Chapter 7: Great Expectations

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

Big hugs of thanks go out to VIVAvivacious for all of her help with this chapter.

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The potion made a hissing noise, releasing little white plumes of steam from the bubbles that would pop occasionally while it was boiling.

Hermione glanced across the room at the sudden noise breaking the deafening silence that had permeated the stifling lab up until that point. She watched as Snape practically leapt from his chair and glided across the room towards the cauldron. He was wearing his dragon hide gloves to protect his hands should the boiling potion splash him. Grabbing a glass stirring rod, he gave it a quick stir before lowering the heat of the flame beneath the cauldron and returning to the end of the workbench where she was seated. The wooden surface in front of her was covered in books they were using for research.

She nodded towards a brown-wrapped parcel that had just been delivered by an owl not two minutes before Snape had arrived in his lab for the day. Hermione had assumed they were books due to the weight. When he collected the package and brought it to the table, he tore the paper from it and cast a few charms to ensure the books contained within were safe to handle. Hermione sent a small smile in Snape's direction when he passed her the book she had requested he have sent over from the Grimmauld Place library.

'Did Harry send them over?' she asked hopefully.

Snape shook his head. 'Mr. Potter seems to be rather heavily under the influence of both Mad-Eye Moody and Molly Weasley,' he answered, his voice cold. 'I believe the boy may have even moved to live in the Burrow for a time. I sent an owl to Kingsley Shacklebolt to send these particular books.'

Hermione closed her eyes to stall the tears that threatened to fall and nodded. 'All right,' she said, turning her attention to the book in front of her.

Snape eyed her warily, watching her expression slip to indifference. He found he wasn't too keen on seeing her look that way. He swiftly placed the rest of the books that had been delivered in a pile beside her and glanced over her shoulder at the calculations she was writing down in her journal. She had her shoulders hunched over a little as she bent to read a page of the book that she had just received. Hermione looked up at him when his hand lifted a loose curl away from the inkpot it was hovering right above.

'Thank you,' she said in surprise.

'The ink stains everything, Granger,' Snape said gruffly, moving to the other side of the room to check on his potion once more.

Hermione sighed and looked back down at her book. Snape had been gruffer with her over the past couple days, and she knew it was because his Dark Mark was hurting him. He never said anything to her about it, but she could tell from the way he rubbed it on occasion or gripped his arm suddenly with his other hand if the pain was particularly bad. She had often wondered why Voldemort had not ended the connection between them when Snape had revealed himself as a spy and traitor, but since spending a lot of time with Snape, she had discovered the reason. Voldemort wanted a way of reminding Snape he knew of his betrayal and intended to have his revenge.

The thought of what could happen to Snape by the end of the war had not occurred to Hermione before then. He could die. She shivered at the thought, unable to think of the Wizarding world without him, much less Hogwarts. He was the one person who had remained consistent in the entire time she had known him: intelligent, brave, and protective, with a cruel streak in him in the classroom that would often injure students with the cutting force of his remarks. When he had been researching with her and Luna in Grimmauld Place, he had been witty and snarky with a little black humour thrown in for good measure.

No, she did not even want to think about a world where he did not exist. He was one of her few allies, and she needed his help more than she was able to comprehend at the time.

'Miss Granger, we must break for lunch, lest we begin to waste away in this laboratory,' Snape said, startling her out of her musings.

She looked up at him with a stunned expression. 'I suppose you're right,' she mumbled. 'I did skip breakfast this morning, and I am feeling a little peckish.'

Snape cast a quick stasis spell over his potion and shut off the flame beneath it. He led the way up to the Great Hall as usual, pulling out Hermione's seat for her to sit before sitting in his usual chair himself. Hermione was beginning to help herself to some sandwiches when, instead of Poppy Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall sat down on her other side. She had a triangle of cucumber sandwich halfway to her mouth when her former professor cleared her throat in an obvious manner, and Hermione darted a look at the older woman.

'Yes, Professor?' Hermione asked politely, although inside she was seething angrily. How dare that woman even try to talk to her after spending three weeks avoiding her at every turn?

'Miss Granger, Professor Dumbledore and I would like to have a meeting alone with you in his office after lunch is finished and the students are back in class,' Minerva informed her in clipped tones. 'Severus will have a class then, so you won't be needed downstairs to assist him with anything.'

Hermione looked to Snape to confirm this, and when he inclined his head in the affirmative slightly, she turned back to McGonagall. 'Then I suppose I will see you and the headmaster in his office whenever you would like.'

'Excellent. The password is sugar mice,' McGonagall said, standing up from that chair and returning to her regular seat for the remainder of lunch.

Hermione ate the remainder of her sandwich slowly, her stomach roiling in protest of the food she was proffering to it to sate her earlier hunger. She was now eating only to engage her mouth in something that would distract her from her impending meeting with the headmaster and McGonagall. She knew it had to be Order business, and obviously it had something to do with Ron's death. Why else would they want her there? She had a feeling the two of them wanted to pick her brain for some reason, searching for something she had not already given them.

When the first bell sounded, indicating the students should vacate the hall and collect their belongings for the next class, she rose with Snape and followed him out into the hall beyond the staff door entry. They walked down the corridor and around the corner until they were alone for a moment. Hermione knew her panic was shining through her eyes.

'They're not going to harm you, Miss Granger,' Snape told her seriously. 'They may pick your brain and question you and say a whole litany of things, but you don't have to remain answerable to them.'

'I haven't told anyone but you and Luna I am going to leave the Order yet,' she said, looking at her feet.

'If they push you too far, this will be your chance to tell them you no longer wish to be controlled by them,' he said simply. 'I must go to class. Don't let them intimidate you, Granger. You are much stronger than they know.'

With those parting words, Snape turned on his heal and walked away. Hermione was left with a funny feeling in her stomach, but it disappeared when she began to walk down the hall and up the stairs towards Dumbledore's office. On arriving at the gargoyle that guarded the stairs to the headmaster's office, Hermione said the password, and it immediately sprung aside and allowed her to pass, the stairs moving in a spiral upwards and hastening her journey to the tower.

She reached the door at the top and saw it was half-open. She paused to knock and heard the soft 'Enter' that came in reply. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, she let herself in and shut it properly behind her. She found the headmaster already seated behind his desk, with a smaller chair holding McGonagall right beside him. It felt a little like an inquisition already.

'Have a seat, Miss Granger,' Dumbledore said kindly.

Hermione felt her stomach muscles clenching as she shuffled her way across the room and dropped a little awkwardly into the chair on the opposite side of the desk. She looked up to see both of them staring at her with unreadable expressions on their faces. She bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from asking the question she had longed to ask them for three weeks.

'I suppose you are wondering why you are here, am I correct?' Dumbledore questioned calmly.

'An explanation would be nice, Headmaster,' Hermione replied, her tone formal.

'Miss Granger, we have come to notice your behaviour has changed quite a lot in the few weeks that have passed since Ronald Weasley's death. Professor McGonagall and I were wondering if you had anything you would like to talk to us about in relation to his death.'

'You want to know more?' Hermione said, looking at them incredulously. 'What else could I possibly have left to tell you about what happened? You already have a copy of my memories from the battle.'

'We just feel there is information you may be withholding from us for one reason or another, and the Order would be very grateful to you if you were to simply submit,' Albus Dumbledore explained, his voice filled with false pleasantry.

Hermione felt anger bubble to the surface. Her magic was surging towards the tips of her fingers, and she used every ounce of restraint she had to control it. There was no need to waste all of her magical energy on this charade. She took a deep breath and steeled herself to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life.

'I'm afraid you are mistaken, Headmaster,' she said calmly. 'I have nothing further I can offer the Order.'

McGonagall's cheeks were becoming pink by this point, and Hermione was certain it was not embarrassment colouring them. 'Now listen here, Miss Granger,' she began, her brogue thickening in direct correlation to her agitation. 'The headmaster has brought you here because he suspects something of you, and if you refuse to cooperate, then we will be forced to take more desperate measures in order to have you comply.'

Hermione let her eyebrow quirk up at this. 'Never before have I ever felt so disrespected and disappointed in my entire life as I do now,' she said, looking at them with hurt in her brown eyes. 'I said I have nothing further to offer the Order, and I mean that in every sense of the word. I respectfully withdraw myself from the Order of the Phoenix and hereby sever my bond from the Vow I took on my recruitment.'

Both Dumbledore and McGonagall stared at her, faces blank with shock and eyes wider than she had ever seen them. Hermione stood from the chair on wobbly legs. She managed to make it to the door to leave the office without stumbling and opened it. Turning back to look at two of the people she had once had a deep respect for, she sighed and shook her head minutely.

'I shall remove myself from Hogwarts as soon as I can arrange, which may be as early as tonight or tomorrow. I thank you for your hospitality, but I will not impose any longer,' Hermione said quietly.

She turned on her heel then and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. Making her way down the spiral staircase, she allowed her shoulders to sag a little under the weight of what had just occurred in the office. Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't trust her, and neither would any of the other Order members once they heard of her defection. She shrugged internally and pressed on, heading down to the dungeons to her temporary chambers. She would make a start on collecting together her belongings and speak to Snape once his last class of the day was over.

She arrived in her rooms and summoned books and sheaves of parchment to her, ducking a few times to avoid objects hitting her in the head.

By the end of the day, she did not want to be in Hogwarts any longer. She hoped Snape would have a solution for her, because she sure as hell hadn't planned that far ahead.

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A/N – Forgive the maddening pace, but good things come to those who wait.