((No worries! I'm not around too often myself, anyway. My vacation is going splendidly!))

---

After getting over the shock of the impulsively unexpected kiss, Hermione took deep breaths to calm herself while attempting to adapt to such a dramatic shift in the atmosphere. They had gone from distressed to frenzied to inspired all within a mere couple of minutes.

When he mentioned that Harry ought to join them in their conversation, Hermione felt a small pang in her chest. He was still doing his best to give her the cold shoulder; and, heaven forbid, she thought, if he managed to pick up on anything between the potions master and herself during that time. Harry always noticed things like that... especially when involving the one professor he hated most. She even feared for moment that perhaps he would refuse to attend, out of spite; but with Dumbledore's involvement in the arrangement, Hermione knew better than to expect Harry to think twice. He took great pride in being informed of everything important, and important to him was anything involving Voldemort.

"Alright," Hermione muttered with a nod, "I'll go see if I can find him. But—" She paused momentarily, shooting Severus the most direct, serious look ever. "Try to be nice to him—but don't give me any royal treatment. The last thing we want is him suspecting anything. We need him, and with the rumours floating around, we're standing on the edge of the cliff as it is. If his suspicions were ever confirmed... well, let's just say he'd be most likely to postpone his participation for the pursuit of Voldemort." He would want to let Severus suffer and die before finding Voldemort... and then proceed to never associate himself with her ever again. And then he would tell Ron, who would also sever all ties with her, who would then then go on to tell the whole school. Well, she was probably overreacting, but it was something she could certainly imagine happening.

Severus nodded solemnly at Hermione's conditions. "I am well aware of Potter's dislike of me." A thought struck him, and he added delicately, "Perhaps—er—Perhaps he feels I have trespassed into what he might regard as his territory?"

He'd never noticed an obvious romantic relationship between Hermione and Potter, but he had frequently been surprised to find couples in broom cupboards, couples whose interactions during class had given nothing away. Children were surprisingly good at such deceit.

Whatever the case, he didn't want to put Hermione in an awkward situation... but he also didn't want to die.

"I am not 'territory'!" Hermione huffed, having taken slight offence to Severus's words. "But Harry can be irrational and stubborn some—a lot of the time, so I just don't wish to jeopardize our chances." She finished with a deep breath and ran an antsy hand through her hair. It was like treading on thin ice when it came to Harry—they would have to be extra cautious.

"OK, well, I'll go fetch him now, while you call for Professor Dumbledore." She placed a light, compassionate hand on his arm, accompanied by a hearty glance up at him. "See you in a bit, Severus." And without another word, she whirled past him and darted out of the room.

Severus began to protest, "No, I just meant that maybe Harry—" but trailed off with a feeble, "was in love with you, too," as Hermione dashed out past him.

He sighed, and turned to the fireplace to summon Albus. He pulled a handful of Floo powder from the jar on the mantelpiece, tossed it in the flames, and called, "Albus Dumbledore!"

Albus' head appeared a moment later. He opened his mouth to reply, but then caught sight of Severus' left arm. "Oh," he said gravely. "There have been developments?"

"Yes," Severus said, his mouth twisting. "Hermione has gone to fetch Potter. You should probably join us. We've come to a rather unpleasant conclusion."

Albus simply raised an eyebrow in reply. His face vanished, replaced by the whirling figure of the Headmaster's tall form. A moment later, Albus stepped out into the room. At the sight of the remnants of Severus' earlier experiments, he turned to cast a furious, alarmed look at the younger man.

"It was worth it," Severus protested, before Albus could reprimand him. "But wait until Hermione returns, and then we can explain everything."

Hermione reached the Gryffindor common room within the next five minutes. After bursting through the portrait hole, she half-expected Harry to be sitting in their usual spot by the fire or at least somewhere within the room—studying—but that thought was too good to be true. The only other place she suspected he could be was up in his dormitory, so she made haste for that instantly.

As she rounded into his doorway, her eyes darted towards his four-poster bed where she caught a very quick glimpse of a tuft of black before there was a loud 'THUNK!' that directed her attention alarmingly to the identical bed across. Rising slowly from the other side of it was a patch of red hair and a pair of eyes barely reaching the surface of the messy bed.

"O-Oi! Give us warning first before you decide to just barge in here!" he exclaimed, clearly affronted, but she just tossed him a dismissive look and turned earnestly back to Harry.

"Harry, can you come with me? We need to have a chat."

"What about?" he asked, extending the courtesy of looking at her, but not with particular appeal.

"I'll tell you on the way; it's urgent and they're waiting," she said, getting impatient by the second.

"Who's waiting?" His tone and expression did not change in the slightest.

Hermione paused for a moment, then said "Professor Dumbledore, and... Professor Snape." She really emphasized Dumbledore's name, but formed a bit of a rapid mumble for Snape's. Unfortunately for her, that didn't prevent the disgusted look suddenly upon Harry's face as though he just swallowed a bug.

Noticing his hesitation, she continued desperately. "Look, it's about—" She glanced wearily around the room first to verify that they were the only three there, then whispered "Voldemort."

For a moment, Harry's expression didn't slacken, but then he took a deep breath and slid off the bed. "Fine," he mumbled as he walked over to her. At that same point, however, she was just about to lead the way when she spotted Ron getting up and starting to follow.

"Um, Ron..." she began, looking apologetic. "Only Harry can come."

Ron looked taken aback. "Since when?! He will just tell me everything anyway!"

"That's fine and all," she sighed, her patience really being pushed, "but for the meeting itself, only Harry can attend. Now, if you don't mind—" and she led the two of them through the doorway, leaving a disgruntled Ron behind.

"He's right, you know," Harry suddenly said while jogging down a set of marble stairs on the fourth floor, "I'll probably tell him everything, since you don't anymore."

That hurt Hermione like a thousand knives through the chest, and she normally would have spun right around to defend herself, but she was more determined to reach the dungeons classroom with Harry still beside her, first. "Alright, I don't mind. You can tell him whatever you want," she said, not wanting to argue with him in the case of saying the wrong thing and causing him to march right back up to the common room.

They carried themselves in silence for the rest of the couple minutes it took them to reach the dungeons. When they arrived, Hermione sent a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Harry hadn't sneaked off during their journey, and seeing that he was in fact still present, she pushed open the ancient door and led the way in.

"Good evening, Professors," Hermione greeted, adding the 's' due to the new addition of Dumbledore's presence.

"Hello, sir," Harry said, which Hermione guessed was only directed towards Dumbledore, as he didn't even bother to look at Severus.

"Good evening, Harry," Albus said politely. He glared at Severus.

"Good evening," Severus said curtly. He needed Harry's help, but that didn't mean he'd have to like it.

"Thank you so much for coming, Harry," Albus continued. "Severus, Hermione? I believe you said you'd explain when we were all here."

Severus shot Hermione a look, and then sallied forth:

"I don't know how much Hermione has told you," he began, not caring if Potter reacted to his use of Hermione's full name, "but I recently lost my position as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. The Dark Lord became aware of my powers of Occlumency, and I had to flee his presence or risk endangering... certain others." He wasn't about to tell Potter the details of that encounter. "A few days ago, the Dark Lord began to summon me through my Dark Mark." He pushed up his sleeve to reveal the tattoo, pulsing silver-white-red, still showing the bloody marks of his experiments earlier that evening. "Until I answer the summons, the pain will increase, and the magic will slowly leech from the Mark through the rest of my body until it kills me."

He knew this would be no loss for Potter, who hated him furiously, and looked inquiringly at Hermione, asking her with his eyes to continue explaining -- and hopefully convince the rash Gryffindor boy that saving his hated Professor Snape's life would actually be a good thing.

((Sorry for taking long. I went shopping all day yesterday, then to a party at night, and spent most of today suffering from a very bad hangover. Then I went out AGAIN tonight and only JUST got back... *dies*

And I just thought of something: what are we doing about the Horcruxes?))

---

Hermione felt as if an extremely hot spotlight was suddenly burning down on her when she met Severus's tacit look, clearly expecting her to continue. She hesitated for a moment, blinking frantically as she glanced at Harry, only to find that he was looking straight back at her, a hard expression on his face. How she was going to persuade Harry... well, she hadn't thought that far.

"Harry," she began firmly, while still fumbling inside for the right words, "due to this recent mishap, we have come to a conclusion that the time now is critical for us to commence our—your inevitable pursuit of... Voldemort. With Professor Snape being played in the hands of fate, we have been forced to make hasty—and perhaps risky—decisions. Professor Snape and I think—"

"Why?" Harry suddenly blurted out, cutting Hermione off. "What does him dying"—there was blatant venom in his tone when he referred to the Potions master—"have anything to do with the importance of finding Voldemort?"

Hermione was a bit taken aback by the interruption, but had been expecting his question nevertheless. After a moment's hesitation she said, "Because he is our trump card. He posed as Voldemort's right-hand man, so he knows best how Voldemort thinks and acts... and knows more about the Dark Arts than anyone in this school. We need him... and since we've discovered that there's no other way around nullifying the effects of his Dark Mark, we have to act promptly... before it's too late." She suppressed a gulp, and looked to the man of subject. Every time she thought of the possibility of him dying from the Dark Mark, the monster in her stomach gnawed away at her insides.

Eyes darting quickly back to Harry, she expressed the most pleading, desperate look. Somewhere within his returning gaze, she saw that he understood—regardless of the impossibility of him ever admitting it.

"That's great and all, but what exactly would be your plan of finding him? In case you've forgotten, we have been looking all this time... if there was a faster way, don't you think we'd have done it by now?"

At this, Hermione nodded knowingly. "Of course, none of our options are guaranteed. But, just a few moments before I went to get you, Professor Snape and I were discussing the idea of facing Dark magic with Dark magic." Her attention shifted between all three individuals now, as she spoke. "A long while back, during the period of time when Voldemort was still in power... it was believed that he placed a certain jinx upon his name to make whomever speaks it trackable. We were thinking that maybe if we performed something to that effect... we might have a chance at locating him." She then turned her head to give Dumbledore her full attention. "What are your thoughts, Professor?"

((Gah, the horcruxes... hm. What if Harry tries to kill Voldemort once, which breaks the whole Dark Mark problem, and then they have a go at the Horcruxes? I guess Albus'll have to tell them about the Horcruxes now.))

---

"An excellent and succint explanation, Hermione," Albus replied. "Naturally we want to keep Severus from dying, not only out of principles of general good morality, but because he is one of the most skilled Potions Masters in the world. Before Voldemort's return, Severus, weren't you working on several interesting medical potions?"

Severus blinked at Albus. "Er, yes." He hadn't thought about those in ages, but he had indeed been working to improve the Wolfsbane Potion, and a cure for the common cold. PepperUp was all well and good once you had a cold, but its effects were very dramatic and embarrassing, and certainly there had to be a method of preventing the infection in the first place. "Yes, I was," he said, more formally. It was uncomfortable to have to give reasons why he ought to be allowed to live, in the face of Potter's such powerful dislike.

"However," Albus said heavily, with a meaningful glance at Harry, "killing Voldemort is not as easy as simply doing away with the visible man. Harry, have you told your two friends about the Horcruxes?"

"Horcruxes!?" Severus exclaimed in horror. "Plural?"

Albus nodded gravely, looking more concerned than Severus had ever seen him be. "Plural, yes. We believe him to have split his soul into seven parts, each contained within a powerful magical object. I suspect Harry already took care of one Horcrux, in his second year—"

"The diary?" Severus asked, putting the pieces together. "That would explain a great deal."

Albus' nod confirmed his guess. "And the ring which nearly caused my death last year, the curse of which is still attacking me"—he shook his hand out of his sleeve to reveal the burnt, blackened, dead-looking claw it had become—"was another Horcrux. I have my suspicions about what the rest are, but we have no idea where they might be."

Severus closed his eyes, painfully. "Then there truly is no hope."

"Not so," Albus said briskly. "The question we have to answer is which part of Tom Riddle's split soul is tied to the Dark Mark. Last time, as you may recall, the tattoos faded almost into nonexistence, despite there being at least five portions of Lord Voldemort still living. I am quite confident that if we kill the outer life, it will break the connection with the Dark Mark at least long enough for us to take further preventative measures."

((Yes, I was thinking the same thing.))

---

At mention of the Horcruxes, Hermione nodded silently to herself. Harry had in fact relayed everything to her and Ron, but she still hadn't managed to find any detailed information on them after stripping the Library. All she relied on was Harry's word that he had passed on from Dumbledore... but the essence of the concept was enough for her to understand as long as Dumbledore was still around.

"And what of the Death Eaters?" Harry continued after Dumbledore, making Hermione glad that he was making strides towards planning rather than backing out. "We don't know how many Voldemort might be keeping around him... and even if we do succeed, what if they find the Horcruxes before us, and revive him?"

"I don't think they know about the Horcruxes..." Hermione gathered, judging by Severus's reaction, who would have been the one most likely to have been entrusted with such information out of all Voldemort's servants. She looked to him for confirmation.

Severus nodded. "Tonight is the first I've heard of such... black arts." He was, in truth, quite astonished. He knew the Dark Lord was a ruthless murderer, with no compunctions for killing, but what little he knew about Horcruxes was that it took a sincere pleasure in the murder, and a strong control of magic, to create a Horcrux by that process. And Voldemort had split his soul into seven pieces, no less. "I doubt he has even told Bellatrix Lestrange about them, and she's his most trusted."

He was relieved to see that Harry hadn't simply refused to cooperate, dooming his most hated professor to a painful, prolonged death.

"The reason we asked you here, Pot–Harry," Severus said, "is because Hermione thought that we could possibly summon the Dark Lord by the very means with which he kept the entire wizarding world in terror during his last reign. His proper name had been jinxed, and quite possibly has been once again. Anyone who speaks it gives away his or her location, and the Death Eaters can Apparate directly to that location."

He took in a deep breath, drawing strength from Hermione's presence beside him. "What it comes down to is that we—I—would like you to tempt the Dark Lord to your location so that we can try to kill him."

Gah, that was clumsy.

((Ohwaitaminute. When I mentioned the Taboo curse, I was implying that it was the other way around, where they would be performing it themselves... but I guess using Harry as bait could work too.))

---

Hermione didn't even have to hear Harry speak to know that he was utterly affronted by Severus's request. The expression on his face looked as if he had just been asked to kiss the man.

"No way," he spat. "Not a chance." His fists were clenched and lips curled all the way into his mouth. "I am all for finding and destroying Voldemort... but I am absolutely not putting my life on the line for... for... him," he snarled at Severus, "for something that just might work. Sorry, but you have the wrong guy." And with that final note, he spun on the spot and began marching back towards the exit.

"Harry! Please—" Hermione yelled, dashing quickly in front of him to force him to a halt. "We need your help!" She grasped him by the shoulders, eyes boring pleadingly into his. "Surely, after some brainstorming, we would be capable of working out a secured plan... You know we would never just plunk you down into a situation without any regard to the measures of safety... I wouldn't allow it... Dumbledore wouldn't allow it." At that, she saw his eyes flicker slightly. "Please stay and help us... I'm begging you..." She could feel her eyes beginning to sting, but was by no means resisting it. If it was one thing that she knew men were weak to, it was a woman's tears.

Harry looked uncomfortable. "No... Hermione, don't. Stop—I—" But before he could continue his protest, there was a sudden creak at the door. Both heads turned to face it, and for a moment they saw nothing; then there was some angry whispering that sounded like an argumentative struggle, followed by red-headed girl stumbling out of thin air with a seemingly detached arm clinging to her wrist. As she stood and yanked her own arm free of the hand, the hand was suddenly revealed to belong to a boy with similar features as the girl, who also appeared as if an invisible sheet was just lifted off him.

Realizing he was exposed, he looked around frantically and covered himself with his hands as if he were bare naked. His gaze skirted over the other occupants in the room, cheeks blazing. "Er—Hi—Hello—How are you—"

But attention was drawn to the girl as she marched over to where Harry and Hermione stood. "Since when were you a coward, Harry Potter?" she asked, her eyes piercing straight into his, who Hermione suddenly noticed looked as though he was facing a Dementor; all the colour had drawn from his face, and his mouth hung limp. Hermione slowly backed aside, letting Ginny take her place.

"I—I—How—"

"Aren't you the one who begged to be in Gryffindor? Then why are you backing out on a friend—no, a whole community in need? I don't see any courage in that. Can you honestly tell me that you are OK with letting people continue suffering—all because of one silly grudge? If you have even the slightest chance, you should be taking it! We all should! Harry, you know you're not alone... we are all ready to stand by your side, ready to risk everything... but we can't do that if you're not even willing to take risks yourself!"

Harry gulped, and even from her spot, Hermione could tell that he was shaking. Hermione was more than surprised that Ginny had appeared, but could not have asked for better timing. If anybody was capable of convincing Harry, it was Ginny.

A moment of awkward silence passed where Harry still stood like an ice cube; Ginny like a solid rock. And then, without another word, Harry turned slowly and approached Severus and Dumbledore.

"Fine. I'll do it."

---

((Sorry for including Ginny and Ron! It was the only way I could think of convincing him, and it seemed like something they would do, anyway.))

((OHHH, that sounds VERY CLEVER!! Did you want to have Hermione bring it up as an alternate option?

And I LOVE how you have Ginny and Ron in the room, too!))

----

Severus was startled, rather, to see two more Gryffindor Weasleys appear from under what was probably an invisibility cloak. Actually, to be more precise, he quite gasped and felt a little faint, grateful that no one was looking at him as his face took on what were probably very undignified expressions of complete and utter shock.

As Ginny Weasley bullied her boyfriend, Severus cast a glance at Hermione, who was watching Ginny's performance with the same shock he was feeling. And, as Harry finally agreed to do it, Severus felt a long, long sigh leave him.

"Thank you," he said. He had to lean his hands on the workbench at the rush of blood from his head. He didn't want to pass out in front of this particular crowd. "You are... truly your mother's son, Harry Potter." Even after all these years, he could remember the warmth Lily Evans had always generated in those around her, and how sad he was to have lost her friendship, and then her very existence. Hermione, though, was no mere substitute, but a new beginning. "I will never be able to repay you."

And that was, he knew, the truth. He only hoped that Harry's Gryffindor sense of fair play would overwhelm any desire to hold the debt over Severus' head for the rest of his life.

((OK! We'll pretend Hermione didn't suggest that way until now.))

---

The moment Harry agreed to do it, the widest smile spread across Hermione's face. She directed the smile towards Ginny—a wordless 'thank you'—who smiled sweetly in return. Walking over to the spot next to Harry, Hermione placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Harry," she said, staring into the side of his face that was set in wonder at Severus. Her guess was that since he had never once heard nice words escape the lips of Severus Snape in his whole entire life, to hear him pronounce such heartfelt gratitude all of a sudden was almost unreal to him. If they kept it up, she could see them leading into a potentially cooperative future... or, at least, she hoped.

"We're sorry to intrude like this..." Ginny suddenly announced, "But I caught Ron sneaking down here underneath the cloak, and after he told me what Harry and Hermione had come to discuss, I couldn't resist tagging along." Ron had collected the fallen invisibility cloak off the ground and now stood next to Ginny, looking everywhere except Severus and Dumbledore, his face still alight. "We'd like to help."

Hermione's head had turned around to look back at Ginny, at which point Harry had also finally torn his gaze from the Potions master. "Thanks Ginny, that's very kind of you," she beamed.

"So, from what I've gathered... you want to lure You-Know-Who by using Harry as a decoy, correct? Well, I just had a thought... in order to protect Harry from any real harm, we could possibly use Polyjuice Potion to transform somebody into Harry, while transforming Harry to look like somebody else. Then we could find a spot not guarded by enchantments, and simply... hope You-Know-Who sends a Death Eater or someone to check? Since they'll think they've got the real Harry, they will probably summon You-Know-Who... or take the fake Harry to him. If that was the case, we would be able to follow and then ambush them," Ginny suggested.

"No," Harry instantly snapped. "Putting my own life on the line is one thing... but I could never put someone else's life on the line for me. There won't be anybody pretending to be me. I'll do it myself—"

"Wait a minute," Hermione interjected. "I want to consider something for a moment. What I want to know... is how Voldemort is able to perform this Taboo curse..." All three eyes were intently on her, while her face was twisted in deep concentration. After a moment's pondering, her head shot up and her narrowed eyes met Dumbledore's. "Professor. Would it be possible... to jinx a name ourselves?" She didn't know why it had taken her this long to consider such a possibility... but if it was possible... then that would give them the power to track Voldemort at their very will. The only question was...

"Whose name would we jinx?" Harry asked. "It worked for Voldemort because he simply wanted to terrorize everyone and anyone who spoke his name... but we want to track just him exclusively. How are we to know what names he speaks?"

Hermione had been expecting that question. And somehow she already knew the answer.

"You."

((Sweet post. Sorry I was gone yesterday -- long organizational meeting for grad orientation next week, and when I got home I found myself involved in mailing list discussion about the creation of a manga canon... gah.))

---

Severus found himself letting out a long, deep, truly amused belly laugh. Hermione was a genius. Why hadn't anyone thought of doing that before?

He gasped, and tried to express as much through his laughter. "That... really clever... Dark Lord... always... 'Potter!'" He tried to imitate Voldemort's high, cold voice, but it just came out as a hysterical rasp.

He breathed slowly, got himself under cover, and said, "Hermione, that is the most brilliant idea I've ever heard. I think we should try it, if Albus will give us permission -- or will we need Ministry approval?" He looked to the Headmaster.

Albus, for his part, was deep in thought, with a part of that thought devoted to how much he had missed hearing Severus' amused laughter. "Hm?" he asked. "Oh, yes. Jinxing Harry's name -- yes, Hermione, that's an excellent idea. And no, I don't think we'll need to bother with Ministry approval. They won't be paying attention to it. They've got quite enough on their plate."

He frowned vaguely at the two other Gryffindors, Ginevra and Ronald. "I trust you two can keep anything discussed down here confidential? I would very much dislike having to play Lockhart and perform Memory Charms on any of my students."

((Not to worry!))

---

Ginny and Ron's heads both shook in unison. "Sir, trust me, we may be nosey, but we would never disrespect you," Ginny declared.

"Yeah, and I was there when Lockhart lost his memory... something I definitely wouldn't fancy having repeated upon myself," Ron added bitterly.

Hermione beamed. This was fabulous. As long as they could make it through this stage... all they had to rely on was chance; and the odds were presenting to be fairly high.

Harry, on the other hand, looked a little uneasy; and not just because he was a bit frightened by hearing his Potions professor laugh, for the very first time in his life.

"Me?" he muttered, "But... well, I suppose..." Maybe he was just trying to attempt modesty, but Hermione knew that their best chance relied on his name... and she had a feeling he did, too. There was no harm in the attempt, at any rate, and it seemed like something they would be able to cast from within the protection of Hogwarts.

"When is the best time to do this? How long will it take?" she asked, addressing Dumbledore once again in all seriousness.

Dumbledore sighed, a thoughtful, brain-wrenching sound. "As I'd never thought of this possibility before," he admitted, "I'll have to spend some time considering it. I've never Jinxed anything before. Have you, Severus?"

Severus shook his head. "Naturally not. It's a very difficult spell, requiring a number of participants, and I wasn't deep in enough last time to be a part of the first jinx. I got the impression, though, that the spellcasters were working for several days straight, setting everything up." He frowned. "I think the process killed one of them, actually, but I don't think it was a sacrifice. Exhaustion, rather."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I see. Well," and he turned back to the anxious Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny, "thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We'll definitely be pursuing it, and might call upon you again for assistance. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley -- you may wish to return to your dormitories now. I am going to retire to my office and consult a number of texts. If you'll excuse me?" And with those words of departure, he whisked himself back through the Floo in a flash of green flame.

Severus looked after him, still feeling apprehensive. They had a plan, at least, now, but still... Would it work? He looked at Hermione with a mixture of anxiety and gratitude. "Well," he said.

After Dumbledore left, Hermione glanced anxiously at Severus and then at the other three occupants of the room. As much as she wished to stay and talk with him, it was now late, and the other three Gryffindors would no doubt question her judgement.

So, turning back to Severus, she smiled weakly. "I guess we'd better head back to the common room, also. Um..." It was difficult; she wanted to be genial with her farewell, but not so much as to arouse suspicion. "Well, goodnight then, Professor. See you tomorrow." And with a painfully polite nod, she turned heel to face the rest of the company.

There were a few other muffled 'Goodbye's' and 'See ya, Professor's', as Ginny took Harry's hand and starting leading them out of the room, while Hermione hurried Ron along from behind. On their way out of the exit, Hermione was the last to turn around and shut the door—sending Severus a meaningful look until the last little fraction of her face could no longer be seen through the crack.

Then, after a moment's hesitation staring down door, she whipped around and trailed quickly after her friends.

((What "day" is it for them? I've lost track!))

---

Severus wished that Hermione could have found an excuse to stay, but recognized that it would have caused suspicion and awkward questions. A lot had happened that evening, though, and with the prospect of actually surviving now ahead of him, he felt as though he had passed from one life to another. He would no longer need to be a Death Eater; perhaps in the time it took for Voldemort to find one of his Horcruxes and regain life (how did that work, anyway? he wondered, and remembered Voldemort's lecture about how none of his Death Eaters had come to find him), Hermione could apply her genius to getting rid of the Mark permanently.

As Severus went back to his rooms, he wished that they could have simply amputated his arm and used magic to grow another one. But that wouldn't have worked, with the spell embedded as deeply as it was.

But they did have a working plan, and that gave Severus hope. Hope -- for what? He thought of Hermione as he was undressing, and wondered if her feelings for him would fade as soon as they'd completed this project. Were her actions simply those of a compassionate person, and they had no real connections beyond the immediate emergency?

Severus sighed as he got into bed, and wondered what the next day would bring.

((I believe it's a Friday.))

---

"I knew it," the red-headed girl claimed from her position perched on top a pile of pillows against the headboard of her four-poster bed. "There is something going on between you two."

Hermione's face burned as she sat staring at the quilted bedsheets from underneath her crossed legs. After parting with Harry and Ron in the common room, she and Ginny both made their way up into their respective dormitories, at which point Hermione realized that she really needed to talk to someone—someone who would listen, understand, and not judge her. Since she'd only tried talking to Harry and Ron—who were, despite being her two best friends, both boys—she figured that maybe talking to a girl would be much more productive. At that point, Ginny came to mind, so she headed back to her dormitory and had began a detailed report on the past four days.

"It's just... unexpected. I don't know what it really is... and I definitely don't know what to do. It's not something I could just find in a text-book... which would be so much easier now that I think about it..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she glanced upwards in wonder.

"Well... I know a lot about boys, but... you're just on a whole new level," Ginny said, staring fixedly at Hermione. "I mean... if you want my honest opinion—well, first of all, definitely don't tell anyone. I'm touched that you chose me to confide in, but I can't guarantee that anybody else would be so approving. And second of all..." she paused for a moment, at which time Hermione finally met her gaze. "Just go with it."

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. Did she just encourage her to continue her affair—or whatever it was—with her professor? Surely no student in the right mind would agree to that... no matter how much it relieved her.

"You don't think... it's bad?" Hermione whispered, still amazed.

Ginny shrugged. "Love comes in all different ages, shapes, forms, sizes... who am I to judge? Who is anyone, really? It's your life... how you choose to live it should not be impeded by others' standards."

There was that word 'love' again... was that really it? Hermione sighed and stared at her fingers. "I suppose..."

"Listen, Hermione, you're the most intelligent girl I know. You can do anything you really want... that's a gift you will never lose. So whatever you think it is that's holding you back from following your heart... ignore it."

Mouth agape, Hermione's eyes met Ginny's once again. She never really thought of it that way... but now that she did, it made a lot more sense. Why was she holding back? For her image? Her friends? None of those factors played a part in getting wherever she wanted. Her image was never very high on the social chart to begin with, and friends weren't real friends if they didn't support you. In the end, it really is up to her to what happens... and whomever it involves shouldn't make a difference.

"Thanks, Ginny. You are so much easier to talk to than Harry and Ron," she admitted, smiling.

Ginny giggled. "They're a bunch of baboons. But, to be honest... I think if you did tell them—which I think you eventually should if things do ever get serious between you two—they'd probably freak out at first... but, after some time, I think they would learn to accept it. Then again, I never told them about my little crush on Professor Lupin, so I wouldn't know from experience..."

There was a moment of silence before both girls broke out in laughter. It really helped to lighten the mood, and after a few more minutes of chatting passed, Hermione finally bade her friend goodnight and retired to her own dormitory.

That night, she thought of Severus all the way up until she drifted into a deep sleep, at which point the thoughts of him extended into sweet dreams.

*

Friday morning, Hermione awoke as usual and journeyed with Harry, Ron, and Ginny down to the Great Hall.

Halfway through her pancakes, Hermione took out the little slip of paper that Severus had given her, outlining her schedule for the next several days, and saw that she had double Herbology that morning followed by double Divination in the afternoon.

Fantastic, she thought sarcastically.

((SQUEE I LOVE GINNY. And I can't wait to see what you come up with for Divination...))

----

Severus' nocturnal fantasies that night became rather elaborate, featuring a Hermione who enjoyed dressing as a naughty maid, another Hermione who decided that she wanted to be the one on top, both literally and metaphorically, and then, as his brain fogged over with the ecstasy of climax, a rather older Hermione, smiling at him with several black, curly-haired children in the background. As he fell asleep, he wondered blurrily if she wanted children.

If she wanted him at all.

*

The next morning, Severus saw Hermione looking rather grumpily at her schedule. He couldn't remember what was on it, but then he heard Sybill Trelawney saying, "And I do hope that Miss Granger has matured enough to open her aura. I'd hate for her presence in the classroom to block everyone's Inner Eyes." Severus groaned into his tea and saw Albus twinkling at him.

"What?" he grunted.

"I did some research last night," Albus said, beaming. "As I recall, you have a free period after breakfast. Come up to my office as soon as you're finished."

With that, Severus stopped thinking of the horrors Hermione might face in Divination that afternoon, and woke up fully. "I'm finished now," he said, despite the half-full plate of omelette in front of him.

*

In Albus' office, Severus sat and took several long, deep breaths. "So... we can do this?" he asked.

"It's quite easy," Albus replied. "I don't know why Tom Riddle needed to push his followers to the point of exhaustion. It was probably for show."

"He does that often," Severus admitted. "So, how does it work?"

"We'll need to set up a room that can serve as a simulacra map," Albus explained. "We'll need Harry, of course, and a few strong magical talents. Perhaps Minerva and a few of the Order can come help. It does take a donation of blood -- from Harry, unfortunately -- but the entire process shouldn't take more than a few minutes, after we've set up the mapping procedures."

"What are those like?"

Albus waved a hand. "Basic mapping charm, an illusion really. Flitwick can probably set it up in an hour or two. The only reason it's complicated is that it has to track such a large area. Once the room is set up, we can rig any number of monitoring charms, or assign someone from the Order -- or many people -- to monitor and follow up on any occurrences."

Severus had a thought. "What about the fact that so many people are saying Harry's name all the time? He's in the news, everyone gossips about him... won't that overload the charm?"

Albus nodded. "Yes, it would, but we're going to limit the charm to Death Eaters."

"How?" Severus began to ask, and then comprehension dawned. "Oh. The Mark."

"Indeed. We can use the Dark Mark as a limiter, now that we know so much about it."

Severus nodded, feeling the tension in his belly convert back into hunger. The entire conversation had taken less than a quarter of an hour, and if he hurried he could get some leftovers from breakfast from the kitchen house-elves.

"Thanks, Albus," he said fervently. "I'm going to go finish my breakfast, then. Will you speak with Flitwick and the Order?"

"Naturally," Albus said with a smile. "Do cheer up, Severus. This is going to work."

((Lol! You KNOW that's going to be a scene...))

---

Herbology was, lightly put, a bit of a chore that morning. Many of the students underestimated the danger involved with Fanged Geraniums, which resulted in having to heal several cuts and bite marks for most of the class. Professor Sprout had given them all a warning at the start of class, but aside from that she seemed rather relaxed while the students struggled. Perhaps she favoured the method of making students learn the hard way, but Hermione, on the other hand, felt the need to go around assisting everyone to prevent as many injuries as she possibly could.

By the end of it, she was drained, hungry, and really wanted to sit down. With Herbology not even being one of her top favourite subjects of study to begin with, assisting for it was ten times unpleasant. At that point, she had really great respect for Neville and was seriously beginning to consider suggesting to him that he take up an assisting position for the one class; at least, if he did that, it would give her an excuse not to assist for it anymore. The experience would be much more worthwhile for him compared to her, after all.

"Oh, before you go, Hermione--" Pomona called out, as Hermione was just packing up to leave. "A little while back, Severus told me that he was getting low on hellebore, and requested that I grow him some more. Would you mind taking this to him for me?" she asked after taking a little glass jar out of her wooden cabinet, that seemingly contained hellebore.

"Of course, I'll do that just now." Hermione said, accepting the glass jar. "See you, Professor."

"Thanks, dear. You were an excellent help today!"

Turning away from the beaming, stout woman, with attentive care to the jar in her hands, Hermione exited the Greenhouse. Crossing the wide plains, she made her way back up to the school, heading towards the Great Hall for lunch.

((Sorry, short post -- can't wait for the two of them to interact!))

Hermione looked sweaty and disheveled when she appeared in the Great Hall for lunch. Severus, who had spent the morning terrorizing fifth and second years, and feeling rather good about life, fought back a grin at Hermione's state. She'd probably tried to intercept every potential hazard from the dangerous magical plants and had wound up getting thwacked by a Venomous Tentacula or somesuch.

Lunch was shepherd's pie and green salad, and Severus found himself attacking the food with relish. Things were looking up, there was every reason to be optimistic, and even Albus' annoying twinkles were not as annoying as they once had been. Albus and Filius Flitwick were conversing in low tones, and Flitwick shot a few quick, furtive, curious glances over at Severus before nodding several times in comprehension. Severus knew they were discussing the mapping charm, and wondered if he would get a chance to talk to Hermione about it before lunch was over.

As Hermione walked through the aisle between tables, she gave a quick 'hello' to her friends as she passed the Gryffindor table, but did not stop to sit down as she normally would. Instead, she carried her pace all the way up to the High Table for her very first time; sidling around it, she gave all the present professors respective nods until she reached the one targeted since the very beginning.

"Severus," she greeted, breathing heavy due to exhaustion. "Here... Pomona told me to give this to you." Before she had the chance to faint, she quickly conjured a chair up next to him and plopped down on it. It would be alright for her to sit there that one time, she decided.

Exhaling deepling, she asked "So, how was your morning?"

Severus watched, startled but pleased, as Hermione walked straight up past the student tables to the High Table. Eyes followed her, and there was some whispering and giggling and pointing, but there were equal looks of admiring envy for the girl smart enough to graduate early. Some of the Ravenclaw seventh-years rather scowled.

Hermione looked exhausted when she reached the table and handed him her burden. She was disheveled and dirty, and he suppressed a smirk as she flopped into a chair next to him.

"My morning was fine, thank you," he replied, stowing the jar of hellebore in an inner pocket. "You will probably have several Gryffindor first years complaining about how mean I am, but that's as it should be. They need to learn to fear as well as respect magic and its powers." He raised an eyebrow. "Not that I mind you joining us on High Table, but may I ask why you made the decision to eat up here today?"

After shovelling three hasty bites of shepherd's pie into her mouth like a starving child, she turned her head to face Severus and smiled.

"Well, we didn't really get the chance to talk after all that happened last night... do you blame me for wanting to be with you?" There was a moment's pause, and then her coy smile dropped the instant she realized that that may have come out a little too bold; quickly, she turned her attention back to her food. Ginny's words were still fresh in her thoughts, making her spirits a little higher than normal, so would have to watch her tongue a lot more carefully.

"I mean... to catch up... discuss... um, you know. So," she cleared her throat, "did you talk to Professor Dumbledore? Any news?" She faced him again, more seriously this time, trying to drain the pink from her cheeks by force with her mind.