Chapter One: A Conspiracy Unmasked

Disclaimer: Don't own it; don't make any money from it.

Author's Notes: Thanks to morethansirius, Lady Rhian and sshg316 for their alpha/beta work on this chapter. This was originally written for lotrangel17 for the SSHG Exchange on Live Journal.

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August 18 saw Hermione making her way to the Hogwarts staff room for the first staff meeting of the 2003-2004 school year. She'd never been to a staff meeting before. True, they were probably like most other meetings, but it made her nervous not knowing what to expect. Taking a deep breath, she entered the staff room and stopped just inside the door. Professors were bustling about the room. Some were talking in small groups of two or three at the long table that had been set up in the middle of the room. Near the door, others were milling about a table which contained handouts that Hermione supposed were for today's meeting. An animated discussion drew her attention to a refreshment table on one side of the room where a group was discussing something Madam Hooch had evidently said about the Chudley Cannons.

Hermione quietly joined the queue to pick up the needed handouts for the meeting. Now what? she thought as she looked around the room and tried to decide where to go next.

Just then, Professor Vector looked up from her conversation with Professor Sprout. "Hermione! Come sit here," she called, gesturing to a seat next to her.

Hermione gave a grateful look to her former Arithmancy professor and crossed to the indicated seat. "Hi, Professor Vector. Thanks for rescuing me. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do next. Hello to you, too, Professor Sprout," Hermione added since the Herbology professor was looking at her with what Hermione privately termed her "mothery" smile.

"Oh no, dear. You must call me Septima and Professor Sprout Pomona since we are colleagues now."

"Yes, indeed you must," Professor Sprout chimed in. "I do hope you have an easier time of it than Neville has. He is a dear boy, but if he's going to be teaching classes this year, he needs to start thinking of himself as a professor."

Perhaps if you didn't refer to your apprentice as a "dear boy," he'd have an easier time doing that, was Hermione's thought. All she said, however, was, "Thank you, Septima, Pomona."

"If you'd like to get some breakfast, you might want to do that before the meeting starts," Septima advised.

"Minerva told me there'd be breakfast at this meeting," Hermione said. "I admit I've been looking forward to a good Hogwarts breakfast. I usually just have a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast."

"Yes, breakfasts here are good." Pomona nodded in agreement. "But they have a dreadful way of going to your hips." She rolled her eyes, gave a rueful smile, and patted one ample hip.

Hermione gave Pomona a small smile in return. It was nice of Septima and Pomona to be so friendly to her at her first staff meeting, but she had never thought she would be discussing Professor Sprout's weight this morning...or anytime, really. Oh well...

She made her way to the sideboard where breakfast was being served. Taking a small helping of her favourite breakfast foods and some coffee, she went back to her seat and began to eat. Professors Sprout and Vector...Pomona and Septima...had gone back to their previous discussion, leaving Hermione to eat in peace for a few moments. This didn't bother Hermione at all. She took the opportunity to look over the handouts which included the agenda for the meeting and a master schedule of classes for the school year.

Professor McGonagall entered the staff room and busied herself getting her notes ready at the podium in front of the room. She was followed almost immediately by Neville Longbottom, who quickly walked, head down, to the chair opposite his Herbology mentor. He sat down with a perfunctory, "Good morning, Professor Sprout, Professor Vector." He looked up after his nod of greeting to see Hermione. "Hermione!" He gave her a genuine smile and shook her hand enthusiastically across the table.

"Hi, Neville! It's good to see you." And it was lovely to see Neville and not feel alone as the youngest person in the room.

Neville looked as though he was about to continue the conversation, but just then, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and announced, "If you would all take your places, I'd like to begin."

There was some rustling and chattering as people took their seats. Neville said quietly, "We'll have to catch up later. Okay?"

"That'd be great, Neville." Hermione looked around the table as everyone was getting settled. Professor Trelawney sat at the back of the room, a bit apart from the table...probably wants to keep her "mental eye" clear. Firenze was also at the back of the room...well, he obviously can't sit at the table...standing at a podium of his own. Professor Babbling and Professor Binns were further down the table as were Professor Sprout, Professor Vector and Neville. It was a bit disconcerting to sit amongst this staff and realise that she was the Charms professor. As she continued cataloguing professors up toward the front of the room, she noticed two unfamiliar faces which must belong to the Muggle Studies and Transfiguration professors.

She was a bit startled when the door to the staff room opened suddenly, admitting Professor Snape. Ignoring the table with the handouts and never acknowledging anyone in the room, he stalked to the only remaining chair at the front of the room very near the Headmistress's podium and sat down. His late arrival drew every eye, and Hermione had to admit that it was enjoyable to watch the graceful way in which he moved and the fascinating swirl of his robes. She gave herself a mental shake...somebody might think I was actually attracted to him...and returned her attention to Professor McGonagall.

Minerva was looking severe, but there was a gleam in her eye as she said, "I saved a set of handouts for you, Severus." She set the handouts down at his place. He ignored them, and she continued, "I have some announcements and introductions to make. First, it has been decided that Neville is ready to teach the first year Herbology classes this year. We certainly wish to encourage you, Neville, and hope that you will find this new addition to your apprentice duties enjoyable."

A round of polite applause followed as Neville blushed a bit and responded, "Thank you, Headmistress."

"Septima will be taking on the duties of Ravenclaw Head of House now that Filius has retired. Bathsheba will be giving up her duties as Gryffindor Head of House, and our new Charms professor will be taking on those duties. I believe almost all of you know Hermione Granger, who not only was one of the students primarily responsible for defeating Voldemort, but also has more recently been responsible for the new Regulations for the Fair Treatment of House-elves. Welcome, Hermione."

Applause again followed, and Hermione responded, "I'm happy to be back at Hogwarts."

"And last, but certainly not least, is a man who wants no introduction, I'm sure. Indeed, for many years, he didn't want anyone to know that he had survived the war. Severus, I, for one, am glad that you have consented to come back to Hogwarts to teach Potions. Given what I said to you publicly the last time you were on staff here, I would like to apologise for my behaviour towards you during that final year of the war. I didn't understand what you were trying to do..." Here, Minerva had to take a deep breath. Tears shone in her eyes as she looked at Professor Snape and said, "But I should have trusted you, Severus, and I am sorry." Looking at her colleagues, she continued, "I know most of you were at the Remembrance Banquet, but it seems appropriate for us to show our appreciation to a colleague who happens to be the most recent Order of Merlin recipient."

The staff stood and applauded. Professor Snape looked as though he wished he wasn't there. Hermione stood with her colleagues, happy to be able to make this gesture. He may not have been particularly nice at school, but he had cause. We wouldn't have won the war without him. Maybe he's mellowed over time, without the stress of his spying.

All at once, the man whom Hermione didn't know began singing, "For he's a jolly good fellow, For he's a jolly good fellow..." His voice died away as he looked at the faces of his colleagues staring at him in horror. Professor Snape was giving him a violent glare. Looking around in confusion, the strange man asked, "Is that just a Muggle tradition, then? Don't any of you know the song?"

Minerva cleared her throat and covered her mouth. Hermione thought she looked as though she was trying to get the twitching of her lips under control. However, she was quite calm when she spoke, "Severus and Hermione, I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting James Beekman, our Muggle Studies professor. James, when you come to know Severus better, you will understand why no one sang along with you. Not because Severus isn't a good fellow, but because singing to him in that way would be something he would... dislike."

Despise would be more like it, thought Hermione.

The professors began sitting down. James was a few chairs away from Hermione, but he came up to her to shake her hand, saying, "Pleased to meet you, Hermione." Then going to Severus, he extended his hand and said, "Pleased to meet you too, Severus."

"Beekman," Severus said in response. James Beekman held his hand out for a full ten seconds before realizing that Professor Snape was not going to shake it. He looked from his hand to Professor Snape, shrugged and went back to his seat. Hermione gave a mental eye roll at Snape's behaviour. I guess mellowing was too much to hope for.

Professor McGonagall continued her introductions. "Our Transfiguration professor is Ivy Turner. Severus, you may remember our former student, but Hermione has likely never met her."

Hermione turned to look at a blonde lady who appeared to be about 35 years old. "Pleased to meet you, Ivy," Hermione said, smiling.

"Professor Turner," was all Severus said, but he gave her a polite nod. That was almost friendly, Hermione thought.

"Nice to meet you, too, Hermione. Professor Snape," Ivy said, nodding to each of them in turn.

"I'm sure you'll have a chance to make new acquaintances and catch up with old ones later." The staff's chatter once more quieted as Professor McGonagall moved on to the next item on the meeting's agenda. "The Master Schedule is one of the handouts. I trust you can see for yourself when you will be teaching. Take a moment to look at the schedule and see if you spot any conflicts."

After waiting for the professors to look over the schedule carefully, Minerva asked, "Does anyone have any concerns?" Looking around the room, she didn't see anyone with a concern, although not everyone was studying the schedule as diligently as Hermione. "Well, if you notice anything, let me know sooner rather than later so we can change whatever needs to be changed.

"Next is a handout of students sorted by class and house. Transfer students' names are written in green ink in their year. Of course, we'll have to wait for the Sorting Hat to let us know in what houses the new students will be. Any questions?"

Seeing none, Minerva proceeded. "As you know, we've been working over the last five years to promote an end to prejudice and an appreciation for other houses and blood statuses. The problem many of us have in trying to promote an appreciation of Muggle-borns is that we don't know much about Muggle culture. For the first time, we have two Muggle-born staff members: James and Hermione. I've spoken with both of them about my idea of teaching Muggle Appreciation to the rest of the staff, and they've agreed. Each of them will be offering a course, and I'd like all of you to choose to attend at least one of the courses. James, why don't you tell us about what you will be covering?"

James stood up. "I love Muggle sports. Don't get me wrong, Quidditch is great, but I've discovered that wizards know next to nothing about any other sports. Muggles have some great games. We'll learn about rugby, cricket, football, golf, tennis, horse racing, polo, cycling, and basketball. Then, we'll spend some time watching games to see how the sport is played. For those who wish, we might be able to try out playing some of the sports. It should be fun and exciting."

He sat down amid some excited whispering amongst Madam Hooch and her friends. Minerva said, "Hermione?"

Hermione knew that James's course would be popular. Harry and Ron would pick that course in a second compared to the course Hermione would offer. "Muggles who enjoy reading often participate in book clubs, so I thought I would offer to lead a book club. We would read a Muggle book and then meet to discuss it. Muggles have some wonderful literature. I thought it might be fun to compare Muggle and wizarding culture at the meetings, too. For example, we might compare Muggle and wizarding wines and cheeses or Muggle and wizarding gardening techniques." She looked around the room and saw some of the staff members nodding or looking interested. Well, at least I'll have a group to lead.

"Pardon me, Headmistress." The voice of Professor Snape interrupted her mental count of possible book club members. He was speaking in that quiet way that meant he was irritated. "Are you saying that all of us are expected to join one of these two groups? Don't you feel our time would be better spent in preparing for our classes or monitoring the students?"

"Yes, Severus, I expect all staff members to engage in one of these two groups. I see this as important preparation for your classes. It will assist us in relating to the Muggle-born students and in helping the pure-blood students gain a better understanding of their fellow witches and wizards. As the plan is to meet about once a month, I don't see that it will impinge too much on your grading and class preparation time." Professor Snape looked like he wished to disagree. Minerva gave him a cold stare, and he finally sat back with resignation.

His presence is likely to dampen any meeting, Hermione thought. Given our conversation at the Remembrance Banquet, he isn't likely to want to compare Muggle and Wizarding culture. He'll probably choose the sports club... I hope.

"Are there any questions for James or Hermione? No? As you leave, you will notice pieces of parchment on the table at the back. One piece is labelled for James's sports club, and one is labelled for Hermione's book club. Sign your name to whichever club you wish to participate in, and James or Hermione will contact you about their club's activities. Off you go. Lunch will be served in the small dining room."

Hermione, James and Minerva chatted as the rest of the staff left, each professor signing his or her name on the way out of the room. After the last staff member left, Minerva went to the table and signed her name to both lists. "If you don't have your meetings on the same day, I'll try to attend both clubs as long as my duties permit."

"Thank you, Minerva," James responded.

"Yes, thank you. It's kind of you to be so supportive," Hermione added.

"Not at all. I find both of your ideas interesting." Minerva picked up the lists and glanced at the signatures on each. "Well, you both have nice sized groups." She handed each of the club leaders their piece of parchment. "Please, don't be afraid to come to me if you've got questions or concerns." She gave Hermione an especially meaningful look. "Any questions or concerns."

Hermione had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach as she took her list. Minerva's look had not been comforting. She glanced down at the names on her list. The look from the Headmistress was soon explained as she saw the familiar, spiky writing of her former Potions professor. Severus Snape had signed up to be in her book club. Oh, dear...