Attack By Stratagem

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me. Just borrowed. Will be returned. Snape is welcome to stay, though.

A big Thank You goes to my beta-reader, Maggie, and my beta-reader and brit-picker, Melusin, who both are always encouraging, helpful, and thorough.

Chapter 12 – Attack By Stratagem

1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.

So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;

supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. (Sun Tzu, The Art of War, III. Attack by Stratagem)

Hermione cast stealthy glances at the sleeping man who sat beside her in the passenger seat of an old and battered VW van. His long legs were stretched out as far as the legroom permitted; the seat was pushed back as far as possible, the seatback set to a reclining position. He had his arms crossed over his chest; his face was relaxed, and from time to time, he snored softly.

She was carefully manoeuvring the vehicle over the narrow winding, rural roads of the Northern Highlands of Scotland. While the scenery was breathtaking, Hermione wasn't an experienced enough driver to truly appreciate it, especially considering the slippery road conditions of a rainy, early December day.

Hermione smirked to herself. She would have time enough to take in the sights when Snape was driving again. Right now, she was using the opportunity to watch and think about the man who trusted her enough to sleep peacefully while she was driving, and who had become something of an enigma to her.

They were on their way to rescue Lucius Malfoy from Azkaban.

"You want me to come with you to get Lucius Malfoy out of Azkaban?" Hermione remembered asking incredulously when Snape told her of his mission.

"If you don't feel up to the task, I shall have to look for someone else."

Hermione ground her teeth. "Why?"

"There are plans to free the prisoners, especially Bellatrix Lestrange. And the Dark Lord wants all of the Malfoy family dead. He wants Lucius punished for his failure in the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione had to bite her tongue. Her attitude towards threatened Death Eaters in general, and Lucius Malfoy in particular, was less than benevolent. She was very much reminded of Harry's attitude towards Slytherins. Was she becoming a hypocrite? And was it fair to compare Slytherins and Death Eaters in this situation?

While Snape watched her stony-faced, Hermione came to the conclusion that she didn't have enough information.

"Is there a reason to suspect that the prisoners aren't safe and secure in Azkaban? The Dementors have left, haven't they? Are there plans to attack the Aurors and prison guards? Are there indications that they aren't up to their jobs?"

Snape gave up the pretence and smirked at her, a gleam of approval in his eyes. "They can be bribed." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "I should know that since I was behind the bribing. I am in charge of the planned Death Eater raid, you see."

"Oh?" Hermione denied him the satisfaction of watching her lose her composure.

"Yes. Albus was mistaken in his assumption that Lucius would be safe in Azkaban." Another half-amused gleam; obviously, Snape was challenging her. He enjoyed baiting her. She had figured that out the second week after her arrival, and by now it had become a game of sorts.

"Was he? I didn't know he was that concerned about Lucius Malfoy's safety, at all," she replied calmly, casting a stealthy glance at him.

Snape was smiling openly now, a sight that could terrify the weak of heart. Clearly, he was closing in for the kill. "Yes, he was. You see, Lucius Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore made a deal."

"What?" she shrieked, but checked herself immediately. "Did they? How interesting!" Grinning at him sheepishly, she conceded defeat.

"You still have a lot to learn," he said almost amiably.

"Well, I'm learning from the master, aren't I?" she threw in flippantly.

"Don't be impertinent," he replied, but failed to rise to her baiting. When he saw her disappointed face, he gave her one of his very rare laughs. "Better luck next time." And with an amused smirk, he quoted, "Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sun Tzu again? So instead of destroying the enemy, Professor Dumbledore tried to get as many of them as possible on our side, so he didn't have to fight them?"

"Exactly!"

Hermione was still marvelling at the normal, almost friendly interaction between Snape and herself. She had learned more about the man in the last few weeks than she had in her six years at Hogwarts. Her greatest surprise had been the utter lack of anger he displayed at her teasing and challenging. Careful analysis of his past behaviour made her realise that the only times she had seen him lose his temper had been in Potions class, or when Harry or the Marauders were involved. Since neither of them was around at the moment, Snape could almost be called a normal human being. This didn't mean that he didn't get angry or call her names, but she wasn't exactly even-tempered either, and Snape tolerated her own outbursts of outrage with surprising patience.

"So, what was this deal about?" she asked, curious again.

"After the Dark Lord's return, Lucius found that being a servant didn't agree with him all that well, after so many years of independence. He never minded a bit of Muggle baiting and manipulation, but being the one to be manipulated and having his family threatened was not to his liking at all. That's why he went to Albus Dumbledore the year after the Dark Lord returned. Albus and Lucius made a kind of truce: Lucius would protect Harry Potter's life as best he could, and in turn, Albus would protect Lucius' family. And that's what they both did. That was the deal."

"When did Lucius Malfoy ever protect Harry?" Hermione frowned in consternation.

"He stopped the other Death Eaters from killing Potter in that ill-fated quest to retrieve the prophecy."

"So he did...Wait a minute... You're not saying that he was ordered... That would mean that you knew of the trap in advance."

"I did know that something of the sort was planned, and so did Albus. We didn't exactly know when it would happen, though. Why do you think Albus forced me to teach Occlumency to the boy? None of this scheme would have worked had he made an effort and learned Occlumency. No Potter at the Ministry, no trap, no prophecy, no dead godfather..." Snape narrowed his eyes and scowled.

"So you're saying it was all Harry's fault?" Hermione glared at him with all the resentment that had accumulated over the years.

Snape took a few deep breaths and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No," he admitted in barely more than a whisper. "We gambled and lost. Potter, with his idiotic obsession with snooping around and getting into trouble, was wide open for the Dark Lord's manipulations."

"But you knew... You must have known that Kreacher..."

"No, that I did not know. How could I have known about the idiotic actions of Sirius Black? And neither Bellatrix Lestrange nor Narcissa Malfoy were much inclined to share their secrets with me. We had thought the house-elf safely enough bound to Black to protect his secrets. We should have inferred from Dobby's behaviour that a determined house-elf will find a way to get his revenge."

"And that makes the inane arguments for enslaving them even more of an outrage, don't you think?"

"Not again! Can't you leave well enough..."

"Not you, too? Don't give me that shit about them being happy to serve and all that."

Snape sighed and gave her a long-suffering look. "Haven't you learned that the elves don't know how to be free? Why do you think they are so angry with Dobby? The ones who are treated well don't miss a freedom they never knew. And they don't understand the suffering of those who are abused. The loyalty to their families is usually so strong that Kreacher and Dobby's actions are basically unheard of. House-elves are afraid of freedom; they would have to look out for themselves. That's a scary thought if you've never had to do it. If you want to free the elves, you'll need to teach them how to be free first. I thought you'd have understood that by now."

Was there disappointment in his voice? Hermione wasn't certain. She bit her lip and looked at him, not knowing what to answer. He gave her another resigned look.

"Let it be for the time being. An endeavour like that needs a lot of time, patience and planning. If you get through all this alive, then you can do it. And there might even be help. I know that Albus would have helped you..."

"He would have?" Hermione's throat felt tight.

"Yes. He used to praise you highly for your devotion. He used to defend you against everyone who belittled or ridiculed you, stating that you just needed to adjust your methods and to include the ones you wanted to free in the process."

"He had a point," Hermione admitted grudgingly. "But it's so unfair. They deserve justice. I'm glad that Professor Dumbledore, at least..."

"Dumbledore?" Snape laughed bitterly. "If you adopted Dumbledore's interpretation of justice, only the house-elves associated with Slytherins would ever be freed. Heaven forbid that one of the saintly Gryffindor families would be relieved of their servants."

Hermione flushed. "That's unfair. Dumbledore was always..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered, shame-faced, how Dumbledore had always favoured Harry and his friends. "Well, you weren't the epitome of justice either, you know," she finally whispered, glancing at him sideways.

Snape smirked. "Call it balancing the accounts. I at least had the excuse of having to keep the Death Eaters happy, and I was favouring my own house, something every Head of House is well advised to do. What was his excuse as the Headmaster of the whole school?"

Hermione flushed even more. "The sense of justice in the wizarding world seems to be, ah, rather eccentric in general. A bit unreliable...if I think of the machinations of the last Minister and the likes of Malfoy..." She narrowed her eyes. "That brings us back to the main topic: Malfoy's involvement and the events at the Ministry...You said you didn't know about the trap... But I thought you were, and are, a trusted servant?"

"At that time, my role as a spy was more important than partaking in raids. That's why I wasn't always told. It was one of the reasons why Albus wanted me to get closer to the Dark Lord. It was also one of the reasons to give me the Defence Against the Dark Arts job."

"Let me get this straight. The Defence job meant that Professor Dumbledore trusted you completely, and that was what You-Know-Who wanted, so he would tell you more about his plans." Hermione felt as if she had been living in a fog these past years. She closed her eyes. There were so many layers of reality, so many goings-on in the background that she and her friends had never even imagined.

When she looked up again, she saw that Snape had been watching her quietly.

"Exactly," he agreed. "And it worked. The Dark Lord was pleased and so was Albus. And the Underground grew."

"And there are so many people in the Underground. And that's the reason why there are so many, isn't it? Over three-hundred witches and wizards. That's incredible. And it's wonderful. And it's all your doing."

Snape didn't reply. He only smirked at Hermione's enthusiasm, gave her a small bow and went away.

---

Hermione frowned and turned on the headlights. What she hadn't understood right away, but did now, was that Snape was in the middle of things. He would be hit from all sides if things went bad. She simply couldn't distrust him any longer. When she had decided to believe him after he had shown her the Pensieve memories, it had been a decision of the mind, a decision of reason. But now, after she'd had a deeper insight into Snape's personality, after she had learned what he'd done to amend for the mistakes he had made in his youth...now she found that trusting Snape had become a decision of the heart.

She sighed and cast another glance at the sleeping wizard. Who would have thought that he was such an intriguing character? The thought still filled Hermione with horror; it seemed simply impossible to actually like the man. And yet, these last few weeks, often spent in his company, had been so exciting and stimulating that she had hardly found the time to think, let alone grieve over the separation from her friends or to bemoan her isolated state.

After she had learned about the plan to coerce Voldemort into hasty and ill-thought out attacks, the urgency of her wanting, and needing, to help Harry with his quest had hit her full force. However, there hadn't been any need to remind Snape of her wish to indirectly help her friends. Snape seemed to feel a similar urgency because he had approached her two days later. If she felt ready, he would take her on her first mission: a "dig".

Going on a dig meant going to a graveyard and exhuming a freshly deceased corpse. The digging had to be done without magic to avoid leaving any detectable magical residue behind.

Hermione took turns with the other members of the small group for digging and standing watch. It was a sweaty, dirty job, but Hermione hadn't complained. She had listened, watched, obeyed Snape's commands without question and worked hard.

When they returned to Nan Guthan, Bee helped her clean up, and when most of the group were assembled after dinner, they gave her a name.

This had proven to be a bit of a problem. Normally, newcomers had a month or two to adapt and be tested before going on their first mission. The people in the cave had time to get to know the newcomer and make suggestions for a name that fitted the personality. However, Hermione had only been with the group for a little over a week, and hardly anyone knew her. Thus, there were only two suggestions for her pseudonym.

The first came from Draco Malfoy, who suggested 'Beaver'. The second suggestion was 'Nightshade' and came from Perry Price. To Hermione's great relief, the vote for 'Nightshade' was overwhelming with only two votes for 'Beaver', and Hermione could just guess who had cast those.

"Why Nightshade?" Carlotta Pinkstone asked, puzzled.

"I like the name. Plants of the Nightshade family are very useful," Hermione replied, back in full know-it-all mode. "They can be nourishing, like potatoes, peppers and aubergines."

"And they can be sweet and succulent like fresh, ripe tomatoes," Price said, smiling flirtatiously.

Hermione blinked. "Err... They can also be deadly poisons, like Henbane and Datura. And they can be potions ingredients, like the Bittersweet Nightshade, or the Black Nightshade."

"And Belladonna," Snape added.

All eyes turned to him; no one had noticed that he had joined the group.

"If you are ready, Nightshade, I would like to discuss your tasks with you." He gave her a small nod, and she followed him into the office cave.

Since Hermione had chosen to join the active fighters and go on outside missions, she was required to partake in the fighter training that was alternately led by Price and Snape and which closely resembled the special training Price had given her and her friends at Hogwarts. Snape had also offered to continue her Occlumency lessons and to introduce her to Legilimency.

He had not, however, mentioned her request for continuing her research to help Harry. Hermione had had to remind him.

"What is so important about Potter's quest that you are willing to endanger the whole Underground in order to help him? If I allow this, you will try to contact him."

Hermione winced. "It is essential that Harry does not fail. The whole outcome of this war depends on Harry's success. If you want this to end quickly, then we'd all better support Harry as much as we can."

"Merlin help us! I don't know what Albus was thinking! To leave a task as important as this to children..."

"We're not children any longer," Hermione snarled, annoyed. "I don't quite see why he shouldn't have given the task to Harry, seeing as Harry is the one who will have to face You-Know-Who. At least then Harry will know that he's done everything possible to prepare himself for the confrontation."

"Then tell me what this task is."

"I can't. It is so very important that it must remain a secret. Please!"

Snape studied her quietly with narrowed eyes. She stared back, defiance and a plea for understanding chasing each other on her face.

"And what is it you wish to do?" he finally asked.

"I want to go back to Arundel Castle and finish what I started. And there are other magical archives I'd like to check out. I could go in disguise..."

"Someone will have to accompany you at all times. It is very risky. If any of your group were to be captured, the secret of the Underground would be revealed."

"Is it more of a risk than grave-digging and other outside missions?"

"Those are all essential. No one else can do that for us. I am still not convinced that you really need to do this. Surely your friends will be able to continue without you? There are more important things you could be doing here."

"Such as?"

"Helping Bee with the modified Polyjuice Potion. She is looking for a way to make it efficient through skin contact. The rescue missions rely too much on me and my ability to control Inferi. If the corpses could be doused with such a potion, it would be possible to make the exchange without using Inferi in most cases when there is an advance warning. I may not always be around."

Hermione swallowed. That use of Dark Magic was something she needed to ask him about. She had been very surprised that Professor Dumbledore had agreed to use such means. However, at the moment, she knew it was more important to convince Snape to let her go and continue her work for Harry.

"I could still help Emmeline," she said. "But your own plan of not delaying the war for too long would make my contributing to Harry's task prudent. It could speed things up if I could find something."

"Could it? And would this be worth the risk of all these people's lives?" Snape gestured around him.

Hermione hid her face in her hands, shocked. Worded like that, her plea had sounded horribly selfish. She'd had to remind herself forcefully what Horcruxes were. She took a deep breath. "Yes!" she whispered. She looked up at Snape and wailed, "I can't believe I just said that."

Snape looked as if he had sucked on a lemon. "Very well, then. I shall talk to Bee about it. We will have to find a way for you to proceed with as little risk to the Underground as possible."

"Thank you, sir." Hermione let out a long, quivering breath of relief and gratitude.

---

After several consultations, Emmeline Vance, Snape, Minerva McGonagall and Hermione had worked out a routine that would allow her to visit the magical archives and to do her research. She had already revisited Arundel Castle accompanied by Snape, who as of late had sent Price more and more often to teach Harry and Ron and had spent more and more time with Hermione's training. Only, the search hadn't gone any faster now than it had before. Looking through the archives and searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack was tiring and monotonous work. Once again, she wished for a database charm.

"Make one if you need one," Bee suggested. "You have an excellent knack for Charms; you can do it. Break the problem into little solvable parts for a start."

Bee was an expert at Charms and a competent consultant as well as a warm-hearted and caring woman. She had remembered Hermione from the time she had spent at Grimmauld Place after Order meetings, and the two of them had become friends of sorts. Hermione felt that she could always go and ask Bee for advice.

Hermione stopped the van because a flock of sheep was blocking the road. She waited patiently until two border collies rounded up the last of the stragglers, reliving in her mind how that unexpected friendship had led to a rather embarrassing moment for her. She grinned sheepishly and peered at the sleeping Snape again. It had been embarrassing for her, but it had also shown her Snape in a completely new light. It was then that she had started to see her former teacher as an ordinary man and not the threatening teacher or the intimidating archetype of a powerful wizard with unclear morals and loyalties.

She had been working all night because she had known that she was close to solving the puzzle of the Google Charm, as she had called it. Google was a new search engine, something her parents had been quite delighted about the last time she had visited them. They were fascinated by computers and a worldwide virtual source of information, interaction and entertainment: the Internet. When they had shown her how fast that Google program found information for specific keywords, Hermione had wished that she had something like that for searching the library, instead of always having to meticulously go through Madam Pince's card files.

And now she'd done it. In the early morning hours, a streak of genius had induced her to combine a simple Four-Point Spell with a Summoning Charm and the complicated sequence of charms used on enchanted quills. The Google Charm worked perfectly in the Underground's library. Hermione had every right to expect it to work just as well when used in an archive or another large library.

Hermione had been so happy and excited that she'd just had to share her success with someone. Looking at the enchanted ceiling, she noticed that the sun had already come up. She left her books and notes in the library cave and hurried to Emmeline Vance's quarters.

"Bee, I've got it! It works," she cried, running into Emmeline's bedroom. A rather unexpected sight met her, making her stop short. A head with lanky black hair lifted itself up from the pillows, and a tired face smirked at her sarcastically. Hermione thought she could see Emmeline's head buried in the pillows at the side of this disconcerting vision, but she wasn't certain. With a shrieked, "So sorry!" she turned on the spot and ran out again, breathing heavily. Her face was flushed beet-red, and she didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. In the end she decided to laugh. The quiet walk back to the library cave had calmed her down somewhat.

Had she just seen Snape in bed with a woman? The bat of the dungeons, who could only ever sneer at people and belittle them unless they were Slytherins? Snape, the Death Eater, one of the leaders of the Underground, whom she respected, admired even, but had never really seen as a person. Snape, who hadn't bitten her head off but seemed amused instead? He was a human being. He was a person with needs and wants. Snape was a man.

Hermione cringed. She did not want to think in more detail about that last aspect...that was far too embarrassing. However, her idiotic, childish view of the man (yes, the man) had been shattered forever. And that struck her as rather funny.

After years of telling Harry and Ron to treat the man (yes, the man) with decency and respect, it had needed an embarrassing moment like that for her to realise just how biased and narrow-minded she herself had been. So maybe she hadn't been quite as grown-up as she'd thought. She shook her head. That had to change. From now on, she would try to look at the people behind the facade, to try not to be intimidated or blinded by a mask, by the camouflage these people had created around themselves.

With a shiver, Hermione understood that her view of Snape hadn't been all that different from her view of Lockhart. She had seen what they had wanted her to see and reacted to them in a way they had wanted her to react. It was a bitter realization that she could be manipulated that easily. That would stop now. From now on, she would try to always look beyond the veneer. She would try to find and interact with the personality, not the persona. That resolve allowed her to face her next meeting with Snape gracefully and without too much embarrassment.

Her resolve was helped by Emmeline, who had apologized for having been too tired ('Tired? From what?' a sneaky inner voice asked but was silenced vigorously) to hear her and was excitedly listening to everything Hermione had to tell her about the Google Charm.

Hermione had expected her next meeting with Snape to be more awkward, but Snape had merely looked at her with raised eyebrows, and when she had acted normally and not overly embarrassed, he had just fallen back into their usual routine. Hermione thought she had seen a glitter of approval in his eyes, but that might just as well have been wishful thinking.

---

"How late is it?"

Aha, her passenger had woken up. "Half-past three," she told him.

"Stop at the next lay-by. I'll drive now."

Hermione did as she was told. Getting out of the car, she stretched and walked around a bit. "How much further do we have to go?"

"We should reach the safe house by late afternoon. We will leave the car there and then spend the night at the Bone Caves. We'll collect the corpse; Narcissa had some hairs from Lucius, so we can Transfigure the body ahead of time, and then we'll drive until we reach Thurso. In Thurso, we will stay with my Muggle cousin, and his home will be our headquarters for the operation. Remember not to use any magic there." He shot her a sharp glance.

Hermione sighed. They had gone through this many times already. "I shall not use any magic; I shall not talk about witches and wizards; I shall act like your slightly daft girlfriend; I shall not speak to anyone about what I hear or see there."

"Exactly."

"But why? What is it that I could see or hear in a Muggle house that I haven't seen before? Are you going to be performing some unspeakable Snape rituals? Why are you stressing this point so much?"

"It's nothing. Just do as you're told," Snape grumbled and climbed into the car.

Hermione made herself comfortable in the passenger seat and stared out of the window. They had been driving north all day. The previous night had been spent at one of the DA's safe houses where Snape had taken her by Side-Along Apparition. Safe houses were Muggle houses that were used for storing Transfigured goods until they could be transported to the caves where they were needed. They were also used to hide Muggle equipment that might be needed for outside missions, and finally, they provided shelter when DA members were travelling without magic.

"Why aren't we Apparating all the way?" she had asked after she'd learnt they would be driving most of the way to the North.

"I would have to Apparate in my Death Eater persona, and only those movements should be traceable, if anybody was tailing me. I don't want any magical traces of your presence in the area. Side-by-side Apparition would be unreliable with you and the Inferius to take along for such a distance. And we'll drive because brooms aren't the most comfortable of long-distance vehicles, wouldn't you agree?"

Hermione nodded and shuddered. Not only was it uncomfortable to sit on a broom or a magical beast for several hours, but it was also quite cold, and if they couldn't use magic, they couldn't use any warming charms or drying spells in the case of bad weather. Driving was slower but more comfortable, and certainly the least suspicious means of transport. It was also the least interesting means of transport. Hermione was bored to death. While only driving on secondary roads would keep them out of trouble, accidents, traffic jams and controls, thereby avoiding detection, it also slowed them down a great deal.

Hermione could only spend so much time thinking about the 'new and improved' Severus Snape, about their mission, or about her life of the past four weeks. In between these recollections, there was nothing but boredom. The countryside would have been pretty, in a rugged sort of way, if it hadn't been raining all the time. Rain clouds concealed the surrounding hills and mountains; the treeless slopes looked like grey-green sponges. Occasionally, a flock of sheep, also drenched and grey, would interrupt the monotony, but these distractions passed quickly.

Hermione couldn't read while driving on these winding roads without getting sick, and unsurprisingly, her companion wasn't the entertaining sort, either. But at least he was willing to answer her questions, and so she had learned a great deal more about the Underground in these past two days. There was still one thing that puzzled her, though. The occasion to ask this question had never seemed quite right. Now, however, there was nothing to distract them, and Snape couldn't get up and just leave, either.

"Nundu, if you don't mind me asking another question..."

"What is it now?" Irritation was evident, but there was no anger.

"Uhm, you know... All this time, err, I kept wondering. The Inferi... The procuring of corpses... All this is Dark... I always thought, err... You know how Professor Dumbledore..."

"Yes," he hissed impatiently. "I know what Professor Dumbledore thought about Dark Magic." He glanced at her through his curtain of black hair. "He hated it. But he couldn't come up with a better, more efficient way to rescue all these people. He happened to have a Dark Wizard at his beck and call, and I was able to convince him to use that resource."

"Don't call yourself that," Hermione interrupted. "You're not really a Dark Wizard!"

"Out of the mouths of fools and babes..." Snape snarled. "Albus used to say exactly the same thing. Things don't change their essence if you call them by another name, you know? I am what I am, and it can't be denied. But he finally remembered what he'd known all along: that being a Dark Wizard simply means having studied and being able to use Dark Magic; a branch of magic that is predatory, opposing and complementary to the so-called neutral or benevolent magic. Didn't you listen to my speech in Defence class? Without Dark Magic, nothing evolves. There would be stasis; there would never be anything new. Only with the light and dark complementing, completing each other, will the full potential emerge, either of witch or wizard, or of magic itself."

"So you're saying that the intent of the witch or wizard doesn't determine if it's Dark or not, but it's by its very nature. It's like an independent part?"

"Not independent. Never independent. Without Dark, there is no Light; without evil, there is no good. Merlin, Nightshade. Surely you don't need to be told the most basic truths of magical philosophy?"

"Uhm... And Professor Dumbledore agreed to this because the Inferi were used for saving lives and not for destruction?"

"Yes, and because he had a Dark Wizard at his command. He didn't need to tempt one of the innocent, the guileless. As you know, I'm the one who does the transforming." Another sharp glance cast in her general direction while he stopped at a passing-place to give way to a lorry that was coming towards them on the single track road.

"But he didn't like it, did he? That's why you're all working on that potion to be absorbed by the skin, so no Inferi need to be created?" Hermione nodded, thinking that she finally understood what was going on.

"Yes and no. He wanted that potion to be altered because he did not want to be dependent on Inferi. When the warning comes early enough, and we can pretend that the wizard or witch is killed in their sleep, then an Inferius isn't necessary...a corpse that looks like the intended victim works just as well. But if it is a killing in action, like yours was, then the Inferius would still be needed. It's like a safety valve in case something happens that prevents me from assisting the Underground."

"He was worried about your safety, wasn't he? He didn't want you to have to use so much Dark Magic either, did he?" Hermione declared in a no-nonsense voice. She knew that she was right, even if Snape was too stubborn to admit it. He did concede defeat, however.

"You're right. That's what he wanted," he replied, sadness thickening his voice. "I don't know why, but the old man really cared for me."

"Of course he would have," Hermione said, astonished that this should surprise him. "And deservedly so. You're risking so much for the cause you've worked so hard for all this time. All of the Underground cares for you. I'm certain. I know that those at Nan Guthan do, anyway."

"Do they now?" Snape murmured and refused to answer any more of her questions. With a sigh, she leaned back in her seat and soon fell asleep.

---

The visit to the Cave of the Bones had been fascinating. It was the second Underground refuge Hermione had got to see. The cave was a new refuge; there weren't too many people there yet. Hannah Abbott and her family were living there, and Hermione was delighted to meet them all. She also met Florean Fortescue and Mr. Ollivander, who had been rescued from a Death Eater raid on Diagon Alley a little over a year ago. Mr. Ollivander had shown her his collection of newly fabricated wands, and she had been allowed to choose one. This new wand was so much better than the substitute wand she had been given at Nan Guthan. It was even better than her old wand...the one Snape had taken from her and broken.

Feeling more complete than she had in the past four weeks, Hermione had helped Snape with the Inferius. "Drink this," Snape had commanded after the corpse had come to life and pushed a vial into the skeletal hands. The Inferius downed the potion immediately, and Hermione watched in horrified fascination how the potion was swallowed. Not having a fully functioning gullet or digestive system mattered as little to drinking as not having a functioning windpipe seemed to matter to speaking. Well, if half-beheaded ghosts could speak, why not an Inferius, she mused.

Feeling slightly sick, Hermione watched as boils and bumps erupted from the rotten flesh of the corpse. While the Inferius changed form, Snape performed a complicated sequence of wand movements and murmured a spell. When both were finished, an identical twin of Lucius Malfoy was standing where the Inferius had been before. The expression in his eyes was strangely empty, though.

All three of them hit the road again the next day to drive on to their final destination before the rescue mission: the city of Thurso on the northern-most part of the Scottish mainland.

Azkaban, she had learned, was just north of the Shetlands. Snape was going to Apparate to the Shetland Islands a day before the raid, meet the bribed prison guard who'd bring him to the island by boat, and gain access to Lucius Malfoy's cell. There, he would make the transfer, sending the Stunned Lucius to her via Portkey and receiving the Inferius in return. He would instruct the Inferius and then Apparate to one of the Death Eater hide-outs to meet up with the Death Eaters, who would accompany him on the raid where Inferius-Lucius would be killed.

But first they would establish their headquarters. They were going to visit Snape's cousin Paul in Thurso.

---

Paul Snape could have been Severus Snape's twin brother, except for the fact that his hair wasn't long and greasy, and his skin was slightly tanned. He was thin, bordering on gaunt, and he had the same large hooked nose, slightly crooked, yellowish teeth, thin black hair, and ink-black eyes. His personality, however, was exactly the opposite of Snape's.

"Your Highness!" he bellowed. "How good to see you again. It's been ages. I couldn't believe it when you phoned. Do come in, come in. And what do we have here? A little girlfriend?" He winked at Hermione, who had a hard time playing the clueless girlfriend and had to work hard to suppress her giggles. Instead, she gave Paul an innocent smile.

"Your Highness?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh, don't you know? His mum's maiden name was Prince. And his first name comes from a Roman emperor. His Highness, Severus the Half-Prince. A half-prince emperor." And Paul laughed hard while Snape looked murderous.

"Enough of that," Snape finally said. "I see that you still haven't grown up, Paulie. This is Nightshade." He put an arm around Hermione, who had the presence of mind not to flinch.

"Nightshade?" Paul said, giving her an appreciative once-over. "Looks like her parents were Hippies, eh?"

"I wonder what gave that away," Hermione said, smirking.

"Ah, sharper than you look, little girl, eh?"

"What do you mean?" She frowned and tried to get the empty expression back into her eyes.

"Us Snapes do like smart girls. I remember when you brought that fiery little redhead to a concert in London once. Bright as lightning and full of spunk. What was her name? Lisa? Lilian?"

"Lily," Snape croaked through clenched teeth.

Hermione watched the exchange wide-eyed.

Paulie winked. "Right, but never mind. That was the past; this is the present. There's no need to play the daft one, little Nightshade. I bet our Prince put you up to it. He's afraid that my charms will outshine his."

"Can we settle down, now?" Snape growled, but Hermione laughed heartily.

"You're a dangerous man, Paulie. I'd better be careful around you."

"You'd better be, love!" he cried, wiggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly and leering. This only made Hermione giggle more.

"If you two don't mind?" Snape interrupted, looking very sour. '"We have a friend with us. Lucius is ill. He needs to lie down. All this driving, you know?"

"Lucius?" Paulie guffawed. "Where do you meet these people? Blimey, Severus, all these extravagant names. Do bring him in."

They led the Inferius out of the car, and after Snape had commanded it to greet Paulie politely, it was led to a small guest room where it was ordered to lie down, pretend to sleep, and not do anything until further orders from either Snape or Hermione.

Snape and Hermione were given the master bedroom. Paulie grinned at her and winked when he showed them the room. "This one should be right for you two. Nice big bed in there.''

Hermione blushed. After Paulie left them, she spun around and faced a smirking Snape.

"You could have given me a bit of warning, you know."

"What, and miss all this?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Always glad to entertain, but what, exactly, is expected from me here?" She motioned to the big bed.

"What do you take me for?" he hissed. "The bed should be large enough, don't you think? If you keep to your side, and I to mine, we should be able to sleep peacefully." He glared at her and ground out, "I am... sorry... that I can't change the room into two but using magic here would be bad for my alibi, if it were ever found out. I had thought you understood that. And Paulie has given us the best bedroom in the house."

"Is it his? Where is he sleeping?"

"This was his parents' bedroom. He sleeps in his old room whenever he stays here. He often has visitors; he has many friends. But if it is a problem for you, I can sleep in the car. We can always say we had a fight."

"No, it's all right," Hermione said, smiling apologetically. "It just came as a bit of a surprise. And Paulie isn't quite what I expected. You know, if I have to pretend to be your girlfriend, you could at least act a bit more possessive. I don't know if I would be able to control myself should he get the idea to pinch my arse."

"Paulie is mostly bark, not bite." Snape tried to placate her. "He enjoys a bit of teasing. I thought you were grown-up enough to not be embarrassed by it." He frowned and looked at her thoughtfully. "I keep forgetting just how very young you still are."

"I'm an adult, and I'm sure it will be fine, sir," she said. "I didn't really think that he was serious. He's rather funny, actually."

Snape raised an eyebrow and gave her a half-smile. "Paulie will treat you with all the respect he can manage. But he won't stop making insinuations and teasing you. Do you think you can handle this? The other alternative would be for you to be sitting on my lap, literally, most of the time, acting completely infatuated and blind to anything else around you." He shrugged. "That would be a bit out of character for me, but then, you never know what a young girlfriend could do to a middle-aged man."

Hermione snorted. "I think we can leave that as a last resort, sir," she said with a slight smile. "I think I can manage the flirting. Paulie seems a kind enough man."

"He has his moments," Snape admitted grudgingly. "We'll be talking about old times most of the time, anyway, and then you'll have your peace."

"I see," Hermione said, but she was wondering what the next days would bring.

"And one more thing, Nightshade. Do stop calling me sir, if you please. If that slips out while someone else is listening, we'd have some explaining to do why my very young girlfriend calls me that, especially if Paulie heard it."

Hermione looked chagrined. "Right. I shall remember it. Nundu."

He nodded and went to the bathroom.

Dinner progressed amiably with a lot of teasing from Paulie and laughing from Hermione. Snape said little, and the Inferius stayed in its room.

After dinner, they shared a few drinks, and then Hermione excused herself, saying she was tired. They had told Paul that they were travelling to the Orkneys to participate in some of the Hogmanay celebrations and later moving on to the Shetland Islands to see the Up-Helly-Aa. To Paul, this explanation seemed completely plausible. He started to reminisce about customs and traditions of the area, and soon he and Snape were trading memories of their childhood. Apparently, they had spent several holidays here together.

Hermione smiled when she went to bed. It was very strange to see Snape interact with his cousin in this Muggle environment, acting like any ordinary human being.

'He is an ordinary human being', her nagging inner voice reminded her, but she shook it off. He is a human being but certainly not ordinary, she thought. It surprised her again and again just how many facets this man, whom she had only known as a stern and unpleasant teacher, kept hidden under this dour disguise.

It was undeniable that he was an interesting character. He was unfair, angry and stern but also talented, knowledgeable and intelligent. He possessed humour, a sharp wit and biting sarcasm, and his appearance underlined these traits, she thought. His demeanour was stern and un-conceited, and yet, he looked dangerous: his power seemed to ooze from every greasy pore; a fact that made him oddly attractive. A glare from him could silence a room and not only at Hogwarts...she had seen it happen in the Underground as well. A whispered threat could terrorize people; an appreciative nod from him would elate those who wanted to learn from him.

He was more of an enigma now than ever before, Hermione thought to herself. She was beginning to understand the fascination Emmeline Vance and several other women in the Underground had for Snape. 'Blimey, do I have a crush on him?' she wondered worriedly but dismissed the thought as being childish and superficial, paying no heed to the rapid beating of her heart. She had started to like the man. She wanted to be his friend. Of course she would think about and appreciate all the good qualities of a friend. Yes, that was it. She wanted to be friends with him, and now she was going to get some sleep.

Sleep didn't come. Instead, she went over the planned rescue of the next few days again and again and thought about Snape some more. Finally, she got out of bed and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. She passed a half-open door that hid a flight of stairs leading to the basement. When she went back, the glass of milk in her hand, she heard sounds coming up from below. Wondering if Paul and Snape intended staying up all night, she stopped to listen.

They were playing music. At least, that's what it sounded like. One of them must have been playing the drums, the other the guitar. They played blues and rock songs from the sixties and early seventies. They didn't play too well, though they did have a lot of enthusiasm. Hermione had just decided to join them and listen when they stopped.

"The world has never been the same since John Lennon died," Paulie said, his voice slightly slurring.

"Bloody right, and it got worse when Freddy Mercury died," Snape replied earnestly, in the firm, cordial tone of voice that only one glass too many can achieve.

Hermione backed away slowly.

The music started to play again. "I put a spell on you becauuuuse you're miiii-ine!" someone roared. Was that Snape singing? Or Paulie? Their voices weren't all that different. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to bed, regretting the promise she had made to never tell anyone what happened in this house. Snape rituals, indeed. This was just too good to keep to herself. If it weren't for that bloody promise... But then, no one would have believed her, anyway.

With the drums hammering in the background, she finally fell asleep, only to be woken up abruptly two hours later by Snape falling into bed and making the mattress bounce. Before she knew what was happening, he'd started to snore, and the rest of Hermione's night was spent between colourful curses, vain efforts to tune out the racket and brief episodes of quiet rest. If I hadn't promised not to use magic, I'd hex him into next Tuesday, Hermione thought and stared at the ceiling. However, her complaints at breakfast the next morning only earned her Paulie's amused laughter and an indignant comment from Snape that he never snored.

---

Two days later, they started off early. Snape, Hermione and the Inferius...now clad in Azkaban prison garb...left Paul's house, ostensibly to do a bit of shopping for their trip North. In reality, they drove out of town and stopped in a forest close to the beach where Snape led them to a small cave.

"This is where you will wait for the exchange. No one ever comes here. Don't use your wand unless there is an emergency."

Hermione nodded, and Snape left her, driving the van to another cave and Disapparating to the Shetlands from there. That second cave was well hidden and would serve as the Introduction Cave for Lucius Malfoy.

"Why me?" Hermione had asked when Snape had first told her about the plan.

"Because I can trust you to not kill Lucius as soon as you see him, something almost every other Underground member would feel inclined to do," he had replied, glancing at her. "I know that I can rely on you. This is not a regular mission; we will have to modify procedure and adapt it to the circumstances. I need someone I can trust completely."

"Very well, then. Tell me about the plan," Hermione had conceded, not able to suppress a pleased smile.

The cave at the beach was cold and uncomfortable. Slight drizzle was falling, and the sea looked as grey as the sky. Hermione wished she could cast a Warming Charm but instead paced the length of the cave, up and down, round and round.

After two hours of pacing, a blue light indicated that the transfer was about to take place. Only a moment later, a very surprised looking, petrified Lucius Malfoy appeared in the cave.

Hermione pried the Portkey out of his stone-like hand and ordered the Inferius to take it. She counted down, three...two...one, and the Inferius disappeared. The transfer had succeeded. Lucius Malfoy was safe.

A/N: I searched the web for weather data for the winter of 1997/98 and learned that, at least in parts of Scotland, it was an exceptionally mild December. I posted some weather- and traffic-related questions on the Snape-centric livejournal community snapedom, and people who know the Highlands of Scotland confirmed that the scenario I presented here can happen at that time of the year. Thank you, Underground! (Underground is the name the snapedom users chose for themselves, and is not at all connected to this story. :)