department want to see Hermione?" Harry asked directly, not bothering with a greeting. Hermione frowned at Harry for his rude behaviour but Tonks didn't seem to care.

"They didn't tell me," she replied simply. "I don't even know which part of the department it is. I've been stationed in Hogsmeade all week - whatever the reason, they didn't put it in the message I got via owl."

That response didn't improve Harry's mood and also caused a flutter of nerves in Hermione's stomach.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Tonks reassured, sensing their anxiety. "Come on - we're gonna travel via Professor McGonagall's fireplace. They're lowering the wards for just a few moments so we can go direct to the Ministry."

On the journey up, Harry and Hermione told Tonks about their first week back at school. Hermione got the sense that the auror wasn't really listening to her summary of her Ancient Runes lessons or Harry's complaints about Snape being made the DADA teacher.

An unsettled feeling slithered through her body at the mention of Snape. The previous evening she had experienced her first Occlumency lesson with him. She'd been quite surprised and more than a little anxious when Professor McGonagall took her aside to inform her of this new area of study after the start-of-term feast.

Over the course of the week, Hermione had re-read everything she could about Occlumency in her spare time and urged Harry to tell her all he could about his previous studies, but he hadn't been as helpful as she'd hoped. In fact, he'd been very critical of the arrangement but Hermione knew that Harry was blinded by bias when it came to Snape (just as the former Potions Master was towards Harry). If she'd expected Snape's behaviour towards her to change in any way, she was disappointed when he dismissed her answers to his questions in their first Defence lesson and showed no reaction when she was the first to successfully cast a non-verbal shield. She knew that Professor Snape didn't particularly like her despite her constant attempts to seek his approval with her potion-making, but she didn't think that he explicitly disliked her either. However, the prospect of him being able to access her inner thoughts, feelings and experiences made her feel physically sick. There were plenty of things that could embarrass her but also incidents that could land her in trouble: stealing ingredients from his cupboard in her Second Year and illegally using the time turner to free Buckbeak and Sirius. While he might ignore the latter, it wouldn't surprise her if Snape still punished her for the former offence all these years later.

And so, by the time she made her way to Snape's office on Friday evening, she had worked herself up into a rather panicked state.

Snape was still marking pieces of homework when he waved the door open upon her knock. She stepped in cautiously and closed the door behind her.

"If I specify that we are to meet at seven o'clock, do not presume that it shows good manners to arrive ten minutes early," Snape said without raising his head from the parchment he was inspecting. "As you can see, I am a busy man, Miss Granger, and I do not appreciate being interrupted in any tasks. If you arrive early in the future, please remain outside before knocking at the appropriate time."

Hermione just about managed to avoid wringing her hands in embarrassment. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry. Would you like me to come back in a few minutes?"

"No," he sighed, dropping his quill and finally raising his head to look at her. "You're here now, we might as well get this over with." He motioned to the chair in front of his desk and she quickly took a seat, clasping her hands in her lap. He surveyed her for a moment and then said, "What do you know of the art of Occlumency, Granger?"

Hermione swallowed nervously. "It's the act of magically protecting one's mind to prevent someone, a legilimens, from accessing it."

"No doubt you read that in a book," Snape said sneeringly, "but, in essence, your definition is correct. As far as I know, Dolohov is not a legilimens so explain why the Headmaster thinks it necessary for you to study Occlumency."

Hermione hadn't expected this. She'd been told that he was going to teach her Occlumency and that was that. Was this some sort of test - was Snape purposefully putting her on edge? "Because," she began and paused to moisten her lips, "because there are benefits to learning how to discipline my mind through Occlumency that can be applied to my situation." Her voice tailed off at the end, making it sound more like a question than the statement that she'd intended.

"In theory," Snape confirmed but his tone showed that he was doubtful of this. "I have been told that you can become distracted when Dolohov uses his touch to soothe the curse."

Hermione felt her cheeks grow hot. "Yes, sir. The relief is almost overwhelming," she said tightly. "I find it difficult to concentrate on anything. I'm hoping that having greater control over my emotions and mind will allow me to dissociate with the feeling he creates."

Snape gave her a long look before eventually saying, "Having both the willpower as well as the mental and emotional control necessary to succeed in this art is far beyond the ability of most witches and wizards." He paused and Hermione wondered whether he was insinuating a slight at her, Harry, or both of them. "One cannot succeed at Occlumency by reading about it and committing the words to memory." Her - he was definitely insulting her now. "It takes intense dedication to master such control of your mind; hours of practise beyond our sessions together."

"I understand, sir," she said, sitting straighter in an attempt to show him how seriously she took the opportunity.

"I doubt it," he muttered before reaching inside his robe for his wand. He stood up and motioned her to do the same. "Even though your situation does not involve intrusions from a legilimens, if you can control your mind to the extent where you can protect it from a direct attack from me, you should be able to apply the same method on your trips to Azkaban. Whether it will have the desired outcome or not remains to be seen."

Hermione nodded. "Do you have any advice about the most effective way to clear my mind, sir? The books I read offered little in the way of practical suggestions."

"Each mind is different," he replied. "What works for me is unlikely to be successful for you. Some think of locking distinct memories and emotions behind figurative doors or boxes in their mind, others might be able to draw on meditative teachings, some imagine walls or barriers and others erect false memories or emotions to hide what's within. You will have to choose the method that affords you the greatest control over your consciousness."

Hermione thought over his suggestions, anxious that she wasn't being given clear instructions about how to succeed, but it did make sense that different minds would respond to a variety of methods.

She could discount the meditative teachings straight away - she'd had enough of that in her brief foray into Divination to know that she wasn't suited to such a technique. Nor did she think that creating diverting thoughts would work if she didn't have a good control of her mind. Besides, that was more for someone who had something to hide from an attacker; it didn't apply to her situation.

To start off with, she decided, perhaps something simple like picturing a barrier in her mind would be best.

"Take out your wand, Granger," he instructed. "As we've already said, a direct attack of legilimency does not apply to your predicament but the principles of keeping a clear mind does. When I attempt to break into your mind, I want you to remain focused so that after a few seconds you can try and disarm me."

Hermione gripped her wand tightly, her heart hammering in her chest in dreaded anticipation, and tried to ready her mind with some sort of mental barrier to hide behind.

"Ready?" Snape asked and she gave a half-hearted nod. "Legilimens!"

The tentative barrier she created didn't even last a second before her view of the office was replaced by images from her past. Most of them sped past too quickly for her to recognise but she could tell that they were all occasions where she'd been upset, scared or worried and therefore things she didn't want him to see. They also seemed to be going in a form of chronological order: they'd zoomed through the teasing she'd experienced in primary school for her bossy nature and unexplained magical incidents, then there was the troll in the girls' toilets, seeing Ron attacked by the queen on the giant chessboard, Harry taking on the dragon, meeting Grawp for the first time, being surrounded by Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries.

She had to get Snape out before he saw anything about her humiliating encounters with Dolohov. Instead of creating a barrier to just block his intrusions, she imagined propelling him backwards, forcing him from her mind. The exterior of Azkaban appeared before her eyes but they moved no further. She pushed harder at Snape's attack and reminded herself that she was really in Hogwarts, told herself to see what was really in front of her eyes. The office snapped back into her vision and her head throbbed painfully. She didn't even bother attempting to disarm him.

Snape's lip curled in dissatisfaction. "Well, I suppose it worked eventually," he said disdainfully. "If you're going to use a repelling method to find your focus then it needs to be stronger from the start. Lose your emotion: it only brings forth the memories you wish to hide."

It was infuriating but she knew he was right. Learning to control her emotions meant that she had to let go of them, but that was easier said than done. Snape might have years of practise distancing himself from what he felt and she suspected his personality was suited to doing so, but Hermione had always worn her heart on her sleeve.

She steeled herself to try again and attempted to convince herself that it didn't matter what Snape saw in her mind. She imagined enclosing her emotions in a sphere of her magic and then built up the resistance in her mind in preparation for Snape's next attack. She nodded to show that she was ready.

"Legilimens."

Hermione could feel the intrusion digging into her mind but she gritted her teeth and pushed back at it. As she fought, an occasional image would obscure her vision for only a moment before the office would blurrily come back into view.

"Expelliarmus," she choked out.

Professor Snape blocked the spell with ease and the intrusions in her mind stopped at once. She sunk into the chair and held a hand to her head in response to another wave of pain.

"That was a better attempt," he said unenthusiastically. "Though in truth, I expected more from you, Miss Granger."

Despite her throbbing head, Hermione flushed at his words. No, she scolded herself, don't feel anything. Be disciplined.

"Again," Snape said and she got to her feet. "Show me there's more to you than an ability to memorise textbooks."

Hermione would never openly glare at a professor she respected, but she came very close at those words. It was harder to disconnect to her emotions this time thanks to his comments and a small part of her wondered if that was why he had done it: to test her control.

"Three… two… one… Legilimens."

Draco Malfoy was calling her a mudblood. She was holding the mirror to check around the corner with Penelope Clearwater. Snape was calling her an insufferable know-it-all. Mrs Black's portrait was screeching insults at her.

Hermione rallied herself and shoved Snape away just like she'd done before but she kept enough of her consciousness in reserve to non-verbally cast an expelliarmus. Snape's wand clattered to the desk and he took half a step backwards. Hermione gasped at her efforts and held a hand to her temple. She knew her spell would've been stronger if she'd said it out loud but then she wouldn't have had the element of surprise.

Snape nodded once then picked up his wand. "Better," he said and there was the tiniest hint of approval in his tone that had her almost sighing in relief.

They had repeated the exercise a couple more times but she improved no further. Professor Snape had instructed her to practise clearing her mind of emotions a few times a day and Hermione had already done so twice since waking up. On reflection, her session with Professor Snape had been quite educational and not nearly as bad as she'd anticipated but that was mostly because she had managed to avoid showing him anything about Dolohov. She knew she'd still be mortified if he'd seen her reaction to the Death Eater's touch.

Hermione, Harry and Tonks came to a halt in front of the door to Professor McGonagall's office. Tonks knocked and the door opened at once. The Deputy Headmistress nodded expectantly at the women but gave Harry a questioning look.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later," he said glumly to Hermione, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Hermione nodded and squeezed his arm reassuringly. "If you start Flitwick's essay while I'm gone, I'll read it over when I get back," she replied quietly.

Harry didn't look very enthused by the idea but he bid them farewell and headed off in the general direction of Gryffindor Tower.

Professor McGonagall opened the door so that they could enter and then closed it behind them. "How long do you think this meeting will take?" she asked Tonks.

"Not long, I hope," the auror replied, "but I don't really know what it's about.

Professor McGonagall looked displeased but then she glanced at Hermione and her features softened. "Well, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, whatever it is. And after that you'll go straight to the prison?"

Tonks nodded. "Our visits normally take no more than half an hour but it should be less considering it's only been six days since our last visit rather than the usual ten days."

After promising to organise some food from the kitchens for Hermione should she return too late for lunch, Professor McGonagall held out the pot of floo powder and each woman stepped into the fireplace to travel to the Ministry. Hermione didn't particularly enjoy travelling by floo but it was certainly convenient when she stepped into London a few seconds later. Even though it was a Saturday, the atrium was obviously much busier than when she'd been there a few months previously in the middle of the night. No one looked at her oddly because she was wearing a plain robe rather than her Hogwarts one and she saw people that didn't look too much older than her, hurrying between destinations.

After successfully passing through the security booth, Hermione stood in the empty lift with Tonks until they reached the right floor.

"Level Two," the voice inside the lift announced. "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"Isn't this the floor that Mr Weasley works on?" Hermione asked as they stepped into a corridor lined with closed doors.

"Yeah, Arthur works on the other side of the floor," Tonks confirmed. "We can go and see if he's in if you like - we've a few minutes until we're scheduled to meet Thicknesse."

"Oh, I'm sure he's very busy, I don't want to disturb him," Hermione replied. Mr Weasley had been promoted to head a new office which primarily confiscated fake protective spells and charmed objects that had sprung up in the wake of Voldemort's public return. Over the course of her summer, Hermione didn't think she saw Mr Weasley take a single day off.

"Arthur'll be pleased to see you," Tonks insisted with a dismissive wave of her hand as she set off towards a large oak door.

"I saw him less than a week ago," Hermione reminded her.

A different door was opened at the top of the corridor to reveal a tall man with long black hair. "Miss Granger?" he called, making both the women stop.

"Morning, sir," Tonks greeted with a slight inclination of her head before walking towards him. Hermione followed.

"Tonks," he replied courteously as the women drew closer.

"Hermione, this is Pius Thicknesse," Tonks introduced. "He's the new head of the DMLE."

Now that she was closer, Hermione saw that he was even taller than she'd thought. He had a short, neatly-trimmed beard that was streaked with silver, and glittering, intelligent eyes. She thought Thicknesse cut quite an impressive figure.

She held a hand out to him. "Mr Thicknesse."

"Miss Granger," he replied, his hand surprisingly cold as he shook hers. "I know it's a bit earlier than we'd planned but, if you have no objection, I think we should start our meeting now."

"That's fine, sir."

"Excellent." He escorted the women back down the corridor towards his office.

Hermione was surprised to find that the office wasn't empty and was completely stunned when she realised who the man standing beside the desk was: Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic. She had seen his face on the front of the Daily Prophet so often over the summer that there could be no mistaking it.

"Blimey," Hermione heard Tonks mutter under her breath as she entered the office behind her and then she said more clearly, "Morning, Minister."

Scrimgeour nodded at Tonks and then continued to stare at Hermione through his wire-rimmed spectacles. "Miss Granger," he greeted, also with a nod, "This meeting is nothing to be alarmed about, I assure you." His tone was quite business-like and did nothing to lower Hermione's sudden anxiety. He motioned to a couple of chairs for herself and Tonks to take, and then seated himself behind the desk with Thicknesse next to him. Hermione glanced at Tonks as she sat. The auror attempted to give her a reassuring smile but Hermione could tell that Tonks was wary of this turn of events too.

"I took the liberty of looking at your OWL scores before this meeting, Miss Granger," Scrimgeour said brusquely, lacing his fingers together and placing them on the desk. "Very impressive. Ten Outstandings," he said to Thicknesse, who showed mild surprise before both men returned their gazes to her. "Very impressive."

Hermione wasn't normally averse to a bit of praise if it was rightly earned, but she found his comments mildly excruciating. "Thank you," she said stiffly.

"And though you may not have achieved an Outstanding in your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL, your participation in the battle with your friends in this building showed you are not afraid to do what needs to be done in our war to stop You-Know-Who," Scrimgeour continued. "As a former auror, I can safely say that you and your friends earned the respect of everyone in my old office - isn't that right, Tonks?"

Tonks raised a bemused eyebrow. "Er, yes, sir."

If the Minister was disappointed in her lack of enthusiasm then he didn't show it. "I honestly wish there was something we could do to reward you, Mr Potter and the others for your brave fight but, as I'm sure you can understand, it wouldn't do any good to publicise the fact that You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters broke into the Ministry and attacked a group of children."

Thicknesse nodded in agreement but Hermione said, "None of us would want any reward, believe me."

Scrimgeour raised a hand in acknowledgement of what she'd said. "And to add insult to injury you've been left to deal with the consequences of that unusual curse. How goes Dolohov's research?"

Hermione hesitated. "He says he's making steady progress," she replied but Scrimgeour grunted at her tone.

"Yes, smart girl," he said approvingly. "Never trust a word that comes out of the mouth of a Death Eater. So, I take it that we can expect your visits to Azkaban to continue for some time?"

"Yes, Minister," she confirmed, not bothering to hide the unhappiness in her voice.

"As I anticipated," he nodded. "So I thought it best that we discuss the arrangements for your trips to Azkaban going forwards."

Hermione felt her eyes widen a little and Tonks shifted in her seat but neither woman said anything.

"You will turn seventeen on the nineteenth of September, will you not? Become an adult in the magical world?" the Minister asked and Hermione nodded. "We thought it might be suitable to get someone to train you up to take your apparation test early. Most of your peers would have to wait until after Christmas to get their licence but, all things considered and taking your magical ability into account, it seems like a smart precaution."

That's what this whole meeting had been about? Hermione tried not to let her surprise show. "That's very considerate of you, Minister."

"It's a small thing we can do to make your life a bit easier," he replied but he seemed quite pleased with himself. He took a few minutes to explain his proposal for her private lessons and handed over a piece of parchment that would provide the same information for the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall. "And, of course, this will all be undertaken with the utmost discretion," Scrimgeour assured her. "We don't want anybody asking questions that would be unsafe to answer, do we?" Before either of the women could answer, the Minister continued, "Of course not. No, no. Don't worry, Miss Granger - the Ministry are here to look after you, to stand by you in your time of need."

Hermione didn't quite know what to make of the Minister's overly cordial guarantees but, if the last fifteen months' close scrutiny of the Ministry's operations taught her anything, it was that they normally had an agenda beyond the obvious. However, she was unwilling to show her suspicions in case she offended the Minister for Magic and instead said, "Thank you, Minister."

He waved away her gratitude and looked around at all the occupants of the room. "In these dark times it is important that we stick together, is it not?"

Thicknesse nodded at once and, when Scrimgeour glanced over expectantly in Tonks's direction, the auror said, "Er, yes, sir."

"There, you see - a united front is how we're going to win this war," Scrimgeour claimed with a bright tone that seemed out of place given the state of the country. Hermione wondered whether the Minister was trying to convince her of the competency of his own Ministry, though she couldn't think why he was taking the time to do so when he had a war to fight. Scrimgeour motioned towards her again and said, "Well, we won't keep you any longer, Miss Granger."

Hermione got to her feet along with the adults, a little baffled by the necessity of this meeting and she could tell from Tonks's wry expression that she was similarly confused.

"I look forward to hearing how you're progressing," the Minister said as he shook Hermione's hand. "It'll probably be best to pop back here with Tonks when the time comes to apply for your licence, and then we can discuss updating security protocols at Azkaban and Dolohov's progress whilst you are here."

Hermione nodded and opened her mouth to thank the Minister again but Scrimgeour continued before she could speak.

"Give my best to Mr Potter and the rest of your friends, won't you? I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, you know," he said with a casual air as he removed his glasses to clean the impeccable lenses on the sleeve of his robes. A thought seemed to come to him all of a sudden and he pointed his glasses at her. "Here's an idea: why don't you bring Mr Potter along on your next visit? We'd be honoured to have him here as a guest of the Ministry, wouldn't we, Pius?"

Hermione's gaze switched to the new head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as the beginning of comprehension began to dawn in her mind.

"Of course, Minister - we could give him a tour of the building, show him what we're doing to lead the fight against You-Know-Who," Thicknesse suggested and the Minister nodded as though this was a spontaneous idea. Hermione wasn't at all convinced.

She smiled tightly at the two men and neither of them seemed to notice that her goodwill didn't travel as high as her eyes. "Well, I'll suggest it to Harry, of course," she told them politely, while internally she doubted that she ever would, "but he really hates any attention being drawn to himself, so please don't be surprised if he turns your offer down."

Scrimgeour waved away her caution. "I'm sure you'll convince him to come along - we're all sticking together in this fight, remember?"

Hermione couldn't think of anything else to say so she just repeated her tight smile again and nodded. Tonks put a hand on her shoulder to steer her out of the office. The door clicked closed behind them and Tonks murmured quietly, "Not a word yet." Hermione hardly needed the warning: she wasn't going to start dissecting her meeting with arguably the two most important men in the Ministry when there was a very good chance they could be overheard anywhere within the building. Tonks squeezed her shoulder and attempted to fix a bright expression on her previously subdued face. "Let's get you to Azkaban, eh? It shouldn't take long today - you'll be back at the castle before you know it."

"Right…" In her shock at finding herself face to face with Rufus Scrimgeour, Hermione had temporarily forgotten about her impending visit to Dolohov. Given that she was still a couple of days away from when she'd usually start burning, Tonks was probably right in assuming that it would, mercifully, be a short trip. Hermione was also hopeful that, because she wasn't in desperate need of it, she wouldn't be blindsided by her feelings of relief this time. And, if she could keep her head, there were a couple of things she wished to discuss with him. "Azkaban it is," she agreed with no enthusiasm.


A/N: I know, I know, lots of you are going to be severely disappointed in the lack of Antonin but while he's shut up in Azkaban the world carries on without him. Next chapter we'll pick up right where we left off though.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how the story has progressed with this time jump, the occlumency and the Ministry.

Hopefully there will be another update soon.

Red

PS I've started posting a new Theo/Hermione fic (albeit that's very different in tone to this one!) but check it out if you've got the time :D