More Than She Aksed For

Severus Snape pushed his chair back from the Staff Table and practically flew towards the door, leaving an unfinished meal behind him. Flitwick had been going on again about the "admirable job" the ministry was doing in combating the recent rise of dark magic, and if Snape had to hear one more word of that babble he was sure he would show Flitwick some dark magic of his own. The other teachers would probably believe that Flitwick had offended Snape on a personal level, his past involvement in the dark arts was no secret, but he had received a knowing glance from Minerva McGonnegal as he stood up from the table. She, the potions professor had observed, was much better at keeping her cool in such situations.

As Snape was striding towards the steps that led down into the dungeons a great, dark blue form suddenly entered his path. Practically falling over to avoid a collision, Snape was about to burst into a tirade that would most assuredly involve hundreds of lost house points when he realized that the figure was none other than that of Albus Dumbledore, with whom he was now face to face. The Headmaster showed no signs of irritation at the near catastrophe, and merely smiled at the grim looking potions professor.

"I was hoping I'd run into you, Severus," he began in a very cheery tone. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming up to my office for a minute."

"Actually, Headmaster," Snape replied rather icily, "I've just had to sit through a whole meal of that idiot's pro-Ministry bull, and I am not in the mood for any sort of civil discussion. I'll just continue on to my quarters."

Snape started to walk around his senior, but Dumbledore stepped in his way. There was less cheer in his voice now, and it wasn't difficult to detect the stress of the work of the Order on his face.

"If you are speaking of Professor Flitwick I think you will find that he could teach you a few things yet, particularly about manners. Now, if you wouldn't mind coming with me...." Dumbledore gestured towards the path to his office, and Snape knew that now he had no choice.

"After you," he sneered. As appreciative as Snape was of the second chance Dumbledore had given him, he was not above petty disagreements. He really could learn a thing or two about manners--his crass attitude towards others often overshadowed his brilliance.

They made their way to the Headmaster's office in silence, the mood decidedly tense. The silence of the castle, with all of its other inhabitants still at dinner, added to the discomfort. Finally they made it past the gargoyle (password: sugar quill), up the stairs, and into the office. They both sat down: Dumbledore relaxed in the chair behind his desk, Snape perched uncomfortably on the seat across from him, looking ready to bolt at any moment.

"Please relax Severus," said Dumbledore with a sigh. "I am not here to make your life more difficult, as you well know, and tonight I am actually attempting to make it easier." He paused for a moment, looking expectantly at Snape. Finally the discontented potions professor leaned slightly back in an attempt to settle into his chair. This satisfied Dumbledore, and he continued.

"Miss Hermione Granger came to see me several days ago." Snape immediately opened his mouth to speak, his face contorted with disbelief, but Dumbledore pressed on before he could utter a syllable. "She made a rather interesting proposal, which she said you had already had the pleasure of hearing, and rejecting." Noticing the odd combination of incredulity and rage on Snape's face, he added, "Don't worry, Severus, I gave her no encouragement and made no promise except to think it over, which I have done." He held his hand up to stop Snape, who had again opened his mouth. The professor managed to control himself and sat silently until Dumbledore continued speaking.

"At first I had the same reaction to the idea that you seem to have had. Not only did it put Hermione in incredible danger, it was also highly imprudent to put one of Harry's best friends at risk of capture, as we've learned. Voldemort is highly likely to repeat a plan that has already proven effective, and this time we might not get there in time.

But over the past few days I have not been able to dismiss the idea. My mind has kept coming back to it, searching for a way to make it work. You know I have always been supportive of doing whatever needs to be done, but the torture of innocent muggles by one of our own has always made me uncomfortable. It lies heavily on my conscience, and on yours as well, as much as you try to deny it. I can see it in your face, Severus, when you come back from one of those nights. There's grief there, so deep that not even a man of your impeccable control can hide it." Dumbledore paused here, as if expecting a retort, but Snape remained quiet. The Headmaster was entirely right, and it would be pointless to deny it. Snape hated torturing people. Once it had been enjoyable. Back in his youth, when the wounds inflicted by Potter and his entourage had still been raw, he found comfort in causing others pain. Behind the Death Eater mask he was the one in power, he had control. It was thrilling, being able to cast whatever awful curse he wanted, and knowing that the muggles couldn't fight back.

Now, however, that rush was gone. Now, after everything he had gone through, he no longer found joy in the suffering of others. He was still cruel and petty sometimes, especially with his students, but it was not out of malice that he dealt with them so harshly. There were, of course, many students that he didn't like, but his ridicule of them was not personal, merely one of his rather unconventional teaching tools. Most of his students had been praised all their life, rarely criticized, and certainly never ripped to shreds in front of others. Snape merely filled the voids in their happy lives. He figured someone, someday, would thank him for it, but he had yet to hear back.

Dumbledore nodded approvingly at his colleague's mature silence, then picked up where he had left off. "Hermione Granger is an exceptionally talented witch. No former Hogwarts student has matched her performance on the O.W.L. exams, and as you know it is widely believed among the staff that she will achieve every single N.E.W.T. offered at this school, with the obvious exception of Divination. If any current Hogwarts student is qualified to be involved in the activities of the Order of the Phoenix, it is Miss Granger."

Now Snape simply had to interrupt. "Albus, I can't believe you are going along with this ill-conceived joke of a plan. The last thing I need in my life right now is some underage, overeager witch following me around on my most trying assignments. If you insist on having her tag along, which unfortunately seems to be the case, I cannot, and I will not, guarantee her safety."

"And you won't have to," replied Dumbledore with a smile. "You are correct in your assumption that I have decided to endorse this plan, but not exactly as it was proposed. I have thought long and hard about this for the entire afternoon, and I've come up with several extra security measures, which, while not completely fail-proof, will greatly bolster Hermione's safety.

"First, a locating charm will be placed on Hermione, with her consent. Both you and I will have access to the exact location of Miss Granger at any time, any place, with the flick of a wand and the right password. To protect her privacy, however, if she is anywhere on the castle grounds, we will merely know that she is within the confines of Hogwarts.

"In addition to the locating charm, the nature of Hermione's mission will be kept a Secret. The three of us will participate in the Fidelius charm, and I will be the Secret-Keeper. Any information beyond the fact that Hermione is doing me a favor will only be available to those I choose to disclose it to. Minerva, being her Head of House, is probably the only one who will know. That way, neither friend nor foe will know she's working for the Order, which should help to keep her and Harry safe."

"Her family won't know?" interrupted Snape.

"Well, I was going to leave that up to Hermione, but I imagine she'd rather leave her parents in the dark. They are still very uncomfortable with the magical world and all its troubles, and I doubt they'd want her doing anything dangerous."

"Hmph." Snape had never had a particularly close relationship with his family, but he had always assumed that someone like Hermione would never keep anything from her parents. Perhaps she had a streak of deviousness in her after all. Coming to Dumbledore behind his back like that was certainly very conniving of her.

"Anyway, I will also be teaching Miss Granger some useful protective charms, countercurses, and a few other things that could help her out in a pinch. Her knowledge of healing medicine is already surprisingly thorough, though almost entirely self taught and unpracticed. She's become proficient at brewing a wide range of medical potions, and will have your private stores at her disposal, as well as some sort of workspace, in order to brew them.

"Well Severus, that's the general plan. We will perform the various security charms I've outlined, and she will accompany you on your next outing. It will be up to the two of you to iron out the remaining details such as an accessible meeting place. You will give her directions to the general area of your activities, then meet her at the specified time in your agreed-on meeting place. Apart from unlocking your cabinets for her, that is all you'll need to do."

Dumbledore lowered his half-moon glasses surveyed the younger man in front of him. His eyes were blazing, the only visual sign of a lack of control: obviously he had a lot to say about this turn of events, but he was managing to hold it inside for the moment. Finally he pushed his chair back and strode out of the room, without so much as a 'good evening,' to the Headmaster. Dumbledore was not worried. He knew this would all work out for the best once Severus had some time to become accustomed to the idea.