Trial and Error

I decided to write the next chapter even though I got only one review (thanks Wendy!). I hope this chapter sparks more interest than the first one. :)

I, of course, do not own anything relating to Harry Potter. *sigh*
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Hermione finished her letter to Harry, tied it to the leg of Tonk\'s owl and went down to supper. Mrs. Weasley sounded as though she were trying to bring the house down.

\"IF YOU DON\'T GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT, I\'LL FEED YOUR FOOD TO THAT BLASTED HIPPOGRIFF!!!\"

Hermione smiled to herself. Mrs. Weasley had been in a foul mood for the last half of the day because Fred had left a bag of Skivving Snackboxes on the kitchen table that afternoon. Remus had eaten one without considering that they were Weasley Wizard Wheezes and had thrown up all over the freshly cleaned floor. It didn\'t take long for Mrs. Weasley to figure out who the bag of candy belonged to. Hermione realised she hadn\'t told Harry about that. He would have enjoyed reading it; she told herself she would add it in her next letter to him, whenever that would be.

Everyone was seated at the table except for Tonks. She was kneeling on the floor cleaning up the juice she had just knocked over. Remus was sitting at the end of the table looking kind of peaky. He had been \"sick\" for more than an hour before Fred and George got back from their business opportunities and told him to eat the other half of the candy--which Remus did very hesitantly. Hermione took her seat and apologised for her lateness. Fred and George had long since gone back to the Burrow, but Mrs. Weasley\'s temper was not lowering. She glared contemptuously at Tonks, who was mopping up the juice so fast, her elbow hit the cupboard causing a butterbeer bottle to topple over onto the floor. Lucky for Tonks, the glass held fast and she was spared another mess to clean up and more yelling from Mrs. Weasley.

Hermione looked at everyone around the table. Dumbledore nodded and smiled at her; Remus managed a weak upturn in his mouth; Moody greeted her with a questioning look...she was sure he had been watching her with his magic eye and was wondering what she had been writing. Right now his normal eye was on her and his magical eye was
pointed in the back of his head, most likely watching Tonks as she threw the soiled rag into the sink and narrowly missed tripping over Snape\'s chair leg. Snape looked as though he had just been forced to perform the lead role in a Peter Pan movie. Hermione smiled at the thought of Snape wearing green tights and chasing his shadow around a room, then shook her head quickly. \'Where did THAT come from?\' she thought wildly to herself. The scowl on his face was the only greeting Hermione would get from Snape, so she averted her gaze and tried to get the image of him dressed as Peter Pan out of her mind.

Dinner was delicious, as always. Even in her bad mood, Mrs. Weasley had cooked to her usual standards. Everyone ate in silence for most of the meal. Hermione tried to imagine what was going on in everyone\'s minds. So much had happened in the past few months.
Mrs. Weasley had finally calmed down. \'She must have been hungry\', Hermione thought. Moody was the first to break the silence.
\"You\'ll need to be ready by 7 o\' clock sharp tomorrow morning, Hermione. I want to get to Hogwarts as early as possible so as to avoid any unwanted attention.\"

Snape looked up from his hardly eaten food. \"I was given the impression that Miss Granger would be under my care, Alastor. I see no need for you to endanger your life just to ensure her safety.\"

Moody bristled and turned to Snape with a sarcastic smile playing about his damaged face. \"Albus has entrusted me with getting the girl safely to Hogwarts. What you do with her after I get her there is up to you, though I don\'t know if I agree with Albus\' decision in that case.\" He glared at Snape as he said this.

Before a full-fed wed war could start between the two of them, Albus stood up and cleared his throat. He smiled gently at the two of them (who had moved almost within arms reach of each other) and said \"I think it will be in the best interest of all involved if I take Miss Granger to the school tomorrow morning. Does that sound alright with you, Hermione?\"
Hermione almost jumped at being addressed and then nodded her head. \"Yes, that sounds, um, good.\" Moody and Snape sat back down and shot daggers at each other with their eyes until they had finished eating.

After the table had been cleared, Hermione went upstairs to make sure she had everything ready for the next morning. She had been up there for about two minutes when she heard a soft knock at the door. Turning around, she saw Lupin\'s face sticking in between the door and the frame--she had not closed it all the way.

\"Come in\", she said.
He came in and sat down on a rickety chair. She came over and sat on the floor next to him.

\"Hermione, I just wanted to make sure you are up for this. You haven\'t had any time to think about it and the affects it may have on you and your studies. Are you sure you want to go through with it?\"

Hermione smiled up at him and put a hand over his. \"Of course I am. Do you really thinwoulwouldn\'t weigh all of the pros and cons before agreeing to help Snape?\"

Lupin smiled back. \"It\'s Professor Snape, Hermione. Though I\'m sure you\'ll start calling him many other things before too long. He isn\'t one to accept help without a fight and I have a feeling he\'ll do everything in his power to make you regret agreeing to help him. I, of course, cannot thank you enough. Not only are we able to bring more people into our army against Voldemort, but those people will have better lives after the war because of this. Most of them had never heard of the wolfsbane potion, since it is so difficult to brew. You are helping to open more doors for them than they could have thought possible.\"

Hermione blushed and put her hands in her lap to fidget with a loose thread on her pajamas. \"I\'m not doing that much, Professor. Sna--Professor Snape is the one who knows how to make it. I\'m just going to be assisting him with the preparation of ingredients and research for a cure.\"

\"That, Hermione, is going to be more help for dear old Snape than you can possibly imagine. He doesn\'t realise it now, but eventually, Severus will understand that without you, he would not be able to continue brewing the potion AND keep up with his other....duties.\"

Hermione did not have to ask what these other duties were. Her heart suddenly went out to the sallow skinned man who she knew had to endure the wrath of Voldemort every time he called his death eaters to his side. A shiver went up and down her spine at the very thought. She looked back at Remus who was watching her intently, as though trying to decide on his next words to her.
Finding them at last, he said \"You are very special, Hermione, you know that? I don\'t know what any of us--Harry, Severus, me and the rest of the Order--would do without you.\"

She blushed again at this and looked down at her hands, twirling the thread around her little finger. Remus watched for a moment before getting up from the chair.

\"Well, you have a long day ahead of you, so I\'ll let you get some rest.\"

He helped her up from her Indian style position and pulled her into an embrace. Embarrassed, she hesitantly put her arms around him in return. He pulled away but held her at arms length. She couldn\'t read the look in his eyes, but it was something that made her feel warm inside. Then she saw something that made her start; a lone tear found its way to the corner of his eye and trickled slowly down his left cheek. Before she could say anything, he pulled her again into a quick hug, smiled and left the room without another word.


That night, Hermione spent wide awake thinking about what would happen in the next 24 hours. She knew it would take a lot of patience to deal with Snape. She was a patient person, though, for the most part. She dealt with Harry and Ron every day, did she not? Her thoughts drifted to Professor Lupin. He would be leaving for the States again in two days\' time. She worried about him leaving the safety of the headquarters for America, but she trusted him to know what he was doing. After all, America is more friendly (well, at least not as cruel) to werewolves. She didn\'t fall asleep until 4:30 in the morning and was woken up not much later by a loud rapping on how cow closed door.

\"Miss Granger....Miss Granger! I Suggest you get yourself out of bed and into the hall as quickly as possible!\"
The voice belonged to a very groggy Snape.

Grumbling and rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes, Hermione went to her door and opened it just in time to have to dodge Snape\'s hand as it moved to knock again.

\"Miss Gra--oh good, you\'re up.\" Snape turned and went back down the stairs with his coffee mug threatening to tip its contents on the railing.


Hermione followed after him into the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was preparing breakfast.

\"Good morning dear! What would you like to eat?\"

Her mood was much better today.

\"Um just a bit of toast and ja-ha-ha-am, please,\" Hermione yawned.

Snape sat down at the table and stared blankly at the stove with heavy eyelids while sipping his coffee. Hermione felt the little tug at her heart that she had felt last night. \'Poor thing. He can hardly keep his eyes open,\' she found herself thinking. Unfortunately, Snape seemed to sense that he wa being watched. He turned to her and narrowed his eyes.

\"What?\" he snapped.

Hermione flinched and mumbled a \"nothing, sorry\" before turning to her toast that was just placed in front of her.


A little before 7, Albus showed up and gathered a tired Hermione to his side. \"Professor Snape will bring your things, Hermione. You and I will go via the floo network, but not from here. It would be too dangerous. There is a muggle house up the street that will do nicely. They left on vacation yesterday,\" he added, seeing the shocked expression on Hermione\'s face.
After hugging everyone in the house (except Snape, of course) Hermione set out with Albus to number nineteen, Grimmauld Place. Tonks had tripped over the troll leg again and Mrs. Black\'s portrait was screeching with just as much vileness as she always had. Remus rushed to the hangings and pulled them shut with much difficulty. He then went back outside and waved to the duo making their way up the street.