The Chamber of Secrets

Disclaimer: The characters and settings in this story are lovingly borrowed from J.K. Rowling.

Special thanks to DreamyDragon_73 and AnnieTalbot for their incredible beta work. This story originally posted at the sshg_exchange. I'll be posting new chapters every three days or so

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Mrs Malfoy,

Sending countless owls will not expedite my progress. I have and will continue to pass on relevant information to Headmaster Snape. I encourage you to contact him if you require further information. Additional inquiries will only delay my progress in determining a solution to your son's ailment.

Hermione Weasley

Unspeakable, Department of Mysteries

~*~

Hermione rubbed the ink spot that covered the side of her hand. She remembered the days when such a stain was permanent. It was almost nice to have the stain back. Almost.

She twisted in the chair to unkink her back, the cracks and pops rattling through the conference room. Groaning, she looked at the stack of notes she'd taken. She didn't want to contemplate how many pages or words. Too many. Far too many, given that she still didn't have a clear understanding of what exactly she was searching for.

She'd visited the room three more times, scribbling down different sentences from portions of the room. Fortunately many of the phrases repeated, so it would save her a bit of translation work, but it was nauseating to think about how many individual runes the room's creator had etched into the walls. Carving into stone, even with the aid of spellwork, was no small feat. And there was no simple way of editing a mark once it was written, so precision was a necessity. The tedious attention required to plan and carve the room bordered on obsession. 

Yesterday, she'd had roughly six hours of optimism when one of the texts she'd reviewed had indicated that translation of the text should lead to a more refined classification of the room's purpose. So she'd begun transliterating the northern wall. She'd nearly wept with joy after transliterating the first sentence to reveal Latin. If she'd had to translate Old or Middle English she might have gone spare.

In the end, her hand had ached from hours of frantic scribbling, and she'd rejected only two possibilities. The room was not designed to hide fugitives from a foreign invasion or facilitate connection with the astral plane. Not precisely helpful information.

Her eyes crossed as she looked at the list of additional sources she'd pulled from Burlingson's text. She desperately needed to narrow the field of her research soon. Otherwise she'd never finish. Especially if Mr Klandestin kept dragging his feet on those interns.

She cast a Tempus Charm. Thank Merlin, it was nearly eleven. She grabbed her cloak from behind the door. The weather was just beginning to turn, so the cloak might not be necessary, but if the day turned overcast, she would need it. As she left the castle, she inhaled the autumn air. This was her favourite time of year. The days were crisp but filled with enough sunshine to warm you if you found a spot in the sun. The nights were chilly, but lacked the bite of the cold winter air. 

The path to Hogsmeade crunched underneath her. Thank Circe, Harry had agreed to meet her for lunch. Much as she enjoyed, surprisingly, Snape's company, the castle was isolated. Even for her. And she suspected that the change of scenery would do her research good.

She walked into the Three Broomsticks and spied Harry seated at a table in the back. She grinned as he looked up and their eyes met. 

Harry grabbed her in a tight hug before she could remove her cloak. "Hermione! I was beginning to think that I'd have to storm the castle to find you."

She grinned at him. "What can I say? There were books and research involved. I had to pry myself off the chair with an Unsticking Charm." She hugged him again. "Oh, Harry it's so good to see you."

Harry signalled to Alfred Cattermole, the Three Broomsticks' new proprietor, and grinned as they settled into their chairs. "So how is the castle? I haven't been there since James was a second year."

"Some days I expect to see myself walking through the hall, Harry. Like some Time-Turner accident gone horribly wrong. In some ways, it seems like the castle hasn't changed at all, even if I'm researching areas that weren't accessible when we were there."

"I can't believe we missed exploring a part of the castle. I thought we'd covered every inch by the time we left." He took a drink of the ale sitting in front of him, smiling again when he finished. Merlin, it was still a shock to see Harry Potter with the beginning of crow's feet nipping at his eyes. 

"It's really fascinating. This new wing of the castle... Severus said it was completely walled off from the rest of the Hogwarts. They still aren't sure why the original wards fell," Hermione said.

Harry leaned forward, elbows on the table. "So have you explored the rest of that part of the castle? Are there any other hidden rooms?"

"None that I've found. Please tell me you remembered to bring the Marauder's Map."

Harry stood and withdrew the folded parchment from his back pocket. He handed it over and began to ask another question, stopping when Alfred approached.

They ordered their lunch, and Harry glanced around. "Muffliato." The noise of the dining room dulled to a fuzzy din. "So, is Scorpius still unconscious?"

"He is. Nothing's changed at all. He seems perfectly safe and healthy, except for the horns."

The serious look on Harry's face evaporated as a smile fought to emerge. Despite herself, Hermione found herself doing the same. "Stop it, Harry. It's not funny."

Harry picked up his ale. "Oh, you're wrong there, Hermione. It's hilarious. I just wish I'd managed to do the same to Malfoy when we were at school."

"Harry!"

"What? The git deserved it."

"Oh, and the Sectumsempra wasn't enough?"

Suitably chastened, Harry mumbled something under his breath.

"You're just lucky that Lucius Malfoy wasn't free to take you to task for casting that spell. And, yes, I know Draco was about to cast the Cruciatus. It wouldn't have stopped Lucius Malfoy, though. If Draco's behaviour after Scorpius was cursed is anything to go by, Lucius Malfoy would have taken your head to Voldemort on a platter, regardless that Voldemort wanted you for himself."

Harry looked shocked. "You must be joking."

"Harry, don't act so amazed. It's pretty obvious that Draco is very protective of Scorpius. You should have seen him the day it happened."

"Did he threaten you?" Harry looked as if he were about to leap from his chair and hunt Draco down.

"Harry, calm down. He didn't threaten me. But he made it quite clear that he was more concerned about his son's well-being than..." She paused, a frown passing over her.

"What?"

"Well, I probably shouldn't say this, but there's a reason why you haven't seen anything about the story in the Prophet... Draco asked Snape if they could keep the story quiet."

"That makes no sense at all. This? From the boy who cried for his mum after a scratch from a Hippogriff? You must be joking."

"He said he didn't want to stir up all the old trouble between pure-bloods and Slytherins and Muggle–"

"Now I know you're joking."

"Harry, he's on the Board of Governors."

"Just like his father."

She glared at him. "And he truly seems to have the best interests of the school in mind."

"He's a Slytherin. I guarantee you he doesn't have anyone's best interests in mind but his own."

"Harry! How can you be so prejudiced!"

"Oh, come off it, Hermione. The only time Malfoy ever did what was right was when it saved his own hide. The same with all of them. The only reason why they've behaved after the war is because they know they don't have the upper hand. Malfoy's probably just waiting to see if you'll muck something up so that he can reveal some Gryffindor plot to discredit and ruin all the remaining Slytherin families."

"How can you say that? You know, Harry, you know the pressures that he was under during the war. Hell, you testified on his behalf. Or have you forgotten?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten that I testified for him." Harry stopped mid-tirade to finish the rest of his ale. "Hermione, you just... you don't see it. Time and again, the Auror office has to investigate these people. And it's the same thing over and over. They're all power hungry, conniving..."

"Harry, they can't all be bad. And I think you're rather forgetting that you have to track criminals who hailed from the other houses too."

Harry stared at her. "If I'm not watching my back in the field, then I'm trying to stay two steps ahead of the ones in the office."

"Well, what about Snape?"

"What do you mean, 'What about Snape?'"

She stared at him blankly. "Where do I start? The number of times he saved your life, risking his own. The way you fought to redeem his opinion in the public's eye... even though Snape told you to bugger off."

Harry snorted. "Bugger off is putting it politely. Though now I know what that translates to," he said with a lopsided grin. "And Snape is the glittering exception. He learned about Voldemort's brand of betrayal early enough that he was smart enough not to trust the scaly bastard. But it's disgusting how everyone, even the Slytherins, point to him as some sort of patron saint."

The exchange was making Hermione increasingly uncomfortable. She didn't particularly trust the Slytherins in her department, and Merlin knew that – despite the respect she'd gained for Malfoy in the past week – she still didn't trust him. But she had to work with them, and carrying that sort of hate and suspicion around didn't exactly make for a pleasant working environment.

Hermione bit back the comment that Harry had nearly ended up in Slytherin and that he still exhibited the qualities that would have earned him a spot there. He just hadn't needed ambition during his life post-war. Whether he liked it or not, he didn't need it to get what he wanted. But she'd seen enough of his family to know that he could be as manipulative as any of the Slytherins he was accusing. What was worse, if pressed he usually had some perfectly righteous rationale.

She saw Alfred approaching out of the corner of her eye and cast a discreet Finite Incantatem to cancel the muffling spell, thankful that the food would curtail any additional uncomfortable discussion.

The smell of fish and chips tickled her nostrils. For all the wonderful food that the elves cooked, nothing compared to the Three Broomsticks' fish and chips. She dumped a generous amount of vinegar on her fish.

"I'm surprised to hear you defending Snape, Hermione. Hasn't he resisted every educational reform you've tried to push through?"

For the love of Merlin, she always managed to forget that Harry Potter had a one track mind. She chewed, thinking of how to phrase her response. "He has, but here's the funny thing, Harry. I've noticed that several have been implemented."

At Harry's sceptical expression, she continued, "The changes might not have been as sweeping as the ones I recommended, but... he obviously understands the dynamics of running a school, and it looks like he selected the changes that could be introduced without ripping apart everything that binds the school together..." She stabbed at her fish with her fork. "...which my plans, in retrospect, probably would have done."

Harry was a bit quieter after that. Perhaps he'd finally learned to respect the twitching eyebrow that signalled she was about to lose her temper and begin threatening assorted body parts with physical harm. Hermione asked after Ginny and the kids, who occupied the conversation for the remainder of lunch.

Lunch finished, Harry pushed back his chair and asked, "Well, are you ready to get this nasty bit of business over with?"

She nodded, gathering up her cloak and handbag.

"You know I wouldn't go back there for anyone else, don't you? I opened it once for your co-worker, and that was enough. I didn't even have to go down there then."

She shrugged on her cloak. "I really appreciate it, Harry. I need to see if there are similarities with the chamber I'm researching."

"Effing Salazar Slytherin. You know there will be."

"I'm a researcher, Harry. I can't be biased like that." She slumped when she realized she had stiffened her spine, again, at the accusation.

"Right, Hermione."

Harry waved to Alfred, and they began the trek back to the castle.

"So how's mini-Hermione?"

She considered shoving Harry off the path into the lake. "Hugo is fine."

"Started studying for his O.W.L.s already?" Harry snickered.

"Well, at least he has the good fortune to be in Ravenclaw where it's the normal thing to begin studying fourth year. I'm sure he doesn't miss the ridicule of his peers."

Harry grinned. "All part of the Gryffindor charm, Hermione."

"He gets enough from his sister, thanks."

"And how is Rosie?"

"I don't know. She's said four words to me since I arrived at Hogwarts." Hermione sighed. "But I'm having tea with both of them tomorrow."

"Give them my love, will you? Rosie's had a hard time of it since Ron died."

Hermione grit her teeth. "I know, Harry. I'm her mum."

"I'm not an idiot. I know you're her mum. She's just... really missing her dad. More than Hugo, I think."

Hermione stopped in her tracks. "Harry, how do you know this?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "She owls me."

"Rose owls you." Hermione blinked back tears.

"She's owled me for a few years..."

Hermione stared at him, blinking.

"I am her godfather."

Hermione began walking towards the school.

"Hermione, come off it."

She stopped again. "Harry, it's fine. I'm... glad she has someone to talk to, but can we please stop talking about this right now? We need to go open the chamber while Snape has the wards down."

She could hear Harry's sigh as he walked past her, and she watched as he climbed the hill, his jaw set. They walked the rest of the path in silence, and it wasn't until the castle was in sight that he said, "Do I need to cast a Notice-Me-Not Charm? Or will the kids still be at lunch?"

"Lunch was served ten minutes ago, so you should be clear."

They entered the castle and were soon standing in a familiar corridor on the second floor. "Ready to greet your biggest fan, Harry?"

Harry groaned. "You're lucky I didn't remember before now. I might not have come."

She laughed as she opened the door, jumping back when she came face to face with Moaning Myrtle.

"Oh, it's you," Myrtle said, pouting. The ghost's expression brightened when she saw Harry. "Oh, Harry! You promised you'd come to see me every year. It's been aaaaaages." Myrtle did a somersault mid-air and floated in front of them with her chin propped on her hands. 

"Sorry about that, Myrtle... See, they've closed off the bathroom. I, uh, wasn't sure how to find you."

Myrtle sniffled audibly. "The Saviour of the Wizarding World can't be bothered visiting old friends."

"Myrtle, I'm not at school any longer. I've got a job and a family and a wife and a dog. It's not as if it's exactly convenient for me to come up here."

Myrtle sobbed. "You're married?" She plunged into a toilet. "I'll just go and play with the squid."

Harry groaned. 

Hermione chuckled. "See what I mean? Time-Turner accident. Things do not change." With Myrtle out of the way, Hermione opened the first cubicle door. 

"Need a bit of privacy there?"

"No, I just want to have a look at the walls and see if there are any carvings in here. Did you know there were runes on the wall across from the Room of Requirement?" Her voice echoed off the cubicle walls.

"Really?" Harry replied, sounding about as interested as if she'd told him the price of bread in Surrey.

"Yes, I think that's how the room worked. The runes outside must have interacted with the runes inside."

"Hunh. Is that why they weren't able to fix things after the war?"

"I think so. One of the walls partially collapsed, and they replaced the stones with fresh ones, afraid that the previous ones were compromised. Of course, if they'd replaced the stones, they surely wouldn't have put them back in the proper placement."

"Now that's a jigsaw puzzle I wouldn't want to do."

She shut the door to the last cubicle and walked to the sinks. Nothing. Not so much as a scratch marred the walls. "Very odd. Well, shall we go to the chamber?"

Harry nodded. "Merlin, it's been ages since I've spoken Parseltongue. I wonder if I still can."

"You might have mentioned this before now."

"Hermione, I'm teasing. I can't speak to snakes at will any more, but I don't think I'll ever be able to forget these words." He shivered.

Harry stared at the snake carved above the tap. He hissed, sending goosebumps up Hermione's arms. The wall yawned open, revealing a passageway she'd hoped to never see again.

"You might want to cast an Impervious Charm on yourself," Harry said before disappearing in the mouth of the entrance.

Hermione cast the charm and tried to quiet the nervousness that nipped at her. She stepped onto the slide and shoved off. The twisting, turning slide shook her lunch, threatening to dislodge it entirely.

Fortunately, the ride ended before her stomach could protest too vigorously. She clutched her stomach as she stood at the bottom of the slide. "It's moments like that which remind me that I'm certainly not seventeen any longer."

Even Harry looked dizzy. "I do not remember it being that bad."

"Well, I'd forgotten how utterly creepy this room is." She stared at the enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin, her head cocked to the side. It was a bit incongruous that the other chamber didn't have anything identifying its creator. Slytherin had obviously been rather proud of this particular room. It seemed everywhere she turned in the room there was a snake in sight. She shivered. 

She turned her attention to the dark, meandering spot on the floor. "Looks like they've removed the entire Basilisk corpse."

"Hmmm. I wonder what happened to it."

"Potions ingredients. Ministry-regulated of course." She began pacing the perimeter of the chamber. "I thought the runework would be much more obvious. Although... this room was largely constructed to house the Basilisk. Since that was the room's primary purpose, it may not have needed to do much else. Although, I'd expect to see something to at least provide a heat source. You'd think a reptile would need one, and runes could provide that..."

Harry shuffled nervously. "Right, well, this chamber is all but making my scar tingle. What is it you need to do down here?"

"Will you help me look for runes, Harry?"

"Hermione, I wouldn't know a rune if it were inscribed on my forehead."

She stood dumbly for a moment, wondering if Harry's scar was really the rune for sun rather than a lightening bolt. Fascinating. "Just look for markings on the wall, Harry. If you find anything, I'll figure out if it's a rune or not. How about I start to the left of the statue and you start on the right?"

Forty-five minutes later, her shoulder bumped Harry's. "Nothing?"

"Not even half a rune. I didn't see anything."

"The floor?"

Harry nodded. They walked to opposite corners and got to their hands and knees. Twenty minutes later, they met in the centre of the room.

Hermione grumbled, "I supposed I'd better check the ceiling, to be thorough. Will you levitate me? You'll have a better eye for directing my path from the floor."

Harry levitated her, and she hovered six inches from the ceiling as Harry directed her movement.

"Nothing, Harry. You can let me down."

She floated to the floor. Harry mopped sweat from his brow.

"The statue?"

Together they scoured every inch, Harry griping the entire time about Salazar Slytherin and his hubris. Well, not that Harry used the word hubris. His diatribe was a little more... profane than that. Despite her abused eardrums, the search still came up with nothing.

"Thanks for your help, Harry. I'm still rather confused that we didn't find anything." She began walking back towards the passageway, Harry following behind. She stopped. "I wonder if we should move the rocks–"

Exasperated, Harry interrupted, "Hermione, if you haven't found anything yet, then you're not going to find anything there, and if I'm going to have the magical strength to get myself back to the top, then I certainly can't levitate boulders."

"Getting a little soft around the middle now that you've entered management?"

"Ha. Bloody. Ha."

Hermione grinned then levitated herself, steering herself up the dark tunnel by feel. She sat panting on the floor as she waited for Harry. She'd just caught her breath when he floated out of the tunnel and flopped next to her.

"Thanks again, Harry. Obviously, I couldn't have investigated the chamber without you."

"I think we might finally be even for the Forest of Dean."

Hermione snorted and stood, offering Harry her hand to help him up. "Nothing could ever make us even for the Forest of Dean." She grinned.

They left the room to find Severus waiting in the corridor. Once the door shut, he began recasting the wards to seal the room.

"Snape, good to see you."

"Potter." His eyes turned to Hermione. "I take it your trip is complete?"

"It is. Other than a dank smell and surprising absence of moss, there were no similarities between the rooms."

Snape's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. She might have missed it if she hadn't taken tea or meals with him for five days straight. He'd never admit it, but he had been worried about a link between the two chambers.

Harry shifted from one foot to the other. "Right. I'm just going to pop by the Gryffindor Common Room." At Snape's raised eyebrow, he continued, "To see my kids, not my fan club. I'm sure the Gryffindors have heard enough stories about how mean a dad I am to tarnish my shine."

Hermione watched Harry's back as he retreated. She wondered what it was that kept her from just waltzing into the Common Room as if she belonged there. Perhaps she needed to intrude more into her daughter's life. Maybe she'd been too optimistic about their progress this past summer.

She was still staring down the corridor when she felt Snape's hand on her shoulder. "Hermione?"

Turning around, she found him eyeing her with a puzzled expression. "Did something happen in the chamber? You seem a bit... off."

Shaking her head, she replied, "No, it's just... it's been a long day, and I'm a bit frustrated to still be lacking a solid direction."

"I see. Well, you've missed tea, and it's nearing dinner time. My office in fifteen minutes?"

"Could we make it thirty? I'd like a few minutes to clean up."

Snape eyed her speculatively.

"I feel disgusting."

His eyebrow rose.

She rolled her eyes. "The entrance to the chamber is disgusting and slimy. Despite the Impervious Charm, I feel like I've been swimming in muck. I'll see you in a half hour." She turned on her heel and left for her quarters, ignoring Snape when he called her name.

A half hour and one glorious shower later, she entered Snape's office to find him already seated at the table, plates of food in front of both their places.

"You might have asked what I wanted," she grumbled as she approached the table.

"I might have asked if you hadn't stomped off in a snit," Snape said, his eyes revealing amusement rather than the anger she would have expected.

Hermione begrudgingly shed a bit of the day's frustration. Even more dissipated when she sat down to find a plate of bangers and mash. She looked up to find Snape smirking at her.

"Mosey suggested this might be an adequate dinner."

Not quite trusting herself to speak, she nodded then tucked into dinner, relishing another divine Hogwarts meal.

Severus waited until she'd finished dinner before he pounced. "Care to share what had you stomping off like a fifth year?"

Ah, Snape. Always with a prickly layer wrapped around his concern. She found herself smiling. "It's been a frustrating day."

"Really. I'd have never guessed."

She glared at him and sighed. "I'm at a complete dead end on my research."

"I cannot possibly imagine that research is what has you so upset."

She wanted to scream.

"Did Boy Wonder upset you?" Snape needled further.

Great. It wasn't just that Snape was bullying her into talking about things, but he cut through her flimsy excuse. She could have complained about research for hours, too. "Yes, Harry upset me."

"We're going to be here for quite a while if you continue to stall my questions. Should I call for... tea?"

Hermione saw the corner of his mouth twitch, just the tiniest bit. Her jaw dropped before she burst out laughing. "No, tea will not be necessary, Severus. I think I can manage to speak without tea."

She settled back into her chair, shaking her head and smiling. Her smile faded as she tried to determine what to say. Merlin, the issue with Rose seemed ridiculous now that she tried to put it to words. Right. The Slytherin issue then. "Harry's views towards... Slytherins were unsettling."

Snape rolled his eyes. "So he had the usual to say? We're all evil and conniving? Except Snape?"

"Something like that," she mumbled. Was there some way to signal to Mosey that this conversation would go down much better with coffee and blueberry crumble?

"Potter doesn't know any Slytherins well enough to make character judgements on the house as a whole."

She stared pointedly at Snape.

Through clenched jaw he ground out, "I do not count, Hermione. And Potter hardly knows me well. The contents of a vial of memories nearly twenty years ago and his pestering me at every Ministry event since does not a friendship make."

"Well, Harry would have been friends with Slytherins during school if they hadn't been so horrible to him."

Snape was going to strain something if he rolled his eyes more. "Yes, because it's impossible to make new acquaintances once one has left school."

Hermione frowned. "Harry has a rather limited social circle. He's... afraid most people want something from him."

"I suppose that is rather understandable, given his fame. So does his paranoia extend to all houses or only my own?"

"Mostly to Slytherin, verbally anyway, but he suspects everyone. He's really only friends with people that he knows from school. But, you know, it's not as if any Slytherins were friendly to him while we were at Hogwarts."

"It was not politically possible for anyone in Slytherin House to be seen supporting or befriending Potter when he was in school. There were plenty of students in my house who might have been friends with him if the times hadn't been so politically charged."

"Well, if they really felt that way, they should have stood up for what they believed."

"Yes, because courage and righteousness is so very characteristic of the house," Snape said dryly.

He summoned Mosey, thank Merlin. Coffee and dessert.

"And how many Slytherin friends do you have, Hermione?"

She fumbled around for an answer. 'Uh, one, maybe, if he doesn't give me the boot when this conversation is over' wouldn't work. She wasn't not friends with Slytherins in her department. If she fudged things a bit, she might be able to claim four people.

He interrupted her thoughts, "For a researcher, you are appallingly closed-minded."

She ought to be offended. But there was more than a bit of truth in what Snape had said. She straightened in her chair. Well, she could change that. Merlin knew she served on enough committees with Slytherins. Really, it wouldn't hurt her to network more with people in all the houses. And perhaps she could start having dinner parties again.

Looking up to find Snape smirking at her, she knew he'd deduced her train of thought. Again. "We don't need you to champion us, Hermione. Just recognise Slytherins for their strengths as well as their faults. All of the houses have both of them, you know."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. I'm not a complete idiot."

"I never said you were an idiot. But since Voldemort's ascension to power, the word ambition has become a slur. You can see it everywhere. Even the Daily Prophet won't use the word. Politicians have 'aspirations' these days," he paused, taking a moment to observe her rigid posture. "Pardon me. It's... rather a sore spot."

"Getting a bit righteous about it, aren't you?" Hermione teased, relieved to see Mosey deliver dessert. She mouthed a silent 'thank you' to the elf upon seeing blueberry crumble.

He glared at her. "I rather dislike being continually exempted from the rest of my house or described as 'Snape, the Good Slytherin'."

"You have to admit, you do stand out a bit. It's not like there were many other shining examples to come out of the war."

His glare intensified. She felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. But even as she watched his posture for any sign that he was angry, she saw none of the usual signs. The tense posture. The twitching eyebrow. The stream of invective.

At length, he sighed wearily and said, "Hermione, you cannot make exceptions for prejudice. People don't get to ignore that I was a Slytherin just because I was deemed a war hero. I am as cunning and ambitious as any other Slytherin you'll ever meet. Probably more so."

Her heart sank and it must have shown in her expression. "Good grief. That's not a bad thing! It doesn't mean I'm evil."

"Severus Snape, have you completely forgotten what it was like for Muggle-borns during the war? There were no Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, or Gryffindors who called me Mudblood, who captured me, who dragged me to Malfoy Manor, who Crucioed me."

His anger deflated. "I'm not going to go so far as to say that was coincidence. But there were plenty of Slytherins who didn't do those things. And there were plenty of Snatchers and other servants of Voldemort who hailed from other houses. The sins of the few should not damn the whole."

She sipped her coffee and considered her next words carefully. "I'm not saying you're wrong, Severus. But most of us haven't had cause to examine our prejudices. And most of Voldemort's well-known Death Eaters were from Slytherin House. To change public perception, you have to give them suitable reason to change their thinking. Most of us are too busy going about our daily lives to give a second thought to beliefs so widely accepted."

Severus grumbled.

Hermione grinned. "If you want faster and more widespread results, Severus, then you'll have to come up with methods that are a bit more..." She paused, waiting for him to make eye contact. "...obvious, brash, bold."

He snorted. "We'll just hire a Gryffindor to manage our public relations campaign then."

"Exactly."

Snape seemed disinclined to continue the discussion, turning his attention instead to his dessert. Relieved that such a difficult conversation had ended, she put a forkful of the blueberry crumble into her mouth and sighed as it melted. This moment was the absolute highlight of her day.

As she took the last sip of coffee, Hermione yawned; Snape must have had Mosey use Decaffeination Charms. The day had completely drained her. The conversation had exhausted her reserves. She had nothing left. Forms. Paperwork. Runes. Correspondence. It all would have to wait.

She bade Snape good night and trudged to her chambers. After performing only the bare minimum of her nightly routine, she tumbled into bed.