Chapter 21: Grim Old Discussions

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.

A big hug of thanks goes out to my lovely beta, VIVAvivacious, for all of her help with this chapter.

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The park across from Grimmauld Place had never seen the coming and going of so many people within the span of three days.

Hermione had not spent so much time at Grimmauld Place since before the battle in the forest, and she could not say she liked it all that much. The run-down, dusty, old house was the place of many of her best and worst memories from when she was both a student and an adult. After all, it was there she had come to appreciate and understand the real Snape better, but also the last place she had been before she became the Wizarding world's pariah against her own will.

It seemed to be a constant uphill battle for her: struggling with her magic and dark urges, battling with her old friends and support network while at the same time trying to find some reason to forgive them for casting her aside. In the end, she came to the conclusion she could not do it until the day came when Harry, Molly, and Ginny apologised to her for their ignorant behaviour. Snape was a constant help to her, silently supporting her without being asked.

She knew she was falling for Snape, but she resisted it at every turn. It was far too dangerous for either of them to have feelings for one another. She had seen something a few times in his eyes also and knew that if she looked directly at him, he would see that same something reflected in her own. But she could not allow it to happen, and neither could he. There was too much at stake, and if either one of them were to die, the other would be broken-hearted and left to mourn. If she resisted, there would be nothing to mourn.

At least, that was how Hermione was going to approach the issue.

Her mind turned back to Grimmauld Place and the reasons why they had been forced to go back and forth between the cottage and there constantly. They were planning. Dumbledore had every spare person there to assist in his battle strategy they were building around the notion the potion would do as it was supposed to. All the Dark Lord needed to do was inhale the vapours on a regular basis for a few weeks, and his magic would diminish and split itself from his very soul.

Hermione had been able to contribute very little, as Moody would often interrupt whenever she wanted to speak, and she would sit there and glare a hole into the back of his head until Snape would finally nudge her and calm her. Her magic crackled around her rather violently whenever the ex-Auror was present in the room. Harry had been running from her like a scared, lost little boy every time she cornered him to talk, making up some excuse to see Ginny or talk to Remus. She was tired of his games.

That particular day had been the last day of planning for any pre-battle strategies, and as it drew to a close, Hermione was feeling weary. As a result, her magic was spontaneously casting charms on things, and she had found herself at one point covered in pillows the moment she thought of how nice it would be to go home to bed. Snape had laughed at her misfortune, surprising everyone in the room at his uncharacteristic outburst of mirth.

Needless to say, he had been extremely reserved and had thrown a wall up around him for the rest of the day.

It was eight in the evening and everyone had been called to the kitchen so they could discuss all the plans as a whole before everyone would finally be dismissed. Hermione hated it. She wasn't even a part of the Order anymore, and yet there she was, forced to sit through Dumbledore's drivel because she was there to support Snape in any way she could. She didn't know if Snape knew her reasons for continuing to attend with him every day, but she hoped one day, if they both survived, the reasons would be clear.

She looked over at Snape, who was standing with his arms crossed, back pressed against the wall right beside the only exit. He looked exactly like he wanted to make good on his escape as soon as he could. When everyone was finally packed into the kitchen, making it seem even more cramped than usual, Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

'Thank you all for coming to the final meeting for the day,' he said, looking out at everyone, his eyes resting coldly on Hermione for a moment before travelling over the rest of the room with their usual warmth. 'I just wanted to run through the stages of the Order's plans we have made thus far before we all leave for the evening.'

'Evening? More like night,' Hermione heard one of the twins whisper.

She smiled at that but quickly schooled her expression when the Headmaster threw a look at both her and the twins.

'So, from what I've gathered, the first stage of the plan is going to be delivering the potion Severus and Miss Granger worked together to complete to Riddle,' Dumbledore began. 'Severus, would you be so kind as to explain the details of this to everyone?'

Snape pushed himself off the wall and cleared his throat quietly. 'The plan will be executed in approximately two days' time. My godson, Draco, will be delivering the potion to the Dark Lord under the guise it is custom-made cologne. The potion itself has no scent at present, but tomorrow it will be modified so it can pose as such,' he explained. 'I trust you will all accept the plan for what it is. Draco works for me, and I would trust him with my life. He is doing us all a rather large favour.'

Moody snorted in disbelief. 'We'll trust it when the boy comes back after delivering it like you say,' he growled.

Snape opened his mouth to shoot something potentially venomous right back at Moody, but he was interrupted swiftly by Dumbledore.

'Continuing on from that, if all goes well with this plan and Riddle is exposed to the potion for a month, we will be ready and able to go on the offensive,' Dumbledore said. 'The potion should have torn Riddle's magic from him, rendering him helpless, and his Death Eaters will likely begin to scatter. Now, nothing is set in stone, except for young Mr. Malfoy's part for the time being.'

'Are we done for the night, then?' asked George a tad impatiently.

'We do have wives and families to go home to, and it's a bit late, if you ask me,' Fred agreed.

Dumbledore frowned but waved off the twins dismissively. Hermione rose and watched as everyone else walked out of the room, save for Moody, Dumbledore, and Snape. She eyed them warily as she walked out of the kitchen and paused just at the top of the stairs, straining to listen to what they had to say to one another. Flattening herself against the wall, she inched her way silently back down to the bottom so she didn't have strain so hard to listen.

'Severus... Alastor informed me today Fenrir Greyback was found brutally murdered in his old family home a few days ago,' Dumbledore said in a hushed voice. 'The Aurors are keeping the matter hushed up because they are allowing some leniencies where Death Eater killings go, but I must ask you, swear to me you had nothing to do with his murder.'

Hermione felt her breath hitch. Dumbledore thought Snape had murdered Greyback? How could he be so thick?

'I did not murder Greyback, Headmaster,' Snape said simply.

'I can never be too sure what it is you get up to when you are away in that cottage of yours,' the Headmaster continued. 'Especially with you locked away in that house with Hermione Granger. I fear she has been a bad influence on you, my boy. It feels to me like your loyalties may be shifting away from me, and I do not like it.'

Snape glared at the old man. 'You seem to have forgotten, Headmaster, I was the Death Eater, not Miss Granger,' he said through clenched teeth.

Hermione felt her blood boil in her veins and her magic crackle to the tips of her fingers, seeking Dumbledore out. She bit her bottom lip, trying to maintain control of her urges and taking a deep, steadying breath. Her mind kept ticking towards hexing the bollocks off the old man, so she quickly and silently made her way up the stairs to the coat closet and grabbed her coat, throwing it on before grabbing Snape's and heading back to the kitchen. She noisily opened the door once more and stomped down the stairs, giving them plenty of time to stop discussing her and Snape.

'Shall we leave?' Hermione asked when she reached the bottom, her eyes alive with her anger as she held out Snape's coat towards him.

Snape nodded and crossed the room to her, gently lifting the coat from her hand and shrugging into it. He led the way to the stairs then and paused when he realised she did not appear to be following him. Hermione waved him on and gave him a pointed look. She wanted to speak to the Headmaster and Moody on her own. He nodded minutely and walked up the stairs, the door closing gently behind him. She took a moment to admire just how good he was at controlling his anger. Hermione had very little control over her rage.

'I hope you are proud of yourselves,' she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She feared if she spoke any louder she would be screaming like a banshee. 'Severus Snape is a good man, and yet you chain him down and treat him like his only purpose in this life is to act as your dog. How dare you? You are not the great man I thought you were, Albus Dumbledore.'

'Miss Granger,' Dumbledore spluttered, his face becoming splotchy and purple.

'No, I don't even want to hear it,' she snapped. 'I come here voluntarily to help because I want the dark times to end as much as the next person, but after hearing the way you have spoken to Severus countless times over the past few months, I know now even more than I did then why I left the Order. I will not be one of your dogs, and Severus shouldn't have to be either.'

'Rest assured, Miss Granger. I will hold Severus to his vow until this war is over,' Dumbledore warned. 'He is not yours, nor shall he ever be. Severus Snape owes me his life.'

Hermione crossed her arms and surveyed the Headmaster coldly. 'Then you are going to be a very, very lonely old man when this war finally blows over,' she said before turning and walking up the stairs.

She could hear Alastor Moody sputtering to Dumbledore and asking why he had allowed her to speak that way. She simply snorted and opened the door to leave, closing it quietly behind her. She found Snape leaning against the wall beside the coat closet, his expression blank. There was a good chance he may have heard what she had said, but she didn't care. Let him know what she thought. He might even learn from it and start acting on things rather than allowing his supposed life-debt to Dumbledore get in the way.

'Are you ready to leave now?' he asked.

'Yes,' she replied briskly, opening the door to leave Grimmauld Place and trudging down the snowy steps.

Snape followed her and caught up with her when they reached the Apparation point in the park across the road. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. She knew he could still see the flames of her rage in her eyes. She wasn't sure why she didn't resist, or even why Snape did it, but his arms went around her, and she felt her cheek pressing against the wool of his coat. Hot tears leaked from her eyes into the fabric as he simply held onto her and tried to bring her back down to earth from the heights of her anger and the darkness that threatened to consume her.

After a few minutes, she pulled back and sniffed a little before nodding and looking up at him, hoping he could see the gratitude she expressed with her eyes. His nod in return reassured her he had seen and understood.

'Let's go home,' he murmured before Apparating them both to his cottage.

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A/N – Dumbledore is becoming quite the nuisance, yes?