Chapter 9

Disclaimer: All of this belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Many thanks to my beta, Melisse.

In the end, although Hermione didn't want to get saddled with the rejection of the house-elf community, that's exactly what she ended up with.

Her next task in a seemingly endless series of assignments was to recruit a house-elf, and she had royally peeved the bunch of them a few years ago, albeit with the best of intentions. Still, it was apparent that bad feelings remained. Hermione realized the extent of her earlier offenses when she started asking around and was met with overt hostility from every house-elf she chanced upon. They had to be decent, it appeared, when performing a prescribed servile role, but if she asked a query or favor of one that fell outside that perceived range, then they turned their rancor upon her in full force. She had to use all of her ingenuity to even gain access to them anywhere en masse, and it turned out that she only managed to find out about an opportunity through dumb luck, nothing more.

After having been rebuffed countless times, and frankly growing both weary and not a little scared of what Snape would do if she failed right out of the starting gate with her task, Hermione was tossing and turning with worry in her bed. She couldn't face the idea of what Snape would think of her if she failed. She couldn't get to sleep for the thinking about it all, and the bed was not a comfortable place to be any more. Hermione crept down to the Gryffindor common room and sat there for awhile, but it felt like she had stared at the same walls for years. She needed to take a walk. It was the middle of the night, which was against the rules, but there wasn't a soul in the school who didn't slip out of their common rooms at some point. In fact, Hermione thought with a smile, you had to be careful that you didn't bump into someone you knew out after hours, there was so much traffic. It seemed everyone had a secret these days. She wasn't even the slightest bit naughty to just want to take a walk.

With that bit of rationalization to keep her superior, Hermione slipped out of the painting...which was, thankfully, snoring and not awake to give lecture...and walked briskly until she was out of sight of her corridor. Then she ambled around for awhile until she found herself in the mood for a snack. That made the kitchens a logical destination.

The Hogwarts kitchens were rarely seen by students. They were a marvel of sophisticated equipment; the most state-of-the-art cooking equipment was installed for use, and it gave a very Muggle feel to the place that was at odds with the rest of the castle. As Hermione approached, she could hear voices, and though she didn't mean to eavesdrop, she couldn't help but be interested in the conversation she overheard as the house-elves toiled away by hand for the next day's meals.

"... he does, Punchkie, he does! I see it with me own eyes, him just sitting there in the back o' the class, as if he belong there! I was so ashamed! He really think he is human!" The voice broke down into tiny sobs.

"There, there, don't cry, Dumptie. He can't really think he is a human. Perhaps he just was waiting to give one of them something in class, and he is an especially good servant!" Punchkie sounded pleased with himself for coming up with a reasonable explanation for abhorrent elf behavior.

Fresh sobs broke out. "Me own nephew! What will everyone think? No, no, he think he can learn, can do magic or something! He think he has some kind of special purpose, he is cracked in the head. I don't want it to get out, we will have to leave this place, this wonderful place, with everyone here ..." Dumptie was overcome by the very idea of having to leave because of his nephew.

Hermione was thrilled at this piece of good news. Of course, not thrilled at the sorrow of the miserable Dumptie, but she was sure that this could work out for them all, if only she could handle the situation correctly. She swiftly stepped around the corner and assumed the most cold and commanding look she had in her. This startled the elves, who were not used to students being around the kitchens at all, especially at night.

"You there!" Hermione pointed authoritatively. "Bring me your nephew, now!"

The elves cowered, but they had been given a direct order and couldn't disobey. Hermione hated having to do it this way, but the past few days had shown her that if she asked them or explained herself, they would just leave. They showed up with the elf in question. He appeared out of the ordinary.

"You, there, will you come with me? I have a ... uh, quest, for which I need an elf to do a great..." the magic in the vow restricted what Hermione could say, "thing. You have been selected. Will you accept?" She tried not to roll her own eyes, but the other elves were dumbstruck, and this elf was having a paroxysm of joy.

"Yes, my lady!" the elf cried. "I most joyously plight my troth to thee!"

"Okay, then," Hermione was a little nervous, not sure what to do now that she had the elf. A wicked idea came to her. "You may present yourself to Professor Snape at five o'clock tomorrow morning, and tell him you are reporting for your duties." She decided to play it up, since he appeared to have a medieval bent, what the heck. "He hath a terrible temper, so pay it no mind, good sir. This is part of your test of worthiness, so do not be scared off! Be brave my little elf!"

The elf drew himself up to his full height. "There is none braver than me, my lady! I shall vanquish this foe, slay this dragon, mine enemy ..."

Whoa! "Um, no, Sir ... Elf."

"Sneephig, but for you, you may call me Figgie," he supplied helpfully.

Okay, maybe he was cracked in the head. Hermione was getting into the swing of the game, however. "Sir ... Figgie, Professor Snape is not a foe; he is your mentor and greatest ally, but he will be testing you tomorrow, so just don't run away when you wake him up and he gets a little upset. I will be there presently and we shall continue to train for the quest together." That should do it. The look on Snape's face when he got his wake-up call made her eyes glow with suppressed laughter. He deserved a little payback for the difficulties she had gone through in the last few days!

Figgie's eyes shone. "Fair maiden, how shall I thank thee? Let me press my suit upon thee, let me give you mine..." he grabbed her hand and began to kiss it.

Hermione was mildly alarmed. She may have created a monster. "I'm for bed, good knight. Just ... let me go in peace and I will see you later."

"I bid you good night, then," he said dreamily.

Hermione stepped away quickly, and had to hide her giggles so that his feelings would be spared. A furious fight began in her wake, but she had no doubt it was an entirely different one than the one she had interrupted. As for her, she was suddenly tired enough to sleep the whole night through!

*

Hermione made her way to Snape's rooms after classes, a little mortified that she had had the gall to pull a practical joke on him. What had seemed like a good idea in the middle of the night was feeling regrettable in the cold light of day. As anxious as she was to find out what the implications were, she wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, and she was careful in the hallways this time. Draco was surely on the warpath for her now in retribution for his punishment, so she had to keep an eye out.

She reached Snape's rooms with no mishaps, however, and Snape answered his door as if expecting her. Hermione nervously searched his face for signs of anger, but he gave nothing away as he ushered her into his living room. The silence stretched out, and Hermione fiddled with the cuff of her robe, waiting for him to say something. He merely waited. She couldn't take it!

"So, did anyone come by, Professor?" she tried to ask him as innocently as she could.

Snape steepled his fingers. "Why yes, Miss Granger, I had a visitor today." He gave nothing away.

"I hope he didn't disturb you?" she looked at him sweetly.

"If I didn't know better, Miss Granger, I might think that you had something to do with the time that that infernal creature showed up at my bedside." Though his tone was as calm as ever, there was a hint of humor in it, and the smallest twitch of the corner of his mouth made Hermione's heart leap. He wasn't mad!

"I was only carrying out my duty. I found him for you. His timing was his own." She was emboldened by his amusement, and couldn't help this lighthearted feeling in her chest. Was she flirting?

Snape gave her a slightly appreciative look. "At the risk of repetition, I will say again: you may have made a decent Slytherin." This time the words were soft, a compliment, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was flirting back a little, too. Before she had time to consider it, the look snapped away from his features, and he leaned forward, the tone changed. "Now, then, with the arrival of the house-elf, we have much work to do ..."

*

And work they did. Over the course of the next few days, they worked hard with the elf in stealth tactics...which was really just teaching him how to sneak around quietly without being noticed...and how to use the best concealment charms to his advantage. Wayfinding techniques was really just a fancy way of showing him how to read a map and having him memorize the best route into the Azkaban underground. All of this took an awful lot of patience.

"Remember, Hermione, the most important thing to remind Figgie of is that he must cast the Salterus charm over himself right before we begin. It is a very small thing, but of the most vital importance. Sometimes the smallest chinks in the armor can bring the whole thing down." Snape was looking at her intensely, and it was hard for Hermione to concentrate. She didn't want to think.

"I don't understand, sir. The Salterus charm? I've never heard of it." She didn't want to admit ignorance, but better to ask then to bungle it later.

They had had another long day, and Snape was packing their things up, but he stopped to explain. "It makes a house-elf's skin impervious to the sea water surrounding Azkaban prison. I have discovered that due to an anomaly in their genes, house-elves begin to sweat uncontrollably when they are exposed to the salty air of the ocean. He will only have a few minutes before his system shuts down from the toxins, like a fish out of water. It is some strange reaction. That is why house-elves can sneak into Azkaban; they can't normally be in the atmosphere of it. No one ever thought to spell the place against them, because they would die if they tried. The Salterus Charm allows them to change their natural reaction, for a time. The charm should hold for long enough to suit our purposes."

Hermione was looking at Snape's mouth as he spoke, and she heard the words, but she was more aware of his nearness. They were alone in his apartments, Figgie having left. They were working together so well, and Hermione suddenly realized it: she was falling for Professor Snape. She couldn't stop the slight gasp that the revelation caused to escape her lips. How could she not have recognized all of those feelings until just now? How could she have let it happen? Even as she tried to push the idea of it back down into her chest, it rose up and filled her chest, the biggest thing in her world.

Professor Snape heard her gasp, of course. "Miss Granger? Are you quite well? We have been working long hours, you need some rest."

She could kick herself, but the look of concern in his eyes was still delicious. "Could you ... maybe ... we have been working together a long time now. Maybe you could call me by my first name?" She held her breath.

Snape went still. He turned and looked at her with a liquid deliberation, and his eyes bored directly into hers, searching. "Hermione." A sigh. He closed his eyes a moment. "Miss Granger, I dare not, even if I ... No. You are not mi ... I cannot. Please understand." He wouldn't look away.

Hermione broke his gaze first, embarrassed. She had been too forward, ruined things. Of course he wouldn't return her feelings; she was just a student and one that irritated him, at that. She had to save her dignity. The problem was, she couldn't think of a thing to say over the lump of hurt in her throat. There were no clever comebacks in her quick mind this time, ready to toss out.

Snape came and stood directly in front of her, his hand tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. It was the most physical contact she had ever had with him, and even that small touch felt like everything, the electricity crackling. She didn't want to meet his eyes, afraid he would see the excess moisture in hers, would see too much, but he simply stood there until she was ready to look at him. He said, "Miss Granger," and it was a caress, better than her first name. It felt like she had come home.

"I can't give you what you seek, but I can tell you something else," Snape said gently. "I think you are as ready as you will ever be to hear about what this potion is going to do. Do you want to hear it?"

Hermione nodded, trying to clear her head. He was giving her time and a gracious exit. Perhaps he was not so unaffected by her as he was trying to appear? She wished that she were not so inexperienced!

Snape settled into his spot and gestured for her to do the same. "I trust you now as I never have, Miss Granger. So I may as well tell you the final piece of the puzzle. The potion that we are delivering is an anti-dementor potion. It will create the opposite of a dementor, essentially a being that has all of the properties in opposition of a dementor. We needed the thestral heart to do that. This potion deals with opposite forces in life ... you are familiar with the term yin and yang?"

Hermione nodded, her eyes huge. This was an idea that had never occurred to her before.

"Yes, well, balance and harmony can be restored, but we must deliver the potion to the very heart of darkness, where so much misery has been perpetrated onto mankind. The dementors represent all that is negative in the soul's life force, and this potion will create a sort of a chain reaction once it is in place, a sort of a virus, that will infect the dementors and turn them into forces of lightness and goodness. Dumbledore and I have been working on this for some time."

Hermione was surprised. "Dumbledore?"

Snape kept going. "Yes, of course. You know, Miss Granger, that a war is coming. It is nearly inevitable. Dumbledore has told me a lot of things are inevitable, but if they are, then this should at least be a big help on our side. If it can't totally avert the war, it will be one of the biggest weapons we have, and one of the biggest blows to the opposition. We must succeed at this venture. A lot of lives are at stake, more lives than you can imagine." At this, Snape stopped abruptly and seemed to fall into his own line of thought. "We will succeed, Miss Granger. Your happiness depends upon it."

Hermione didn't know why, but she believed him.